The Realms of a Fantastical Mind

Most people know that I am drawn to Nature.  This is so true! However, I haven't really voiced my thoughts on it before. No, it's been a private hobby of discovering the truth from what we eat to sustainable ways of creating electricity. So I've created a web site for this very reason. It's called The Natural Magic. Yeah, I'll never be able to get away from magic. LOL Then again, I don't need to. It's fine. I love getting a bit magical dragon now and then as well. That's is why this blog will be up and running no matter what. I also wouldn't want to take any of you away from my author buddies that show up every week. So head over to The Natural Magic  and sign up for the e-mailing list. That way you wont miss any of that and you'll still have all the book/dragon/author love here. Let me show you some Hartworks hobbit love , and yes there's a e-book waiting to be sold. If you click on the link Hartworks will give me a bit of t...

We have come to 2013.  Most of us have not seen the end of the world.  Life goes on.  There was no Zombie apocalypse, no disaster of some strange planet X coming to wreak havoc on the land. No, our doom will be as it always was. Of our own making. So as we enter the new year most of us are hoping to change something about ourselves or what not.  How about we just stick to what we already have.  Why change?  Why try to make things 'better' for yourself when it may not make you happy. Having more money wont make things easier, it will just create more bills. Having lost weight wont make you healthier unless you drastically change everything you do and eat.  So let's face it.  We all want to be happy and we all have some wacky idea of what will get us there. Just don't forget what you already have.  What makes you happy?  Have you paid attention to those things around you that make life worth living.  Stop and just look a...

My feet hit the soft littered floor of the forest.  All around me were the sounds of birds. At least, I thought they were birds.  The forest opened up to a path, dark with heavy foliage on one side.  The light of the sun broke in streams on the other.   Beautiful to behold.  I took another light step. "Magical or Mundane?"  The words echoed in my head.  I looked around. Did I imagine that? "Mundane or Magical?" I flinched, the voice deepened.  What was it asking me? If I was magical or mundane? I stumbled trying to think.  Should I answer it? "Um... mundane?" The trees hissed while a flock of birds scattered above.   A roar, louder and deeper than any voice in my head, made my knees shake.  Crashing through the thick woods a bear came into view.  It stopped when it spotted me.  Raising up on it's hind legs it roared again.  Holding my ears I took a step back.  The beast was taller than I had ever im...

I stepped up to the bridge. The blue flowers around it spread across the grassy land.  Beyond there was dark forest.  Did I dare to walk the bridge to the unknown?  It seemed welcoming enough. Noises from beyond made my heart flutter.  Footsteps shifted on leaves and sticks.  Twittering noises from the forest floor and around the canopy, called to me.  There could be anything between the human civilized world on this side of the bridge and what lived on the other side. Everyone who had ever crossed the bridge were never heard from again.  Did they find a new world that they now live in joyous contentment, or were they now lost souls wondering the beyond? I couldn't stand there much longer. I couldn't walk away either.  It was time to decide.  Easing one foot on the bridge, I settled my hand on the old course wood.  I slowly moved across. Gripping the railing with each step, my feet led me over.  The smell of flowers flowed ...

I think the first thing that comes to mind on this is... "All Hale George R.R. Martin!" Okay, maybe not everyone feels that way.  I've only read his first book and was wowed by it.  There is so much depth, so much to every banner, every household.  So much that I didn't think of... back to the drawing board. When writing fiction there are some basic backgrounds that need to be established. The Main Character.  Where did they come from?  How did they get to be the way they are at the beginning of the book?  What effects them the most positively and negatively? The Supporting Characters.  Again, where did they come from? How did they get to be the way they are at the beginning of the book? What effects them the most positively and negatively? The Land around them.  Yup even the land needs a history.  When writing Urban stories things are easier because the history was already made.  We know about what has happened in Bo...

Each story has some type of world building, whether it be just creating a social system in a neighborhood, or creating an entire solar system plucked from your mind, as well as anything in between.  Each writer, or D&D DM needs to create the world in which the characters or players interact and grow.  It all starts with that. In the novels I'm writing, I started with a few websites that I had found some valuable information, I have since, found other sites to tickle the imagination and exploration of worlds. I would like to share those with you. Basilicus   I found this site intersesting for its star system and religion section Building Guides Building a Species Building Stars and Star Systems Scientific Help Building Nations Building Cities Building Organizations Building Religions and Myths Building Technology and Science Main Building Guide Page Some of these are still being worked on. More will be added and upda...

A short story inspired by old times at the YMCA camp and the loss of all those trees. The wind whistled with the scent of her blossoms.  The old oak always admired the colors and scents of the lovely apple tree growing up the hill off the dirt road.   He stood and observed from a distance, for more human generations than he cared to count.   Watching as the people and animals passed his way.  There was a scar of a heart with initials carved on his trunk. The scar came with the memories of childhood sweet hearts who spent their youth climbing his bows. Now the couple was wizened with age and came to him every few years to celebrate their times as children together. The younger generations spent their time under the apple tree.  She would shower them with petals in the mid spring mornings or shelter them in the hot summer sun.  The old oak was still taller than her and held more limbs to climb and linger under, but she was in an ideal place fo...