Recent content by Gwynneth White

Yes Yes Yes. I have just finished the Hunger Games trilogy and if I had to bump into Collins on a street corner I'd thump her one. Hard. And then another for good measure. She took a brilliant story with a dynamic character and turned it into a depressing pity-party. And why when it flew in the...

In the first draft of my book one of the MC was a real swine. i had him do everything from murdering his father to chaining his son to the wall... but he was never happy with it. He kept trying to tell me that he wasn't that kind of person, that he had stronger motivations than I was giving...

I think the key to all this is character - not world building. Take Harry Potter, Twilight, and now Hunger Games - the books which i have launched fantasy onto the wold stage. All of them were character driven first. Strong - or in Bella and Edward's case whinny - characters led the story. where...

The Phoenicians were the first to circumnavigate Africa - regardless of what we in South Africa are taught about old Vasco de Gama. Herodotus reports that they were sent by the Egyptian King Necho II in about 595BC. There is a huge amount of evidence found in ruins in both SA and Mozambique -...

I hear what you are saying.... and trust me, in my story the devil is winning. The 'good guys' are on the run and they know it. But I agree, I don't need to talk about the 'devil' as such.

LOL... I just love that. And yes, I like your thinking. My MCs are mortal and they interact with the immortal dead - both the 'good' guy and the 'bad'. I know it sound silly, but I do like the water-cooler approach. Thank you.

Thanks Aegrus That's the beauty of fantasy, isn't it? You will just have to read Cursed when it come out to know how Europeans arrived in Africa then. And left before leaving a mark - other than the legend of the Lost City of the Kalahari. Interesting comment about religion. It feeds into my...

Sashamerideth, that would be the obvious answer BUT ... The ancient world set in southern Africa has a European heritage. And they aren't my problem because they have their own pagan gods I have constructed. But they are nothing more than that - my creation. I am asking more about the...

In my YA novel I have the spirits of the unborn, the living and the dead all playing on one stage. The book is set on planet Earth as we know it. Part of the story takes place in present time and part of in 982AD. There is a time-travel element which allows the modern day characters go back to...

The first thing I thought about when I read your post was Terry Pratchett's Discworld. He didn't exactly stick to any known formula, did he? And think how brilliant it is. I sometimes think that we get too bogged down with what should and shouldn't be in a fantasy world. Why must it always be...

You are positively evil! i love it.

I can't spell ... as you will see as you get to know me. Thank heavens my wonderful editor who usually sorts all that out for me.

I've been getting the newsletter for a while - I loved the one on how to write a battle - and have now finally decided to add you lot to my list of places where I hang out on the web. i hope to contribute as much as I gain. And I look forward to making some good friends. Nothing gives me a...

I have a similar problem. I have a story in which modern-day characters (teenagers complete with all the slang) go back in time to 982AD. I have chosen to have the ancient characters speak in 'normal' English, partly because my target market are YA. Am I on the right track, or should I give them...

I have the same question. Is it in the definition of God? What will God allow and won't won't he allow? What is God's motivation in killing off this character? Does God - in this world - hold sway over life and death? And also, I would be careful about killing off THE main protagonist because...