by Joseph Malik | Feb 2, 2020 | General
Radcon this year is my busiest schedule at any con I’ve done, yet. As you can see below, several of these panels are geared toward me in particular, and several more are geared toward my particular areas of expertise as an author, adventurer, martial artist,...
by Joseph Malik | Jan 14, 2020 | General, The New Magic, Worldbuilding
So, something fun. We took a week and did a retreat to the desert. Well, not so much a retreat as a frontal assault, but the point is, we left the rainy Northwest and ended up in the desert. Some of you may remember that the desert and I don’t get along so well. I’m...
by Joseph Malik | Sep 7, 2016 | Worldbuilding
Today, I want to touch on the only thing in fantasy more divisive than elves. Prologues. Let me start by saying that I don’t hate prologues. At least, not categorically. In fact, I’m thrilled when I read a properly-written prologue, and yes, there is a...
by Joseph Malik | Jun 28, 2016 | Dragon's Trail, Worldbuilding
Lots of compliments on the map. So let’s talk maps a bit more. Part of making a good fantasy map is developing the terrain well enough that you can draw it from memory a couple of times freehand and have them more or less line up. I have a couple of advantages,...
by Joseph Malik | Jun 17, 2016 | Dragon's Trail, Worldbuilding
Holy crap. So, I’m sending the finished — no, really — manuscript out to my editor next week. The cover is in the final formatting stages. I have a marketing plan and budget in place. And yesterday I started working on Book II. Sort of. Book II was...