Writing Inspiration

John Gast: Fantasy World Cartographer

Dave Smeds

10 May 202610 May 2026

Now that my The War of the Dragons trilogy is available in full, including the never-before-seen third book, the moment is right to pay tribute to one of the people who hopped on the wagon of its creation for a while, and […]

Writing Inspiration

The Stray Bits

Dave Smeds

10 Nov 202409 Nov 2024

I had in mind a substantial blog entry to make up for the brevity of the one I uploaded a couple of weeks ago. Best laid plans. Deadline pending. So, instead, I will continue with the series of posts revealing sources of […]

Writing Inspiration

Empowered Female Characters

Dave Smeds

13 Oct 202407 Oct 2024

Long ago, during my mid-twenties, I worked for a furniture manufacturer. I was their graphic artist and the guy responsible for generating their marketing materials, from catalog sheets and price lists to the ad slicks, i.e. line illustrations of the product accompanied […]

Writing Inspiration

Stories Leading to Stories

Dave Smeds

29 Sep 202428 Sep 2024

Two weeks ago, in the previous installment of this blog series, I shared the inspiration for “The Wind’s Kiss,” the opening piece in my new short-story collection Swords, Magic, and Heart. This time around I’m sharing the background from which the concluding […]

Writing Inspiration

A Beloved Writing Group

Dave Smeds

04 Aug 202404 Aug 2024

Ted Sturgeon used to refer to something he called the spaces between the lines. A reader may see only a blank after the period of one sentence and the capital letter of the next sentence, and move right past it without any […]

Writing Inspiration

The Initial Idea

Dave Smeds

23 Jun 202421 Jun 2024

Identifying the genesis of a story isn’t always possible, but sometimes it is clear as day. I’ve been in the mood lately to acknowledge influences to my creative process. Those of you who’ve been keeping up with my recent blogs may have […]

Writing Inspiration

My First Computer

Dave Smeds

09 Jun 202407 Jun 2024

I have never dipped a goose feather into an inkwell and scribbled words on paper, much less onto parchment or some other substitute for paper. Romantic as it may sound to do so just once in order to acquaint myself with the […]

Writing Inspiration

The Story Behind the Story: Bearing Shadows

Dave Smeds

26 May 202419 May 2024

I am a lucky man. I’m the father of my daughter. I’m the father of my son. Can’t get much luckier than that. I remember that feeling, though, toward the end of the first pregnancy. Everything was going well, yet until the […]

Writing Inspiration

The Heroine with a Thousand Faces

Dave Smeds

04 Mar 202427 Feb 2024

In one of the classes I took as sophomore in college, the assigned reading material included The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. It was March, 1976 when the class turned its focus to that particular work. Note the date. […]

Writing Inspiration

Spear Carriers: How I Accidentally Wrote My First Novel

Dave Smeds

07 Jan 202403 Jan 2024

In just a couple of days, Book View Café will release the ebook version of my novel The Sorcery Within. Back in 1985, it was the first novel of mine to be published. Getting to this new edition has been a long […]

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