Both Geek and Girl Both Geek and Girl By Megan Cutler | November 30, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment These days, women have to fight to defend their position in the ‘geek sphere.’ Women are either quizzed or ridiculed the moment they express an interest in something. Women are accused of being ‘fake geeks'(for what reason I can’t imagine). And there are endless discussions on the portrayal of female characters in movies, games and … Read More Read More
Persistent Creativity Persistent Creativity By Megan Cutler | November 9, 2015 | Comments 2 comments In high school, my friends and I loved Sailor Moon. It was in the midst of revived popularity, largely because the end of season two had finally arrived in America, followed by seasons three and four. Sailor Moon was, in many ways, my gateway to writing. It’s one of those worlds that inspired many writers … Read More Read More
Ye Olde York Ye Olde York By Megan Cutler | October 26, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment Our first experience with York in England was a both lacklustre and whirlwind. We stopped briefly on our way to Edinburgh on a family road trip. We only had time to catch lunch and visit the Jorvik Viking Centre before we hit the road again. My husband and I both agreed we wanted to see … Read More Read More
The Tower of London The Tower of London By Megan Cutler | October 5, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment The Tower of London is an interesting bit of living history. Though it is no longer a royal residence, and is no longer maintained by the crown, it still plays an active role in the kingdom. The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers is still housed there, as are the Yeomen Warders (better known as ‘Beefeaters‘). Though … Read More Read More
Getting Inside a Character’s Head – Part 1: Questions Getting Inside a Character’s Head – Part 1: Questions By Megan Cutler | September 21, 2015 | Comments 1 comment Characters are central to any story. If your characters aren’t interesting, no one’s going to spend 100+ pages reading about them. Interesting characters are three-dimensional; there’s more to them than their appearance and motivation. Just as your world should have pieces that move unseen in the background while your characters are elsewhere, every character should … Read More Read More
The Admonitions Scroll The Admonitions Scroll By Megan Cutler | September 14, 2015 | Comments 1 comment When we learned we’d be leaving England, we decided to see as much as we could before our departure. Flying across an ocean is expensive, and our new destination was even further away than we started. Atop our list were more trips to the British Museum. We had visited the exhibits for all of our … Read More Read More
World Building Basics World Building Basics By Megan Cutler | August 10, 2015 | Comments 3 comments World building is a topic to which entire books have been devoted. If you’ve ever played a pen and paper role playing game, the core books are simply presentations of world building results. The game designers have provided you the backbone and elements required to tell a story. I wrote recently about the world building … Read More Read More
Highlights Highlights By Megan Cutler | August 3, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment When we finished our tour of the British Museum Enlightenment gallery, a mini museum of its own, we headed toward a special exhibit centred around the Vikings. I wasn’t fond of the way the British Museum laid out their special exhibits. It seemed random and lacklustre compared to a place like the ROM, which tends … Read More Read More
The Mystery of the Ogopogo The Mystery of the Ogopogo By Megan Cutler | July 20, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment Did you know the Loch Ness monster has a little brother? Apparently he lives in a lake in British Columbia. Actually, I’m sure Nessie has many ‘siblings’ that inhabit many lakes across the world. These creatures are known as cryptids (part of the pseudoscience referred to as ‘cryptozoology’). That is, creatures which have been suggested, … Read More Read More
Shiny and Chrome Shiny and Chrome By Megan Cutler | July 13, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment I’ve made my feelings about Mad Max; Fury Road loud and clear; I love it. I would put it on endless repeat, if I could. We went to see it twice, which is something my husband and I rarely do. But we loved the original Mad Max, and we loved Road Warrior even more (you … Read More Read More