Allow me to introduce myself...

[Melissa G. McPhail]

Hi!

I'm new to the site, but I've lurked about the forums for a bit and really love how much the community is actively involved and helping one another.

I'm a fantasy author working on the second book in my series. My first book, Cephrael's Hand, won a couple of SF/F awards, which is really nice as an indie author. I learned an enormous amount about writing fantasy, developing magical systems and world-building while designing this series, so I'm excited to be able to join a community of others who are interested in the same things.

To me, the fantasy genre overall is a showcase for everything that is good and honorable in man. I don't think you can really have a good fantasy novel without exploring the idea of good and evil in some way, and certainly the efforts of our characters to explore themselves and what they believe in - what they stand for - requires a lot of soul-searching that ultimately makes us question concepts of honor, loyalty, nobility and justice (to name just a few). As a philosophy major, I'm fascinated with these ideals and how their predominance or absence shapes a culture.

I look forward to interacting with everyone and would love to hear your thoughts on this subject if it's of interest to you also.

Best,
Melissa McPhail
Author, Cephrael's Hand
Buy it on Amazon: Amazon.com: Cephrael's Hand: A Pattern of Shadow & Light Book One (9781432759674): Melissa McPhail: Books

 

[Xanados]

Welcome, Melissa, to Mythic Scribes.

I can definitley appreciate your proffesional approach and presentation.

I hope you learn something new. We've a wealth of information here.

 

[Ghost]

To me, the fantasy genre overall is a showcase for everything that is good and honorable in man. I don't think you can really have a good fantasy novel without exploring the idea of good and evil in some way, and certainly the efforts of our characters to explore themselves and what they believe in - what they stand for - requires a lot of soul-searching that ultimately makes us question concepts of honor, loyalty, nobility and justice (to name just a few). As a philosophy major, I'm fascinated with these ideals and how their predominance or absence shapes a culture.

I think I love you. You should post this paragraph in the Why Fantasy is important to me. thread because it explains your thoughts on fantasy very well. I play around with some of those themes, too, especially honor and justice.

Welcome to Mythic Scribes and congrats on the book!

 

[San Cidolfus]

Hello and welcome to the Scribes, Ms. McPhail. Marrying fantasy fiction and a major in philosophy sounds like a good recipe for some colorful, conflicted characters. And by conflicted I mean tortured by their demon-haunted psyches. You're mean to your characters, aren't you? It's okay, you can admit it; we have a support group for that here, somewhere.

 

[Rikilamaro]

A big shiny welcome to you.

 

[Aidan of the tavern]

You sound like an interesting person, hearty welcomes to you. I agree with much of how you view fantasy. For me personally it represents the universal pros and cons of humanity no matter what world you're in.

 

[Melissa G. McPhail]

I think I love you. You should post this paragraph in the Why Fantasy is important to me. thread because it explains your thoughts on fantasy very well. I play around with some of those themes, too, especially honor and justice.

Welcome to Mythic Scribes and congrats on the book!

Oh, I'm blushing! I will definitely weigh in on that thread. Thanks for referring it to me.

 

[Melissa G. McPhail]

You sound like an interesting person, hearty welcomes to you. I agree with much of how you view fantasy. For me personally it represents the universal pros and cons of humanity no matter what world you're in.

Oh, I completely agree!

Thank you to everyone for the warm welcome.

 

[Melissa G. McPhail]

Hello and welcome to the Scribes, Ms. McPhail. Marrying fantasy fiction and a major in philosophy sounds like a good recipe for some colorful, conflicted characters. And by conflicted I mean tortured by their demon-haunted psyches. You're mean to your characters, aren't you? It's okay, you can admit it; we have a support group for that here, somewhere.

Oh boy, you nailed it. VERY conflicted characters. It's one of my specialities. How amazing that you would recognize that! Some of them are tortured (I think I love the tortured ones the most, as they really are the most interesting people, don't you think?). And others are sublime. I do bad things to the good ones and good things to the bad ones, and vice-cersa. You need that balance. It's like a special version of comedic relief.

Thank you so much for the welcome.

 

[Reaver]

Welcome to Mythic Scribes Melissa! It's great to have you here!

 

[The Blue Lotus]

Welcome to the space dear

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!!!

Need anything let us know.
See you in the threads,
~BL~