Book Review: Inseparable by E.B. Roshan

Book Review: Inseparable by E.B. Roshan

Posted on by R.M. Archer

Starting today, I’ll be posting book reviews for three straight weeks, because apparently September is a popular release month this year! First up, Inseparable by E.B. Roshan released yesterday and I had the opportunity to read an ARC.

(Required disclaimer that though I received a free copy to review, the following opinions are my own.)

What is Inseparable about?

War brought Radoslav and Dunya together. If she hadn’t become a refugee, and he hadn’t taken a job as an interpreter at the camp she was sent to, they never would have met. Now, they’re taking the first tentative steps toward a peaceful future for themselves and their adopted son. Settled in a fishing village far from the conflict zone, they have good reason to hope the worst of their troubles are behind them. They could not be more wrong…

Review

Inseparable is book six in Roshan’s Shards of Sevia series, and I have not read the first five, so I can’t speak to Continue reading “Book Review: Inseparable by E.B. Roshan” →

Building Fictional Organizations

Building Fictional Organizations

Posted on by R.M. Archer

Corporations, guilds, book clubs, cartels, unions, non-profits, religious sects… The world is full of organized groups, and your created world is probably already no exception (and if it is, I have questions). This post is all about how to take existing groups–and/or create new ones–and ensure that they are as purposeful, dynamic, and impactful on your characters and world as they should be. To help make things more concrete, I’ll be using the calligraphy guilds of Calligraphy Guild and Grantech from Lightning and Short Story Collection vol. 1 as examples throughout. Let’s get into it!

Core Purpose

In order for your fictional organization to hold together, justify its existence, and be distinguished Continue reading “Building Fictional Organizations” →

Using Timelines in the Writing Process

Using Timelines in the Writing Process

Posted on by R.M. Archer

This is a topic I’ve written about briefly in the past, but I want to cover it in more depth now with more experience behind me and the added context of my recent posts on building fictional calendars, birthday traditions, etc. I want to talk about how to give your story a sense of time and how to keep that timing consistent and believable within your story through the use of timelines. Let’s dive into some areas in which timelines can help your story!

Maintaining Character Ages and Birthdays

One of my biggest pet peeves with the writers of the Flash TV show for the first few seasons was the inconsistency of Barry Allen’s age. I don’t remember the exact numbers now, but they would make a big deal about how old he was when his mother died (11 or so, I think) and how that had been x many years ago, yet the age they communicated he was in the present day didn’t properly add up; he was a few years too young, according to the numbers that had been given (and reinforced) to the audience.

Don’t be like the Flash writers. Keep a timeline. (Especially if you’re going to Continue reading “Using Timelines in the Writing Process” →

Graduating YA – A collaborative series

Graduating YA – A collaborative series

Posted on by R.M. Archer

Hello! Today I’m back with another Realm Makers-inspired post, and this one is going to be a collaborative series! Stay tuned to the end to check out the other contributors’ posts.

The idea of this series is thanks to Shannon Dittemore (who is absolutely lovely, by the way). She was curious about how writing develops for authors who start writing young and default to YA when they’re getting started, whether they stick to YA or “graduate” to older audiences (“graduate” is my word, not hers). This made me think, which then made me want to explore the idea and see what other authors said! So here are some of my thoughts on how my writing has changed or stayed the same as I’ve gotten into my twenties, and the other contributing authors will be sharing their thoughts in their own posts!

The Journey

I started writing when I was around seven years old, so I started writing YA from the perspective of Continue reading “Graduating YA – A collaborative series” →

Revisiting Old Drafts: The Fairy Elves

Revisiting Old Drafts: The Fairy Elves

Posted on by R.M. Archer

Today I want to do something different, just because I thought it would be fun. I was recently reading through an old (as in… decade-old) draft to pick out what was salvageable. It had some worldbuilding gems… and also some hilariously awful lines. So today I’m going to share the highlights with you so that you can laugh at my younger self with me and get a sneak peek at some things that might show up in later projects. Sound fun? Here we go.

Introductory notes

I did not divide this book into chapters, so it’s one 30,000-word chunk. Yes, this does make it hard to follow. No, apparently I didn’t care.

It’s also very obvious from the entire first portion of this book (maybe the first 50 pages? again, no chapter breaks) that I loved Continue reading “Revisiting Old Drafts: The Fairy Elves” →