Reposted: The Last Thousand Words

Drat. My apologies, readers, but I didn't get to finish my next Writerly Sound Bites post this past week. Too many items popped up that required my attention, and I couldn't spare the time. Darn. That said, I will not leave you in the lurch. You can check out Mr. Cheah's excellent article below, as …

Reposted: The Page is Not the Game

Check out this great piece by Kit Sun Cheah, readers! The Page is Not the Game The video game is the defining entertainment medium of the times. Combining high-impact visuals, immersive sound and deep player engagement, all within the comfort of the player’s home, the video game is the epitome of technological leisure. Its influence …

Reposted: The Page is Not the Screen

Check out this excellent article from Kai Wai Cheah, readers: The Page is Not the Screen The pulp era was a different time. Dime novels, pulp magazines and radio were the primary forms of fiction. Silent films dominated the theatres until the 1920s, with musicians playing music to accompany the show. The first Technicolor feature …

Reposted: Nipping at the Heels of Gods

Take a look at this piece by author Kit Sun Cheah, readers: Nipping at the Heels of Gods By conventional standards, the action scenes I write are unconventional. Many action scenes in pop culture follow the same tired formula. Lone hero picks up a machine gun, wades into a group of bad guys and blows …

Reposted: 3 Lessons from Writing A Female Protagonist

Take a look at this excellent piece by author Kai Wai Cheah, readers: 3 Lessons from Writing A Female Protagonist Babylon Red was my first attempt at writing a novel-length work anchored by a female protagonist. Unlike other modern fiction, I sought to write a female character, not a man with breasts. She had to think, talk, act …

Reposted: Ingredients of Action Horror

Check out this fantastic piece by author Kai Wai Cheah, readers! Ingredients of Action Horror Action horror. A fiction contradiction if there ever was one. Action stories are about agency: the character’s ability to act on the environment, to overcome all odds, to destroy all foes in his path. Horror relies heavily on a lack of agency: …

Review – Dungeon Samurai Vol. 1: Kamikaze (An Anti-LitRPG Dungeon Crawl) by Kit Sun Cheah

Here we have another review of a work produced by author Kai Wai Cheah (who also uses the name Benjamin Cheah and Kit Sun Cheah). Dungeon Samurai Vol. 1: Kamikaze* comes from the creator of Amp, a superhero in Silver Empire’s Heroes’ Unleashed* universe. It is also a fascinating new look at the isekai genre. …

Reposted: The Fight Scene is the Last Scene

Check out this excellent piece by Kai Wai Cheah, readers! The Fight Scene is the Last Scene Action scenes are the most memorable aspects of any fiction. Fast-paced and intense, they sear themselves into the audience’s memories. Battles between the hero and the lesser mooks punctuate the plot, while the final showdown between the hero …

Reposted: Hellish Quart Early Access Review

Check out this great piece by Kit Sun Cheah, readers: “It is easy to kill someone with a slash of the sword. It is hard to be impossible for others to cut down.” Yagyu Munenori Hellish Quart Early Access Review Hollywood, games and fiction gets fencing wrong. Protracted clash of blades. Wild telegraphed flailing and …

Reposted: Chasing Tropes

Check out this great article by Kit Sun Cheah, readers: Chasing Tropes People enjoy the exotic, but not too exotic. People enjoy the familiar, but not too familiar. Reconciling these twin desires is the overriding concern of the modern-day fiction writer. A story where everything is formulaic, from characters to plots to setting, is predictable and boring. A story …