By Holly Henderson As much as science fiction and fantasy writers love wandering the vast worlds that exist in our imaginations, the journey there can be difficult when we have the weight of daily life to carry with us. Forge a shortcut by creating a writing ambience that’s custom-made for your story. Getting all your […]
By Lorraine Wilson Statistics are easy to quote, but difficult to connect to, don’t you think? It’s easy to say that 20% of people in the UK are disabled, but within publishing we account for only 5%. To say migraines are, according to the World Health Organization, the sixth highest cause of “Years Lost to […]
By Jeff Somers It’s often noted that in baseball, making an out 70 percent of the time is considered all-star play(1). Although every writer’s experience will be different, writing often seems to offer a similar success ratio in terms of failed stories. Sometimes that failure also comes fast, which gives you the opportunity to start […]
By Rebecca Hardy I love systems. I think most worldbuilders do, at least to some extent. Systems of magic. Systems of currency. Systems of governance and geopolitical conflict in underwater cities, postapocalyptic wastelands, and galactic civilizations. And . . . systems in the real world, which can sometimes be the most challenging of all. I’ve […]
by Karlyn Meyer Note: This article first appeared in The Bulletin #216 in October 2021. I started making my first video game the week I found out I was pregnant. Games featured heavily in my relationship with my partner; we had played video games together in college, and even got engaged while doing so, and […]
by Nick Wood (NW) & Isiah Lavender III (IL) After finishing a working stint as a psychologist in Aotearoa, New Zealand, I (NW) visited the signing site for the Treaty of Waitangi (1840). This was a bilateral treaty between the colonising British Empire and the tangata whenua (or “People of the Land”, a.k.a. “Maori”), signed […]
by Noah K. Sturdevant It seems fair to say that authors are constantly scrambling for time to write. I previously wrote about managing this with a baby, and I thought I had things covered. Now I have a two year old. Who knew that a person lacking reason and driven by impulse and the […]
by Cat Rambo
Milestones are markers that show you’ve reached the end of one of these steps. Just as physical road markers tell you how far you’ve journeyed, these milestones help you mark progress.
by Hunter Liguore
Writing classes and books are filled with tips on creating characters and developing plot, but very few ever offer the golden jewel that oversees all the other components meshing together to arrive at a story or novel: coherence. In fact, when an author discovers coherence for the first time, they will experience a place where words melt away, and the only thing that remains is a deep knowing and trust in how the story will take shape.
by Kali Wallace
By now everybody who spends any time on the internet has seen the quarantine memes. Isaac Newton invented calculus during a plague outbreak–what are you doing with your time? Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein when stuck inside during bad weather–why haven’t you invented a literary genre yet? Look at how Giovanni Boccaccio used his pandemic–have you been as productive?
Fast-paced, gritty, and packed with supernatural thrills, Melinda West and the Gremlin Queen blends the rebellious charm of Bonnie and Clyde with the high-stakes action of Supernatural and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Pat Murphy is an acclaimed author of science fiction, fantasy, and science books for adults, teens, and children. She was the Activity Guru for the ed-tech startup Mystery Science and the Marketing Director for the Crucible, a school of fire arts.
