Fictional Festivals

Writing fiction is hard. Writing fantasy can be even harder. Fully immersing your reader in your made-up world can sometimes seem impossible. How do you fit all that world building into your story without overwhelming or scaring off readers? One trick I was taught is to use reality to inspire …

Ten Amazing Fantasy & Sci-Fi Weapons

Fantasy weapons are awesome in many ways. Many are unique, and they all have different strengths and weaknesses. Below, I’ve chosen some of my favourite, and assessed their relative usefulness. Which will be the top weapon? Read on to find out!   The Proton Pack What it is: a handheld …

Ninjas & Samurais: Weapons in Japan

Our resident American-in-Japan, Corinne Morier, is here to tell us about Japanese weapons!   I studied Japanese language and culture in university, and during my four years there and three years since, I’ve studied quite a few aspects of Japanese culture, such as manners, idioms, history, and pop culture. But …

What are Sais?

Introducing author J.E. Klimov to tell us all about the sai: The sai play a major role in my up and coming novel, The Aeonians. However, the more I discussed my book to my fellow colleagues, friends, and family, I realized that many weren’t aware of what they are. And they …

Sharp Pointy Things

Well, looks like I’ve been allowed to make a blog post here at JL. Muahahaha! *ahem* *cough* Sorry about that–I don’t know what happened there.   Okay, moving on. So, today I get to talk about my favorite sharp pointy things: swords.   Alas, this isn’t one of mine. In …

A Very Japanese Halloween

Author Corinne Morier is our guest poster today. Corinne is an American currently living in Japan whilst on the JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) Programme, and she’s here to share what Halloween is like in Japan with us.   Japanese culture is ripe with urban legends and ghost stories. So …