Trials and Tribulations of the Publishing Game
As I put the finishing touches and edits on my latest novel, I am charged with the task of also creating the cover art. I consider myself to be a good photographer but for some […]
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Playing the Short Game: How to Sell Your Short Fiction (Part 15 in series)
Oh God, They Hate Me: Dealing with rejections Welcome back to my weekly series on marketing and selling short fiction. These posts are written in a very specific sequence, with each entry building on earlier […]
ASM Blog Horde Interview with Gary Dalkin
Welcome to the Amazing Stories BLOG HORDE INTERVIEWS! The ASM Blog Horde is a diverse and wonderful species. I have the privilege of talking with all of them, and I get to share those chats with […]
How We Will Tell Stories in the Future
In the early 1400s, when Lady Vivianne, the Baroness Von Grunwald (hero of my latest book, The Last Summoner) lived, one of the largest libraries in Europe was at the University of Cambridge; it held […]
Ten Science Fiction Movies that are Really Fantasy
Without belaboring the concept, let’s do it. 1. Star Wars. The force is magic, as are most other elements. Just because something has robots, spaceships, ray guns doesn’t make it science fiction. 2. Inception. Entering […]
Characters: Clare of Claymore
Claymore is one of the more interesting anime I’ve seen in a while. It’s a pretty standard story. Monsters, known as yoma, feed on humans, and the only ones who can defeat them are swords […]
An Interview with Author Astra Crompton
Writing a novel is a huge amount of work. A giant commitment and accomplishment that shouldn’t go to waste – especially if it’s good stuff. But the lineups at the doors of the traditional publishing […]
Playing the Short Game: How to Sell Your Short Fiction (Part 14 in series)
Behind the Curtain: How an editor chooses (or rejects) a story Welcome back to my weekly series on how marketing and selling short fiction. These posts are written in a planned sequence, with each entry […]
ASM Blog Horde Interview with Terence Jackson
Welcome to the Amazing Stories BLOG HORDE INTERVIEWS! The ASM Blog Horde is a diverse and wonderful species. I have the privilege of talking with all of them, and I get to share those chats with […]
Alien Parameter Space
I love science fiction stories with aliens. There are some good ones without aliens, but they’d probably be better if they threw in some aliens. OK, maybe not, but I still love aliens. I write […]
Crossroads: The Importance of Parody to the Speculative Fiction Genre
Last week, we talked about how every piece of humorous speculative fiction inevitably gets compared to Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. But as I outlined, Adams’ comedy of the absurd operates very […]
Why You Want to Go To A Writer’s Convention
A short while ago I attended (and participated as panelist and guest author) at the World Fantasy Convention in Toronto. And I was all jazzed about it! Why?… Well, let me tell you why… If […]
Characters: Mat Cauthon from Wheel of Time
For better or worse, Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series is filled with characters. Encyclopedia WoT has the total at around 2200. Most, thankfully, are minor. Some have small roles. Others are given a single […]
NaNoWriMo Woes
After last week, I talked about the whole process of writing and winning National Novel Writing Month – or in this case, it’s summer camp incarnation. You have thirty days to write a fifty thousand […]
Writing Plans
I’m really tired, and need to study, I have an exam Monday on the Nervous System and the Brain. This week has been really busy, and I’ve been falling behind in my daily wordcount. Some […]
Playing the Short Game: How to Sell Your Short Fiction (Part 13 in series)
The Numbers Game: What to do after you’ve submitted a story Welcome back to my weekly series on how to market and sell short fiction. These posts are written in a very specific sequence, with […]
Finding the Write Time and Place
Look and you will find it—what is unsought will go undetected —Sophocles Finding the Right Time and Place to Write During a time when I had a demanding job as an scientist with […]
Writers Writing About Writers Writing About …
There’s something unseemly about writers who write about writers. Many of my beliefs about writing have changed since I was a pink-cheeked little colleen getting up early to write before school, but this is one […]
So How Do You Write a Novel in 30 Days?
National Novel Writing Month (more traditionally held in November and known as NaNoWriMo) starts early this year. The idea is simple: you write a 50k novel in thirty days. It sounds so easy doesn’t it? […]
William Gibson’s formulae for success: No rayguns.
Not long ago I started rereading the Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein. It’s an interesting book, but the thing that really struck me when I read it was the startling amount of […]
Buddy, can you spare some time?
Writing a book takes up a good chunk of your time, something that’s always in short supply. With the busy lives we lead it’s a wonder any books get written at all, but someone is […]
Playing the Short Game: How to Sell Your Short Fiction (Part 12 in series)
The No-No’s: What NOT to do when submitting fiction Welcome back to my on-going and generally weekly series on how to market and sell short fiction. These posts are written in a very specific sequence, […]
The Hugo Triple Play
There are only three nominations for short stories on the Hugo ballot this year, Sure a larger selection would be better, but any one of these on the list is worthy of winning.
ASM Blog Horde Interview with Kristina Grifantini
Welcome to the Amazing Stories BLOG HORDE INTERVIEWS! The ASM Blog Horde is a diverse and wonderful species. I have the privilege of talking with all of them, and I get to share those chats with […]
Foxes, Cultural Appropriation, and Japonisme
Here’s how to do cultural appropriation right. Look at the man and his fox bride; you can tell he loves her.
Should You Judge a Book by its Cover?
Most readers—me included—will pick a book off the bookstore shelf because its cover interests us: the title intrigues; the cover illustration attracts; the author’s name is one we trust. If you don’t know the author […]
Characters
Jack Dowden’s Characters feature will return next week. Jack DowdenRead My Profile
The Dreaded M-word
A recent conversation about self and independent publishing led to me voicing my thoughts on what to do once the book is released. This will also hold true even for the traditionally published, as the […]
Demystifying Contracts #2: Novels – Territories
This will be my third installment about contracts. For reference you can also refer to: Demystifying Contracts #1: Novels – Ownership vs Rights Transfer Pulling Back the Publishing Veil: Life of Copyright Terms As we […]
The Dumbest Part of The Lord of the Rings
I first read Tolkien when I was 13 and (like many others before and after) totally fell in love with the Middle Earth thing. I’ve read the trilogy (and the Hobbit) probably a dozen times, […]
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