We have a new design essay to start the week. Film-maker Lisa Stock tells us about the world building that went into her project Titania.

People are always curious about where I shoot my films. But when I tell them it was a state park, local beach, or neighbor’s backyard they seem disappointed that I haven’t said Oz, Gotham, or at least New Zealand. I’m thrilled though – because for me, that means I’ve effectively created a world they believe exists somewhere further than a few blocks from home.

World building is as important in fantasy film as character building. It not only holds and surrounds the action of your plot – but influences it. An actress said to me once, “I have terrible fears about the forest, nightmares since I was a child of being left alone in a forest.” Luckily, the film we’re working on together takes place entirely in a forest and I need for her to be frightened.

Author Jess Hartley has announced a new urban fae fiction project, one that allows “Patrons” to support her fiction directly (and get exclusive access to it, as well as other benefits.) Known as “direct-market fiction” or “reader-sustained writing”, The Shattered Glass Project invites readers to take a direct role in the publishing process through a variety of different Patronage options during the Spring of 2010.

For decades, traditional publishing has been one of the only legitimate avenues for aspiring fiction authors. While the publishing industry offers countless positive opportunities and advantages for writers, there are also challenges. Some works or formats aren’t economically feasible for large publishing houses to consider, leaving writers seeking new ways to get their work into reader’s hands.

I was under whelmed and uninspired by nearly everything I saw in 2006. Genre flicks were particularly bad. Aside from “The Descent,” one of the few notable exceptions, it was a year full of more bad sequels and blasphemous remakes. That said, I was hopeful about Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth” as I made my first trip to the theatre this year. However, I decided to leave my expectations at the theatre entrance just in case—a defense mechanism against brilliantly marketed bad movies.