Leading up to the release of Wind and Truth, I reread Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive (abbreviated to “Stormlight” throughout).Along the way of revisiting one of my favorite fantasy series, I made some mental notes on how to apply Sanderson’s mastery of fantasy world-building into my own tales and what my fellow fantasy writers might …
Continue reading Writing Lessons: Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive
After years of putting it off, I finally achieved a long-time goal of mind: read through the Kings & Prophets of the Old Testament chronologically. It took me all of 2024 and was such a sweet, rewarding way to engage with Scripture last year. So, I wanted to share some of the main insights and …
Happy 2025! Wow, can’t believe I haven’t written on the blog since last year… (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) Anyways, terrible joke aside, I have some exciting progress to report. Since my last writing update, despite starting a Ph.D. program in the Fall, I managed to write a rough draft for not one, but TWO novels! …
Continue reading Writing Update January 2025: A New Year Full Of New Excitement
In 2024, I read 52 books across a wide range of genres and interests: fiction and nonfiction, fantasy and YA thriller, sci-fi and mystery, classics and writing advice—and more. I finally finished reading The History of Middle-earth series, a major achievement that took me about a decade. I also reread a few favorites, like Andrew …
I absolutely love the Christmas season, and one of my favorite things to do during December is watch all the classic, beloved Christmas movies I can. It’s been a bright spot in the middle of wrapping up the Fall semester! While my favorites are probably ones you’re familiar with, there are a couple of somewhat …
Earlier this Fall, my brother and I checked off a bucket list item: going to our first Imagine Dragons concert. We road-tripped out to middle-of-nowhere Missouri with a plan for my brother to drive us through the night so I could make it back home in time to teach my 8am class the next morning. …
As a Tolkien fan, maybe it’s surprising I haven’t brought up Rings of Power yet. The truth is, I haven’t talked about the showbecause I didn’t think I had anything to add to the conversation that wasn’t out there. But as I’ve considered the series—and the conversation surrounding it—I finally landed on something I want …
This year, I finally finished The History of Middle-earth series, a 12-book dive into the development of Tolkien’s writing of The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings across the span of his life, edited and with commentary from Tolkien’s son Christopher. It took me ten years to read through them all; as much as …
As a Christian, I’m wired to view things through the lens of the Gospel. Every book I read, every movie I watch, whatever content I engage with, I’m looking for the redemptive qualities—the Gospel Truths I believe—reflected in media. So it’s only natural that I do the same with video games, including one of my …
(Or, A Chance To Gush About Xenoblade Chronicles 3) Once upon a time, I used to be a “story purist.” In other words, I used to believe that books were the unquestioned superior form of storytelling, and dismissed movies, TV shows, and video games as inferior stories. I never thought those visual mediums could come …
By Madelynn Orion 