It's been well over a month - a month! - since the last milestone was reached. Granted, I have the liberty to set my goals at whatever number I desire, but I choose to be somewhat realistic. There's a thing known as too much confidence, after all. With The Phantom all wrapped up, I can now say with certainty that I have reached 25 story-driven items, including short stories, poetry and lyrics. Most of these items are short stories, since I've only recently taken an interest in th... [More]

I have always loved dark settings led by a female protagonist in black clothes, armed with swords or guns, out to cure a world sick of the filth that inhabit it. And no, I am not referring to the latex-clad lead of Underworld. See Ergo Proxy for a better example. Even if it's been a year and a half since I first breathed life into her, I still consider the character Alpha 13 - or Flower - from Without Purpose - the NaNo '10 project - to be my most interesting character. However, I ki... [More]

Having returned from my 10-days trip to New York (and having slept for 15 hours just to get back on my feet), I've finally had time to organize my brain and thoughts. And there are a few things that struck me when comparing the City That Never Sleeps with Norway. Putting the average building height aside, I am specifically referring to accepted public behavior. I was forced into conversations with complete strangers several times a day on a daily basis, something my primitive Norwegian b... [More]

There is a special race of creatures lurking in the dangerous corners of the interwebs. If you are in possession of a Facebook account, you have without a doubt seen these creatures before. I am of course referring to the Sympatroll, who posts cryptic messages, letting you know that something is wrong, but leaving out all details. Sympatroll - Family: Internet/forum - Feeds on your responses, and will attempt to prolong the conversation with contradictions. - Suffers from Quest-f... [More]

Bring out your magnifying glass! It's time for yet another closer look at five new stories. Probably going to be the last one for a while, as I need to catch up. The King of Leaves - Writing assignment for our weekly short story writing class at school. Keywords: tree and straw. - I thought long and hard about this story, finding no inspiration in the keywords. The only thing that came to mind was an old H.C. Andersen story called 'The Fir Tree', which is about a small tree w... [More]

The story trivia returns to reveal information you didn't think you'd find valuable about five new stories! (Nice Dream) - The title is, as other stories in the Crescendo Collection, stolen from a Radiohead song. The Shadow from Go Slowly makes another appearance, this time more central to the story. - The protagonists's actions are supposed to represent lust, the death sin, for he cannot hold himself to one woman without being attracted to another. In the end this lust is wha... [More]

I see myself as a humble man, forever thankful for the interest taken in my stories, and I always take suggestions for improvement to heart with an open mind. Yesterday, however, I noticed something that put my humble side to the test. The King of Leaves, a short story aimed at the younger audience, had received a 1 star score, the worst score you can reward a story. My heart plummeted to a dark and deep place while I searched for the answer to this odd doing, but the perpetrator had left... [More]

Here's a quick peek behind the scene, showing secrets and inspiration for five stories. More to come! End - The name Isleen was not picked by coincidence. It is of Irish origin, and means dream / vision. - The inspiration that led to the story was an image I woke up with once, of a girl standing by a tree near a cliff, the tree's roots sticking out underneath. The same image served as the basis for another story as well: Christmas on Sorrow Hill. Starman - The sequel to End,... [More]

As my first milestone is reached, it is time for a quick reflection. Writing.com has certainly played an important part in my evolution as a writer, and for that I am forever thankful. Before this, all my works were posted on facebook, and only a few bothered to read them. Even fewer gave any constructive criticism at all. Fast forward four and a half months, and the short story That Which Passes Us By has reached 100 views - and 10 reviews. Of course, this does not mean 100 unique readers, b... [More]

No matter what creative field we find ourselves in, we share a common trait: the use of imagination. But in the end, what is imagination? A quick trip to Wikipedia tells me that imagination is a mind's ability to conjure images in a world that lies outside the reality we perceive through sight, sound and smell, and gives us the ability to bend and alter reality as we see fit. Already I can sense the apparent dangers of a world where everything is as we wish it to be. As a writer... [More]

I have to confess: I have never written a love song, or a song about a refrigerator. Crazy, I know. Still, this peculiar thing called fate hurled at me a school project. The assignment was to write a song. About anything. Anything at all. I thought long and hard about this. Can you even comprehend the kind of power I had in my hand? I could shape worlds, make fictive puppets dance to my strings. Still, somehow the first thing that came to mind was a love song about a refrigerator. Now, be... [More]

It's Christmas once more. Ever since I watched the anime Clannad three years ago, this joyous celebration has been nothing but an emotional rollercoaster. Sorrow. Loss. Yearning. Melancholy (I love that word). It's not necessarily a bad thing, nor is it necessarily anything directly linked to my person, but it still is what remains inside after the laughter has ceased and the food is gone. Melancholy was always one of my best inspirational driving forces. That is a fact I have com... [More]