Backstage Pass! Creating an original Fantasy creature: the Megatrath

AuthorAppleton on January 12, 2015

The many aspects of the creative writing process includes designing creatures never seen before. I love this process! It brings the fantasy world to life and enables visual representations that make it real for the reader. One such creation was the Megatrath.

Dragons, elves, fairies are all great in fantasy fiction. Also, they are undeniably linked to classic and established fantasy. When writing your own fiction the last thing you want to do is appear to be stuck using other writers’ ideas. While I do appreciate using the classic fantasy creatures in my stories, I find greater satisfaction in designing new ones.

In my old fantasy sketchbooks I have a wealth of creature ideas. These were first conceived of during the initial creation of The Sword of the Dragon story. Looking back, I am glad I took the time to create not only written content, but sketches and maps, too.

For the Megatrath I drew inspiration from the head of an alligator, the tail of a lizard, the feet of a dragon, and then I gave it six legs. The sketch that you see in this post is artist Amber “Vantid” Hill’s representation of one of these creatures. It was not easy at first to get her to sketch what I had envisioned. The process took several hours of live video chat so that the Megatrath turned out right.

You will recognize this creature from my novels Offspring and Key of Living Fire.

Question: Have you envisioned any original creatures that you would like to see used in fantasy novels?

3 Interesting Ways for a Villain to Die!

AuthorAppleton on November 10, 2014

In most contemporary fantasy fiction there is a primary villain, and by some means the hero must kill that villain. The beauty of fiction, however, is the ability to take inspiration from historical events to produce an unexpected plot. Like when I was writing my first novel Swords of the Six… I wanted something different for the villain’s end.

Here are three ways for a villain to die!

  1. Killed by the hero
  2. Betrayal
  3. Suicide

A great example of the first option would be Narnia where Aslan slays the White Witch. The second option was very effectively portrayed in one of my favorite novels Star Wars: The Last Command when Grand Admiral Thrawn is killed by his trusted Nogri bodyguard. And as for suicide I found it to be a powerful way to show how remorseful Kesla was for his sins in Swords of the Six. I derived the idea for Kesla’s end from how King Saul of Israel fell on his own sword when he knew that the Philistines had overcome him.

Question: What are some of your favorite examples of how villains died in fiction?

4 Reasons Why I think Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys helped shape family fiction

AuthorAppleton on November 3, 2014

Were you one of those readers that got hooked on the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mystery series? It is important to understand what made those mysteries so accessible to us and here is why:

The Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy mystery stories drove home traditional family values with characters who were morally upstanding. (Quite the contrast to the majority of contemporary fiction.) Growing up I recognized that something about those series grabbed people in an extra powerful way. Interestingly, here are four areas where they differ from most contemporary fiction:

  1. Both series showed strong-willed characters who were passionate about helping people, including saving people in need.
  2. Nancy, Frank, and Joe treated their fathers with the greatest respect and had strong relationships with them.
  3. Nancy, Frank, and Joe chose friends who were responsible and motivated.
  4. They also LOVED to read and research.

We need more fiction like that. We need NEW fiction like that. Unfortunately the book industry leaders think they know better. I’ve been told that in order for young adult fiction to sell it needs to do much the opposite of these things. Specifically the adults must be inconvenient annoyances.

My response to this? What is the purpose of those books? As an author I want to motivate and inspire. But most publishers want to follow the trends. Well, I pray that God keeps some of us authors from doing that so that you, the reader, can be convicted, inspired, and motivated to uphold good family values.

Question: Do you think authors should cave to popular wisdom, or write the stories that encourage readers to stand for what is right?

How your content impacts the globe

AuthorAppleton on October 27, 2014

It surprised me the other day, when conversing with an Egyptian friend of mine, to find out that back when Wonder Woman and The Hulk shows were playing on TV they were running internationally. Just like American kids, she was fascinated by those superheroes. I guess I had still thought of Egypt as an out-of-the-way corner of the world where media only recently became so impactful. It was a fun and enlightening conversation. It got me thinking on how our creative content influences people on an international level.

Content that promotes gratuitous violence, sexual promiscuity, lying, and foul language will breed those shortcomings in the societies they impact. Conversely, content that encourages self-control, godly behavior, and faithfulness will encourage those qualities in the cultures they reach.

A couple years ago I received an email from the first fan of The Sword of the Dragon series in South Africa. As it turned out, a bookstore down there had started carrying my novels and people were loving them. It amazed me to realize that the fictional characters I’d created were quite literally my ambassadors to corners of the globe that I have never visited.

In the same manner, creatives around the world have been sending their own ambassadors. It has been thrown into hyperdrive by the advent of the digital age. And those ambassadors can either impact the world for good or for evil. Artists, parents, authors, producers, and bloggers… in this digital age, what kind of a world do you want to make?

Question: How do you see content creators impacting the world?

Why I want to put Wholesome back in Fantasy Stories

AuthorAppleton on October 20, 2014

When I was growing up I devoured tales of true heroism that demonstrated the growth of western society from Judeo-Christian values. King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, Pilgrim’s Progress, even mysteries like The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. What has happened since then?

On my book touring travels I cannot tell you how often school teachers and parents were looking for wholesome fiction for their kids. Twilight was the big craze when I was on the road and some people were horrified by some of the content included in those books because they targeted Young Adult readers. I will not speak to Twilight in this post, but I do believe that authors have a responsibility to society to produce fun, wholesome fiction.

“You are what you eat,” is such a common saying. But it’s also accurate to say that “You are what you read.” If our youth are filling their minds with stories of gratuitous violence, casual sex, promiscuity, and vulgarity… what sorts of individuals would you expect them to become?

Books used to be filled with stories of chivalry, self-sacrifice, and self-discipline. Even through fiction young people can learn to be better people with stronger morals. And, very importantly, they can learn how to follow what is right instead of following the crowd. Tales of old were filled with stories of heroes and heroines who stepped back when confronted with temptation and evil. Those heroes and heroines said, “No,” and the readers said, “Wow! I vow to be like that so that I can live in good conscience with my fellow man.”

Thankfully there is a surge of this kind of fiction that is now coming. It will start with the Young Adult category and, I hope, grow into the Middle Grade and Adult fiction.

Question: What fiction books have encouraged you and made you a better person?

Backstage Pass! In Search of Dragons: coming Fall 2015

AuthorAppleton on October 6, 2014

Yep, here is another cover reveal! This time for the cover of In Search of Dragons, the fourth installment in The Sword of the Dragon series.

After the events in Key of Living Fire, Ilfedo is prepared to lead an expedition back into the heart of the Resgerian desert. He must hold to his promise to return for the people of the underground city of Dresdyn, and to lead his people on a pilgrimage out of the Hemmed Land to find their new home. But his ambitions in that regard put him at odds once again with the mayor of Gwensin City, Vortain. Tensions mount as Vortain gathers the opposition, and Ilfedo must struggle with his own uncertainty to follow the prophecy long ago given to him.

Question: Which characters are you most looking forward to seeing again in In Search of Dragons?

Now Available! “Neverqueen” Revamped!

AuthorAppleton on September 29, 2014

Revamping the Neverqueen book turned out even better than I had hoped. The presentation of the spine text combined with the new cover art make it feel larger.

I hope all you fantasy readers are as excited about this as I am! This book is one of my best pieces to date. The story turned out just the way I envisioned it. A little mystery, a little edge-of-your-seat danger, some new creatures… but in the familiar setting of the Eiderveis River, as first introduced in Swords of the Six.

Question: Do you know someone who would like this book? (-:

Dragons as Heroes in fantasy?

AuthorAppleton on September 22, 2014

Dragons are predominantly the villains in fantasy fiction. But this does not have to be the case, especially if we write from a Christian worldview!

Abino, a dragon prophet from The Sword of the Dragon series

It is interesting to take this subject from the angle of seeing it from my worldview. As a Christian author I have often encountered readers whose faces get all twisted up when I tell them that some of the dragons in my stories are heroes. “How can dragons be the good guys?” I’ve been asked. Interestingly, if you write fantasy from a Christian worldview you have a most compelling reason to create heroic dragons. In the Bible the Devil was depicted as “that old serpent” and “the dragon” because it made an effective allegory to his character. But most readers forget that Jesus was called the “lion of Judah” and Satan is referred to as the lion who “roars about seeking whom he may devour.”

So is it the species that makes a creature figure a villain in Christian-based fantasy? No, the contrary is true. For the good and the evil are considered that way based on their choices. If they are intelligent in these fictional worlds, just like people are, then whether they are good or evil is based on who they serve. Worldview is a fascinating way to explore why fantasy worlds are developed in different ways. The Christian worldview as a basis for fantasy fiction can create some of the greatest storytelling.

Question: How do you see the author’s worldview impacting the fantasy and science fiction stories you have read?