Yesterday, I finished the last book in Pierce Brown’s Red Rising trilogy, Morning Star. I picked the first book up right after it came out in early 2014, thanks to a note about it in the newspaper, and have read
Using Worldbuilding to Bring Your Story to Life
I’m into the final revision on this co-written story coming out in May, and there was some commonality among comments from the editor and our beta readers: The setting reads a little generic My main character’s initial plan seems a
5 Things I’ve Learned From Co-Writing a Novel
Well, Squiders, that novel I’ve been working on isn’t exactly done and off to the editor like I hoped, but it’s very close, and I’m kind of basking in the accomplishment of completion even though we’re not quite there yet.
The Increasingly Muddy Line Between Fantasy and Science Fiction
Have I shown you my speculative fiction pyramid, squiders? Hold on, let me do a quick paint drawing for you. Tada! Behold, the speculative fiction pyramid. Because, back when I was doing the Subgenre Study, I found it increasingly difficult
Creating a Shared World
Shared worlds are an old and familiar subject to many people, I think. But for those who are unfamiliar with the concept, a shared world is a common world which many people write in. The Thieves World anthologies from the
Cover Reveal: Burning Bright by KD Sarge
Good morning, Squiders! Today I am pleased to reveal the cover for KD’s newest book, being released through Turtleduck Press on Nov 1st! Burning Bright is the first in a fantasy trilogy. To Keeper Apprentice Hiro Takai, Keepers are heroes,
Mother Characters in Scifi and Fantasy
There’s not a lot of mother characters as main characters in speculative fiction. I can think of exactly two in books that I read (Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly and Boneshaker by Cherie Priest). Part of me is sad, because there’s
Library Book Sale Finds: Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny
The problem with the library book sale books (now I’ve been to another one) is that I’ve got a whole bunch now, and I can’t tell which ones I picked up versus which ones my husband picked up (unless they’re
Taking a Look at Media
Hey, Squiders, hope you’re all having a lovely July. Mine has been too hot (hot damn), but I have been getting more writing done (mostly short stories, and also some on a joint story a friend and I are testing
My Gateway Novel: Wishsong of Shannara
Whenever we find something we like–a TV show, a band, a sport, whatever–there’s always something that introduces us to whatever it is, our “gateway,” if you will, that we never forget, especially if whatever turns out to be transformative in
