by Jim
So… The Endless Forms Most Beautiful… I usually don’t do reviews… unless something really annoys me and I need to vent, but this album left me a little vexed. I love Nightwish. They’ve been around forever, they put on an AMAZING show, and they have a huge body of work that includes serious music as well as lighthearted stuff. ‘Dark Chest of Wonders’ is … Read More Review of Inspiration
by Jim
I know that this is a few days late, but I’ve sadly been in a bubble working… On Sunday, we lost one of the greats. A man who is the embodiment of a life where no moment was wasted. A legend and one of my all time heroes… Christopher Lee. Christopher was born in 1922 and his resume includes, but is no where near … Read More No Moment Wasted… A Hero Leaves Us.
+ advice, Inspiration, literature, Music, Writing
by Jim
This one, from one of the greatest Metal collectives out there, was instramental when I was writing Divinity. It doesn’t end well as Tobias Sammet’s singing cannot match the power of Amanda Somerville, but it’s still a really great song to listen to if writing about a relationship that may not last. Readers, Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? … Read More More Inspiration…
+ advice, Classical, Inspiration, literature, Metal, Music, Rock
by Jim
So you’ve all heard me talk about what inspires me to write. You’ve heard about how I draw my characters’ moods and scenic tones from music, and what part the melodies play in terms of the emotional direction of an individual scene. Given that, it seems inevitable that I would do a top ten list. Now keep in mind, this is all personal preference … Read More Top 10 Musical Numbers
+ advice, Artist, Author, Belief, Book, Characters, Inspiration, Music, writer, writer's block
by Jim
So I’m up and writing again, and my thanks partially lies with this recently discovered (by me) song by a band I’ve been growing more and more fond of over time. My Utopia by Van Canto. This is basically an A Capella group singing metal music. This song, especially the chorus line… Fly… To the morning skies With armies of the true believers. Try… … Read More MORE Inspiration…
+ advice, Andrew Lloyd Webber, angels, Artist, Author, awful, bad, bad guy, Barack Obama, Belief, Bloomberg, Book, bully, Characters, chase, Children, christianity, Church, conservative, Cover, Dean Koontz, demon, desire, Directing, Disney, Divinity, evil, Fairy Tale, fantasy, ficiton, Fiction, George Bush, God, Graphic design, gun, gun control, gun rights, Heaven, Hell, Help, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fiction, History, horror, Inappropriate, Inspiration, John Carpenter, Judaism, liberal, literature, Lord of the Rings, Loreena Mckennitt, Lost, Love Never Dies, Magnifica, Mary Poppins, mean, Metal, misygony, Movie, Music, Musical, Mythology, Newtown, Novel, NRA, obsession, Opinion, Page, Phantom of the Opera, Poetry, Politics, prejudice, Princess, psa, Psychological, Psychology, Publishing, Q&A, Question, racism, Religion, responsability, Rock, Romance, rules, Science Fiction, Script, second amendment, Sequel, The Mummer's Dance, The NeverEnding Story, thriller, traitor, True Story, Update, Urban Fantasy, Van Canto, video games, villain, Walt Disney, Worst, Writing
by Jim
So you’ve written your story. Your characters are beloved, not only to you, but also your reading audience. Well now you’re writing the next part in your series and are ready to do the unthinkable… You’re going to have one of the characters turn on the others. One of your main good guys is now to become a villain and not just a villain, … Read More The Traitorous Main Character
+ advice, Andrew Lloyd Webber, angels, Artist, Author, awful, bad, Barack Obama, Belief, Bloomberg, Book, bully, Characters, chase, Children, christianity, Church, conservative, Cover, Dean Koontz, demon, desire, Directing, Disney, Divinity, Fairy Tale, fantasy, ficiton, Fiction, George Bush, God, Graphic design, gun, gun control, gun rights, Heaven, Hell, Help, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fiction, History, horror, Inappropriate, Inspiration, John Carpenter, Judaism, liberal, literature, Lord of the Rings, Loreena Mckennitt, Lost, Love Never Dies, Magnifica, Mary Poppins, mean, Metal, misygony, Movie, Music, Musical, Mythology, Newtown, Novel, NRA, obsession, Opinion, Page, Phantom of the Opera, Poetry, Politics, prejudice, Princess, psa, Psychological, Psychology, Publishing, Q&A, Question, racism, Religion, responsability, Rock, Romance, rules, Science Fiction, Script, second amendment, Sequel, The Mummer's Dance, The NeverEnding Story, thriller, True Story, Update, Urban Fantasy, Van Canto, video games, Walt Disney, Worst, Writing
by Jim
Can I just ask… what the heck happened? When I first published my work, I got a lot of comments from readers, both positive and negative. Divinity in particular got positive and negative comments from die-hard Christians and atheists, and I don’t understand the negativity. I certainly can’t speak for the rest of the world, so if it’s different outside of the U.S. PLEASE … Read More Free Exchange of Ideas…
+ advice, Andrew Lloyd Webber, angels, Artist, Author, awful, bad, Barack Obama, Belief, Bloomberg, Book, bully, Characters, chase, Children, christianity, Church, conservative, Cover, Dean Koontz, demon, desire, Directing, Disney, Divinity, Fairy Tale, fantasy, ficiton, Fiction, George Bush, God, Graphic design, gun, gun control, gun rights, Heaven, Hell, Help, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fiction, History, horror, Inappropriate, Inspiration, John Carpenter, Judaism, liberal, literature, Lord of the Rings, Loreena Mckennitt, Lost, Love Never Dies, Magnifica, Mary Poppins, mean, Metal, misygony, Movie, Music, Musical, Mythology, Newtown, Novel, NRA, obsession, Opinion, Page, Phantom of the Opera, Poetry, Politics, prejudice, Princess, psa, Psychological, Psychology, Publishing, Q&A, Question, racism, Religion, responsability, Rock, Romance, rules, Science Fiction, Script, second amendment, Sequel, The Mummer's Dance, The NeverEnding Story, thriller, True Story, Update, Urban Fantasy, Van Canto, video games, Walt Disney, Worst, Writing
by Jim
IV Tom kept himself in seclusion during the next few days. He went to class as much as he needed to in order to get by, but other than that, he barely came out of his room. Both Greggor and Jayme came by to see him often, but he almost never opened the door. He slowly became oblivious to the world around him. … Read More Magnifica: The Lost Sequel Pt. 4
+ advice, Andrew Lloyd Webber, angels, Artist, Author, awful, bad, Barack Obama, Belief, Bloomberg, Book, bully, Characters, chase, Children, christianity, Church, conservative, Cover, Dean Koontz, demon, desire, Directing, Disney, Divinity, Fairy Tale, fantasy, ficiton, Fiction, George Bush, God, Graphic design, gun, gun control, gun rights, Heaven, Hell, Help, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fiction, History, horror, Inappropriate, Inspiration, John Carpenter, Judaism, Lena, Lena Dunham, liberal, literature, Lord of the Rings, Loreena Mckennitt, Lost, Love Never Dies, Magnifica, Mary Poppins, mean, Metal, misygony, Movie, Music, Musical, Mythology, Newtown, Novel, NRA, obsession, Opinion, Page, Phantom of the Opera, Poetry, Politics, prejudice, Princess, psa, Psychological, Psychology, Publishing, Q&A, Question, racism, Religion, responsability, Rock, Romance, rules, Science Fiction, Script, second amendment, Sequel, The Mummer's Dance, The NeverEnding Story, thriller, True Story, Update, Urban Fantasy, Van Canto, video games, Walt Disney, Worst, Writing
by Jim
I admittedly was a little hesitant to address this one because of the weight and political biases that go with it. So let me preface by saying that I don’t care who’s a republican or a democrat, man or woman, black, white, asian, etc. If you enjoy reading, you’re all right by me. In Magnifica, Lia’na is often abused for being an elf. Both … Read More Personal bias, dislike, and hatred.
+ advice, Andrew Lloyd Webber, angels, Artist, Author, awful, bad, Barack Obama, Belief, Bloomberg, Book, bully, Characters, chase, Children, christianity, Church, conservative, Cover, Dean Koontz, demon, desire, Directing, Disney, Divinity, Fairy Tale, fantasy, ficiton, Fiction, George Bush, God, Graphic design, gun, gun control, gun rights, Heaven, Hell, Help, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fiction, History, horror, Inappropriate, Inspiration, John Carpenter, Judaism, liberal, literature, Lord of the Rings, Loreena Mckennitt, Lost, Love Never Dies, Magnifica, Mary Poppins, mean, Metal, misygony, Movie, Music, Musical, Mythology, Newtown, Novel, NRA, obsession, Opinion, Page, Phantom of the Opera, Poetry, Politics, prejudice, Princess, psa, Psychological, Psychology, Publishing, Q&A, Question, racism, Religion, responsability, Rock, Romance, rules, Science Fiction, Script, second amendment, Sequel, The Mummer's Dance, The NeverEnding Story, thriller, True Story, Update, Urban Fantasy, Van Canto, video games
by Jim
III Weird things began to happen over the next few weeks. Toby and Lia’na disappeared and Gishan wouldn’t talk about it. He walked around like he was a dead man and barely even talked to anyone. One day at lunch, Tom was sitting with Greggor and Jayme when Gishan came in. Tom was talking to Jayme, “Did you hear about what happened in … Read More Magnifica: The Lost Sequel Pt 3
+ advice, Artist, Author, awful, bad, Belief, Book, Characters, chase, desire, Fairy Tale, fantasy, Fiction, Loreena Mckennitt, Music, obsession, Question, The Mummer's Dance
by Jim
What is it about the chase? What is it about going on a quest that makes the journey as (if not more) enjoyable and rewarding than the prize that hides at the end? Why are we as humans so addicted to such endeavors? Does it improve our lives? Not always… in fact in many cases, we’re made worse. Often a quest for knowledge or … Read More Quests… The Chase… and Inspiration…
+ advice, Andrew Lloyd Webber, angels, Artist, Author, awful, bad, Barack Obama, Belief, Bloomberg, Book, bully, Characters, Children, christianity, Church, conservative, Cover, Dean Koontz, demon, Directing, Disney, Divinity, Fairy Tale, fantasy, ficiton, Fiction, George Bush, God, Graphic design, gun, gun control, gun rights, Heaven, Hell, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fiction, History, horror, Inappropriate, Inspiration, John Carpenter, Judaism, liberal, literature, Lord of the Rings, Lost, Love Never Dies, Magnifica, Mary Poppins, mean, Metal, misygony, Movie, Music, Musical, Mythology, Newtown, Novel, NRA, Opinion, Page, Phantom of the Opera, Poetry, Politics, prejudice, Princess, psa, Psychological, Psychology, Publishing, Q&A, Question, racism, Religion, responsability, Rock, Romance, rules, Script, second amendment, Sequel, The NeverEnding Story, thriller, True Story, Update, Urban Fantasy, Van Canto, video games, Walt Disney, Worst, Writing
by Jim
As a writer, this is something that I’ve explored for a long time now. Why does a bad person become bad? Why do they do bad things, what is the motivation? Just the other day, I was walking to my car from work. I was wearing my normal leather jacket. In Boston it’s very cold at this time of year. As I neared the … Read More What makes bad people tick?
James Harringtons Creative Work 