GiraffeCrafts

Kingdom Adventure - or Kingdom fiction, as I prefer to call it to be more inclusive of the romances and political intrigues - is a newly-named genre that I used to call "Historic" fantasy ... just for the mere fact that it felt  historic, but took place in a radically different world. I have Kingdom Adventure author Tricia Mingerink here to talk about this lovely genre that I actually got to be in on the naming of. (Even though Arielle didn't like my idea of "Pseudo-Historical" which is another of my names for it.) Tricia's Blades of Actorek was actually one of our defining models when we set its parameters. Tricia Mingerink Christian/Fantasy/Kingdom Fiction/Retellings Author of Dare Website ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Newsletter Kingdom Adventure is a genre I hadn’t heard about until recently…and it turns out I’d written a whole series of books that were kingdom adventure. Kingdom adventure is a relatively ...

Dragons are the most awesome part of fantasy - and I love that they come in all forms. Erica Laurie is here today to discuss a few of those forms. Erica's the author of a number of Korean-eque "fairy tales," including the lovely Chung Jo and the Sea Dragon, which, of course, contains a dragon and is absolutely lovely. Let's turn things over to her, shall we? Erica Laurie Fantasy/Retellings/Romance Author of Chung Jo and the Sea Dragon Website ~ Blog ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ Newsletter My topic for indie e-con is dragons. And the first thing I want to say is dragons are awesome. They can be good or evil. They can be mere beasts to sentient beings. The typical western dragon is a large scaly winged fire breathing beast. Some descriptions say serpent like, some say a giant lizard. Some have four legs, others have two.  No matter how you picture a dragon, it is a safe bet that if you captured that image and shared it, the viewer would know it’s a d...

When I'm not retelling fairy tales, I'm hurling between universes with my pal, Laura, aka, the Doorkeeper. But, alas, Laura said that she was too busy to write up a post about portal fiction, so I found a lovely Portal fantasy author. Morgan Elizabeth Huneke is the author of the Time Captives trilogy, which is a series about a bunch of kids from one family who get tossed into another world - over the course of multiple generations. Tons of fun. Highly recommend. She clearly knows what she's talking about. Morgan Elizabeth Huneke Christian/Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Dystopia Author of Time Captives Website ~ Blog ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Pinterest ~ YouTube ~ Newsletter “I—I opened a door, and just found myself here, your Majesty,” said Edmund. “Ha!” said the Queen, speaking more to herself than to him. “A door. A door from the world of men! I have heard of such things. This may wreck all.” —from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe ...

Say the word "fantasy" and one of two things is probably going to come to mind: cutsey Disney movies ... or the grand spralling plots of epics such as The Lord of the Rings. I have Jenelle Leanne Schmidt here today to talk about Epics, as she's the author of the pretty epic Minstrel's Song  series that finally finished just a couple months ago. I'm very much looking forward to finally sitting down and reading the conclusion of that epic adventure, hopefully soon! Jenelle Schmidt Christian/Fantasy/Retellings Author of Minstrel's Song Website ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Pinterest ~ YouTube ~ Newsletter Magic, dragons, impossible worlds, heroes, and Dark Lords trying to take over the world... That’s pretty much what most people think of when they hear the word “fantasy.” Or they might think of the names of a few authors, like J.R.R. Tolkien or J.K. Rowling. But there is more than just one type of fantasy, and if yo...

I actually put down "The Fairy Tale" for myself to cover today, buuuuuut realized that I really didn't have anything to say on the subject, so I'm shifting my focus over to something that no one else is talking about: The Non-magical fairy tale. Which may have you guys scratching your heads because I'm not a non-magical author... I'm not. But I have written two non-magical retellings, and have a few more planned. So let's dive in, shall we? At first glance, you might think that extracting the magic from a fairy tale would take away all of the magic ... I mean, obviously, right? Well, no. There are actually a number of brilliant magic-free retellings out there. My second favorite retelling of Cinderella is magic-free (and also still unpublished, sigh). And, as I said in the intro, I've written two of the genre myself. But why would you do it? Well, for a couple of reasons: 1. As a challenge. Magic is shortcuts, and removing magic means th...

Urban Fantasy. Now that's a fun genre that I'd love to try my hand at someday. I have Kyle Robert Shultz here to discuss this very topic. He's the author of the brilliant Beaumont & Beasley series, which is a hilarious mashup of English 1920's Urban with fairy tales. FAIRY TALES I SAY. And it's brilliant and hilarious, did I mention? Kyle Robert Shultz Fantasy/Retellings/Mystery Author of Beaumont and Beasley Website ~ Blog ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Pinterest ~ YouTube ~ Newsletter Wattpad Debunking the Myths of Urban Fantasy The urban fantasy subgenre isn't exactly the new kid on the block--technically, it's been around since the 1980's. However, it has enjoyed a massive surge of interest within the past ten years or so, primarily due to the popularity of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series. The problem is, sometimes it feels like everyone who writes UF these days tries to copy Butcher. Now, don...

And here we've come to fantasy - my favorite genre - and the last day of Indie e-Con. Let me just say, but this week has been INTENSE. We're also representing the new genre Kingdom Fiction  today. Kingdom Fiction is basically a blur between Historical Fiction and Fantasy - but the opposite of Historical Fantasy. While Historical Fantasy inserts magic into historical fiction, Kingdom Fiction is a fictional world that feels like our world. No weird races, no magic ... but also no Europe, Asia, America, Africa, ect. New world with its own history, but still abbiding by our own rules of physics. Don't forget, we have a word war going down - so be keeping track of your writing! The person who leaves the most comments across ALL of the Indie e-Con posts will win a special prize package. If you leave a review on the book of any Indie e-Con author THIS WEEK on your blog or on Goodreads,  you can enter it towards another giveaway. Sharing the posts via social media (Twitter,...