Quest ideas for a knight? He could go out to look for an Artifact of Importance - like the Holy Grail or a legendary treasure or some Magical Widget. Or he could be going out to save somebody - a damsel in distress, a village being pillaged by Vikings, or a castle under seige by an enemy. Or he could go out to defeat Evil - some despotic overlord, a dragon or other monster, the devil himself.
Anime influence? There is no anime influence in my novel. If there's any influence at all on my novel, it's coming from Sherlock Holmes, various historical documentaries, internet websites with pictures of old machines, and Asian folklore.
Now what exactly are these "Cardinal Sins" of writing fantasy? I have no idea. Just write your novel. And whenever you get around to actually editing it, then you can ask what you've done wrong. Although I should say that if you begin with a premise that's a rip-off/strong imitation of something that's already iconic in the genre (LOTR, Harry Potter), it will make your editing process that much harder.
Things you never knew about your characters. Mostly the strange things that pop up concern my secondary characters. For instance, I did not know that one of the inventors at the Academy, Henry Tarlton, has such bad luck at his experiments that at one time, he burned down a shed in his backyard. I didn't know the assistant director for the Museum, Mr. Dardanus, would be so creepy (originally, I thought he was just a bureaucratic blowhard, but I was wrong). And I did not know that the charlatan Greta Del Rassa was such a klutz.
Writing anything outside of Nanowrimo? I am concentrating on Nanowrimo this month. Outside of November, I write short stories.
What inspired your title? From a Magic: The Gathering card. Yes, I even own that particular card.
How would you feel if you lived on the Planet Jesus? Very strange, I'd imagine.
Herbs? I will have an apothocary in the story, but he hasn't shown up yet. And yes, he will give a lecture on herbs. This will be coming up soon. Very soon.
Swordfighting? No swordfighting in my novel. But there will be clawfighting and quite possibly some pistols will be fired as well.
First sentence? "Uncle Elliot's cremation urn was still warm."
What do vampires mean? Traditionally: undead bloodsuckers. For you: anything you want it to.
Does magic mean fantasy or science fiction? Fantasy. Although there's that famous Arthur C. Clarke quote: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." So it could go either way.
A dragon! What should I do? Send a knight to do the dirty work.
Shapeshifting mutant - naked? I have shapeshifters in my novel and yes, the clothes do not change with them so they will be naked when they change back. This is much more realistic and besides, the magic I'm depicting is somewhat subtle. This is potentially interesting because my shapeshifters also live in a Victorian Era-like society where nakedness is taboo....
