by Jim
“Hi Jim, I’m in the process of writing a fantasy novel and was wondering how you chose what species to focus on? Your writings seem to focus on Angels and Elves, what made you decide to go that route over say… dwarves or faeries? Thanks, Allison” Hi Allison, Good question. It honestly comes down to a couple of different things. For starters, what does … Read More Fantasy Creatures
+ Comics, fantasy, Fiction, literature, Marvel, superheroes
by Jim
Writing characters based on loved ones is a mistake. A BIG mistake every time for a multitude of different reasons and it could not be any more clear why as with the recent Frank Cho vs. Robbi Rodriguez dispute. Allow me to explain, Robbi Rodriguez is one of the brilliant people who created the now-extremely-popular series Spider Gwen. Recently, a known comic artist, Frank … Read More Basing Characters on Loved Ones
by Jim
From Damnation Species: Human Rank: Ensign Affiliation: Papal Army, Army of the Republic of Florence Character Information: A brazen young commissioned officer in the Florentine Army during the War of the League of Cognac, Piero Lorenzi seeks to restore the name of his house, who’s honor was taken due to his father’s cowardice. He serves faithfully though his commanding officer, Captain Ferruccio has frequently … Read More Character Profiles: Piero Lorenzi.
by Jim
As Damnation slowly begins to take form, I thought it might be a good idea to give everyone an introduction to one of the main characters and arguably one of the best characters I’ve ever created, Xaphan. Species: Angel Affiliations: Choirs of the Most High, Legions of Hell. Rank: General Character profile: Xaphan was originally created by Collin de Plancy in his book, Dictionnaire Infernal. While … Read More Character Profile: General Xaphan
by Jim
This happens to everyone at some point. Either we meet the girl of our dreams… only to find out after pouring our hearts out to that person that they’re already engaged to be married! 😡 We see some treasured item that we really want, but can’t afford it, etc. The worst is when we find out that we could have had that something or … Read More Character Loss vs. Reality
by Jim
What does redemption mean in literature? Well… for starters, what does redemption mean, period? The dictionary has two definitions: re·demp·tion rəˈdem(p)SH(ə)n/ noun 1. the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil. “God’s plans for the redemption of his world” synonyms: saving, freeing from sin, absolution “God’s redemption of his people” 2. the action of regaining or gaining possession of something … Read More Character Redemption
by Jim
So is it possible to ethically write characters or circumstances that go against your personal beliefs, code of honor, and/or standards? It’s not an easy thing to do, for sure, but to a point, I’d say yes. Allow me to provide an example: In college, I took classes dealing with European Socialism and Fascism. In one of the classes, we were asked to recreate … Read More Going Against Your Beliefs.
+ advice, Artist, Author, awful, bad, Belief, Book, Characters, chase, demon, Divinity, Fairy Tale, fantasy
by Jim
Don’t be afraid to mix and merge. So you have a fairly successful series going, but now you’re experiencing writers block. You have fragments of two or three sequels written, but don’t know where to take them. You’ve even considered starting on a third, but haven’t gotten anywhere with it. You really like the first two and would love to continue one of them, … Read More Author’s Advice Pt. 11
+ 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
by Jim
It’s NEVER too late to start over. Are you working on a piece you’ve just lost all love for? Are you writing something that you really didn’t want to write in the first place? Do you really not care whether your newest piece get’s done or not? If you answered yes to any of the above questions, STOP! Close out of what your writing … Read More Author’s Advice Pt. 10
+ 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
James Harringtons Creative Work 