DD 2016 Episodes 1 – 47

Dissecting Dragons began in February 2016. Here is a list of episodes published in that year;

Episode 1 – Rags to Rebel leaders – the re-emergence of the Fairy Tale

Episode 2 – Tainted Love – of Triangles, Love Potions and the Happily Ever After

Episode 3 – Deus Ex Machina – it was all a Dream: when Writers let you down.

Episode 4 – Witches, Brooms and Spells: Enchanting and Entrapping Children in Fiction.

Episode 5: Sci-Fi Westerns, Fantasy and Space Opera – Humankind’s conquest of Space.

Episode 6: Merlin, Mordred and Morgana – Magic in Arthurian Legend

Episode 7: Tatooine to Tudor England – The trappings of Historical and Speculative World Building

Dissecting Dragons: Episode 8: Bugbears of Battle – Inciting Violence in Speculative Fiction

Episode 9: From West to East – Translating Speculative Fiction into Anime and Manga

Episode 10: Fight like a Girl – ‘Strong’ Female Characters in Speculative Fiction

Episode 11: Teams, Trios and Fellowships – the importance of Friendship in Speculative Fiction

Episode 12: The Gender Bend – Does the Gender make the Story?

Episode 13: Man-Eating Monster to Flower-Toting Belle – the transition of Fairies in the Victorian Era

Episode 14: Main Mission – Gaming Narrative, the Future of Storytelling

Episode 15: Moustache Twirling 101 – the Mechanics of Writing a Villain

Episode 16: Rattling Bones and Poltergeists – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Ghost stories

Episode 17: Magnus Bane to Jack Harkness – LGBTQA+ Representation and Diversity in Speculative Fiction

Episode 18: Oh not another Zombie Movie – the Rise and Fall (and Rise) of the Living Dead

Episode 19: Was that REALLY necessary? – the overuse of Sexual Violence in Speculative Media

Episode 20: Clash of the Titans – Superheroes vs Superheroes

Episode 21: Down with the Empire – exploring political themes in YA Speculative Fiction

Episode 22:Once More Around the Sun – Celebrating Terrible Birthdays in Speculative Fiction

Episode 23: Genius Loci – Writing Real World Places in Speculative Fiction

Episode 24: Cognoggins and Clockwork – What makes good Steampunk?

Episode 25: Death and All His Friends – Themes of Death, Dying and Grief in Speculative Fiction

Episode 26: A Touch of Faust – Changing Goals on your Protagonist and when this works 

Episode 27: Harnessing Demons – How Writers use their own faults and insecurities in Writing.

Episode 28: Gobblefunk and Glyphs – creating words in Children’s Fantasy

Episode 29: The Frankenstein Complex – why is ‘Fan Fiction’ such a dirty word?

Episode 30: Bucky Barnes to the Winter Soldier – the Evolution of the Side-kick

Episode 31: The Devil in the Details – Lucifer in Modern Speculative Fiction

Episode 32: Escape to the Country – of Editing and Writing Weekends

Episode 33: Not so Charming – Male Stereotypes in Speculative Fiction

Episode 34: The Unveiled Series Reborn – Books, Judgement, Heaven & Hell, and PTSD

Episode 35: Three Goblins Walk into a Bar – Writing Humour in Speculative Fiction and How to Avoid the Accidental Funny.

Episode 36: Horcruxs and Heartbreak – of Books, Souls and Killing your Darlings

Episode 37: Breaking Out the F-jars – Our Favourite Swears in Speculative Fiction

Episode 38: Monsters and Men – Gothic Classics and the Origin of Horror – A Hallowe’en Special

Episode 39: Saints, Souls and Samhain – the Celtic Day of the Dead

Episode 40: Strange, Horrible and Who – the Egotism of Genius

Episode 41: Balancing the Real and the Fantastical – Writing Relatable Epic Fantasy

Episode 42: Let us make Men – From Golems to Androids

Episode 43: Standalones to Series – the pros and cons of One-offs and the neverending Series

Episode 44: Writing Sex Scenes – it’s not as Hard as You Think

Episode 45: Time and Tide and the Rose-tinted Glasses – Our Fascination with the Past

Episode 46: Winter Festivals – Traditions and Stories in the Dark

Episode 47; 2016 – The Best Bits