Archive for January, 2012

David B. Coe January 31st 2012

Drawing on Literary Traditions: THE HUNGER GAMES and THE MAZE RUNNER as Case Studies

A graduate student in writing, someone I am mentoring, asked me a question some time back about what she should do if she came up with an idea for a story that she really wanted to write, but that had been written about previously by other writers.  My answer to her was basically this: “First [...]

James Alan Gardner January 23rd 2012

The Skill List Project: Writing Descriptive Passages

This is another post in The Skill List Project: an attempt to list all the skills involved in writing and selling fiction, particularly science fiction and fantasy. As promised last time, we’re going to look at writing description, one of the most important skills in prose fiction. When you think about it, prose fiction primarily [...]

Marie Brennan January 16th 2012

Competence is hot

By now everybody and their brother has probably seen the post by (SF Novelists’ own) Jim Hines, wherein he attempts to pose like the women on the covers of some fantasy novels. The results are suitably absurd — not because there’s anything wrong with Jim, but because there’s something wrong with the covers. He caused [...]

S.C. Butler January 15th 2012

What’s Your Favorite Anecdote About Learning How to Write?

 Mine is easy.  It was in a college writing class many, many years ago.  Not an MFA writing class, but the kind of writing class that pre-meds, business, and chemistry majors used to take, because deep in their hearts they didn’ want to be doctors, entrepreneurs, or scientists.  They wanted to be writers.  Creative writing [...]

Alma Alexander January 5th 2012

Promotion, self-promotion, and all that jazz

See, here’s the thing – nobody likes a shill for their own stuff. For very excellent reasons. If a person – an artist – a writer – doesn’t seem to be capable of uttering six straight words without beginning the next sentence with “In MY book…” – well – there is only so much you [...]

Author Information

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.

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.

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.

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.

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