Storytelling is as old as civilization itself.

Ancient mythology and folklore are incubators of modern stories. These tales, passed from generation to generation, were efforts ancient people made to understand their world and answer fundamental questions about life and the universe. Things we now explain using science and medicine were once attributed to the unpredictable whims and passions of gods and monsters.

I’ve always been fascinated by ancient mythology and folklore. Many elements within my own stories are inspired by these ancient tales.

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Mythological Building Blocks

Every civilization is deeply rooted in mythology and folklore. These tales typically feature larger-than-life heroes embarking on grand adventures, angry gods battling one another, and catastrophic events reshaping the world itself. You also get a version of these types of stories in modern times. In the United States, for example, folklore has developed around George Washington and Abraham Lincoln detailing their leadership, courage, and other admirable qualities that go far beyond what is recorded in actual historical events. You also have urban legends that are modern successors to ancient monster folklore, warning people against specific dangers.

I liberally use mythology and folklore as building blocks in constructing the worlds featured within my own stories.

A rich mythology is woven through the fictional universe that serves as the setting for my Alien People Chronicles science fiction adventure series. Alien characters within these stories are shaped through ancient religions, philosophies, and histories. Those foundational tales still impact their lives many generations later.

My novel Among Hidden Stars offers a perfect example of how weaving mythology into a story makes it feel more alive and real. Calandra Menankar and Xttra Oogan — the story’s central protagonists — are driven to find an ancient artifact called the Staff of Onrai before it falls into the hands of a tyrannical ruler. The Staff of Onrai, according to ancient mythology on their home planet Lathos, was given as a tool by their creator god Ahm to help build civilization. It served this purpose by simultaneously revealing the past, present, and future to the person who stared into a clear stone atop the staff. Eventually, the Staff of Onrai fell into the wrong hands and was used to build the authoritarian Wekonn Empire, which ruled every part of Lathos with an iron fist for one thousand years.

A rich and detailed folklore is also present in my Deer Falls horror series. The titular small town in Colorado is ground zero for an assortment of supernatural entities. This ranges from a subterranean monster in Snow Dragon to a disembodied ancient witch in Pandora Reborn. It creates compelling stories where characters in Deer Falls are forced to deal with the town’s dark history and ties to the supernatural world.

Mythology and folklore give stories added depth and meaning. Their presence within a story signals that an author has taken the time and mental energy to create settings and characters that exist beyond simply being vehicles to drive the plot forward.

Weekend Sales

Both anthologies published through Samak Press in 2025 are part of limited-time sales this weekend.

Smashwords is offering a 50% discount off the regular list price for both Feral Lands and Ripples in Space as part of the bookseller’s annual Read an eBook Week sale. Just use the promo code EBW50 at checkout to receive the 50% off discount. The code is good through March 7th, 2026.

Additionally, you can receive a 20% discount off the regular list price when you buy Ripples in Space at Barnes and Noble through March 13th. No promo code necessary. The discount is already applied at checkout.

Hurry and go grab your copy of these captivating anthologies today. Pass this news along to all your book-loving friends, so they can also take advantage of these sales.

I’ve never owned a pet ferret, but I’ve enjoyed watching random videos of ferrets playing. These animals possess boundless energy like a kitten or a squirrel. I imagine a ferret would be a source of continual entertainment if I owned one as a pet.

Ferrets served as an inspiration for the Maniogo — an alien animal species that exists in the fictional universe where my Alien People Chronicles series is set.

My science fiction stories are populated by numerous alien animal species. I love featuring animals in many of my sci-fi tales. Their presence imbues a greater sense of realism within the alien worlds I've created. Animals are often a catalyst for story development. They influence character, setting, and atmosphere. An animal can assist in creating lighthearted humor or increase suspense within a scene.

Maniogos definitely take on such a role in the Alien People universe.

(Warning: Some minor spoilers follow for Alien People — the first book in the Alien People Chronicles’ main trilogy.)

Maniogo Origins

The maniogo is an omnivorous mammal native to Lathos, a planet orbiting the star 61 Cygni A approximately 3.495 parsecs from Earth. (It is also the homeworld of Calandra Menankar and Xttra Oogan — co-protagonists of the main Alien People Chronicles trilogy).

Maniogos resemble a ferret with large floppy ears, They also have a pointed muzzle and a long and slender striped tail. These animals are known to be highly energetic and possess a love of running and climbing. You’ll often find maniogos perched high in trees or on rooftops. They are crepuscular by nature and subsist on a diet of small animals, nuts, and berries. Maniogos kept as pets often greet their owners with coos and chatters.

Domestication of maniogos first began on Lathos several thousand years ago. Multiple Wekonn Emperors kept maniogos as pets and encouraged their breeding and adoption throughout all of Lathos. Although an animal species originally native to the Wekonn province in the Confederation of Northern Tribes, maniogos are found on every major continent and island. These animals rival calas in popularity as pets on Lathos. Multiple breeds feature a variety of coloring and markings in their soft fur.

Maniogo Races

Their speed and high energy make maniogos a popular race animal on Lathos. Maniogo races are held in many nations on the planet and are a popular pastime. Some Lathoans like to wager on maniogo races, and it has influenced the rise of underworld criminals who seek to profit from the races.

A typical maniogo race features two maniogos set inside parallel mazes who then work their way to the exit. The winner is the one who emerges from the maze first. Races usually last anywhere from five to ten minutes.

Opponents of maniogo racing consider it a cruel sport because the little animals are terrified of loud noises but race in front of cheering crowds. The maniogos are often traumatized and unsuccessfully try to climb the towering maze walls to escape to safety. Frightened maniogos are known to occasionally lash out and scratch or bite their alien handlers.

Maniogo Appearances

Readers are introduced to maniogos in Alien People, where they fill a background role in the story. Xttra owned a pair of pet maniogos named Snowy and Twig when he was a child. He spent many hours playing with the animals and has happy memories of their time together.

His love of maniogos led Xttra into a fight with a one-eyed Thetian pirate on Fengar — a moon orbiting Lathos — after the pirate tried to entice him to wager on a maniogo race. Xttra made a disparaging remark about the sport and the Thetian took it as a personal insult. A brawl between the two was narrowly only when Tressek and Atch — fellow Stellar Guard officers serving on Xttra’s scout ship — intervened on his behalf and drove the pirate away.

Interestingly, Atch owned a pet maniogo named Shift during the time that the events of Alien People take place. He enjoys regularly sharing fun facts about maniogos and other animals, sometimes annoying people around him in the process.

This is the fifth in an ongoing series of articles chronicling the alien animal species featured in my novels and short fiction. Read past features on Odocos, Calas, Treemas, and Russakins in the Behind the Pages archives before saying bye.

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Save 50% on the Ripples in Space eBook at Barnes and Noble when you use promo code BNPSAMAK50 at checkout.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this essay first appeared on my author website in 2019.

Building fictional worlds is so much fun.

One of my favorite parts of writing a novel is weaving backstories for each character and setting in the story. I’ll fill pages in notebooks with character biographies and personalities, historical events, geographic settings, and other information relevant to that fictional universe.

Weaving these backstory threads into the main narrative serves a useful purpose. The story feels more alive to both author and audience. Characters feel like real flesh-and-blood people. Settings feel authentic. The plot unfolds organically because your characters’ actions and behavior in the story are informed by their life histories, their environment, and their personalities.

Incorporating backstory elements into your main plot and key subplots requires a surgical touch. You want to draw your audience into your fictional world while not slamming them with information overload.

Some authors struggle with deciding where to draw the line when including backstory material. They grow too fascinated with their own creations and lose sight of which details are relevant to telling the story. Such authors will cram backstory into their main story until it reads like an unending series of Wikipedia articles on topics no one else cares about.

Including too much backstory at one time bogs down a story’s pace. Readers aren’t dying to read lengthy essays on politics, history, culture, religion, and other topics tangentially related to your fictional world. Drop a big steaming pile of backstory on page after page and you run the risk of driving your audience away.

Always ask yourself two specific questions when considering if you should include any backstory element:

• Does this move the plot forward in a meaningful way?

• Will this forge a better understanding of and deeper connection with a key character?

If a backstory element enhances the overall story, always weave it organically into the narrative. Spoon feed backstory to your reader at times and in places where it makes sense. You never want it to interrupt the flow and pace of the narrative.

Extensive fictional universes serve as cornerstones for many of my stories.

My Deer Falls horror series — which includes Snow Dragon, Pandora Reborn, and The Crimson Reaper — incorporates extensive supernatural folklore related to Deer Falls throughout the series. Still, only a small percentage of what I jotted down in my story notes makes it into an actual novel, novella, or short story. I sprinkle in whatever elements drive the plot and characters forward and simply leave whatever remains to the imagination of my audience.

I followed the same path with my Alien People Chronicles series — which includes Alien People, Dark Metamorphosis, and Among Hidden Stars in the main trilogy. Pages of backstory material include such details as planetary histories, geography, religion, culture, technology, and animal species. Again, a small relevant portion makes it into each story. Only enough to hint at a larger world and enrich the main narrative.

Ultimately, this is what backstories are designed to do. A backstory offers a snapshot of a larger world beyond what is written down on each page.

That’s the keyword. Snapshot.

Backstory details should never force readers into plunging down a rabbit hole away from the main story. Once diverted, those readers aren’t likely to find their way back to the surface. Then you end up creating a bored, dissatisfied reader who tosses your poorly crafted story aside.

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Editor’s note: An earlier version of this essay on setting appeared as a blog post on my author website in 2022.

One beautiful thing about writing fiction is how it acts as a guidepost for mapping out your imagination. Whatever you visualize inside your head, you can scribble down on page after page to share with others. Bringing a fictional world to life and populating it with interesting characters and unique settings is so much fun.

Settings, in particular, play a key role in how a plot evolves or progresses. A setting also influences how characters act or how they react to events within the story.

Going into Detail

Settings are a connective tissue in a story. A setting will often foreshadow plot or character details and give a reader clues for what to expect as the story progresses. The setting itself almost functions as a character through sights, sounds, smells, and tastes which characters experience within that environment.

Certain settings are tied closely to specific genres. An old, dark house on a stormy night signals the beginnings of a ghost story or a murder mystery. A weathered spaceship adorned with scorch marks from laser blasts portends a space opera unfolding. How you choose to describe these settings influences tone and atmosphere for the whole story in subsequent chapters.

Settings should include enough detail to allow a reader to see the place without really being physically present. Think of how you would describe a room to a blind person. What details would you focus on that best characterized the room? That’s how you should approach creating your setting. Your readers are the blind people counting on you to describe the room — allowing them to see without their eyes.

Avoid Overkill

There’s such a thing as including too much description. A few authors approach writing a novel like they are getting paid a princely sum per word. They spend page after page breaking down the smallest details in each scene before moving forward.

I personally detest this approach to writing. Flowery purple prose does not make a story better. Spewing word vomit all over the page does not enhance a setting. A scene almost always works better when the setting stays in the background and the focus remains fixed on characters and plot.

In all my stories, I only touch on enough detail to paint broad strokes of an intricate picture. I prefer to let my readers fill in finer details with their imaginations. It’s a more rewarding experience for a reader to be an active partner in building a world instead of being spoon-fed everything like a toddler. Reviews of my books from Pandora Reborn to Alien People offer compelling evidence for how much my readers appreciate this approach.

Ultimately, an author must strike a balance with painting a verbal picture. A setting should be detailed enough to feel alive and real, but not so detailed that it overwhelms the rest of the story.

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Ancient snakes had legs during the Cretaceous period about 150 million years ago before evolving into the limbless slithering creatures we’re familiar with today. I’ve always been fascinated by the visual concept of a snake with arms and legs. What would snakes look like moving around with functioning limbs?

I suppose they would resemble lizards more than snakes at that point.

The cool thing about writing science fiction is you can take readers to a planet filled with aliens of all shapes, sizes, and species — including snakes with limbs. I’ve created new alien animal species to populate many of my sci-fi tales. I love featuring alien animals in my stories. Their presence imbues a greater sense of realism into the alien worlds I've created. Animals are a catalyst for story development. They influence character, setting, and atmosphere. An animal can help create lighthearted humor or increase suspense within a scene.

Readers are introduced numerous alien animals throughout my Alien People Chronicles stories. Some only exist as background characters in world building. Others play key roles in moving plot threads forward. The russakin is numbered among animals who play a pivotal role in at least one of my stories.

(Warning: Minor spoilers follow for Dark Metamorphosis — the second book in the Alien People Chronicles’ main trilogy)

Russakin Origins

The russakin is a carnivorous reptile native to Lathos, a planet orbiting the star 61 Cygni A approximately 3.495 parsecs from Earth. (Lathos is also the homeworld of Calandra Menankar and Xttra Oogan.) A russakin resembles a snake with long arms and legs. Course hair covers the russakin from head to tail. These reptilian aliens have rounded heads, oval eyes, and small, rounded noses. Russakins have forked tongues similar to a snake, paired with rows of sharp teeth.

Russakins are wild animals and, with a few exceptions, are notoriously difficult to tame. They are jittery and will strike whenever they feel threatened. Many russakin species are venomous. Their venom functions as a potent neurotoxin. It is known to cause irreversible muscle and nerve damage in victims if they are not treated with anti-venom within 30 minutes of being bitten. Russakin venom has proven lethal in some cases.

Many geographic regions on Lathos are home to at least one russakin species. In ancient times, they ranged all over the northern and southern continents of the planet although their habitat has shrunk in modern times. Russakins are still abundant in coastal regions of Ra’ahm, Daraconiah, and the Confederation of Northern Tribes. They thrive in tropical climates but adapt to living in mountains and deserts as well.

Owing to their unique appearance and dangerous nature, russakins are frequently depicted in art and literature on Lathos. Describing someone being as “fierce as a russakin” is a common saying in the Daraconian language.

Russakin Appearances

Readers are first introduced to a russakin in Dark Metamorphosis at a market on Fengar — one of two moons orbiting Lathos.

Xttra travels to Fengar in search of Kevin Riley after his Earthian friend flees from Ra’ahm to escape the clutches of the chief sovereign. Xttra sets out with Bo’un and Talan, two officers in his scout ship crew, to meet with an informant who claims to know where Kevin fled and is hiding. They go to the designated meeting place at a market inside a domed colony on Fengar.

Their meeting is terminated before it happens when Talan foolishly sticks his fingers inside a russakin’s cage while trying to pet the creature. The grouchy russakin bites Talan’s hand, releasing venom with a paralyzing neurotoxin into the Stellar Guard officer’s bloodstream. Xttra and Bo’un are forced to take the junior officer back to the scout ship so he can be treated with an anti-venom. Along the way, they are ambushed by would-be assassins. The attack ends with Xttra’s abduction from Fengar by agents from the Confederation of Northern Tribes.

This is the fourth in an ongoing series of articles chronicling the alien animal species featured in my novels and short fiction. You can read past features on Odocos, Calas, and Treemas in the Behind the Pages archives.

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Millions of people read or write fan fiction. Their stories center on characters or events drawn from popular movies, TV shows, books, and comics. Dozens of websites and forums are devoted to spotlighting fan fiction. The largest ones like FanFiction, AO3, and Wattpad each boast millions of registered users. Obviously, a massive and passionate audience exists for fanfic stories.

I don’t count myself in their numbers.

Have I ever read fan fiction? Only long enough to learn it doesn’t suit my tastes as a reader. I vowed never to write fan fiction when I decided to be an author, and I never broke that vow.

Well-written original stories populated by original characters will always be superior to derivative fan fiction tales in storytelling quality.

Flaws of Fan Fiction

Fan fiction holds a wide appeal because of the community aspect. It fosters connection around shared interests and offers readers and writers alike a sense of belonging.

Some beginning authors use fan fiction as a tool for developing their writing skills. It becomes their vehicle for practicing elements of storytelling from developing characters to creating dialogue. Writing fan fiction, for these authors, offers a low-pressure way to gain experience ahead of creating stories centered around their own original characters and settings.

I definitely see some positive aspects in the fanfic community and understand why it exists. Fan fiction sites often give a voice to people who may otherwise be silenced or marginalized.

Still, far too much fan fiction lacks storytelling creativity and quality. You’ll find countless stories littered with cardboard characters, paper-thin plots, and overused tropes. Characters inserted into these stories are often a shell of what they were in the original source material. They turn into mere puppets, existing only to gratify an amateur author’s whims and fantasies like a troop of genies granting the customary three wishes.

Beginning authors are better served tinkering with their own original stories populated by original characters they’ve created. Platforms like Substack, for example, make it easy to share early story drafts and get feedback from fellow authors and readers alike. You can still create the same sense of community as with a fan fiction site but do it through building your own original fictional worlds.

Earning positive feedback on a story where you created all the characters and settings from scratch — rather than relying on an existing popular IP to do all the heavy lifting for you — feels more meaningful and rewarding. It offers a much better path to gain lasting confidence as a storyteller versus receiving mild praise for creating yet another head canon version of Luke Skywalker or James T. Kirk.

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Fanfic Authors vs Original Authors

Fan fiction exists on a conceit that the original author or creator didn’t get certain things right with their original stories. Many fanfic tales present what-if scenarios grounded in the idea of reshaping narratives from the original source material. These scenarios introduce alternate endings, change specific character arcs, or create new romantic pairings (also known as “shipping”). The worst fanfic tales often drop a “Mary Sue” character into the mix — a practically-perfect-in-every-way extension of the author who takes over a story.

Published authors vary wildly with their attitudes toward fan fiction. Some embrace having their fans write fanfic stories derived from their works. Others threaten legal action to stop those stories from being posted anywhere online.

My attitude toward fan fiction is nuanced.

If I learned a few devoted fans of my books had written tales based off those stories and characters, I’d feel flattered they enjoyed my stories enough to create their own fan fiction. I can’t picture myself freaking out if I learned stories derived from my Alien People Chronicles trilogy, or any other stories I’ve written, popped up on some random free fanfic forum.

That being said, I’d oppose fan fiction derived from my stories if the authors ever tried to make money from those derivative works. My published stories are all registered with the United States copyright office, and I treat copyright violations quite seriously.

From a purely philosophical perspective, I would never enjoy reading fan fiction derived from my stories. My stories are written how I envisioned them in my head. I tell my stories exactly how I want to tell them. Fan fiction would only feel like someone else was trying to impose their own competing vision upon my stories and my characters.

Beyond philosophical concerns, I will never read a fanfic story derived from my published works for practical reasons. It’s a safeguard against any potential lawsuits claiming I plagiarized from fan fiction to write other stories.

Please help me create additional stories, poems, and articles by leaving me a small tip.

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Imagine reading a story with an opening scene where a character is working against the clock to find and disarm an active bomb. Where do you think the scene should start?

The easy answer is start in the middle of the action. Perhaps the scene opens with the protagonist acting on a tip and racing down a busy street to the bomb site. Maybe it opens with them canvassing a building to locate the bomb. Many options are available to an author to build a scene that hooks a reader and makes them care about the characters right away.

Unfortunately, you see far too many short stories who approach a dramatic scenario by rambling about backstory tangents that have no immediate relevancy. The author will spend multiple paragraphs — or even multiple pages — detailing the main character’s life history or sociopolitical issues influencing their world before getting around to telling readers there’s a bomb that needs to be defused.

This practice is called — to borrow a phrase from journalism — burying the lede.

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Focus on Relevant Details

Imagine you’re a sports journalist covering an NBA playoff game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Lakers rally from a 10-point deficit late in the fourth quarter in Game 1 and steal a win on the road when LeBron James hits a game-winning jumper at the buzzer.

What should be the focus of your story? The dramatic game-winning basket from LeBron, of course. A secondary focus would be on how the Lakers stole a critical road win to go up 1-0 in the playoff series.

A story burying the lede will place undue focus on irrelevant information early in the story. Instead of leading off with the play and fourth quarter comeback, such a story might first detail irrelevant plays from the first half, how James’ NBA season unfolded to that point, or what the Lakers did in previous rounds of the playoffs. The information might be interesting in another context, but it isn’t relevant or engaging to a reader wanting to read about LeBron’s game-winning basket or the Lakers’ fourth-quarter comeback.

Burying the lede is a common flaw in many short stories. An author will fall in love with the backstory to their story and spend far too much time expounding trivial details connected to their main characters or their fictional world instead of jumping straight into the story.

It feels frustrating from a reader’s perspective to read a story written this way. Immediately unloading large chunks of backstory keeps readers from immersing themselves in a story. Readers struggle to connect with characters because these information dumps feel like intrusions from an unseen narrator addressing them directly rather than authentic thoughts or feelings from a point-of-view character.

Make stories immersive

Stories are more compelling when authors start in the middle of the action and use a slow-drip method to touch on relevant backstory details as the story progresses. Tales written this way feel much more immersive, create mystery, and build suspense as the narrative unfolds.

Consider these examples:

Story A —

Connor stared at an endless sea of trees ahead of him. He spent so many summer days exploring mountain trails with his father or the boy scouts. Ever since he joined their local troop and started earning merit badges. His father never became an eagle scout, only advancing as far as life scout before giving up in high school. Failing to become an eagle scout ate at his father enough that he pushed Connor to embrace the outdoors and finish what he had started.

On days like this, Connor wished he had enough of a spine to push back against living out his father's dreams. Going into the wilderness felt like a forced hobby. The older scouts liked to harass the younger scouts with endless pranks. Last summer's image of a tenderfoot screaming and running from a snake dumped into his tent stuck fresh in his mind as though it happened only a few seconds ago.

They probably pretended Connor was there when the scout master gathered everyone for roll call. Nobody would figure out he’d become separated from the other scouts before it grew dark.

Story B —

Staring at his pocket compass did nothing to ease Connor's anxiety. Every tree and boulder looked identical. Which direction did he come from? Connor wished he had taken note of landmarks on the trail leading to his troop's campsite. This dense forest swallowed him whole, leaving no crumbs for the other scouts to find.

Out of these two examples, Story B is more compelling. It instantly draws the reader into the story and lets them feel Connor’s dire situation. Story A wastes time rambling on a backstory tangent detailing why Connor is a boy scout before finally revealing he’s lost in an off-handed manner.

Backstory details help enrich and flesh out a story. They give important context to the thoughts and actions of multiple characters. That being said, timing is everything with backstory. An author should never detour off the main trail and meander down a side path chasing irrelevant backstory tangents. Relevant backstory details should always be threaded through the narrative in organic and realistic ways.

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If you read through my Alien People Chronicles series, you’ll quickly discover each book fits into a science fiction subgenre distinct from other books in the series.

• Alien People is a first contact story blended with military sci-fi. The central premise involves a team of alien explorers — led by Calandra Menankar and Xttra Oogan — journeying to Earth after Calandra discovers a probe sent from our planet.

• Dark Metamorphosis is divided equally between a tale of genetic engineering horror and a political sci-fi thriller. The central premise involves a Calandra uncovering a dark conspiracy against the survivors of the Earth expedition when Xttra is abducted and stolen away to another solar system.

• Among Hidden Stars is space opera blended with an alien invasion tale. The central premise involves Calandra and Xttra journeying to a distant planet to find a powerful ancient relic before a tyrannical ruler can claim possession of it and use the relic to conquer their homeworld.

My approach to science fiction (and horror) is unique among authors. Why? One simple reason: many characters I create are purposely designed to exist within a wide spectrum of stories, regardless of genre or subgenre.

This is a reflection of the real world. Life isn’t lived in a single subgenre. Characters shouldn’t be trapped within one.

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Character driven science fiction

Science fiction stories sometimes draw outside criticism for their rigid adherence to following tropes at the expense of character development. The criticism is a fair one. You see this tendency pop up again and again in various sci-fi subgenres. It usually leads to formulaic and cliched stories that are unappealing for anyone who isn’t a true fan of the subgenre.

Some examples of these common subgenre tropes include:

• Hard sci-fi stories devoting lengthy passages to explaining futuristic technology in detail while spewing technobabble along the way.

• Military sci-fi stories including gobs of copy and paste space battles between space marines and nameless alien monsters/troops/ships.

• First contact stories where omniscient/paternalistic aliens visit Earth in order to stop us from destroying ourselves and our planet and take the next step in our collective evolution.

How do you avoid falling into these traps as an author? Create characters who are realistic, relatable, and dynamic. Characters who feel as real as flesh-and-blood people will anchor stories that feel like tales which could have been ripped from real life. Want readers to fully immerse themselves in a story set on an alien planet? Make that fictional world feel as real as Earth. Populate it with characters who feel like close friends that invite you to become invested in their lives and care about their fates.

Character driven science fiction leads to fresh and unique stories. It tosses stale tropes out the door. Characters take the wheel and determine the path they will travel rather than being an unwilling puppet in an author’s hands.

Readers embrace these types of stories.

A whole new sci-fi world

Character development is a keystone for world building in science fiction. Giant spaceships and sleek weaponry are useless accessories if the characters in the story are second-rate clones of the usual batch of sci-fi archetypes. Characters need personalities and emotions. Readers need to connect with them on a personal level to give them stakes in how the plot plays out.

My ability to navigate seamlessly through multiple sci-fi genres in the Alien People Chronicles is rooted the natures of Calandra and Xttra themselves. They are characters with intelligence, emotional depth, and dynamic personalities. I can place them in any situation, and it will ultimately work for readers, because I’ve taken the time to build both characters in a way that makes them feel like real people.

Ultimately, character driven science fiction creates a sci-fi melting pot where no story or subgenre is off limits.

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I love visual storytelling.

A few readers have told me that reading one of my novels feels like watching a movie because it is so easy to visualize the characters and settings I’m describing. I take it as a great compliment. My writing style is highly visual by design.

Before I write a scene, I close my eyes and visualize the whole scene as if I’m watching a movie. This helps me quickly figure out which details to focus on and how to pace the scene correctly. Taking this approach also gives me a clear vision of everything in the fictional world I created.

Two years ago, I had a chance to feed descriptions to an image generator and produce a wealth of conceptual art related to characters and settings from my stories.

I shared some of this conceptual art in a previous newsletter:

I’m going to share another batch of conceptual art with you all again, so you can get a feel for what I’m thinking as I write my novels and novellas.

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Paige Beck

Paige is the lead protagonist in Under a Fallen Sun and returns to play a key supporting role in Alien People later. The image here is based on how Paige appears around the time Under a Fallen Sun takes place. I feel like the image generator does a good job of capturing both her attractiveness and her no-nonsense demeanor. Her hair coloring, eyes, skin tone, and facial structure closely match what I see when I think of Paige.

Kevin Riley

Kevin is a key supporting character in the Alien People Chronicles trilogy. He is a US Army ranger who flees Earth and inspires Calandra and Xttra to incite a rebellion against the chief sovereign of Ra’ahm. The image here captures Kevin’s fit military physique while also hinting at his underlying loyalty and kindness. His eyes, skin tone, hair, and facial structure are quite close to how I picture Kevin in my head.

Dray Le’al

Dray is a humanoid alien from the planet Lathos who is a supporting character in Among Hidden Stars. She is a strong-willed assistant pilot serving on a Stellar Guard scout ship. Dray has vivid, piercing eyes like all Lathoans. She wears distinctive braids that are popular in her homeland. I feel like the image here captures Dray’s essence.

Delcor Cirkoy

Delcor is ultimately unmasked as the main antagonist of the Alien People Chronicles trilogy. He rules as chief sovereign over Ra’ahm, a leading nation on the alien planet of Lathos. Delcor is a ruthless dictator who has reigned for many decades when the events of the trilogy unfold. The image here does a good job of capturing his stern and intimidating demeanor. Delcor is a cunning adversary who is not to be trifled with.

The Snow Dragon

If you think the titular monster of Snow Dragon is nightmare fuel, you’re not wrong. This subterranean predator is supposed to resemble a giant towering snake with sturdy limbs and a long tail. Again, this image does a good job of capturing what I first visualized with this mythical creature.

Alien bugs

I feature many alien animal species throughout my Alien People Chronicles trilogy. This naturally includes insects. Two notable insect species in the trilogy are setaworms and ictus bugs. The image on the left is a setaworm. The image on the right is an ictus bug. Both are smaller than the image generator suggests (think along the lines of a large spider or wasp) but it does capture their respective unsettling appearances. (Fun fact: calling someone an ictus bug or a setaworm is a popular insult on Lathos).

The Staff of Onrai

A desperate search for a powerful ancient relic drives the plot of Among Hidden Stars — the concluding chapter in the Alien People Chronicles trilogy. The Staff of Onrai is that relic. It is a staff, according to Lathoan legend, forged by Ahm (the Lathoan creator god) to assist in building in civilization on the planet. Peering into the stone atop the staff lets a person see the past, present, and future simultaneously, rendering it a powerful weapon in the wrong hands. The image matches up well with how I describe the staff in the story. (Fun fact: I drew some inspiration for this relic from the white stone mentioned in Revelations chapter 2 in the Bible).

What are your impressions of this conceptual art I shared? If you’ve read my novels and novellas associated with this art, do the images match how you envisioned the characters, animals, and objects mentioned in this article?

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Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this essay first appeared on my author website in 2019.

What pops into your mind when you think of your favorite character?

Memorable lines are often the first thing we associate with a character. Han Solo warning C-3PO to “never tell me odds” when flying into an asteroid field. Sheriff Brody telling Quint, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat” upon first seeing the shark they’re hunting.

Dialogue opens a window into a character’s mind and soul. It acts as an important framework for revealing what shapes their personalities and what drives their actions.

Characters feel more alive and real when their thoughts, words, and actions mirror what you would expect from a real-world person faced with similar circumstances. Well-written dialogue becomes a powerful tool in shaping how your audience sees a particular character and helping them connect with that same character.

Characteristics of Bad Dialogue

Ever since I published my debut novel Pandora Reborn in 2018, I’ve read several novels from fellow indie authors and mainstream authors. Along the way, I’ve encountered common problems associated with crafting effective dialogue.

Too many authors miss the point entirely with dialogue. Their characters never feel like real people because they approach dialogue the wrong way.

One common error is turning dialogue into a vehicle for spouting exposition. This creates clunky blocks of text that resemble a recitation of a fictional Wikipedia article more than an authentic conversation between two or more people.

Inexperienced authors also tend to incorporate obtrusive dialogue tags. They toss aside basic tags like said, asked, answered, or replied that melt into the background and use tags from declared to retorted that draw undue attention.

You also have a group of authors who delight in confusing readers by uncorking line after line of dialogue without blending action, body language, and viewpoint into the scene. Failing to strike a harmonious balance with these elements prevents an author from framing dialogue properly and giving it the right context.

Characteristics of Good Dialogue

As an author, I approach every scene I write in a story in visual terms. I close my eyelids and let each scene play out before me as though I am standing just out of frame watching everything unfold. This approach serves me quite well in crafting dialogue because it creates the sensation that I'm eavesdropping on conversations between my characters.

Dialogue should reveal character, move the plot forward, give context to any unfolding action, and bring characters to life. If it doesn’t feel real to your reader, they will be drawn out of the story.

Authors should craft dialogue to resemble real conversations between real people. This means detailing body language and speech mannerisms to show a character’s personality. It also means taking time to make what each character says sound and feel realistic.

Unrealistic dialogue is a persistent stumbling block for some authors in the science fiction genre. They tend to force a character to address unseen readers rather than forge an authentic conversation with a second character when introducing backstory elements or advanced technology into the story. It doesn’t make sense in real world terms. Why would a character spout technobabble at a colleague who likely possesses a similar level of understanding on the same subject? It would be like offering up a detailed breakdown of how a smartphone works to someone who was already texting on their iPhone before you walked into the room. You must always examine dialogue through the eyes of the characters involved in that conversation.

This is what guides how I shape character dialogue in my own science fiction stories, like my Alien People Chronicles series. I resist drawing undue attention to advanced alien technology through technobabble. I also don’t make my characters pause and offer a detailed lecture on some historical event or political situation on their home planet. Any information included in dialogue that a reader needs to know is always introduced in an organic and realistic way.

The fictional world you create as an author is the real world for the characters who dwell in that world. When you remember that guiding principle, it will help you shape dialogue that always moves the story forward rather than hitting the pause button.

Every ghost needs someone to haunt. Seeing a living person fall to pieces while in their otherworldly presence gives a ghost greater purpose and joy in their afterlife.

One family will challenge that dynamic with their persistent refusal to scream, hide, or run away when faced with a ghost. This family, the Farmers, function as the primary antagonists in my new comedy horror serial The Ghost Diaries that debuts Friday the 13th.

Told through a series of first-person diary entries, The Ghost Diaries chronicles the titular spirit’s efforts to drive out a slobby, obnoxious family after they move into his vacant haunted house in Deer Falls, Colorado. If you’re a fan of “Treehouse of Horror” Halloween episodes from The Simpsons, you’ll thoroughly enjoy devouring this eight-episode serial that pokes fun at common ghost story and horror genre tropes.

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Here’s a brief closer look at each member of the Farmer clan —

Rusty Farmer: Rusty is the father in this family. He is the epitome of a country-fried good ol’ boy, complete with a horseshoe mustache. He graduated from high school and skipped college, preferring to work odd jobs as a handyman. The problem is Rusty isn’t all that skilled at various trades. He takes short cuts and does shoddy work, leaving a trail of dissatisfied clients in his wake. Rusty has below average intelligence and is easily controlled by his overbearing wife and bratty children. His refusal to put his foot down makes him a classic enabler.

May Farmer: May is the mother and the true head of the house. She is moody and argumentative on her good days. Despite being a stay-at-home mom, May possesses an aversion to doing household chores. She prefers to spend her days couch surfing, streaming movies and tv shows while munching on snacks. There isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme she hasn’t tried, and her efforts always meets with disappointment. May was quite attractive in her youth, but her sedentary ways have caused her to pack on the pounds and lose those looks.

Lacey Farmer: A 17-year-old blonde girl who’s the oldest child in the family. Lacey is a wannabe influencer. She is constantly shooting videos. Some of them show off new outfits. Others mimic the latest social media trends. Her personality is defined by whatever social media tells her to be. Like a typical teen, she’s embarrassed by her parents and can’t stand her younger siblings. Lacey dreams of leaving Deer Falls and becoming a major celebrity who’s splashed across magazine covers worldwide.

Colby Farmer: A 12-year-old skinny brown-haired boy. If you looked up the word troublemaker in the dictionary, a photo of Colby with an exaggerated grin would be plastered right next to the entry. He has earned a reputation for pulling pranks on the rest of his family. Colby likes exploring the nearby woods, playing video games, and riding his bike. He loves being a smart aleck and talking back to his teachers when he’s at school.

Daisy Farmer: A 10-year-old skinny brunette girl who always finding new ways to get under your skin. She takes being annoying and whining to a whole new level, starting random arguments over stupid topics for the fun of it. Daisy is a bit of a tomboy who loves the outdoors. She also adores her family’s three cats Poe, Ginger, and Marbles and their dog Twinklebug. When Daisy is home, she likes to create games to play with the family pets.

New episodes will be sent out each week to Strange New Worlds subscribers starting on Friday the 13th and concluding on Halloween. You can also subscribe to my Patreon page for weekly episodes if you prefer.

The first episode on September 13th will be available to free and paid subscribers to Strange New Worlds. Subsequent episodes will be exclusive to paid subscribers.

(I’ll send out an additional weekly newsletter each week in September and October, that will have poems, stories or articles geared toward free subscribers. New episodes of The Ghost Diaries will generally drop on Fridays while newsletter content for free subscribers will typically go out on Tuesdays.)

Use promo code SP24 for 25% off the list price on any eBook direct from Samak Press.

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A famous six-word story is often attributed to Ernest Hemingway. It reads simply: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." (Hemingway didn't actually write this sentence. Versions of the story date back to 1906, during his childhood and long before he ever published anything.)

Done in the style of a brief newspaper classified ad, this brief sentence suggests a larger dramatic tale. The reader's mind is freed to imagine circumstances behind the ad. Miscarriage, a sudden infant death, infertility, a childless couple divorcing before starting a family. Numerous detailed stories can be spun off a single brief sentence.

Flash fiction and microfiction embrace a similar principle of imaginative brevity in storytelling. These types of stories seize the axiom “less is more” and run with it. Done skillfully, such stories will spark a reader's imagination through hinting at a much longer and deeper story below the surface.

I've experimented with examples of these story forms and decided to share results with readers of this newsletter.

Microfiction

Any story under 100 words is defined as microfiction. These can take multiple forms depending on the word count.

Two-sentence stories are popular among horror writers. You tell a complete story using only two sentences. Some amateur writers will stretch the definition with a pair of run-on sentences almost long enough to qualify as their own Wikipedia article. This form of microfiction works best with brevity.

I experimented with this format in the science fiction genre and came up with this kooky two-sentence tale:

A crazed alien hitchhiker held me hostage from Albuquerque to Las Vegas. And that’s how I met your mother.

An example of a longer microfiction story is, Sanctuary, an 80-word horror tale I wrote using a photo prompt that posted in his Substack newsletter, The Fiction Dealer. The picture in question showed a white cat hiding in an open box.

Here’s how I interpreted the cat in a box prompt:

A tiny refuge. Cardboard walls on all four sides. Snowball loved this spot more than the others. Her box always makes the world a smaller place.

When the sun dipped low and shadows crawled, she retreated to the quiet box stuffed into a quiet corner.

Safe.

Hidden.

Her thoughtful humans set it aside as a gift for her. A place to play and sleep. Before shadow creatures came and stole her friends.

Only her box makes the world safe again.

Drabble

A drabble is a story that is exactly 100 words. No more. No less. Drabbles are a challenge to write, but a good exercise for an author in learning brevity and how to make each word in their stories feel important. You learn how to eliminate passive voice and weak writing when you create drabbles.

I recently created a sci-fi/horror drabble, Starry Night, for the weekly Macabre Monday horror-themed newsletter. This offered me a chance to create a seemingly wholesome story that quickly goes down a dark path.

Here’s the drabble in question:

Other kids nicknamed her “astro-nut” because Macey talked about stars nonstop. Every weekend, she begged her parents to take twilight drives to the cornfields to give her a clearer view of those distant twinkling orbs.  

“One day, I’ll visit every star in the sky,” she promised.   

Macey wished to take back her vow. She yearned to travel to the stars, but not like this.   

Never like this.   

Repeated kicks and screams failed to release her from the alien’s burly arms as her house faded away.   

“Earth animals always fetch a higher price at market,” he said, wearing a sly grin.  

Flash Fiction

Flash fiction is a modern term, but this story form has ancient roots. Any narrative that ranges from 101 to 1,000 words is popularly considered flash fiction. You have a few subcategories within that range for other stories (short-short, sudden fiction, microstory) but flash fiction is an umbrella term that includes them all.

The growth of the Internet in the early 2000s made flash fiction a popular form of storytelling in literary circles. Many online fiction publications are devoted to flash fiction alone. Others feature flash fiction alongside longer traditional short stories, novelettes, and novellas.

I occasionally write flash fiction in this newsletter. My favorite example is Laughter, a horror tale I first shared with the readers of Strange New Worlds back in 2022. This tale focuses on Clint hiding from unidentified dark entities seeking him.

Here’s a look at that creepy tale:

It started out as a small laugh. Not much louder than a whisper. Clint barely heard anything at first. He soon wished he hadn't heard the laugh at all.

Clint cast his eyes toward the closet door. The laugh grew louder, piercing a stillness within the bedroom. Something about it felt unnatural, almost ghoulish. No pause. Only a continued escalation from chuckle to cackle. Clint's eyes grew as wide and round as plates. He pressed his back against the wall. His knuckles tightened and each breath grew shallower.

How did they find him? Special runes adorned each wall inside and outside the closet. None worked as advertised.

His circumstances had taken a sudden dangerous turn. He lacked enough speed to evade his pursuers. Screaming for help would only make things worse. Clint could no longer deny the reality facing him.

The others discovered his final refuge and tracked him down.

Are you a fan of flash fiction, drabbles, or microfiction?

If you answered yes to the first question, what do you like about these types of stories and which of these storytelling forms is your favorite?

Let me know in the comments.

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Narratess Indie Sale

Snow Dragon is included in the 2024 Narratess Indie Sale which features more than 370 books from indie authors. This sale is from August 24th and 26th and clicking on the banner above will take you to the sales page.

If you’re specifically interested in Snow Dragon, you can purchase it directly from Samak Press and get an additional deal. Use the promo code SP24 to get 25% off the list price on any eBook offered in the store.

The best part of buying direct from Samak Press is that you will own the actual eBook. You aren’t purchasing a license to read like you do with Amazon where the eBook can be removed from your kindle without warning long after your original purchase.

Editor’s note: an earlier version of this article first appeared on my author website in 2019.

Whenever I buy a movie or TV series on DVD or Blu-Ray, I always make a point of checking out the bonus content. I especially enjoy watching deleted scenes. I'm always curious to see what the director left on the cutting room floor and how they would have changed the story. Leaving certain scenes to the imagination can alter a story’s direction almost as much as the scenes ultimately included in the narrative.

Deleted scenes usually don’t make the final cut for a good reason. These scenes typically bog down pacing, include unnecessary exposition, or don't move the story forward as much as the director hoped.

Authors face a similar dilemma when editing a short story or novel. Scenes you cut from a story can determine how that story unfolds almost as much as the scenes you leave in the narrative.

Making Tough Cuts

Discarding a scene that you spent hours or even days creating isn't an easy thing for an author to do. Sure, if these scenes are inferior to the rest of the story, then cutting them out is simple and painless. But that isn't always the case. A scene can contain powerful imagery, witty dialogue, or intriguing character moments and still act as a narrative roadblock if it impedes the pace and flow of the main story.

I originally intended to include a flashback sequence in Pandora Reborn detailing how Casey and Christina became best friends before Ron met either teen. The scene had cool imagery, fun dialogue, and featured a tense battle with a monster.

Ultimately, I had to cut the scene. It did not fit organically into the flow of the main narrative when I wrote my initial draft. The scene also revealed no new information readers didn't learn elsewhere. It ended up being a well-written tangent that didn't move the story forward. One unexpected positive outcome from cutting the scene is I found a use for a reworked version when I wrote Snow Dragon five years later. My once-deleted scene became a pivotal suspenseful character-building moment in the novella for both Casey and Christina.

Ironically, I ended up cutting out a pair of scenes and a subplot from Snow Dragon when I wrote the first draft. Both scenes involved Dean Lambert, a key character in Pandora Reborn, and they would have featured the reptilian monster destroying his home and endangering the buried chest he guarded which imprisoned the antagonist from my earlier novel. Ultimately, it screamed fanfic type fan service and detracted from the main story I wanted to tell, so the whole subplot got tossed in the garbage.

While writing Under a Fallen Sun, I found myself cutting another scene I liked. I wanted to include a scene that featured Paige skipping out on a college party to scour social media posts to see if anyone had leads on the whereabouts of her missing brother Todd. This would have culminated with a flashback involving a competitive driveway basketball game between the siblings.

While the scene as a whole functioned as a nice character moment, it just didn’t fit anywhere in the story without slowing the pace considerably. I had to brainstorm and find other ways to show the nature of their relationship as my story progressed.

Scenes Left Unseen

Overwriting is a classic mistake some authors make. I’m not strictly talking about embellishing descriptive language in scenes until your narrative turns into flowery word vomit. Overwriting can also pertain to adding unnecessary scenes and subplots.

Including scenes of any length that do not propel the story forward will only draw your reader out of your story. Authors must use just enough brushstrokes to paint a visual picture inside a reader's mind. Then they should let go of the reader’s hand and allow them to fill in the remaining details on their own.

As an author, you can build a character and make a world seem bigger than what's revealed on the page by including subtle references and allusions to unseen events and interactions. Maybe it's found within a line of dialogue or a fleeting thought from your main character. Perhaps an element within the setting, like a sign or a landmark, alludes to a past event.

Hinting at what occurs off the page is more fun for readers anyway than cramming a superfluous scene into the mix. Allusions and hints open a door and invite their imagination into the story. You make it possible for readers to collaborate with you, in a tangible and exciting way, as you build your fictional world.

Check out the My Books page at Strange New Worlds for further information and purchase links for the stories mentioned in this article.

My Books

My debut science fiction novel Under a Fallen Sun turned five years old this month.

Under a Fallen Sun gets lost in the shadow of my more popular and successful Alien People Chronicles trilogy at times. I wish it received a little more love. The novel holds a special spot among my published stories. The original short story I adapted Under a Fallen Sun from is one of a handful of stories my mom read before succumbing to cancer two decades ago. Her feedback on my first story ultimately helped shape the novel into what it became.

To celebrate the fifth anniversary of Under a Fallen Sun, I have compiled five fun facts about the novel.

(Warning: some spoilers follow for both Under a Fallen Sun and Alien People.)

Under a Fallen Sun was adapted from a short horror story.

My mom read the original draft for this novel when it existed as a short story. It also wasn’t a science fiction tale at the time.

My original version was a horror story I wrote circa 2001 titled Village of the Gargoyles. It shared a similar central premise – four college students trapped in an isolated Texas town – as Under a Fallen Sun. Several primary characters also existed in a much less-defined form.

Village of the Gargoyles differed wildly from the final story. Paige and her friends encountered residents who were monsters because of a demonic curse placed on the town. They had to flee before the next sunrise, or they would fall victim to the same curse. This is in stark contrast to aliens invading in Under a Fallen Sun and isolating the town from the outside world while they conducted genetic experiments.

I’m happy I changed genres. The original story wasn’t remotely scary and was riddled with embarrassing cliches.

Events in Under a Fallen Sun directly influence how Alien People unfolds

Under a Fallen Sun lingered in development hell for many years until I tied it to Alien People. Multiple plot threads connect the two novels, and a key character appears in both stories.

The original draft of Alien People is the first novel I ever wrote. Alien People, along with outlines for multiple sequels and prequels, existed both in my mind and on my computer long before Under a Fallen Sun evolved beyond a short horror story.

So how are the two novels connected?

Paige Beck, a protagonist in Under a Fallen Sun, features in Alien People as a leader in the Earth Defense Bureau. The alien invasion chronicled in the earlier novel directly influences how first contact with Earth unfolds for Calandra Menankar and Xttra Oogan in the latter novel.

Stray is based on a family pet

An orange tabby cat makes a brief appearance late in Under a Fallen Sun, helping survivors find their way through the corridors of an alien spaceship as they seek a quick escape after sabotaging the vessel. The cat, who Paige later adopts, and names Stray, is based on a real-life family pet.

In the real world, Stray lived in a feral cat colony at my dad’s house. He had some serious health issues, so my sister devoted extra time and attention to caring for him. Stray’s life was tragically cut short when a cougar killed him in 2019. I always planned to feature a guide animal late in the narrative. I chose Stray to be this character as a gift to my sister amid her grief.

Rubrum is a key planet in the Alien People Chronicles

Under a Fallen Sun introduces readers to antagonistic aliens who fled from a dying planet called Rubrum. One Rubrumian cell invades Earth and seeks to adapt their bodies to the Sun in a desperate bid to survive on our planet. They perform genetic experiments on residents of Travis, Texas — while isolating the town from the outside world – to learn how to make their bodies withstand prolonged exposure to sunlight. Their experiments cause nightmarish changes in their human captives.

Rubrum is an antagonistic planet which influences other corners of my Alien People Chronicles universe. Rubrumian scientists provided the means for Ra’ahm to win the Separatist War on Lathos. Aliens from Rubrum have inspired frightening folklore on multiple worlds because of a reputation for abducting other aliens for the purposes of genetic experimentation. Rubrum is feared and hated on many worlds.

Under a Fallen Sun Introduces the Earth Defense Bureau

Several science fiction stories I’ve published involve characters connected to the Earth Defense Bureau — a US government agency established to defend Earth from extraterrestrial incursions. Readers are introduced to the bureau during the final act of Under a Fallen Sun. Paige is recruited into their ranks after narrowly surviving her ordeal in Texas.

The Earth Defense Bureau occupies a definite gray area in many of my stories. While the bureau does an admirable job of fending off hostile aliens, agents and leaders in the bureau are not above harming peaceful aliens and employing questionable tactics to achieve their agenda.

If you liked these five fun facts about Under a Fallen Sun, check out similar features on Alien People and Pandora Reborn in the archives.

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Free Comedy!

If you haven’t yet read The Cosmic Comedy Collection, this is the perfect time to get your copy. Halfplanet Press has made this science fiction comedy anthology free on Amazon and other major book retailers through July 31st.

Five authors (including , , and ) penned five hilarious original stories for this anthology. Brilliant comedy blasting through time and space at the speed of laughter to you.

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• Editor’s note: an earlier version of this article first appeared in a 2021 blog post on my official author website.

Following a strictly linear narrative does not work for every story.

Imagine how boring a detective story would be if the story unfolded in chronological order and you learned right away the killer’s identity and how they committed the murder. Playing with time through flashback (or flashforward) sequences can be a useful plot device for revealing key information at a time and place when such a reveal offers the most dramatic impact.

I regularly utilize flashback scenes in my novels. I love using flashbacks as a framing device to explore a character’s motivations. They are also a useful narrative device for recounting earlier events that influence how the main plot or a key subplot unfolds.

Flashbacks: Good or Bad?

Some wannabe authors and uninformed critics are quick to condemn using flashbacks as a narrative device. Their objection is rooted in a notion that flashbacks interrupt a narrative’s natural flow and remove you from the action. I disagree with this criticism wholeheartedly. Skilled authors know how to weave a flashback into a narrative and put flashback scenes to clever use in situations where the story calls for one.

On a fundamental level, flashbacks make a story feel more authentic to real life. How often does one of your five senses trigger a latent memory? Spotting a broken-down car along a highway may cause you to recall an earlier time when you wrecked your own vehicle. Smelling a particular perfume may bring to mind a similar fragrance your wife wore on the night when you proposed to her. Incorporating flashbacks in a similar manner makes a character feel more relatable and real to readers.

Weaving flashbacks into your narrative

Like I mentioned earlier, I employ flashbacks to unfold subplots for key characters in my novels. I make a deliberate choice to use this element to create a sense of mystery around the character in question or lend greater dramatic weight to their actions and choices as the narrative progresses.

When Dean is first introduced in Pandora Reborn, readers see an obsessed hermit who guards a buried chest both day and night. His actions seem insane and neurotic at first glance. Flashbacks give valuable context to Dean’s motivations. Readers learn how he grappled with an ancient witch 55 years earlier and everyone dean loved suffered a violent untimely death at her hands. It gives Dean’s character arc a tragic complexity as his story unfolds.

The same formula fills in the blanks with Todd as the events in Under a Fallen Sun play out. When readers first meet him, Todd is hiding inside a boarded-up house and has imprisoned a hostile humanoid alien in the basement. During Todd’s interactions with his prisoner and other characters later in the story, readers learn how he and his wife Caroline became trapped in Travis and, eventually, uncover her fate. It builds suspense and, ultimately, paints a vivid picture explaining why his actions are so cold and calculating through much of the narrative.

Flashbacks play a critical role throughout the main Alien People Chronicles trilogy.

Key flashbacks in Alien People reveal how crashing a spaceship on an asteroid led to Lance being demoted in the Stellar Guard and suffering survivor’s guilt. Flashbacks in Dark Metamorphosis show how Calandra eventually lost her arm after suffering a severe injury on Earth to give context to fear and despair consuming her through large parts of the narrative. Among Hidden Stars uses flashbacks to show how Xttra and Calandra became alienated from their families while fostering a rebellion against the chief sovereign to show the price they’ve paid for their opposition.

These examples demonstrate the narrative power a flashback can bring to a story.

Flashbacks, if used in the right way, function as tantalizing pieces in a larger puzzle given to readers to assemble. It feels rewarding as a reader to complete such a puzzle and see a more detailed and complete picture. Well-written flashbacks have an unmistakable ability to create a lasting emotional connection with specific characters in a story.

Check out the My Books page at Strange New Worlds to get further information and purchase links for the stories mentioned in this article.

My Books

Spontaneity defined every aspect of my storytelling in my early years as an aspiring author. This included world building and character development.

Whenever I dreamed up a new story idea, I'd grab a notebook and start scribbling or run over to my computer and start typing. Aside from jotting down a short single paragraph summary of my initial story idea, I put scant thought into anything story-related beyond the page in front of me.

I weave stories with a radically different approach as an experienced writer and published author.

Mapping out a fictional world and writing detailed sketches of primary and secondary characters come with the territory these days. Embracing story planning evolved into a necessary step. I work as a sports journalist for the Associated Press and my responsibilities include covering the Utah Jazz, Utah’s new NHL hockey team, the Utah Utes, BYU Cougars, and Utah State Aggies. As you can imagine, this job keeps me insanely busy through large stretches of the year.

If I did not focus attention on story development ahead of writing my first draft, I would have a flash drive and notebooks filled with half-finished abandoned stories. How do I know? That’s exactly what happened throughout my early years before I overhauled my writing philosophy.

Mapping a story

All of my stories travel a similar path from idea to publication. I invest considerable time in mapping out enough details about the main plot, subplots, characters, and settings to create a dynamic blueprint for story construction.

My story planning involves three phases: idea generation, character sketches, world building.

• Idea generation:

I start with jotting down a short single paragraph summary of my initial story idea. This covers the basic main plot and nothing else. Think of the summary as an elevator pitch for your story.

My initial one-paragraph summary for my novel Alien People reads like this:

Aliens from a distant planet called Lathos trace a newly discovered probe back to a mysterious world called Earth and journey there to make first contact. These interstellar explorers are thrust into danger when US government and military officials, fearing a hostile alien invasion, set out to hunt down the aliens and make them prisoners.

In only a couple of sentences, I summarize the main plot that drives the entire novel. This gives me a nice succinct cornerstone for constructing a larger story.

• Character sketches:

My notes for novels, novellas, and serials contain extensive sketches on primary and secondary characters. These essentially function as character biographies, sharing details on physical appearance, personality, relationships, interests, and life history.

Going into detail on each major character helps me identify which characters will drive my story and aids me in having a clearer idea of where the story will go based on character interactions. Characters are better able to drive a story forward when you, as an author, have made yourself familiar with what makes them tick.

• World building:

Many of my stories share a fictional universe. A large percentage of my science fiction stories take place in the same universe where the Alien People Chronicles are set. Many of my horror stories are connected to Deer Falls — a fictional Colorado town serving as the main setting for both Pandora Reborn and Snow Dragon.

This makes world building a little simpler in some ways and more complicated in others. I can create a cohesive patchwork of backstory touching on history, biology, geography, religion, culture, folklore, and so forth. Then I can weave backstory threads through multiple stories. It also means taking extra time to ensure continuity and consistency, so I don’t accidentally retcon one story with another.

World building is a step you should never skip in story development. Real people are shaped by their background and environment. The same holds true for fictional characters. Treat them like they are real people from the start, and they will feel that way to your readers.

Story planning equals success

Five published novels (with a sixth on the way in autumn 2024) speak to my success in taking a more detailed approach to storytelling. Many of my sportswriting colleagues are impressed by my dedication to writing novels, serials, and short stories while simultaneously navigating day-to-day responsibilities of covering multiple sports teams. It’s not an easy thing to do, but embracing story planning helps me start out on the right foot with each book.

A few writers are quick to criticize story planning, believing it stifles creativity. You should just jot down whatever flows into your head, they say, and then sort out the details in later drafts. I’m not a fan of a stream-of-consciousness approach to storytelling. It actually creates tons of unnecessary work for a writer on the backend, forcing extra drafts to fill in plot holes and flesh out characters so the story isn't a meandering mess. It also frequently leads to writer's block and abandoned stories whenever life gets in the way (which it inevitably does).

Experience has taught me that developing my plot, setting, and characters ahead of my first draft stimulates enhanced creativity. I already have a good idea of where my story is going when I finally start a rough draft because I’ve invested so much time in building out the world that specific story inhabits.

The end result?

A compelling tale that readers love reading as much as I enjoyed writing.

Check out the My Books page at Strange New Worlds for further information on my published works.

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Within the pages of my science fiction novels, I love featuring many different types of aliens. Extraterrestrial animal species top that list. Creating alien animals is a true highlight of writing science fiction stories for me. Animals are a catalyst for story development in many ways. A character reveals their true personality through their interaction with animals in the story. Animals also influence setting and atmosphere. They can help create lighthearted moments or ratchet up suspense within a scene.

Habitable planets in my stories are typically home to an abundance of diverse wildlife. Colonia — also known as the Land of the Three Suns — is no exception. An array of unusual animal and plant life call this planet which orbits Alpha Centauri B home. One of my favorite species on Colonia is a distinctive herd animal.

The animal in question is an Odoco.

(warning: minor spoilers ahead for Among Hidden Stars)

Odoco Origins

I introduce numerous alien animals to readers throughout my Alien People Chronicles series. Some of these alien animals exist in the background. Others help move story threads forward.

Odocos play a pivotal role in the scene in Among Hidden Stars where readers first encounter these animals. A peaceful herd of Odocos is grazing near the foothills outside Genahm — a thriving village settled by refugees originating from Ra'ahm (a theocratic nation on the planet Lathos). Odocos are herded by Genahm villagers as a source of food and clothing.

When a star cruiser conveying Calandra and Xttra arrives at Genahm, they are forced to suddenly contend with stampeding Odocos after a trio of predators attacks the herd. Calandra, Xttra, and their fellow passengers must head off the stampede before the animals reach the village and cause major destruction in Genahm. They succeed in subduing the startled animals and then relocating their predators elsewhere before continuing into Genahm.

Odoco Characteristics

An odoco is a diurnal herbivore native to Colonia — a habitable planet orbiting Alpha Centauri B. Odocos are large furry animals who, according to Earthians who've seen them, possess a distinctive blend of elephant and deer features. They have deep oval eyes, a long trunk and large floppy elephantine ears. Small horns adorn the head of male odocos while females have none. Odocos possess long broad bodies, slender legs with hoofs, and a short bushy tail.

Odocos range through warm weather regions on Colonia and tend to graze in valleys and foothills for food. They prefer to strip leaves from trees for their main source of food but will graze on wild grasses as well to supplement their diets. These tree-eaters are peaceful and gentle by nature. Odocos are only dangerous if they become startled by sudden noises or unfamiliar scents. Arcodons (an animal similar to a saber-toothed bear in appearance) are a predator who frequently target odocos, picking off stragglers from the roaming herds.

Name Dispute

Much like with other native animals on Colonia, ongoing disputes have arisen over what these animals should be called. Residents of Cascadia, the main Earthian colony, first bestowed the name odoco on the herbivore species. Genahm villagers, on the other hand, have called the same animal a hemantine ever since they first settled the planet a generation earlier.

Odoco has gained more widespread popularity and usage over hemantine due to the larger population and influence of Cascadia compared to Genahm.

This is the third in a series of articles on the alien animal species featured in my novels and short fiction. You can read past features on Calas and Treemas in my newsletter archives.

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An original idea is a rare gemstone.

Ecclesiastes famously declared “there is no new thing under the sun.” This concept seems especially true within the creative arts. For evidence, look no further than a deluge of sequels, prequels, reboots, and spinoffs streaming out of every profitable intellectual property in Hollywood.

You see similar tendencies infecting traditional publishing and indie publishing.

Authors are encouraged to expand story ideas into a series that goes on forever like a daytime soap opera. The logic behind writing a series is simple. Hook readers with a story populated with compelling and complex characters and then they will want to follow those same characters through numerous stories. If, for example, the characters in question appear over a half-dozen novels, it typically means financial success and popularity for the author.

Sounds good in theory, right?

In the real world, authors often encounter problems when expanding one book into a full-fledged series. Later entries quickly grow stale and repetitive as the same cast of characters go continually from point A to point B while nothing evolves or changes in a lasting, meaningful way.

If you want to build a story premise into a series, you need a foolproof plan to make it work from page one until the end.

Here are a few effective series planning elements to consider:

• Develop a complex world: People in real life are shaped by the world around them. Religion, politics, history, culture, geography, and biology all play key roles in molding a person's identity and personality. The same principle should hold true for your characters. You need to flesh out the world your characters live in and consider how their environment shapes their identities. A fictional world should exist beyond a specific character or set of characters. I applied this principle in developing planets like Lathos in my Alien People Chronicles series.

• Create realistic characters with depth: A story is only as compelling as the characters who drive the narrative. For a series to work, you need a cast of characters who readers will care about. Sketch out your primary characters and secondary characters to get a better idea of how to bring them life in your story. Create complete character biographies detailing personality, physical appearance, personal history, relationships and friendships, and so forth. Taking this approach will help you avoid leaning on tired cliches and stock characters.

• Defy stale tropes: A series will have staying power if your stories branch out beyond simply using stale recycled tropes as their foundation. Do we really need another zombie apocalypse saga? Or another chronicle of space marines battling aliens on far-flung planets? Dare to be original and creative. Readers will embrace quality fiction that either offers an original idea or an unexpected twist on a familiar idea.

• Don't ignore the finish line: All stories eventually reach a natural conclusion. Part of the journey is the end, as Tony Stark would say. Your series should be structured with a definitive ending in mind before you dive into page one. The worst thing an author can do is let a series drag on and on until they or their readers become bored and their series fizzles away with unresolved storylines and character arcs. I purposely structured my Alien People Chronicles series as a trilogy to give me a proper framework in which to build and resolve multiple character arcs and storylines.

When you take sufficient time to build the world and characters of your series, the result can be a series of compelling and dynamic stories that will entertain a legion of loyal readers.

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First impressions make lasting impressions. We learn this lesson in job interviews and on first dates. Put your best foot forward if you want to keep moving forward.

This principle also applies to storytelling.

Readers do judge a book by its cover. They also judge a story by how it is written. If you ever read books about writing or take writing classes, you’ll soon discover extra weight is applied to making a killer first impression through the first line in your story. Conventional wisdom in the writing world suggests a first line is your one and only chance to hook a reader and persuade them to keep going with your story.

I don’t subscribe to that logic myself. A novel can have a compelling first line and end up being a complete slog in terms of reading. First lines do not make or break a story. That burden rests on your opening scene.

A story’s first line still serves a crucial storytelling purpose. Skillfully crafted first lines foreshadow a key theme or conflict that will drive the story forward.

Consider the first line from Among Hidden Stars – the third novel in my Alien People Chronicles trilogy:

A cavern on an isolated moon offered a perfect hiding place.

This line immediately foreshadows the story’s central conflict which sees Calandra and Xttra racing to find an ancient artifact that grants immense world-conquering power before it falls into the hands of a tyrannical ruler on their homeworld. In one line, you introduce an element of mystery that forms a key part of the narrative from start to finish.

The first line from Pandora Reborn – my debut horror novel published in 2018 – also follows this pattern:

First day at a new high school and Ron sensed he already had a fight on his hands.

With this line, I introduce a central theme of Ron Olson struggling to adjust to life in Deer Falls after moving to the small Colorado town with his newly divorced mom and younger brother. It also foreshadows a larger battle with a powerful ancient witch awaiting Ron later in the story.

Sometimes, a story’s first line can offer an ironic misdirection. This is the case with Hollow Planet – my novelette set in the Alien People Chronicles universe:

No trace of life existed on this barren plateau.

Of course, that first impression proves deceptive when Thomas and his fellow astronauts uncover evidence of ancient aliens on the planet – an extraterrestrial race that might not be as extinct as their environment suggests.

These examples I shared all illustrate a common guiding principle in writing.

First lines do create first impressions for the reader. A skillfully crafted opening line can foreshadow a story’s central theme or conflict and function as a tone setter for how the reader can expect the story to unfold.

Long drives down isolated roads and highways during late night or early morning hours come with the territory of a sports journalist who covers college football and basketball. I’ve spent 20 years in this profession and have logged countless hours and miles trekking to far-flung arenas and stadiums as part of my job. Even normally busy streets and highways are lonely ghost towns when the clock ticks past midnight. It makes for a lonely drive home.

It is also the perfect setting where a horror story can unfold.

Road trip nightmares

If you think about it, travel is a useful vehicle for driving the plot in a horror novel or movie. Characters driving on a lonely, isolated road become vulnerable targets for Murphy’s Law. Disturbing scenarios inevitably unfold and instantly turn a mundane road trip into a direct route to their worst nightmare.

These scenarios typically include one of the following elements:

• Car accidents or running out of fuel.

• Encounters with psychopathic hitchhikers or drivers.

• Getting lost after taking a wrong turn.

• Spending the night in an isolated town with sinister inhabitants.

What follows from this initial catalyst is battle for survival as the main character has their worst nightmare unfold before their eyes. It becomes pure nightmare fuel for anyone who ever worries about traveling on isolated roads.

Traveing to terror

While it is more grounded in the science fiction genre, my novel Under a Fallen Sun does employ some distinct travel-related horror elements to fuel the main plot.

Paige, her boyfriend Jason, and her friends Rich and Heather are forced to seek help in an isolated West Texas town after their car breaks down along a nearby highway. The foursome is trapped inside the town by a mysterious energy field. They soon are forced to battle alien invaders fleeing a dying planet who've laid siege to the town as part of a plan to gain a foothold on Earth and turn it into their new homeworld.

My short story, In Hell’s Shadow, also plays on travel-related horror tropes to set the events of the story in motion.

Kate becomes lost while traveling through a canyon outside Deer Falls during a blinding rainstorm. What began as a planned romantic weekend rendezvous with her girlfriend Sarah takes a wrong turn into a nightmarish ordeal when Kate suffers a serious car accident, leaving her stranded and at the mercy of a mysterious stranger.

I love incorporating travel as a catalyst leading to terrifying situations for characters in my stories. Travel-related fears are universal fears and how characters react to travel-related adversity can shed light into important aspects of their personalities — showing us a side of their thoughts and emotions we may not see otherwise.

If you enjoyed this article, check out past Behind the Pages features exploring the characters and worlds populating my stories in the archives.

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