Writing Wild with Verna McKinnon

There are so many old themes in fantasy & science fiction that are done over and over-King Arthur scenarios, monsters & bad guys that are dead but revive or come back (horror flicks are guilty of this to point of stupidity), Tolkien "inspired" tales, and vampire forbidden love.  The list goes on and on-I am just giving a few examples.  It does get a bit old.  But it is also encouraged for some reason, as though an original spark is something to be feared and therefore avoided. The point is-let's be original sometimes.  You can put an original spin on a classic theme and make it work.  David Eddings mastered that with two of my favorite series -The Belargiad and the Mallorean.  When you break it down, the tale is very much like a King Arthur & the sword in the stone kind of thing.  But he made it better and more interesting.  He set it on a secondary world with new characters and races and m...

Okay, sometimes I get vexed with the Internet and the casual acceptance of things that are incorrect or presented badly.  Let me give you an example using a popular TV show right now-Game of Thrones. Just today I was  reading in an entertainment section (will not say from whom or which site) that Games of Thrones is, and I quote,  a "wildly popular medieval television drama." This statement curdles my good mood because the show and the books they are adapted from (the great George R.R. Martin) is not medieval!!!!  It is not even set on earth.  Medieval means set in our medieval era on earth-though I personally doubt the writer could define which centuries medieval actually covers.  Just because they use swords and wear long dresses they stamp that definition on Game of Thrones.  In my opinion they are wrong.  Is it similar to a medieval world-yes to a point.  But it is not earth and more importantly-IT IS FANTASY!!!!! Yes, swallo...

My short story, "Snow White: My Story," is now available to read on my website in the featured story section.   Have a wonderful read!  It has humor, horror, and some twists.  I have always loved fairy tales and Snow White has always been a favorite.  I took the original tale and answered some questions that always bugged me-why did her stepmother want her heart?  Why the hot iron slippers?  Who were the dwarf folk really?  Many who have only seen the Disney version of Snow White and most of the other film versions do not even know about the hot iron slippers that wicked stepmother was forced into as punishment.  Well, original tales are not rated and the reader was quickly taught that being wicked has a price. That's the thing-the fairy tale heroines were always put through a lot of hardship, grief, and terror-but in the end their goodness was rewarded and the evil was defeated!  If only life were like that?  And the he...

Happy Monday One thing that has been vexing me of late is the focus on serial killers for TV.  I am not saying that these shows lack good writing and the actors are often superb (James Purefoy!) But I am sick of seeing serial killers be the heroic central characters of these shows.  I am not talking about grey characters like as Xena with a dark past but now want to do good type of characters.  I am talking evil sociopath shells who will make a coat of your skin main characters that are put up on a pedestal and revered weekly.  They win every week and what little good that is after them is stupid or weak. Shows like Dexter and the Following are even more disturbing than vampire romances.  Vampire Diaries and True Blood are bad -they give glamour to someone who will make you a happy meal and somehow they try to make them sympathetic and lonely.  Does anyone have a stake and holy water kit? But f...

Monday....I feel sensitive to sunlight like a troll, if you go my the mythology of Tolkien, and want to crawl into a dark hole and hibernate  Oddly, I have not had anything with alcohol this weekend and have eaten rather well (we will not discuss the chocolate cake on Friday night) but the creative mind is angry when you shut down and do not work like you promised.    By work of course I mean my writing.  The composition of epics is time consuming.  I bow to any writer who has created and published multi-volume epic science fiction and fantasy masterpieces.  I have many of these literary giants on my book shelves.  They include George R.R. Martin, David Eddings, Tolkien, Glen Cook, Tanith Lee, Roger Zelazny, and Larry Niven-to name a few.  I want to be just like you when I grow up. Procrastination with a dash of lazy is common among writers and it is easy to fall into that black hole.  The odd thing is that once I force ...

A special big thank you to my new followers on my blog and website.   Also an equally big shout out to my stoic followers from before.  I hope to have a long and fun relationship with all of you as I walk the rocky road to literary success.  I also plan to whip up more support as I fight for the release of my latest novel and find an agent for my other book I am writing now (The Goblin Cabal, first of a 3 book series).  It has two female heroines in the lead-and they rock.  There will be demons and magic and bards.  Plus one cute Prince who is in dire need of rescue.  Need I say more? I will also be posting a new short story soon to my blog that has been released from exclusivity!  it called Snow White: My Story ,  and was published by the wonderful anthology Mystic Signals and edited by the brilliant Carol Hightshoe.  This story was in Mystic Signals, issue13, and released in April 2012.  It is still available for p...

Hail Friends, It is April!  Sunshine.  Spring.  creative juices are flowing.  Energy is blooming and ideas churning as I write.  Spring cleaning also possessed me this weekend and I assaulted our writing room.  I reorganized bookcases and my desk.  No small task.  I purged junk and redid my hard copy files and stacks of insane creative writing notes and chapters.  Are dust bunnies dangerous? On other notes-my publisher assures me that my book will be on kindle soon.  It will be nice to see Gate of Souls, A Familiar's Tale, book 1 on kindle and plus I will be really reasonably priced (rumor has it $1.99).    Who says you can't get great quality at a low price?  I am trying to get a firm date from him (Joe-are you there?) about when I can look on Amazon and see my novel on kindle. Also my book cover for Tree of Bones (book 2 of A Familiar's Tale) is apparently forming into reality.  Be creative and ha...