How tragedy strengthens romance in fantasy

AuthorAppleton on February 5, 2018

Tragedy grabs our attention more certainly than most any other writing device. Think of it! You fall in love with a character, follow their journey of romance, but then something insurmountable is revealed and the romance can never culminate. In fact, it must come to an end and the characters will never see each other again. They will be left alone in their grief, each desiring the companionship that can never be. Such stories are potent because they grab at our desire for companionship and romantic fulfilment. Some of the best books I’ve read are fraught with tragedy, and romantic tragedies are among the most memorable.

While most people know Star Wars as a film franchise, most do not know that this franchise has been built on the pages of literally hundreds of books. Some of them are among the best fantasy novels that I have ever read. Following the original movies (A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi) a group of writers were handpicked to craft great stories to expand the Star Wars universe. One of those books was Children of the Jedi by Barbara Hambly.

The story’s premise is this: Luke Skywalker, haunted by ominous dreams and guided by a force he cannot identify, journeys to a remote asteroid field. There he discovers the automated Dreadnaught Eye of Palpatine–from the days of all-out war. Taken aboard the ship, Luke is counseled by the spirit of Callista, a Jedi Knight who gave her life to stop the ship once before. Together they must figure out how to stop the ship from destroying a world.

The premise doesn’t do this book justice. Through the Force, Luke and Callista grow to love each other. Their desires for each other will be forever unfulfilled. Their destinies will separate them irrevocably.

I love this story because it illustrates what a story can be. How it can play at our heartstrings. Maybe you’re not a romantic like me, but still you can appreciate the potency of the emotions romantic tragedy plays in fantasy fiction. As I read this book I found myself asking how I would have remembered the story differently if it had had a happy ending to the romance. It would have changed the mood of the book entirely. In fact, it would have weakened the story. Callista’s self-sacrifice makes you love her. Luke’s heartbreak makes you resonate with his sorrow but at the same time admire his steady path as a jedi master. Emotional entanglements are left aside when they interfere with the greater good of bringing peace to the galaxy.

The impression this story had on me ended up influencing the writing of my fantasy novels. I am not afraid to kill a romance, nor to introduce tragedy, because each of these strengthen the reader’s empathy with the characters. The next time you read a novel that grabs your heartstrings, try asking yourself what it was in that story that made it stand out to you and impact your thinking.

Q: Do you appreciate a romantic tragedy?

“The Undervalued Gift of Laughter” by Paul Regnier (GUEST POST)

AuthorAppleton on April 3, 2017

Hi readers! This month Christian author Paul Regnier asked me to review Space Drifters: The Emerald Enigma, and he agreed to write this month’s article “The Undervalued Gift of Laughter.”
Mash together (in novel form) the Guardians of the Galaxy, a little Indiana Jones, and Disney’s The Black Hole and you’ll have an idea how The Emerald Enigma comes off. Paul Regnier surprised me with this book. I do not normally go for the humorous sort of space opera but he really pulled it off. I found myself laughing aloud on several occasions. The characters are predictable but not in an off-putting way because they are fully fleshed-out, having each their own unique charm. You will love his book.
–Scott Appleton

The Undervalued Gift of Laughter
by Paul Regnier

Don’t we all take ourselves too seriously sometimes? One of my goals as a writer is to bring more humor to stories.

There are certainly times to have serious and dramatic moments in writing and treat spiritual messages with the reverence due the subject matter but I think humor is sometimes neglected. Comedy is often viewed as “light” or “fluff” in stories as if it’s just some throwaway, cheap thrill like candy. I firmly disagree. I think humor can be just as impactful as serious drama.

I know that in my life, humor and laughter have been a huge help in going through tough times. In my darkest of days the value of humor cannot be overstated. Laughter is one of the natural healing tools God has blessed us with.

Proverbs 17:22 “A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.”

A quick web search will reveal a myriad of health benefits associated with laughter:
-Aids the healing process
-Reduces stress
-Promotes relaxation
-Boosts the immune system
-Produces pain relieving endorphins in the body

“A clown is like an aspirin, only he works twice as fast.” –Groucho Marx

When I get together with friends, laughter is always a part of our interaction. It bonds people together. It eases tension and helps to overcome the stress and worry of life. Plus, it’s a natural way to celebrate the joy of what God has given us.

Psalm 126: 1-2 “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’”

I view humor and laughter as tremendous gifts from God. When I incorporate them into stories, my hope is that the reader will be lifted up and encouraged the same way God’s gift of humor continues to do so for me.

You can find Paul Regnier on facebook

Find The Emerald Enigma on Amazon

When books were shorter and excellent

AuthorAppleton on March 21, 2016

A few years back I approached my publisher with a proposed new fantasy series that would tie in with the previous one I wrote for them. They turned it down. Not because it wasn’t the type of story that they liked but because the manuscript did not exceed their minimum word-count requirement. That book was Neverqueen and I subsequently released that title through my own company. The word-count guidelines are something that I totally understand publishers need to have guidelines on, but what I find interesting is that seventy years ago shorter books rocked the publishing world.

Two prime examples of short works of fiction are a couple of my absolute favorite titles: The Time Machine and The Wizard of Oz. Other examples would be several of the Chronicles of Narnia titles. There’s an old saying that bears bringing back to life: “Short but sweet.”

I would like to make the argument that shorter works are needed. In fact, there is a nearly untapped market of readers out there who love to read but have very little time for pleasure reading. High school and college students are immersed in homework and textbooks. And fathers and mothers of young kids are swamped with work, life, and all that it entails. Picking up a four hundred page novel is not practical for them. But if they could find some shorter reads that were nevertheless just as fascinating as the longer works, I bet they would pick them up.

Neverqueen was my first test of this theory and it has proven to be accurate. Readers are snapping that book up and their responses have been overwhelmingly positive.

Years ago when I established Flaming Pen Press I intended to release an entire line of fantasy and science fiction novellas, mostly from new authors. But unfortunately we suffered a major financial setback and everything had to be scrapped. But I have not lost that vision. In fact, I have been plotting bringing back Flaming Pen Press with a line of new titles. There are details still to work out, but what I’d like to do is release the next line of short books that will capture the imagination just as The Time Machine and The Wizard of Oz did for me. Currently I know of only one publisher that is successfully doing this (TOR) and I am pleased to see the result is positive for them as well.

Q: What do you think of novellas?

Why passion drives better stories (as Star Wars: The Force Awakens)

AuthorAppleton on December 28, 2015

There is a vast difference between a storyteller who is passionate for the story they are telling, and a writer who is simply creating something of interest to them. The case seems to be aptly demonstrated with J.J. Abrams who is famous for rebooting film franchises. Not long ago he recreated Star Trek and recently his Star Wars: The Force Awakens hit theaters with a thunderous response from critics and viewers. After watching the film myself I realized that the love of the story made a huge difference here.

Long-time Star Trek fans, almost as a whole, did not care for and some even despised Abrams’ remake. Vulcans lost their emotional control to a level not hereto seen, big bad villains ruled the screen, and action packed the screen time instead of relationships and good ol’ theoretical science. Transformers had met Star Trek. Many people speculated that the cause of this failure to catch the loyalty of long-time Trek fans was due to Abrams’ personal admittance that he was never a Trek fan himself. In addition to that it turned out that much of the cast had not even watched Star Trek, with the exception being Karl Urban who beautifully embodied the beloved Leonard McCoy also affectionately called “Bones.” Urban was himself a Trek fan and it showed in his part. The consequence was a movie that did not leave die hard Trek fans thrilled, instead it left them asking for a return to the old style of storytelling. The fans’ passion for the Star Trek universe has now successfully launched a rather impressive series called Renegades and other fan-funded projects are well on their way to success as well.

The point in all of this is that good storytelling requires a passion for the material.

As a long-time Star Wars fan Abrams’ approach to The Force Awakens has paid off. Rather than changing everything that we know and love about the Star Wars universe he has taken the look, feel, and the light and the dark again into familiar territory. While there was much good action throughout The Force Awakens, it never feels forced but rather melds with the drama each character is experiencing. Old characters are treated like old friends, with numerous hat-tipping to the original Star Wars trilogy. Quite unexpectedly (even though Disney officially declared the Expanded Universe of novels and video games irrelevant to this movie) there were several blatant steals from the EU… and they were good ones. They pulled a few choice elements that I was hoping to see carried into the new movies, though they did change it up a bit.

Writers need to be passionate for the stories they are creating, otherwise the effort leaves no lasting impact. Abrams demonstrated with this film that he truly is passionate for the Star Wars universe. What a difference it makes when a creative individual works at something because they love it!

Q: How do you see passion driving better storytelling?

Short stories this Christmas!

AuthorAppleton on December 7, 2015

Christmas is my favorite time of year. When I was growing up I populated my wish list with books. One thing I dreamed of was writing books that other people would want to put on their Christmas lists. It was five years ago now (which is hard for me to believe) when I had signed a publishing contract with AMG Publishers and I had no books to sell until they released Swords of the Six. In the time between I bundled together my short stories into a new book titled By Sword By Right. It sold surprisingly well for a collection of short fiction, and ever since then I’ve always referred to it as my bathroom reader.

Originally this book was available in paperback as well as on Kindle, but the distributor I had placed it with charged an annual fee so I discontinued the print version. From time to time I still receive requests for By Sword By Right in paperback, and now Amazon’s platform has enabled me to re-release it in time for Christmas!

There is something magical about short stories. From my perspective they are more difficult to write. Everything for me turns into a long-form writing. Short stories usually sit in my “idea bucket” to be later transformed into novels. But with By Sword By Right I put my journey as a writer under the x-ray machine. I included stories that were some of my best writings, and some that were written prior to the launching of my writing career.

For Christmas this year if you are one of those readers who wants something to take into the bathroom or into a closet for a quick read, By Sword By Right has an assortment of fantasy, science fiction, fairy tales, biblical, and even allegory. This book demonstrates the diversity of my writing interests and will give you an idea of where all of my stories will take you. From dark underground worlds to surface utopias, and even into the interstellar divides.

There is no limit to where the imagination can take us. And we can explore the depths and heights of imagination through short stories in the moments that reading longer fiction prohibits.

Q: Do you enjoy short speculative fiction?

How Star Wars impacted my thinking on stories

AuthorAppleton on September 7, 2015

I was probably around nine years old. I remember sitting in my grandfather’s living room, my eyes glued to his television. He had an extensive collection of VHS tapes and he was fond of science fiction. That day he played Star Wars: A New Hope… and with a few swings of his lightsaber Alec Guiness convinced me that Ben Kenobi was the coolest sort of hero.

Yep, I’ve been a fan ever since! I love looking back at that moment when I saw Star Wars for the first time. I can recapture that sense of amazement experienced only in that first moment of discovery. I already loved stories. I read extensively and wrote quite a few of my own fictional pieces, yet up to that point I think space opera and fantasy had not entered my realm of creative thinking. My first brush with anything close to it had been Pilgrim’s Progress, an allegory of the Christian life that feels fantasy-ish.

In Star Wars I recognized the value of different strong personalities in story. Han Solo of course would not let anything water down his swashbuckling attitude. He opposed everyone on his team and loved everyone at the same time. Ben Kenobi took every perilous encounter in sober stride, wisely weighing the consequences of his actions and of those around him. He was feeble yet in his eyes was a playful, indomitable will. He would not be denied. Even R2D2 and C3PO possessed unique personalities that made them generationally memorable.

To my young mind these characters were the catalyst for an amazing array of story possibilities. I remember staying up late at night telling my own Star Wars spinoff stories to my brother and sister. In childish fun these spinoffs often degenerated into silliness. (I remember one particular tale where Princess Leia met up with Emperor Palpatine and turned her own powers on him, thoroughly decimating him).

Looking back I realize that all of those silly spinoffs were the continued growth of my creativity.

Star Wars stories helped me realize that storytelling has no limits except those that we place upon it. What you imagine, you can create. What you fear, you can face. What you aspire to be, you can become. Strange places that don’t even exist, you can visit.

The imagination is limitless and its power is exploration to reveal to us the elements of story that matter to us. The elements of story that define the choices we make. The characters whose interactions help us understand how we want to interact with people in real life. The characters that help us understand why we find certain people more interesting than others.

Q: How did the stories you enjoyed as a child impact the person you are today?

 

How we create Tomorrowland today

AuthorAppleton on June 1, 2015

While watching the new Disney film Tomorrowland I found myself relating to its overriding theme: Negative thinking steers our world toward a negative outcome. Positive thinking steers us toward positive results. I found myself asking, “What kind of a future world do I want to create?”

Doom and gloom. The news is full of it, and people gobble it up.

I have collected most of the old Disney family films and one I really appreciate is Pollyanna. Based off of the book, this is the tale of an orphan girl who shares her message of positivity with the negative townsfolk. In my favorite scene of the movie she reads to the pastor from the quote on a locket that her father gave to her.

“If you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will.” -Abraham Lincoln

In the movie Tomorrowland we explore the future that is created by our negative thinking. But what interested me most was considering the kind of future we can have if we approach things from a positive outlook.

If we look back through history there have been times of great darkness that only ended because a few brave souls stood against it. They chose to think positively and imagine creatively. Christian martyrs did not let intense persecution stifle their message, the message of Christ that created western society as we know it. Inventors like Tesla did not let negativity or adversity stop them in their ingenuity. The founding fathers of the United States did not let a tyrant or the cost of liberty stop them from proudly touting that message of a nation under God with liberty and justice for all.

For my part I want to return to the positive outlook. The world I see is cars flying instead of driving. Solar and wind-powered cities… More than this, let’s look beyond the technology and anticipate a society that fears and worships God. Where the young and the old care for each other. A return to the values that made this country great.

We are living in the Future our American ancestors Envisioned. Dreams become reality.

Q: What future do you envision?

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?