Category Archives: Writing

The power and the joy of maps, fantasy and not

Posted on March 23, 2012 by joelyblack

At the end of last month, four of my friends went off to SFX Weekender. I wasn’t able to go, but they promised to report back to me on a panel of special interest to me. It was about fantasy … Continue reading →

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The Aftermath: Everything I regret doing (and not doing) in The Excision

Posted on January 29, 2012 by joelyblack

This is what happens at the end of every book. Like grief, there’s a process to finishing a book that includes the pre-finish “ARGH! Now I have to finish it!” and then the aftermath, the hours of saying to everybody … Continue reading →

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Tackling the problems of language in a fantasy world

Posted on September 10, 2011 by joelyblack

I’m writing this as I wait for the taxi to show up and whisk me off to the airport, after a morning spent discussing the problems of language in Amnar. The language problem is specific: Amnari are non-religious, have no … Continue reading →

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How not to get me to buy your book on Twitter

Posted on August 31, 2011 by joelyblack

Typically, I dislike writing posts like this. Posts that are 1. a tad negative and ranty and 2. could be seen as trying to grab readers with a headline. I languish happily in internet obscurity right now but this… this … Continue reading →

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Hands-on Research

Posted on August 19, 2011 by joelyblack

For the longest time, I’ve been privately nagging myself about my (lack of) knowledge when it comes to combat and physical violence. Not for lack of reading, she says, glancing at a pile of books that range from Stalin’s Great … Continue reading →

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The power of genre fiction, from urban horror to weird fantasy

Posted on August 15, 2011 by joelyblack

“How can somebody like you write fantasy fiction?” I was asked this question the other day, quite seriously. Today I thought I’d answer it. The questioner wasn’t present, but had asked this of a friend having met me and wondered. … Continue reading →

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Comparing is for meerkats

Posted on August 4, 2011 by joelyblack

Alexander Orlov has, judging by the adverts, struck gold in the concept of comparing meerkats. I’m not sure why meerkats need to compare each other, or themselves, or how one makes money from this, but it’s all the rage over … Continue reading →

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Steak and chips… in a bookshop?

Posted on July 27, 2011 by joelyblack

Yesterday I went for coffee with a friend of mine. I suggested we go to Waterstone’s, the huge branch on Deansgate, which is near where I live. Nothing remarkable there, I hear you say. I didn’t have any particular reason … Continue reading →

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How to read the Amnar books, or which one to read first

Posted on April 28, 2011 by joelyblack

This is definitely a post I should’ve written ages ago, and one that should perhaps be a page. I’ve put on the Get the Books page that it’s best to start with The Inheritor, but of course, but I still … Continue reading →

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Writing Diary: What to reveal and what to hide

Posted on April 24, 2011 by joelyblack

Book: The Impostor (Inheritor II) Words: 14,211 A few times recently people who’ve been reading The Execution or The Expulsion have asked me about some of the more enigmatic things Arandes says. All this talk of controversy and mysterious political … Continue reading →

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