Through good fortune or perhaps bad fortune, my most popular flavor text is also one of which I’m most proud. I had studied the use of the chiasmus in writing as a way to give an idea resonance and power. In a chiasmic phrase, two words are repeated in reverse order. For instance, Lord Byron … Read more →

To promote my sanity, I have been writing a fan fiction for Disney’s Frozen. The loving relationship between the two sisters is an elixir for these troubled times. Though I adore the whimsy of the series, I also believe Frozen 2 introduced discord between the two sisters, when Elsa left Anna to adventure alone over … Read more →

The Ixalan Magic Story set up multiple narrative promises, all of which were broken. This fan fiction explores what it might’ve looked like in War of the Spark if they had been kept. Date on Tin Street Vraska and Jace sat outside in an eerily peaceful Tin Street Market. Goblins moved carefully between the stalls, … Read more →

It’s not close. The card name I wrote that most people compliment is Runaway Steam-Kin. When a streamer gets run over by the elemental they’ll often say, “That’s an aptly named card.” When it goes off the rails on video coverage I have heard announcers say the card is true to name. I’ve flung fire … Read more →

Flavor text and card names immerse players into the world of Magic. Join me in returning to the first plane of the game, which has weathered apocalypse after apocalypse to now flourish. Card names appear in the upper left, and flavor text is at the bottom of the card in italics. For this first section … Read more →

I am skating-down-pyramids excited to announce that I wrote creative text for Amonkhet. For the cards below I penned the name and wrote the flavor text in italics. For the following cards, I etched hieroglyphs in 2016 that were transcribed a year later by Wizards of the Coast into flavor text. And I wrote the … Read more →

As promised and foretold, I will now reveal the dark lords quoted in my most recent epic fantasy. Later in the book, I give due tribute to the most memorable villains who all in their own wicked ways made possible my favorite stories. Following this, I’ll announce the nefarious schemer who managed to guess more … Read more →

In epic fantasy, the author has the opportunity to create a large and diverse cast of characters. It was more likely to be large and uniform when I was growing up, but I like to think the realms of imagination are expanding to include people of all identities. One orientation that I am dragon-flight excited … Read more →

“I can resist everything but temptation.” — Oscar Wilde I admit to have sinned, in an authorial sense. A story should avoid anything that draws a reader out of the narrative. Each word should immerse. Nothing should remind that this is but a book full of ink symbols, rather than a dazzling mind adventure. Fantasy … Read more →

Update: I have now spoken on multiple podcasts about Magic cards. My voice is ghosting its way through the ether, and here’s where you can catch it. Most recently on Commanderin, I spoke about Leovold in Legacy, Amonkhet flavor, and how I’m definitely not a lich. I talked about bringing minor characters alive and how … Read more →