Hi everyone! I’ve started writing a regular column for The Grind, a new Ottawa-based magazine which concentrates on all things gaming. The column is going to be called “GM diaries” and will cover aspects of GMing. In the first installment, I discuss what you as a GM can do to help your players develop characters… Read More Character creation, the GM’s side
Today is mother’s day, which is the perfect opportunity to write about love and relationship in your writing. Too often, we think of love and relationships in books as being solely represented by romantic love. But love takes many, many forms, and exploring all the loving relationships in the lives of your characters can add… Read More Love is a many-splendored thing
I was starting to update this site for the upcoming release of my third novel, Kindred Spirits, but in the course of doing so I found this guest post I did for my blog tour following the release of Brothers In Arms. My main character for this series, Alex Winters, is very young, but burdened… Read More On character motivation and the coming of age story – the burdens we choose
A few weeks ago, I got a bad review. It happens, and even when, as is the case with this particular book, it happens a lot less than the positive ones, it’s still unpleasant. But that’s not what this post is about. It’s about why he hadn’t liked the book, because being a character-driven author… Read More The complexity of the human mind
Making sure you have the right characters If you’re a character-driven storyteller (like I am) then you LOVE characters. You have a bank of them just waiting for a story to be put in, and your stories often come from the characters themselves rather than concepts or ideas. That’s awesome, and generally leads to very… Read More Casting
I wrote a guest post on Lizzie’s Dark Fiction which you should check out! It’s about family, which is an important theme in my recent release, Blood Relations, but it’s also about how we talk about things that are private and important to us , and how much of our own personal lives we put… Read More Family by Choice
The importance of point of view This post is a special request. To make a special request, please visit our Facebook page, and post on the wall or send a message. You can also email icecreamforzombies@gmail.com . This post is going to be two things in one; mostly, it’s going to be a post about… Read More A mile in their shoes
This post is a special request. To make a special request, please visit our Facebook page and post on the wall, or leave us a message. You can also send an email to icecreamforzombies@gmail.com . I was asked to share my opinion on the MacGuffin (also known as McGuffin or maguffin), and what drives the… Read More The carrot and the stick
Writing unforgettable characters This post is a special request. To ask for a special request, write in the comments, or go to the Facebook page, write on the wall or send a message, or write at icecreamforzombies@gmail.com Writing characters is something that comes naturally, to me. I’m one of these authors that have live people… Read More Oh! I LOVE that guy!!
Ensemble casts versus lone protagonists This post is a response to a special request. If you would like to special request a post on a particular subject, please go to icecreamforzombies.tumblr.com and click on “Got a question about writing?” in red under the page’s subtitle, and ask your question. All special requests will be treated… Read More Who’s this about, anyway?
Nathan Caro Frechette's Ice Cream for Zombies 