More than One Way to Make a Vampire

In honor of the recent release of a certain movie with vampires and quivering-lipped girls, I thought of how different authors have portrayed vampires over the ages.
For example, traditional fiction describes vampires as somewhat captivating creatures with lothario tendencies. In Eastern European folklore, however, they were simply re-animated corpses.
In some fiction, sunlight is the death [...]

Fighters, Choose Your Weapons!

What’s a good spec fic story without some good conflict? And what’s a good conflict without a bit o’ bada$$ weaponry?
What would I have in my arsenal?
-The subtle knife from Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy.
Being able to slice a hole between worlds? I’d be visiting Chocolate World like crazy. Not to mention that [...]

Going Greek: The New Trend

Okay, so it’s not the new trend yet, but I SO want it to be.
I’m not talking frat houses, by the way.
I’m talking all things of Greek mythology.
All the gods and goddesses: Apollo, Aphrodite, Hades…
All the creatures: centaurs, chimeras, griffins, harpies…
All the legends: the Argonauts, the Trojan War, the Theban Cycle…
Yes, there are books out [...]

Catching Fire Discussion, Part 2

REMINDER: POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD
Time for our second round of questions!
Symbolism is prevalent throughout most good stories.
An obvious example in this story is the mockingjay, a symbol of hope and courage by the people in the districts. Did anything else strike you as symbolic in this novel?
Joni Sensel:
Loads, including:
Snares — the setting of them, the idea [...]

Catching Fire Discussion, Part 1

REMINDER: POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD
It seems fitting to start off with something that plays such a huge part in both books. So, here’s the first question posed to our authors:
When writing series and sequels, it’s important to maintain continuity but avoid repetition. What are your thoughts about Kat and Peeta’s re-entrance to the arena (and their [...]

Let Ye Be Warned!

We here at the Spectacle thought it would be fun to read a spec fic book as a group and have a discussion about the content as it relates to craft.
This Wednesday and Thursday, we’ll be talking about Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins.
Obviously, there will be spoilers mentioned, so if you haven’t read the book, [...]

The Thing About Talking Animals…

“I don’t want stories with talking animals.”
That is often the mantra chanted by agents and editors alike.
But why?
There are some GREAT stories/series with talking animals out there. To name a few:
Watership Down
The Chronicles of Narnia
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh
The Land of Elyon
The 101 Dalmatians
Charlotte’s Web
I posed this question to a fabulous group of [...]

Deus ex Machina and Foreshadowing: Advice for Writers

Deus ex machina.
It’s pronounced “DAY-us EX MAH-kin-a”, and you’ve probably seen the term before.
The literal translation is “God from a Machine”, and it comes from ancient times when the Greeks would put on plays and introduce one of the gods to the story, bringing the actor to the stage on some sort of machine (a [...]

The Magic of SCBWI

I had the awesome opportunity to attend SCBWI’s annual national conference in L.A. a week ago, and you’ll be pleased to know that the spec fic world was well represented.  I saw the likes of:
Holly Black (Valiant)
Kathleen Duey (Skin Hunger)
R.L. LaFevers (Theodosia Throckmorton and the Staff of Osiris)
Ingrid Law (Savvy)
Marlene Perez (Dead is the New [...]

And The Winner Is…

The winner of this month’s book giveaway is Rebecca Langston-George at Sunset Middle School in Bakersfield. Congratulations, Rebecca! Please shoot me an email with your mailing address:
jo underscore whittemore at hotmail dot com