Creating a unique, immersive setting one life form at a time. CREATING LIFE (THE ART OF WORLD BUILDING, #1) is a detailed how-to guide on inventing the heart of every imaginary world - life. With chapters on creating gods, species/races, plants, animals, monsters, heroes, villains, and even undead, it draws on the author’s quarter century of world building experience. Pointed questions, and an examination of answers and their repercussions, will help readers decide on goals, how to reach them, and whether they are even worth pursuing. Always practical, Creating Life will quickly improve the skills of beginners and experts alike, making a time consuming project more fun, easier, faster, and skillfully done. Unlike other world building guides, the series discusses how to use your inventions in stories while balancing narrative flow with the need for explaining your world. Tailored examples illustrate this. Extensive, culled research on life forms is provided to classify and understand options without overwhelming world builders with extraneous details. Storytellers, game designers, gamers, and hobbyists will benefit from seven free templates that can be downloaded and reused. CREATING LIFE will help your setting stand out from the multitude of fantasy and science fiction worlds audiences see. THE ART OF WORLD BUILDING is the only multi-volume series of its kind and is three times the length, depth, and breadth of other guides. "It is exhaustive, well written, and knowledgeable...I, as a successful science fiction and fantasy writer, have generated many worlds, so this material is familiar, but it would have been easier and probably better had I had a reference like this. It is realistic, recognizing that the average writer may not have the patience to work out all the details before getting into the action..." - NY Times Bestselling Author Piers Anthony "Worldbuilding--creating a fictional setting--is THE biggest job of a storyteller... Where to begin this devastatingly big job? With CREATING LIFE by Randy Ellefson, even the first volume of which is THOROUGH. This book raises ALL the points, and asks all the questions. Not just recommended: essential!" - Ed Greenwood, creator of The Forgotten Realms® and dozens of other imaginary worlds "The Art of World Building might very well be the definitive resource to creating life, places, and everything a writer needs to flesh out a world. It's an amazing reference book. The author's passion for fantasy and world building really shines through each page. He not only knows what he's talking about but is excited to share it all." - Amazon Reviewer "A fantastic resource for building your world." - Amazon Reviewer "Loved it. Amazing resource on world building." - Amazon Reviewer "Helps breakdown world building into easy to understand sections allowing you to focus on the parts you need and ignore the rest." - Amazon Reviewer Author and world building strategist Randy Ellefson has written fantasy fiction and created fictional worlds since the 1980s. In addition to authoring the most detailed world building books available, he's the founder and lead instructor at World Building University, blogs regularly on the subject, and hosts a popular podcast. The Writer's of the Future contest has recognized his writing three times. He has a Bachelor's of Music in classical guitar but has always been more of a rocker, having released several albums and earned endorsements from music companies. Get a FREE book, THE EVER FIEND (TALON STORMBRINGER) by joining the newsletter at fiction dot randyellefson dot com/newsletter/ Website ➜ fiction dot randyellefson dot com  - Facebook ➜ facebook dot com/RandyEllefsonAuthor - World Building University ➜ www dot worldbuilding.university - Podcast ➜ artofworldbuilding dot com/podcasts