Thoughts and Feelings – Kristen Brand

Sisterhood and Superheroes

I’m lucky enough to have two incredible sisters (one of whom also writes books that you should read), so I’m naturally interested in depictions of sisters in media.

And is it just me, or are a lot of superheroes only children? Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Iron Man… The list goes on. And I feel like “Hero with a Treacherous Brother who wants to Murder him for the Throne” deserves its own category.

But you can find some great depictions of sisters in superhero media if you know where to look. On the big screen, my recent favorites are Gamora and Nebula. Continue reading Sisterhood and Superheroes

Why Steampunk is the Little Black Dress of Speculative Fiction

Steampunk is a weird, niche little genre, when you think about it. Merriam-Webster defines it as “science fiction dealing with 19th-century societies dominated by historical or imagined steam-powered technology.”

That’s pretty darn specific. It’s not like the post-apocalyptic subgenre restricts its stories to the 23^rd century, or space opera specifies the power source that spaceships have to use.

The boundaries of steampunk seem pretty restrictive at first glance, so it’s not surprising many authors bend and break the rules. Steampunk has branched out and evolved as creators and fans innovate, which brings me to the strength of the genre:

Steampunk goes well with anything. Continue reading Why Steampunk is the Little Black Dress of Speculative Fiction

5 Writing Lessons I Learned from Re-watching Batman: The Animated Series

I re-watched the first season of Batman: The Animated Series recently for the first time since I was in my tweens. (And boy, does that make me feel old.) I loved this show when I was a kid, but I don’t think I was really old enough to appreciate how brilliant it was. As an adult who’s interested in superheroes and storytelling, I got a lot more out of it. Not only did it entertain the heck out of me, but it gave me a lot to think about writing-wise.

Here are five thoughts I had after finishing the first season. Continue reading 5 Writing Lessons I Learned from Re-watching Batman: The Animated Series

Vacation in the Mountains

No new book stuff this week, because I spent the Fourth of July holiday in the Great Smoky Mountains. My phone had terrible service there, and the hotel WiFi was super slow, so I was forced to take a break from the internet.

It was nice. 🙂

I went hiking to cascades and waterfalls… Continue reading Vacation in the Mountains

I want to hear from you (Yes, you)

Fight Crime! (A Love Story) is over. Looking back, the first post is dated June 28, 2016, which feels like forever ago. Now that it’s finished, I find myself with a gap in my blog schedule and no idea what to fill it with. So help me out, super readers, especially those of you who signed up to get these posts by email. What do you want to read on this blog? I’ve thrown out some ideas I’ve been considering below, but if you have another request, feel free to leave a comment. I’d love to hear what you think.

Why I’m Thankful for Wonder Woman

It’s Thanksgiving here in the USA, and this year, I’m thankful for Wonder Woman.

I know, I know. The movie has been out for a while now. You’re aware of how awesome it is. Everyone’s been talking about it, and you’ve seen it multiple times. You get it; it’s good.

But it could have been so awful, you guys.

Just look at the leaked Joss Whedon script or that terrible unaired TV pilot for examples of the horribleness that could have been. She could have been objectified, damseled, or relegated to a love interest in her own movie. Or we could have gotten the opposite extreme: a hyper-aggressive straw feminist and “strong female character” in the most shallow sense of the term.

Before the movie came out, my hopes were simple: I just didn’t want it to suck. Continue reading Why I’m Thankful for Wonder Woman

Resolute Resolutions

Another year, another round of new year’s resolutions. Those of you who read my post on this topic last year may remember that one of my resolutions was to publish the third book in the White Knight and Black Valentine Series, Almost Invincible, in the second half of 2016. Thanks to starting a new job that turned out to be much more stressful and time-consuming than I anticipated, that didn’t happen, and I apologize. (But I did achieve my other resolution, which was to start running Fight Crime! (A Love Story) weekly on this site. So I’m not a complete failure.)

I haven’t forgotten Almost Invincible, and I made some good progress on it over Christmas vacation. My new resolution is to publish it in the second half of this year. As a bonus, I’ll be putting out a prequel short story in the White Knight and Black Valentine Series by the end of February.

I also want to write a side story in the same universe as Ghost Machine (I’m thinking of something starring Captain Melek, because she’s awesome.), but I’m prioritizing Almost Invincible for now. I have a dozen ideas for new stories, and my hope for 2017 is that I’ll be able to carve out the time to write them all.

Happy (Belated) New Year, everybody!