How I Write Fantasy...

I'm going to be writing up some posts in the next several weeks in regards to my views of writing fantasy and more importantly how I write fantasy. Things I have worked on, things that took me a long freakin' time to create. Now, this may or may not help you if you are a fantasy writer, time will only tell. Most fantasy writers take so long in writing their work because of all the world building they have to do. Others just wing it.

So what, first of all, does world building include? Well, that depends on how far you want to get into it. Here is what my world building included:

* Magic

*Kingdoms

*Laws

*Creatures

*Characters

*Money

*Gods and Goddesses

These are just the main things. In each of those categories, there are numerous sub-categories. I had to make lots of decisions regarding the list above.

In making decisions on my world, in general, I had to start out with some pretty mundane stuff regarding the sun, moon, stars and so on.

Might sound silly to you, but in writing fantasy, you're here to think outside of the box. I literally came up with several choices on those basic things and rolled the dice. Not kidding! I used to play Dungeons and Dragons, so I pulled out all my dice. Six sided, four sided, twenty sided and I rolled, baby!

My world has two suns. If you think this might be a hot climate, it isn't really. The second sun is really, really tiny when you look at it up in the sky of my world.

I have one moon in my night sky and of course, my stars make up their own constellations which had to be written down in folklore and the like. I even have a story about the moon. I'm still working on the constellations and the stories associated with them.

So, over the next several weeks, I'll be posting things about my world and choosing from those categories above. Bear with me, as I worked on this world for well over ten years and it still isn't done or is it perfect. I'm constantly adding to it and changing things, but most of what I have is set in stone and is here to stay. So I hope you enjoy what I have to share!

Opinions Are Like...

Flowers. They're everywhere! And you thought I was going to say something else, didn't you?

So here is what I want to know from everyone out there who writes. Published or unpublished.

What do you think of self-publishing eBooks?

Do you think it is okay? Do you not like people who self-publish? Have you self-published your work and either regretted it or it was the best decision you ever made?

What is the better route? Querying and waiting, getting the rejection and querying again until you are accepted somewhere OR just self-publishing your work as an eBook with a paperback option?

Should you query for a certain amount of time and then if no one accepts your work go the self-publishing route?

I really am looking for some honest feedback on this. Please leave your comments and participate in the poll. I appreciate everyone's opinion but I also don't want this turning into a huge, nasty debate. (Good thing we aren't talking politics or religion, eh?) So play nice!