death

Writing Advice: How to Write Death & A Personal Anecdote

Death is messy and inconsistent. If you read any books on death (I recommend Stiff by Mary Roach, and Unnatural Causes by Dr. Richard Shepherd) what you’ll come to learn quickly is that sometimes it’s smelly, sometimes it’s messy, sometimes it’s quick and sometimes it’s excruciatingly slow.

As a fantasy author, death is a recurring theme. I write necromancers, after all, and death comes with the territory. While I don’t believe that every detail in a book must be accurate in fiction, some things should be close to reality. There are many myths and mysteries about death. I think that in the U.S. and Canada in particular, we hide from it too much. It is inevitable, and we should be prepared for it. Fiction can help us do just that.

Book Review: The Household Guide To Dying, by Debra Adelaide

Book Review: The Household Guide To Dying, by Debra Adelaide

I picked up this book over 10 years ago while working at Chapters. It was placed in the bargain section and normally, I’m a book snob and don’t tend to buy from there. The stickers on the books drive me more than a little insane when I try to pull them off. But a book with a name like The Household Guide to Dying is one I simply couldn’t resist. If nothing else, the author and I clearly share the same sense of humor.