Category: Writing

Author Interview Series #8 – Jack Ketchum

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I first became aware of the name Jack Ketchum whilst reading On Writing Horror, a collection of essays and articles by everyone who’s anyone in the horror genre. (Previous interviewees Joe Lansdale and Richard Dansky also have essays in this book.) Jack’s essay, “Splat Goes the Hero: Visceral Horror” was one of those that opened my eyes to what good horror fiction is. It’s not just splattering viscera; it’s making the reader care whether a character’s viscera is about to be splattered. Writing good horror is about having the guts to look the blackness square in the face, and forcingContinue readingAuthor Interview Series #8 – Jack Ketchum

Author Interview Series #7 – Mur Lafferty

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I first became aware of Mur Lafferty via the podosphere. I ran across her I Should Be Writing and Geek-Fu Action Grip (sadly, now gone) podcasts on iTunes, and, like many thousands of other writers out there, enjoyed discovering that the worries, the angst, the ups and downs that go along with writing are all pretty much universal, along with the personal pleasure of encountering another writer who enjoys the same kind of geeky pastimes as me. I heard one of her short stories “City Talkers” on Escape Pod, a podcast for science fiction short stories, and thought it wasContinue readingAuthor Interview Series #7 – Mur Lafferty

Author Interview Series #6 – Melinda Snodgrass

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I must admit that I first became aware of Melinda Snodgrass only recently, when one of my readers suggested her as a candidate for this interview series. When I had the opportunity to see the body of work she has produced and the acclaim she has garnered for her work in television and publishing, I didn’t waste any time approaching her for an interview. She was gracious enough to agree. What interested me most, at least initially, was that she wrote an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation that ranks as one of the best in science fiction television.Continue readingAuthor Interview Series #6 – Melinda Snodgrass

Author Interview Series #5 – Edward Lee

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As a kid, I had always had a love of the horror genre, be it movies, comics, or films, but it had lain dormant for a long, long time. I first heard of Edward Lee when I sensed a reawakening of my interest in horror, so I asked a friend (who is a HUGE horror geek) who she would recommend, and she recommended Joe Lansdale (whose interview you can find below), and she also mentioned Edward Lee, but then added (and I’m paraphrasing), “But only read Ed Lee if you’re really twisted.” That sounded like a throw-down to me, soContinue readingAuthor Interview Series #5 – Edward Lee

Author Interview Series #4 – Richard Dansky

Cat Links Author Interviews, Culture, General, Writing Posted on Travis

I first became aware of the name of Richard Dansky way back when I was playing Vampire: The Masquerade. His name was on a fair number of those supplement books that every gamer just has to have. Since those days, he’s moved on to other venues, but stayed primarily within the game industry. Writing for video games is generally more lucrative than writing for tabletop pen-and-paper games, just in case you potential writers out there didn’t know. However, I’m finding that there are a lot of writers out there who got their first paying gigs writing for roleplaying and/or videoContinue readingAuthor Interview Series #4 – Richard Dansky

Author Interview Series #3 – Nalini Singh

Cat Links Author Interviews, General, Writing Posted on Travis

No one would think, upon meeting this quiet, smiley woman from New Zealand, that she would have such a romantic geek streak. But as evidenced by the success of her romance fiction, and the burgeoning success of her sci-fi/paranormal romance fiction, it must be true. Also true is that she’s not alone. With ten books under her belt, she’s built an impressive audience, making both the USA Today and NYT bestseller lists. As the publishing industry has discovered, there are large numbers of readers who want to read romance stories set in a non-mainstream universe. (By the way, far beContinue readingAuthor Interview Series #3 – Nalini Singh

Author Interview Series #2 – Rich Wulf

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This week’s installment in my author interview series brings us Rich Wulf. Rich is best known as being the long-time story scribe of Legend of the Five Rings, a collectible card game, roleplaying game, and fiction property that has been going strong since 1995. He has since passed the L5R writing duties to Shawn Carman, who might find his way into this interview series in coming months. These days Rich writes mostly for Wizards of the Coast in their Eberron series of novels. Rich’s brain is capable of containing vast quantities of encyclopedic knowledge, and be possesses a great talentContinue readingAuthor Interview Series #2 – Rich Wulf

Author Interview Series #1 – Joe R. Lansdale

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I am tremendously pleased to post the inaugural installment of my author interview series. Joe R. Lansdale is perhaps best known as the author behind Bubba Hotep. Can I get an Elvis impersonation here? But he’s also written dozens of short stories, books, comics, and screenplays, including some of the best known novels in horror fiction, such as The Nightrunners. All that, and he’s a darn nice fella. So, let’s take o’ bidness.

Writer Interview Series – Coming Soon!

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I’m putting together a list of authors for an idea I had the other day for developing some really useful juicy material for this blog, which covers, but heretofore hasn’t focused on, the topic of writing in general. Over the coming year, I’m going to be shifting its focus, and I thought a great place to start off with that would be to interview experienced authors with some published credits and awards. My plan over the coming months is to interview a series of authors about the life and business of a writing as a career. My questions will focusContinue readingWriter Interview Series – Coming Soon!

New Publication in Cemetery Dance Magazine

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So it’s been a good day, and another milestone for my efforts at writing fiction. That is, my first short fiction publication in a print magazine. My horror short story, “That Long Black Train” will be appearing in Cemetery Dance magazine sometime in 2008, and I’m pretty excited about it. I’ve had a couple of sales to online journals, and I’m happy about those too, but print magazines are still where it’s at in the writing business. So all you other struggling writers out there, take heart! It can be done! For you horror and dark fantasy readers, check outContinue readingNew Publication in Cemetery Dance Magazine

Heart of the Ronin – New Novel in Spring ’09

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Since this is my blog, I am quite happy to use it to toot my own horn. It is with great satisfaction that I announce my next publication. My novel, Heart of the Ronin will be published in hardcover in Spring 2009 by Five Star Publishing. More information on this will likely appear in this ol’ Groove in the months and weeks to come, but you heard it here first! And oh, yeah, the novel in a nutshell. This will be the first novel in The Ronin Trilogy. In a nutshell, it is Excalibur meets The Seven Samurai. John BoormanContinue readingHeart of the Ronin – New Novel in Spring ’09

How NOT to suck as a Fiction Writer – Or, Basic Lies 101

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I’ve had the good fortune recently to be doing some submission reviews for The Harrow, an online horror fiction journal. My task is to review and critique manuscripts submitted for publication. I’m also a member of Critters.org, a website where SF/F and Horror writers can have their works reviewed and critiqued by their peers. I must say, it’s a great experience on many levels to read the work of struggling writers out there, not to mention having my own stuff critiqued on Critters. I’m good, but I’m not Ray Bradbury or Harlan Ellison. Give me another 35 years. Maybe somedayContinue readingHow NOT to suck as a Fiction Writer – Or, Basic Lies 101