Game of Thrones – Mythic Scribes Test Site

The Walking Dead is Not About Zombies

It’s about us. This is what I tell people every time I proselytize to the unconverted.

Consider me a missionary that goes out into the world and speaks the good news about good stories including The Walking Dead. When it comes to this particular conversion, I go to those who are “not into zombies”, “think zombies have been overdone”, and even those who “don’t really watch a lot of TV.”

The Walking Dead started as a graphic novel series, and is still going strong as that. If you prefer that medium, then I recommend it as much as I do the TV Series that came later. The two share a lot of things including characters, story lines, back stories.

Killing Off Characters – Knowing When to Drop the Guillotine

by Codey Amprim

Killing off your characters, while heartbreaking for some, and a joyous field day for others, is something that should not be taken lightly. Kill off too many characters, and your audience becomes irritated. Kill of a beloved character prematurely, and you may face a backlash.

Yet there comes a time when a character has had his moment of glory, and is ready to be retired. If you handle this correctly, you can create a monumental force of emotion in the story. But before you drop the guillotine, understand when it is, and is not, appropriate to do so.

Here are some points to consider:

Imaginative Realism – Interview with Marc Fishman, Illustrator of A Dance with Dragons

by Nathan Lauffer

Divine Hammer: Kingpriest Trilogy, Volume Two (Cover)

Imaginative Realism is the art of painting or drawing what doesn’t exist. It’s the act of bringing visual life to fantasy, often based on the words of fantasy authors.

Several months ago I knew Marc Fishman to be an amazing artist and an insightful human being, and A Song of Ice and Fire was just a series of books that people kept pestering me to read. Then an HBO series (Game of Thrones) based on the books came along, and I decided to live tweet during it for Mythic Scribes. I read the first book, watched the series and was hooked.

Shortly thereafter I learned that Marc was illustrating a limited edition version of George R.R. Martin’s A Dance with Dragons.

True Blood: Is It More Than Erotic Vampires?

by Nathan Lauffer

I’ve been at the helm of the Twitter account (@MythicScribes) every Sunday to live tweet about True Blood (using the hash tag #TrueBlood, along with the show-specific hash tag if HBO specifies one). Generally speaking, I haven’t been very interested in erotic fantasy writing, movies or television. When my wife tuned to HBO for the premiere episode of True Blood, the unique opening sequence hooked me immediately. Alan Ball, series creator, opens the show every week with a snippet of the show’s bottom line: a very modern spin on the classic vamp themes of sex, religion and death. There is something very raw and symbolic about the music and images used, and it served its purpose (which can be viewed here). I had to watch.

How Much Do Endings Matter?

by Test Administrator

Recently a feud of sorts has developed between George R.R. Martin, author of A Game of Thrones, and Damon Lindelof, the mastermind behind Lost. When Martin was asked if he felt nervous about ending his series, he answered that he feared “pulling a Lost.” When Lindelof learned of this interview, he lashed out on Twitter, understandably miffed that his show has become synonymous with disappointing endings.

This exchange prompted me to consider a point of crucial importance to all writers. Specifically, how much do endings really matter? If a story is otherwise excellent, can a poor ending bring the whole thing to ruin? Conversely, can an outstanding ending elevate a mediocre story to greatness?

Game of Thrones – The First 100 Pages

by Nathan Lauffer

Since Mythic Scribes is going to be live tweeting during each episode of Game of Thrones, starting on April 17^th at 9:00pm, I decided that I would read the book. At first, it was slow going. In fact, I was a little concerned that it wouldn’t keep my interest. After all, how can I tweet about something that bores me? The prologue was great because it had the mysterious mythology that always attracts me. However, after it I was starting to think that Game of Thrones was a soap opera in a fantasy setting. In full disclosure, I sometimes watch DVRed Days of Our Lives episodes while I eat supper with my wife. So, I have some domain expertise on the subject.

With this concern in the back of my head, I struggled on. However, as I went I struggled less and less. Eventually, I looked forward to opportunities to read it.