The journal and sometimes blog of author, Joseph L. Selby.
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An Echo of a Life Long Lived
My latest idea for a story centers around how magic items are created in a fantasy setting. The enchanter effectively tells the item what its purpose is. Those capable of the craft can hear an echo of that purpose when holding the item. [Male character] is so good at his craft that the king only…
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Territorialism
Have you ever noticed that witches in stories have little cottages out in the woods away from everyone? The implication is that they stay away from villages that might turn against them. But what if it has nothing to do with safety and everything to do with geography. Specifically, what if witches are like Jaguars…
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A setting without a plot
Someone said “Affleck, you the bomb in phantoms, yo!” which is a timeless quote. I actually saw Phantoms, forever ago, when it came to home video. But I couldn’t remember anything about it, so I went to YouTube and watched the trailer. I still don’t remember anything about it (other than—at the time—thinking that Affleck…
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An ending without a story
“It is important you strike at the edge of the market,” Valian said to the Brothers Urgo. “I will set heel to horse and take Lady Ginelle away to safety. You can take what pleasure you will with Sebastine, as long as he is dead when you’re done.” The Brothers Urgo were the most muscles…
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An Interesting Backstory
I’m watching the new Shogun limited series. I’m in episode two, right at the beginning where the old emperor is dying and his son is asking how he will find him again. This gave me an interesting idea. The villain is a raider. He travels from town to town, sacking and burning, killing everything in…
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Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
I admit that this page is mostly a notebook at this point where I write ideas I can revisit at a later date. I’m okay with that. 2019 was a year of illness for me. I developed agoraphobia that kept me inside for over three months and I’m chalking most of the year up as…
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Too Busy Writing! And a Quirky Idea
Clearly there was an uptick in blog posting earlier this year. Three times in as many months! In an age where blog posting is effectively dead if you don’t have a platform (or if it isn’t your primary focus), we’ll call that a surprising increase in activity. And then…NOTHING! Until today. The cool thing is,…
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Kingdom Death
Legacy games are all the rage in the board game world at the moment. My Tuesday group has already completed Seafall and Gloomhave and are 7/12 through Charterstone. I even have my own that I worked on over Christmas that I hope to devote more time to if work wasn’t trying to kill me (believe…
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The Dreams are Back
When I don’t write, I have REALLY vivid dreams, stories I should have been putting to paper but instead let bleed away at night. Grad school has done a pretty good job of mitigating this, offering me a different creative outlet. But now that I’m near the end of the program and the work I’m…
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Approaching the Finish Line
I doubt anyone reads this page anymore. Are blogs even still a thing? But story ideas have been coming hot and heavy lately. I had a novel and a short story idea just in the last couple days. I have only 4 weeks left of graduate school. I used to do some writing in break…
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More Dream Chasing
Last night I had a Cloud Atlas-level of complexity to my dream. It was amazing! So much so that I did not make the effort to try and remember it while I was sleeping (I’m a lucid dreamer) because I didn’t want to miss anything. Actors I recognized were Liam Neeson, Nathan Fillion, Paul Dano,…
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Dream Chasing
I was in the mood to overwrite something tonight. I had a glimmer of an idea during a drive to New Brunswick that I’m letting percolate in my brain. I thought I’d do a quick wind sprint and make it as thick and sappy as I could. DREAM CHASING Amid the darkness of sleep, dreams…
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Reincarnate
So I’m working toward my Masters of Science in Instructional Design and Technology (how to make education better, basically) and I’ve found that I can’t write a research paper every week, do my regular job, and write a novel all at the same time. However, I have a three-month break coming up, starting next week, and…