Recent content by Mectojic

Thanks all, that's very helpful. I am still tossing up the idea of helium over hydrogen. In that sort of era, helium would be very difficult to attain in high quantities, but perhaps if the airship was specially designed for that air-to-air combat, the investment would be worthwhile. As for the...

I want to write about an airship battle in a steampunk-inspired book (more realistic than speculative). I would love to receive any info or ideas people have on how this might work. This is in an era where access to incendiary weapons do not exist yet, so there should be no really simple...

Crazy science question: Is it possible to have an anticyclonic storm on planet Earth, which would last for months, maybe even years? This storm would not be red like Jupiter - I'm talking something practical, like a thunderstorm, simply extended via some means that last for a much longer...

The main thing with a favourite character is that you know them personally, and intimately. Mine is called Lance; he lives in the shadow of his much more famous (and magical) brother. He wants a career in music but ultimately, out of his father's demands, joins the army. In battle, he saves a...

If you want some example of complex, I suggest you take a look at the Looper movie. There is so much to explain about time travel in all that, but it works. Why? The monologue descriptions throughout the film. Not all put right at the start. I recommend, for the most critical point, that you put...

Thanks for this info, skip.knox. I wasn't sure if traditional publishing did it themselves: though I believe that when you submit the first few chapters or pages to a publishing company, I thought they wanted an abstract of the story + genre description? I've seen ono publishing sites that...

These are all helpful, thank you all. I'm going to have to say that this should not be classed "fantasy". I feel like people go into fantasy looking to go "oooh", and they may interpret metaphors as magic; they may even think something supernatural is happening when my characters hallucinate...

For many writers, it is absolutely obvious what genre they are writing in. Here's my thing: I don't know the genre of my novel, beyond saying that it's "fiction". I'll describe so you can help me out. My novel is set in another world, during the industrial revolution. The characters are...

I think the problem with philosophy differences is the risk of isolating the audience from the characters. I mean, it can be comical for everyone to believe their planet is actually 2D, and the stars are light bulbs... but some things can be more difficult to comprehend. But things like eugenics...

A large amount of people on this forum are always citing and mentioning the ASOIAF or Game of Thrones series. Do we have too much of an obsession with it, simply because it's so popular? I fear that there might arise a dangerous level of copying that could mirror Tolkien's day.

The name Kudavu - I was using it as a male name. But it suddenly dawned on me that it could be a female name too. What do you think?

Thanks for that. To restate "cardboard" - it isn't thick at all. I would say about the thickness of a 7 pieces of paper, tightly together. In other words, not bulky. Given your experience, there are companies out there that can scan things of that level? That would be great, I'll look around (in...

I must ask, being a total amateur with these things - I have a map on cardboard, probably near A1 size. How do I get that whole thing scanned nicely? Is there a shop that can do it for me?

I wonder if the authorities, or the kings, or whatever you have, could live above the others. What do I mean? Well many places in the world were once marshland and swamp. They filled the places in with land to make them habitable. What if your ruler lives on an acre of land that is fertile and...

Thanks to Gryphos' thread for answering some questions. It inspired me to do this one. Mine extends to a question about species combined with nationalities. In my novels, I have different species of hominids, that occupy different countries. They are the following: humans, thals, Jarthuvians...