by Eleanor Konik Often, speculative fiction relies on common government types, like monarchies and republics, because they’re familiar to readers. History, however, offers other examples of sociopolitical systems. They can be a gold mine for worldbuilding ideas that stretch beyond the mainstream. Informal Governments Many societies worked just fine without strict hierarchical leadership. Power […]
by Naomi Norbez With the release of Cyberpunk 2077 a few months back, there has been some debate about what it means to be cyberpunk, and how that genre should be executed. As someone making a response game called Eyewear Cleaner 2077, I thought I’d throw in my two cents. In a world of free data […]
by Matthew Broberg-Moffitt Part 1 of this series focused on the importance of #OwnVoices stories and the representation of neurodiversity and the neurodiverse (ND) in modern media. Part 2 covers the business of traditional publishing and the unique challenges that the ND face when attempting to get a seat at the proverbial table. For those […]
by Alice Speilburg Nearly every summer, I bring on an intern for the agency, and each week we cover a different publishing topic, focusing on traditional publishing paths in the US. When we get to author payment structures—advances and royalties—I start with a theoretical explanation. An advance is intended to cover an author’s expenses while […]
by Matthew Broberg-Moffitt If you are a writer and an avid Twitter user, you may be familiar with the term #OwnVoices and pitch events such as #PitMad and #DVPit. There is some measure of controversy in the writing community regarding the use of the #OwnVoices qualifier. The term was originally coined by writer Corinne […]
by J.D. Harlock Sometimes, outlining is a never-ending struggle. Too much? Too little? You can never really tell until you finally start writing that first draft. That may seem like a stretch, but keep in mind that for a good many writers, the outlining process stretches way past the planning stages and well into the […]
by Andrew Hoe Human martial arts styles are biased: they’re specifically designed to fight other humans. Of course, watching Neo trade Kung Fu blows with Agent Smith is awesome, but perhaps our focus on human fighting systems in sci-fi affects our imagining of alien/robot bodies. Put simply, it makes composing fight scenes easier. By […]
by Priya Chand All narrators are unreliable. If you’re reading this thinking “hey, you’re misusing the term; ‘unreliable narrator’ refers to a specific convention”–well, I’m narrating this post, so what follows is all my interpretation! I do, though, genuinely mean to say that all narrators sell readers on a specific version of events and […]
by C.K. Larsen Surely, nothing screams sexy like a bisexual+ woman asking, “How does it feel to kill someone?” Cue the eye roll. Sharon Stone’s persona in Basic Instinct depicts an openly bisexual+ character who is revealed as a violent, sex-craving psychopath, and is just one of the many cases of harmful tropes that […]
by Gillian Polack It’s suddenly harder to make a living as a writer. It was never easy. Setsu Uzumé recently wrote on the possibility of obtaining grants from regional or local governments. This article will walk you through some of the steps to get a local or regional government grant. I am Australian, so […]
Epic Fantasy with Positive Psychology
A reckless young thief lands himself in a team of misfit spies. Their mission, to stop an apocalyptic war bearing down on his home. But at what cost?
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