M.C.Foster
 Fantasy fiction exploring worlds of adventure, danger, faith and beauty
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Again, in line with what I've seen from other indie fantasy authors, I'm creating trope maps for my Stones of the Kingdom fantasy book series. I've now created one for Moonlady Falls, the second book in this high fantasy series. Creating a trope map is, in theory, quite simple. One takes the cover image, pops it onto a background with a suitable colour, add a few wiggly arrows then add the tropes that the novel contains. So yes, the mechanics of creating a trope map for a fan

For a little while now, I've seen other fantasy authors produce trope maps for their books, old and new. I thought that these looked rather nice, so I thought that I'd give it a go. The thing is, I don't and didn't look at "What tropes are popular on Bootok/Booktube/Bookstagram right now?" When I started writing, there was no such thing as Booktok. I started with some characters who fascinated me and gave them an adventure... and let the plot unfold. It would take another

In the world of books and movies, you may hear people discussing the Bechdel Test as a way of evaluating how well a particular work...

Just over fifty years ago, Paula Smith, the editor of a Star Trek fanzine, published a parody short story featuring Mary Sue, “the...