Josh Vogt - Fantasy Author & Freelancer Posts

There’s always a mixture of joy and trepidation when throwing myself into a new story. I tend to spend at least a couple weeks developing a world, with all its magic, characters and plot until I feel comfortable enough to start working steadily on the chapters and scenes. However, because…

I’m not sure who exactly came up with this, but apparently a new holiday is on the scene. Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day. I think I could get behind this celebration, except for all the paradoxes it might produce. December 8th is the day, and here are the…

Why do we believe in the supernatural? How does this mode of thinking come about in a world that seems to primarily be based on physical experience and observation? What causes that leap from natural to super? Is it an element of heritage and upbringing? Is the supernatural world simply…

I’ve got a few posts coming up that revolve around the concept of the supernatural, and the origins of some of our beliefs in various paranormal and theological tropes that fall into that realm. In anticipation of this, here’s a fun resource that goes beyond just mythology or religion and…

You may recall when I gave an initial review of a sample of Matthew Hughes‘ book, Majestrum, with the motivation of receiving a copy of said title. Well, I did receive the book, I did read the whole thing, and now I’m back to give a better-educated opinion on the…

It finally feels like the holiday season, since we woke up to this: Which, of course, required a romp in the nearby park. I need to be careful, otherwise the puppy will steal this blog away from me and start posting on her eternal playfulness. So the writing question of…

Jim Butcher has resurrected his blog to post this insightful article on bringing a story to its satisfying climax (and yes, he shamelessly uses the sex analogy). http://jimbutcher.livejournal.com/3447.html He defines the climax as nothing more than the answer to the Big Question that has been plaguing the protagonist for 400+…

This disturbs me. Does it disturb you? We’ve all heard the stories about patients getting the wrong foot amputated, and that’s bad enough. But the wrong side of the brain? Hospital Makes 3rd Brain Surgery Mistake If I ever need brain surgery, I really want to have a doctor who,…

Of course, one goes to a famous fantasy author to work a little bit of magic in someone’s life. Neil Gaiman helped a young man propose to his beau (who was also a rabid fan of the author) at a book signing. Read about it here, with photos: http://diveabout.multiply.com/journal/item/13/The_Proposal_co_Neil_Gaiman See…

The newest e-reader has arrived to paw and snort in the market arena: Amazon’s Kindle. My take? Cool gadget, but I’m still too poor to buy one. And I probably wouldn’t use it much anyways. Wouldn’t use it? Nope. I’m pretty sure I’m going to be one of those generational…