C. Alex Smith's Blog

  How far   would you go to stay alive?  To protect your loved ones? Irma has already decided. There is nothing she won’t do to keep her family alive in this harsh, hot world. She's already murdered another family to take their home--an easily defensible island control tower with a ready supply of fish.  When a hurricane churns the waters at the base of the tower, driving away the fish, and rips off the roof, Irma decides to abandon their water-logged home. She moves her tribe to the mainland. Unfortunately, the mainland is so hot they must seek shelter from the sun each morning to survive. It is also already inhabited by tribes of people guarding scarce resources who don’t welcome Irma’s people. Irma is more than willing to engage and fight for her tribe, but Lucy is aghast at Irma’s depravity. Lucy believes there are moral limits one should not cross. Limits Irma has crossed without hesitation. But when Lucy’s own children are endangered, she must decide wher...

   Hi  Magician  Fans.  I’m a struggling writer and a huge fan of the  Magicians , both the books and the SyFy series. I’m the cofounder of  Flagstaff Writers Connection  and I’ve taught young writers the  basics of writing fiction .  I’m older—57 yrs old. I’m a life long fan of speculative fiction and I’ve read countless fantasy novels. What I want to know is how did Lev Grossman and the series writers compel me forward into their story world so well? I also want to know how they created characters who seem so vivid and how did they make me believe those characters grew and changed? I’m embarking on a project to answer those questions and use this excellent story to propel my own abilities forward. Similar to the  Write Like Rowling  project, I plan to comb through each episode and each chapter looking for the answers and sharing my findings with you. If you are also a fantasy writer, you will likely find this interesting. If ...