Fantasy can be a difficult genre for beginners to penetrate, and in a sense, that’s fitting. The foundations of the genre rely on invention and reinvention, pushing boundaries, and infusing the known with the unknown. Where do you even begin when the worlds are unfamiliar (and sprawling), and you can’t fight your way through the […]

Animation is awesome—just ask anyone who grew up during the 1990s Disney renaissance. Limited by imagination more than by the bounds of technology (check out Gertie the Dinosaur, bringing dinos to the big screen about eight decades before Jurassic Park), animation is the perfect way to adapt the strange books, the whimsical ones, even those  that […]

Dear Literary Lady, What are some literary misconceptions that drive you crazy? –L.I., Fort Collins, CO Dear L.I., To be honest, not a lot of literary misconceptions grate on me all that much. Part of it is because I know I have plenty of misconceptions of my own, literary or otherwise. The other part is […]

Studio Ghibli has created some of the most beloved animated films of all time, from classics like My Neighbor Totoro and the Academy Award-winning Spirited Away to more recent favorites like Howl’s Moving Castle and The Secret World of Arriety. Unfortunately, with the retirement of studio founder Hayao Miyazaki, Ghibli went dormant a few years […]