Archive for the 'writing life' Category

Alma Alexander April 5th 2011

Welcome to the dance – who’s leading…?

The news in the publishing world is all over the map today. A writer with a $500,000 deal with a traditional publisher walks away from it to go it himself: http://barryeisler.blogspot.com/ An indie/self-published writer goes running the other way and secures a $2 million deal with a traditional publisher: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/entertainment/post/2011/03/author-amanda-hocking-signs-seven-figure-four-book-deal-/1 Who’s right?!? The simple answer [...]

David B. Coe March 23rd 2011

A Conversation About Outlining and Worldbuilding, Part II

In last month’s post, I shared the beginning of a lengthy and fruitful email correspondence I shared with a friend of mine, Tim Rohr, a talented young writer.  Our discussion focused on worldbuilding, outlining, and the other preparatory work we do as we begin a new novel or series.  This month, I present the continuation [...]

David B. Coe January 21st 2011

A New Idea

It started with a character, a woman.  I could see her face, read her thoughts.  She was very much a stranger to me, unlike any other character I had written before.  But she showed up in my mind one morning when I should have been working on something else, and insinuated herself into my thoughts.  [...]

S.C. Butler January 15th 2011

Callooh! Callay!

It’s such a wonderful feeling, finishing a story.  On the one hand, there’s the joy of having created something from nothing.  On the other, there’s the sheer relief of not having to work on the darn thing any more.  For short stories I think the joy is especially ecstatic, because your utter weariness isn’t quite [...]

Alma Alexander January 5th 2011

“The Plot Escapes Me”

There have been a number of write-ups of late discussing style vs. content – the WAY a book is written as opposed to what’s actually IN it. There was an article in the Books section of the New York Times – I’d link to it but I only have the body of the article (which [...]

David B. Coe December 23rd 2010

You Can’t Teach Passion

I have volunteered to teach a brief writing workshop at the school my daughters attend.  The workshop will take place on three successive Friday nights in January.  Each session will be ninety minutes long, and I plan to touch on some writing basics:  character development, point of view and voice, pacing and narrative.  It’s part [...]

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, [...]

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 [...]

James Alan Gardner October 29th 2010

The Skill List Project: Vocabulary

The last time I blogged here, I started The Skill List Project: an attempt to list the skills involved in writing and selling fiction, particularly science fiction and fantasy. Why? Partly as a way for me to think about the many aspects of writing sf; partly to tell would-be writers about skills they should try [...]

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, [...]

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Author Information

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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