Dragons, Ghost Dogs, and Doomslugs: What Are Your Favorite Fantasy Animal Companions?

This article originally appeared on Tor.com.  Warning: this post contains no deep interpretations of animal companions and their impact on story. I won’t philosophize on the essential nature of furry, fuzzy, or squishy familiars or ask why they exist in the first place. Bottom line: they’re cute as hell, and sometimes that’s enough. I’m writing…

Five SFF Settings That Feel Like Characters

This article originally appeared on Tor.com. Places have power. In science fiction and fantasy, they have actual, magical power more often than not. SFF settings are often big by necessity. Locales need to hold entire casts of characters, sweeping civilizations, the flora and fauna flourishing in myriad biomes. Most settings function as they’re meant to,…

Media That Moved Me: Stories Within Stories

This year, our cadre of Quill To Live writers decided to do individual posts in a “Media That Moved Us” series. The only rule: no books! We have plenty of those! Instead, we want to ruminate on the things we watched, played, and experienced that made an impact on us.  When I thought about the…

Five Fantasy Cafes I’d Love To Visit

Sometimes, our favorite fantasy characters need a break—an escape from the woes of brutal, unforgiving worlds and a safe space to ruminate on life, or simply exist in peaceful solitude. Or perhaps characters just need a warm and welcoming atmosphere to encourage a few hours of friendship and laughter, insulated against the stress and harsh…

Seven Epic Fantasy Series Worth The Time Investment

Picking up any epic fantasy series can be an intensely intimidating experience. With their huge page counts, multiple volumes, expansive worldbuilding, and intricate magic systems, fantasy epics can easily overwhelm readers. These enormous series are often recommended by fantasy fans as “must-reads,” but how can you tell if you will like something that big before…

Field Agent Training: Interacting With Non-SFF Readers

There is no wrong way to read (mostly), and any reading is good reading. People should feel free to spend their time the way they please, but sometimes talking to nonreaders can be frustrating.  That’s where we come in. Welcome, agent, to non-reader interaction training. As a field agent in the Quill To Live SFF…