Prose Exploder: Shelob’s Lair
One book I’ve returned to many times in my life is The Lord of the Rings. I’ve got the paperback copy of the trilogy published by Grafton in 1991 with the incredible artwork by John Howe, and I may… Continue Reading
On Writing
Writing a Fantasy Series: How Far Ahead Should You Plot?
There’s a lot of fun to be had writing a big long fat fantasy series. After all, you’re the creator of an entire world, a world with endless possibilities. At the outset, these possibilities are liberating. Anything can happen. And the… Continue Reading
What Is Speculative Fiction? Part One: Science Fiction
As the theme of this website is ‘speculations about speculative fiction’, I think it’s time I took a turn at the age-old sport of genre defining. In this post I’m going to delve into a sub-set of speculative fiction: science… Continue Reading
How To Cure Writer’s Block
Block. A fleeting moment of blankness as you try to summon that first line, or an abject feeling that lasts for days or weeks. Whatever it is, writer’s block is a pain. To proceed with a piece of writing you need to… Continue Reading
Do Short Stories Sell On Amazon?
Last week I uploaded my short story “The Nevermaw” to Amazon and priced it at 99 cents. It may have been a mistake. Not to upload it, but to try to sell it. The accepted wisdom has it that short… Continue Reading
Why Should Aspiring Writers Read Slush?
A tweet from Three Lobed Burning Eye magazine caught my eye recently. It was a screenshot showing how many submissions the magazine has processed and accepted since 2006. I was interested in the entry for 2011, because that was the year 3LBE… Continue Reading