The Power of Rituals

In this post, I will be examining how rituals and rhythms can be used to enhance the creative process. I will also be providing an update on all the writing projects I have planned, sharing my thoughts on Season 1 of Fantasy & Faith coming to a close and providing you with a taste of […]

Religion and fantasy

Introduction Tales of the fantastic have always been intertwined with faith religion. No doubt the genesis story in the Bible and the origins of the universe in mythologies of ancient times have inspired many a writer to come up with belief systems for the peoples of their world(s). Early fantasy writers such as Tolkien and […]

On Characters

On Characters (including a Deep Dive on my characters) Coming up with new characters for a story is one of the most fun and also daunting tasks for any author. Sometimes it comes easily, with a main character already cast in your mind with your initial idea. Other times its like trying to squeeze out […]

Fantasy and Faith

I launched a podcast today titled … Fantasy and Faith. The first episode was just an intro episode looking at some of my history and the challenges I’ve faced as a writer. Its available on Substack and also on YouTube Podcasts. I would really appreciate your support on either channels. I’ve also published a collaborative […]

Alauddin Update

Work has started on this rewrite of something I wrote in my teen years. Initially, it was meant to be a padding out of the original with some more character work and plot. However, as these things go, it’s kind of become a full rewrite. The original was good for a teen project. I was […]

2025 Projects

Its been a pretty good year for me. But for the world, It’s been a tumultuous and disturbing one. Humanity seems to be losing … to itself. Despite the best efforts of scientists and science fiction authors, we continually move towards self-destructive tendencies. Climate change, wars, human rights violations, famine. And Donald Trump is yet […]

Fictional Violence vs Reality

Depictions of violence are a staple of genre fiction. This can serve a number of purposes, least of all the glorification of violence. War in The Lord of the Rings was a reflection of the trauma experienced by Tolkien in the trenches. Abercrombie shows the fruitlessness of the cycle of violence in his First Law […]

Magic, Faith and Fiction

Introduction Fantasy fiction has long been linked to the mystical, the unknown, and the extraordinary. This genre contains a unique strand of storytelling. It draws from rich cultural and spiritual traditions. This is known as Muslim fantasy fiction. Combining elements of magic, faith, and folklore, these stories explore new dimensions of the fantastical through a […]

Clash of Mythologies

The troll hefts its makeshift club and advances cautiously towards the glowing blue figure. He roars a challenge at the strange creature to show his dominance. But the blue figure is uncowed. She just smiles as she hovers above the ground and raises a single hand. The earth rumbles in response. In my last post, […]

Ink and Algorithms: AI vs. Human Writing

I wanted to test the mettle of AI, so as an experiment I fed Microsoft Copilot the blurb from my novel, The Changeling King. Here is the original prompt complete with the text of my blurb: Write me a chapter of a fantasy story using this blurb: At the height of the Age of the […]