I'm always criticizing eurocentric fantasy worldbuilding, but one thing I think it's underused are city-states and trade republics and leagues. Not that they don't exist, but they're often in the background, the fantasy genre is so focused on monarchies and dynasties and noble drama, while those systems have so much room for intrigue and stuff without getting into "who's the TRUE heir of the super magical monarch" (yes, I know they had aristocratic families that ruled almost as monarchs, but trust me, Medici drama is another beast from regular feudal stuff)

Venice with its stupidly complex election system and their eternal rivals in Genoa, Florence home of the Rennaissance, the Hanseatic League, and lesser known examples like Novgorod, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Taifa of Córdoba, the Consolat de Mar (technically not a republic but kind of an Iberian Hansa) and if we go farther back, the leagues of city states of antiquity... you know what, I'm bored of feudalism. Next time I do a fantasy setting, it will all be city states and republics. Fuck feudalism.

I could not agree more; I am a floozy for Venice and the Hanseatic League and about to have a riotously good time looking up more about the others!

But I will also note that if this is also your idea of a good time, may I interest you in my fantasy trilogy set in a belligerent independent trading city-state, highly influenced by Venice and Byzantium (and the Caucasus)? With bonus alchemy, swordfighting street gangs, dirtbag disaster-bi sorcerers and snarky queer love interests!

Start your visit to the Burnished City with Notorious Sorcerer! (The third book in the trilogy lands December 2024. I hope.)

"Owe" is an icky word, but if we're using it...

I owe it to readers to give them what I want. I am bringing them the dead bird of my wildest imaginings for them to accept as tribute or relegate to the dustbin as they please. (I don't care which, I already had my fun stalking, capturing and murdering it by myself. I will always have the taste of feathers and glory in my mouth. You can have some too if you like.)

Readers owe it to the rest of us to write down what they want and share it with the group so we are all enriched by an infinite variety of wildest imaginings.

Pink Floyd 🖤

[text ID: the last time you wore a band t-shirt, what was the band? /end ID]

I watched When Harry Met Sally yesterday so now I'm curious how everyone's parents met. Any and all stories are welcome!

They were both members of a "light opera society" (basically: staging musicals) in our small town. At a party one night, my father sang a rather irreverent and occasionally rude song about bible stories. When he finished, my mother piped up with the verses he'd forgotten. (My family brand is strong in several ways.)

It's here!

It's queer!

There's people for whom "we're leaving in the morning" means "we ride at dawn motherfuckers, you can finish waking up and getting dressed in the car, we'll grab breakfast somewhere along the way", and there's people for whom it means "we'll get going somewhere before noon".

And then they get married.

btw guys I have a book... 👀

In a city filled with dangerous yet heavily regulated alchemical magic, a man from the slums discovers he may be its only hope to survive certain destruction in this wickedly entertaining fantasy. 

Welcome to Bezim, where sword-slinging bravi race through the night and rich and idle alchemists make magic out of mixing and measuring the four planes of reality.

Siyon Velo, Dockside brat turned petty alchemist, scrapes a living hopping between the planes to harvest ingredients for the city’s alchemists. But when Siyon accidentally commits an act of impossible magic, he’s catapulted into the limelight—which is a bad place to be when the planes start lurching out of alignment, threatening to send Bezim into the sea.

It will take a miracle to save the city. Good thing Siyon has pulled off the impossible before. Now he just has to master it.

A dazzling fantasy bursting with wild magic, chaotic sword-fighting street gangs, brazen flirting, malevolent harpies, and one defiant alchemist.

Out 13th September 2022 from Orbit in the US and UK!

[ Add on GoodReads | Buy US | Buy UK ] (Support your local bookstore!)

BTW GUYS, I NOW HAVE TWO BOOKS 👀👀

The thrilling sequel to Davinia Evans’s wickedly entertaining debut fantasy follows our favourite irreverent alchemists, high society ladies, and swashbuckling street gangs as they wrestle with the nature of reality itself.

Siyon Velo might be acknowledged as the Alchemist. He may have even stabilized the planes and stopped Bezim from ever shaking into the sea again. But that doesn’t mean he has any idea what’s he doing-and it won’t be long before everyone knows it.

Then mythical creatures once confined to operas and myths are spotted around Bezim. A djinn invades one of Zagiri’s garden parties, and whispers of a naga slithering through the Flower District are all Anahid hears at the card table.

Magic is waking up in the Mundane. It’s up to Siyon to figure out a way to stop it, or everything he’s worked hard to save will come crashing down.

Out 14th/16th November 2023 from Orbit in the US, UK and other territories.

[ Add on Goodreads | Buy Aus | Buy US | Buy UK ]

Disclaimer: I know that some folks continue to wear some or all of these items in the 21st century. This is more asking what you wish would become fashionable again so you could wear it without receiving any second glances from strangers

That disclaimer baffles me, and clearly I'm not the intended audience for this poll. I have orange tiger stripes dyed into my hair right now. Getting second glances from strangers is the whole point.

Expanding a thought from a conversation this morning:

In general, I think "Is X out-of-character?" is not a terribly useful question for a writer. It shuts down possibility, and interesting directions you could take a character.

A better question, I believe, is "What would it take for Character to do X?" What extremity would she find herself in, where X starts to look like a good idea? What loyalties or fears leave him with X as his only option? THAT'S where a potentially interesting story lies.

In practice, I find that you can often justify much more from a character than you initially dreamed you could: some of my best stories come from "What might drive Character to do [thing he would never do]?" As long as you make it clear to the reader what the hell pushed your character to this point, you've got the seed of a compelling story on your hands.

this connects to some REALLY good writing advice i remember from @batshaped

Characters are contradictory, just like people are. What would it take for them to do the thing they've told themselves they'd never do, and how would they try to justify it?

So what I'm hearing is, "Under what circumstances would he fucking do that?"

Altogether, I really like the way americans say "can I help you?" as a polite general one-size-fits-all stand-in for "who the fuck are you/what the fuck are you doing here/how the fuck did you get in here/what the fuck are you staring at/what is your fucking problem." Such a polite way of going "bitch what the fuck."

Just for comparison, the Aussie version of this is: "You right, mate?" (Can be said in the manner of the barkeep inquiring if you need another beverage; can also be said in the manner of someone about to finish the fight they think you're starting.)

The Middleman Sayings!

PALM SPRINGS 2020 | dir. Max Barbakow