The City’s Dead Don’t Leave: Ghost Stories Where the Haunting Has Rules
The problem with most ghosts is that they can do anything. A haunting with no constraints is just an author […]
The Ones Who Talk to the Dead: Necromancy With Rules and a Price
Most fictional necromancy is a lighting choice. Green glow, robed figure, some skeletons in the courtyard, and no working theory
The Fine Print: Urban Fantasy Where a Fae Bargain Is a Binding Contract
A bargain is only interesting if it can be enforced. That is the whole difference between fae fiction that works
Romantasy for People Who Came From Urban Fantasy
If you arrived at romantasy from urban fantasy, you probably bounced off something. The complaint is usually the same, and
Urban Fantasy Where the City Is Doing the Work
Most urban fantasy is not urban. It’s a monster plot with a city-shaped backdrop, and you could relocate it to
Small Magic, Quiet Stakes: Fantasy Without a Prophecy in Sight
A minor magical talent is more interesting than a major one, and the reason is arithmetic. If you can level
Magical Shops and the People Who Have to Run Them
The appeal of a shop, in a fantasy novel, is that a shop has books. Not the reading kind —
Vampires Who Stay Predators All the Way Through
There’s a move that happens about two-thirds of the way through a lot of vampire novels, and once you’ve noticed
Vampire Courts: Immortal Politics With Actual Teeth
Immortality is a governance problem. That’s the thing most vampire fiction skips. If a predator lives forever, feeds on a
The Slow Burn That Actually Earns Its Ending
Slow burn is the most abused label in the genre. Most of the time it means the two leads are