2010 September at SF Novelists

Archive for September, 2010

Aliette de Bodard September 28th 2010

Bones, flesh and clothes: research and the research-heavy story

And now for something completely different… I’ve been asked recently how I tackle research: what I look for and how I use it. Accordingly, here is a post about my research process and how I use it in a typical, research-heavy story (your mileage, of course, may vary; though I believe some of the stuff [...]

Jim C. Hines September 24th 2010

Time to Write

A week or so back, John Scalzi talked about Finding Time to Write. He said in part: “Do you want to write or don’t you? … If you spend your free time after work watching TV, turn off the TV and write. If you prefer to spend time with your family when you get home, [...]

David B. Coe September 23rd 2010

A Good Day

We writers spend a lot of time talking and posting about the difficulties of what we do. Storytelling is hard. Writing books is hard. Finishing them can be darn near impossible sometimes. At least it can seem that way. In addition to posting at this site, I’m also a co-founder of and a regular contributor [...]

Marie Brennan September 16th 2010

Woman =/= Body

For about the last year, I’ve been posting about the various stereotypes that plague female characters, and how to avoid them. I think I’ve reached the end of my ability to slice the topic up into coherent, focused points, at least for now, so I’ll be moving on to other topics — though I’ll certainly [...]

S.C. Butler September 15th 2010

Boys Don’t Read

I was thinking about this old trope recently as I followed the recent online discussions about gender bias in the NY Times Book Review section. Pretty good joke, huh? Boys don’t read, but they’re still the gatekeepers about which novels are important and which aren’t. A good reason not to read NY Times book [...]

Kelly McCullough September 11th 2010

$@&@%# Muse!

So the part of my Muse that I call my sense of structure has apparently been on vacation for the last 8 months, a fact I noticed when it returned this morning at 6:15 to whisper vicious nothings in my ear. M: “Psst Kelly, I’ve got a question.” K :”Go ‘way.” M: “No, really, there’s [...]

Alma Alexander September 5th 2010

De-fence…

I was driving along suburban roads yesterday with my husband, on our usual trip to our Saturday morning breakfast out, and I was suddenly struck… by fences. There’s a little house on a corner, older and less than perfectly cared for, with a short picket fence more decoration than any kind of impediment to anything [...]

Mindy Klasky September 1st 2010

By Any Other Name…

Names are important to me. (No, not my own. I hardly *know* my own name, because sometimes I go by my maiden name, and sometimes by my married name, and more often than not, I stumble verbally when I introduce myself to folks, which makes them ask if I’ve only recently gotten married… But that’s [...]

Author Information

Aliette de Bodard

Aliette de Bodard is the author of the upcoming Aztec fantasy Servant of the Underworld, published by Angry Robot. Her short fiction garnered her a nomination for the Campbell Award. She lives in Paris, France. Visit site.

Jim C. Hines

Jim C. Hines' latest book is THE SNOW QUEEN'S SHADOW, the fourth of his fantasy adventures that retell the old fairy tales with a Charlie's Angels twist. He's also the author of the humorous GOBLIN QUEST trilogy. Jim's short fiction has appeared in more than 40 magazines and anthologies, including Realms of Fantasy, Turn the Other Chick, and Sword & Sorceress XXI. Jim lives in Michigan with his wife and two children. He's currently hard at work on LIBRIOMANCER, the first book in a new fantasy series. Visit site.

David B. Coe

David B. Coe is the author of eleven fantasy novels, including the books of the LonTobyn Chronicle, Winds of the Forelands, and Blood of the Southlands. He has also written the novelization for the Ridley Scott production of ROBIN HOOD, starring Russell Crowe, that is due out in May 2010. In 1999 he received the Crawford Fantasy Award, given annually by the IAFA to the best new author in fantasy. He has a Ph.D. in United States environmental history and lives on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee with his wife and daughters. Visit site.

Marie Brennan

Marie Brennan is the author of more than thirty short stories and the Onyx Court series of historical fantasy novels, concluding in the upcoming With Fate Conspire (due out September 2011). Visit site.

S.C. Butler

Butler is the author of The Stoneways Trilogy from Tor Books: Reiffen's Choice, Queen Ferris, and The Magician's Daughter. Find out what Reiffen does with magic, and what magic does with him... Visit site.

Kelly McCullough

Kelly McCullough's first novel in the WebMage series, WebMage, was released by Ace in 2006 to considerable critical praise. Cybermancy, and CodeSpell followed in '07 and '08. His 4th, MythOS, is slated for late May '09 with SpellCrash to follow in '10. His short fiction has appeared in numerous venues including Weird Tales, Writers of the Future, and Tales of the Unanticipated. His illustrated collection, The Chronicles of the Wandering Star, is part of a National Science Foundation-funded middle school science curriculum, Interactions in Physical Science. Visit site.

Alma Alexander

Alma Alexander is a Pacific Northwest novelist whose new YA trilogy, "Worldweavers", debuted with "Gift of the Unmage" in March 2007 ("Spellspam" follows in 2008, and "Cybermage" in 2009). Her other books include the internationally acclaimed "The Secrets of Jin Shei". Visit site.

Mindy Klasky

Mindy Klasky is the author of eleven novels, including WHEN GOOD WISHES GO BAD and HOW NOT TO MAKE A WISH in the As You Wish Series. She also wrote GIRL'S GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT, SORCERY AND THE SINGLE GIRL, and MAGIC AND THE MODERN GIRL, about a librarian who finds out she's a witch. Mindy also wrote the award-winning, best-selling Glasswrights series and the stand-alone fantasy novel, SEASON OF SACRIFICE. Visit site.