Located in Burlington, thirty-five miles south of the Canadian border, the University of Vermont -- commonly called U.V.M. because of its Latin name, Universitas Viridis Montis -- has neither the geography nor the climate of a typical college baseball powerhouse. In fact, in 2009 it did away with its varsity baseball program altogether. Yet in the early 1890s U.V.M. fielded a 'varsity baseball team as competitive as any in the country. Dr. Frank Sexton, Brown's star pitcher of that era who went on to coach at Michigan, Brown, and Harvard until 1914, said that "without question he regarded the...

Eleven essays on the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, written from the perspective of the working fantasy writer. How did Tolkien produce his effects, and what can we learn from his methods? In this collection, Tom Simon investigates topics from the uses of archaic language to the moral philosophy of Orcs.

DEATH CARRIES A CAMCORDER is a snarky romp through the minefields of literary art, conducted by a guide who has stepped on most of the mines himself. Thirteen essays on the craft of fantasy writing will help you identify and avoid many of the pitfalls that lie in wait for the unwary writer. Topics include: How point-of-view problems can weaken your stories and lose readers. ('Death carries a camcorder') The deadly trap of 'aggravated trilogy' and how to avoid it. ('Zeno's mountains') Three methods of inventing fantasy names, and which one you should never use. ('Gwladys and the Ghraem'lan')...

Fantasy writer, essayist and critic Tom Simon looks at some elements of successful and memorable fiction. What makes a story stand out and grab a reader's interest, and how does it happen? What kind of imaginative elements are most likely to have enduring appeal? How important is prose style to a good story? In eleven essays, Simon investigates these and other questions, and his researches lead him to some surprising places.