July 6 - 31, 2009
"Magic, Monsters and Amour: Creating a Believable Paranormal, Fantasy or SF World"
by Marilynn Byerly
Are vampires, fairies, and space aliens real? If you create the right background for your novel, they will be to your reader. Marilyn Byerly, lauded by reviewers for "building a world that combines both integrity and depth in an entertaining way," shows you how to develop a fantasy, science fiction, or paranormal world from scratch...how to invent creatures to populate it...and how to make your novel utterly believable. She'll teach you the ins and outs of research, fresh ways to use creatures like vampires, and the means to avoid various traps many authors have fallen into.
Topics include:
* The three methods of world-building--their advantages and disadvantages
* World-building questions and resources
* What not to do in building your world
* How to create the perfect alien or magical character
* Putting your world-building on the page
* Avoiding SF hazards, magic messes, and info dumping
Marilynn Byerly's two passions are writing and teaching. She has taught writing, reviewed books, and published writing articles. Her articles have been used as course work for writing and publishing programs at several universities. Her romance, science fiction, fantasy, and suspense novels have won awards including the National Readers Choice Award, the Sapphire, the Affaire de Coeur, and the Write Touch.
To register for the "Magic, Monsters and Amour: Creating a Believable Paranormal, Fantasy, or SF World" course, click HERE.