Strengthen Your Voice
Amy Rose Davis
Rosalie Skinner posted a great article several weeks ago about what agents and editors hate to see in manuscripts. One of the things the agents mentioned was passive voice. Passive…
Neil Gaiman Spotlight
Paul Wiseall
I’ll try to keep this spoiler free but WOW! Did you watch Doctor Who night? Whattan episode! You know in the series trailer where the voice says, “Fear me, I’ve…
Revisions – Part Two: The Three Step Process
Daniel D Jones
In my last article, we took a broad look at the subject of revision. I began by delivering the bad news: finishing the first draft is the easy part –…
Wanted: Assistant Editor for Fantasy-Faction
Overlord
Fantasy-Faction.com has been open just six months…hard to believe isn’t it? Much to our delight, Fantasy-Faction was able to attract 33 staff members within the first three months; an incredible…
Kraken: An Anatomy by China Miéville
Chloe Smith
They say there are no new stories, just tropes, myths and archetypes that appear over and over again in different guises. This is, perhaps, especially the case in genres such…
The Steel Remains by Richard K. Morgan
Alister Davison
Now that I’ve got my breath back, I’ll begin. I’ve read a couple of Richard Morgan’s science fiction novels, so I was looking forward to The Steel Remains, his first…
Purple and Black by K. J. Parker
Khaldun
Subterranean Press recently announced a new novella from K. J. Parker, the enigmatic author of The Company and The Engineer Trilogy. As with all Subterranean Press Novella’s these were limited,…
Coyote Trilogy by Allen Steele
Jo Warne
Coyote: A Novel of Interstellar Exploration (Book 1) Synopsis: Coyote is an astonishing discovery, a habitable moon in a solar system 40-odd light years from Earth. A despotic post-US government…
Sci-Fri
Max Edwards
Sci-Fri is a new series of Friday articles on science fiction, primarily by myself, Max Edwards, with other contributors occasionally. What has science fiction got to do with fantasy? Well…
The Great Con – An Author’s First Fantasy Convention
Ashley Barnard
This weekend marked a memorable occasion. Not only was it my first book signing, it was also my first sci-fi/fantasy convention – ever. I’ve always wanted to go, and often…
Story Structure – Part 1: Beginnings
Now that I’ve spent several weeks discussing protagonists, heroes, antagonists, and villains, let’s start putting those great characters to use. But first, there’s all that worldbuilding to be done—creatures to…
Surfing the Network – Part One
Sandra Norval
Bring to mind any fantasy journey and consider what made it successful. Many a traveller sets off believing that he will do it alone with no need to call upon…