Fantasy

The Fire Before Summer: Beltane in History and Fantasy

/ Contemporary Fantasy, Fantasy, Taylen Carver

Beltane, the ancient Celtic fire festival marking the beginning of summer, once stood as a powerful turning point in the year—a night of bonfires, fertility rites, and thinning veils between worlds. Though largely forgotten today outside neo-pagan circles, Beltane still echoes through Celtic-inspired fantasy, where it often serves as a moment of magic, transformation, and looming consequence. In this post, we explore the origins of Beltane, how it was celebrated, and why it continues to shape modern fantasy storytelling—including its pivotal role in The Rivers Ran Red and other Celtic-influenced works.

“Romantasy” Is Not a Dirty Word. But It Is the Wrong One.

/ Fantasy, Fantasy Romance, Romance, Tracy Cooper-Posey

Fantasy author Danielle L. Jensen recently pushed back against the “romantasy” label, arguing that it reduces complex fantasy novels to “there was kissing, therefore clearly dragons are optional.” She is not alone. Fantasy romance has always demanded that writers master two genres at once: not just the emotional arc of a romance, but also worldbuilding, magic, politics, danger and impossible choices. So why has a catchy nickname managed to make the genre sound smaller, sillier and less serious than it really is?

Why Fantasy Keeps Hiding Magic in Libraries

/ Fantasy, Taylen Carver

There was a time when fantasy looked outward, toward lost kingdoms and blank spaces on the map. Today, with the world thoroughly mapped and disappointingly short on hidden plateaus full of dinosaurs, fantasy has shifted its secrets elsewhere. Now the lost world waits behind a locked door in the back of a library, or on a shelf in a bookshop that was not there yesterday.

Meanwhile, Back at Stories Rule Press…

/ Cameron Cooper, Fantasy, Mark Posey, Non-Fiction, Romance, Science Fiction, Taylen Carver, Tracy Cooper-Posey

The first quarter of the year has disappeared in a blur of drafts, edits, releases and looming deadlines—business as usual at Stories Rule Press. Mark is deep into the next Thomas Billings thriller, Tracy is preparing new fiction and nonfiction releases, Taylen is starting an all-new fantasy series, and Cameron has another big-concept science fiction novel on the horizon. Different genres, different voices, same mission: story comes first. Always.

Why Fantasy Worlds Feel Smaller Than Middle-earth

/ Fantasy, Taylen Carver

Fantasy maps have the same problem as those diagrams of the Earth and the Moon: they make impossible distances look deceptively small. A quarter-inch on the map between Rivendell and Hollin hardly seems worth mentioning—until you realise the Fellowship spent weeks walking it. Why does Middle-earth feel so much larger than other fantasy worlds, even worlds that are technically bigger? The answer may lie not in the map itself, but in the long, cold, weary miles between the names.

Shopping Basket
Scroll to Top