2010 November at SF Novelists

Archive for November, 2010

James Alan Gardner November 25th 2010

The Skill List Project: Learning to Love Grammar

This is another blog post in The Skill List Project: an attempt to list the skills involved in writing and selling fiction, particularly science fiction and fantasy. This time around, we’re looking at another fundamental building-block of writing: grammar. Making Sense Grammar prevents you from tripping over your own feet. The point of grammar is [...]

Jim C. Hines November 24th 2010

Overnight Success

Most writers recognize that overnight success usually isn’t. I did a survey earlier this year, talking about how many years it takes writers to sell their first professional novel. In that respect, “overnight” success took an average of more than ten years. But what happens after you’ve sold that first book? How long does it [...]

David B. Coe November 23rd 2010

What I Learned While Working On My Newest Book

I have recently completed work on a new book called How To Write Magical Words: A Writer’s Companion. The book grew out of the Magical Words writing blog that I maintain with several fellow fantasy authors, including Faith Hunter, Misty Massey, A.J. Hartley, and Stuart Jaffe. Fellow SFNovelists writer C.E. Murphy was, along with Faith, [...]

Marie Brennan November 16th 2010

Fight! Fight! Fight!

When I got to college, I made instant friends with the entire drama club by uttering five simple words: “I know some stage combat.” It isn’t a skill commonly found among college students. There was one other guy at the school who knew stunt fighting, but he was a senior, very busy with his thesis. [...]

S.C. Butler November 15th 2010

First Drafts

I confess. I write truly terrible first drafts. Especially for projects that aren’t part of a series. A six thousand word short story takes me a month, minimum, because the first draft is so lousy. An entire novel is even worse. I bring this up because I am approaching the end of the first [...]

Kelly McCullough November 11th 2010

People like stuff that you don’t. That’s OK.*

I have a question for the commentariat: Why is it that some substantial sub-set of the proponents of (genre, sub-genre, literary kink) X always feel the need to attack (genre, sub-genre, literary kink) Y? With Y usually being either the hot new thing, or an old long term best-selling thing? I think that the attacks [...]

Alma Alexander November 5th 2010

“Impostor Syndrome”

I’ve had a bunch of writer friends – at all levels of the game – admit to falling prey to this thing called the Impostor Syndrome at least once in the course of their writing lives and careers. The basic instinct of responding, in particular, to some glorious moment (like holding your own book in [...]

Mindy Klasky November 1st 2010

When is Speculative Fiction not Speculative Fiction?

Most of us are on this website because we enjoy speculative fiction – fantasy, science fiction, horror, slipstream, all those other sub-genres that we can slice and dice with the best of them. A surprising number of readers, though, say “No thanks, not for me” when presented with speculative fiction. Except those same readers often [...]

Author Information

James Alan Gardner

James Alan Gardner got his M.Math from the University of Waterloo with a thesis on black holes...and then he immediately started writing science fiction instead. He's been a finalist for the Hugo and Nebula awards, and has won the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award as well as the Aurora award (twice). He's published seven novels (beginning with "Expendable"), plus a short story collection and (for street cred) a Lara Croft book. He cares deeply about words and sentences, and is working his way up to paragraphs. 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.