The Pack S1 E6

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This week on Buffy and the Art of Story: The Pack, Season 1, Episode 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This episode includes how to build the character of the victim to make the loss greater while misdirecting the audience regarding who the victim will be. As always, the discussion is spoiler-free, except at the end (with plenty of warning). Story Elements in The Pack In this podcast episode we'll look at how The Pack handles: All major plot points Creating a victim the audience likes...
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Never Kill A Boy On The First Date S1 E5

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This week on Buffy and the Art of Story: Never Kill A Boy On The First Date. (Season 1, Episode 5 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.) The podcast episode covers interweaving plot lines, theme, and cliffhangers versus game changers. As always, the discussion is spoiler-free, except at the end (with plenty of warning). Story Elements in Never Kill A Boy On The First Date In this podcast episode we’ll look at how Buffy handles: All the major plot turns in this standalone episode How the d...
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Teacher’s Pet S1 E4

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This week on Buffy and the Art of Story: Teacher's Pet, Season 1, Episode 4 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The episode focuses on point-of-view, tone, and all the major plot points from opening conflict to the climax.  As always, the discussion is spoiler-free, except at the end (with plenty of warning). Story Elements in Teacher's Pet In this podcast episode we'll look at how Buffy handles: Viewpoint Characters in a Xander-centric episode Opening Conflict Story Spark (a/k/a Inc...
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The Witch S1 E3

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This episode of Buffy and the Art of Story covers The Witch, Season 1, Episode 3. Buffy and the Art of Story is for anyone who wants to learn more about plot, characterization, and other story elements by watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Every discussion is spoiler-free, except at the end (with plenty of warning). Story Elements in The Witch In this podcast episode we'll look at how Buffy handles: Opening Conflict Story Spark (a/k/a Inciting Incident) The first major plot tu...
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The Harvest S1 E2

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Today on Buffy and the Art of Story: Season 1, Episode 2, The Harvest. For writers and other story creators interested in looking at Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes one-by-one to see how plot, characterization, and other story elements work (and very occasionally don't). Every discussion is spoiler-free, except at the end (with plenty of warning). Story Elements in The Harvest In this podcast episode we'll look at how Buffy handles these story elements in the second half of the 2-episo...
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What Books Are You Thankful You Read? (Favorite Books Post No. 4)

This year has been a good year, and I have more to be thankful for than I could put into a hundred posts. So, being a writer, I figured I'd narrow it down to books. Which still could take more than a hundred posts, so I decided to write about three books: one from childhood, one from college, one from the last few years.The Lion, The Witch, and The WardrobeIn first grade, my teacher left school for several months to have a baby, and we had a wonderful substitute teacher. Every day she read to us...
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Stranger Danger, Comic Con and Girls Gone Gore

Last month I  presented a panel, Girls Gone Gore, at Comic Con Chicago with author Carrie Green. The first time we met, Carrie and I talked about how both of us have had people suggest that because we write horror/suspense/thrillers, we ought to consider using our initials or male pen names. The idea that readers believe male authors more likely to write good horror is nothing new. As I learned when I researched for the panel, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein originally was p...
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GIRLS GONE GORE

Friends,Just a quick post to say that if you're attending Wizard World Chicago Comic Con Friday 8/9, please stop by the panel GIRLS GONE GORE! at 6.pm. central time.  Fellow (or, rather, sister) horror author Carrie Green and I will discuss horror and femininity; the role of women in horror films and fiction; as well as how to write, publish and market horror eBooks, whatever your gender.Our bios are below.  And check out our cool logo!Lisa M. Lilly is an author and attorney. &nbs...
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