Blog Archives
sAtmospheric Horror: Harder than It Seems!
Saturday , 24, February 2018 Appendix N, Authors, Fiction 7 CommentsIt’s extraordinarily difficult to write an effective work of horror or suspense, especially one that will be appreciated for generations to come. Most of the audience has seen dozens of slasher films featuring killings and dismemberment in gruesome detail. One can hardly shock them with that. Moreover, write a work with fantastical elements and a […]
An Audio Excerpt from THE LAWDOG FILES
Sunday , 11, February 2018 Authors, Publications Leave a commentThis audiobook excerpt features “Armadillo Love” in its entirety, taken from the hilarious collection of true Texas crime stories by Lawdog. The Lawdog Files are also available in ebook and paperback editions.
HAPPY ELEVENTY SECOND BIRTHDAY TO ROBERT E. HOWARD!
Monday , 22, January 2018 Appendix N, Authors, Pulp Revolution 3 CommentsIt’s January 22, which makes this HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROBERT E. HOWARD DAY! Happy Eleventy Second birthday, Mr. Pulp Grandmaster. Howard was, it must be said, one of the greatest and most influential F&SF writers of all time, right up there with Edgar Rice Burroughs and A. Merritt. He wrote dozens of poems and hundreds of […]
Urban Fantasy/Science Fiction: Lazy Gimmick or Legitimate Genre?
Saturday , 20, January 2018 Authors, Fiction 12 CommentsTyping “Urban Fantasy” into Google results in 7.7 million results, dozens of Wiki articles, and a slew of book recommendations, many with covers that call to mind late 90’s schlock like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Charmed. (I can hear the furious typing already…) Now, I don’t pretend to have read every popular work classified as “urban fantasy”, especially […]
Originally, this article was meant to be different. I was going to examine two approaches to science fiction. One focusing more on action, adventure, and an exciting story, and the other on ideas about society, technology, and the future. Most stories feature both elements, but have a very clear focus preference. And yet, the more […]
Brian Niemeier is a best-selling science fiction author and a John W. Campbell Award for Best New ‘Writer finalist. His second book, Souldancer, won the first ever Dragon Award for Best Horror Novel. He chose to pursue a writing career despite formal training in history and theology. His journey toward publication began at the behest of his long-suffering […]
Brian Niemeier is a best-selling science fiction author and a John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer finalist. His second book, Souldancer, won the first ever Dragon Award for Best Horror Novel. He chose to pursue a writing career despite formal training in history and theology. His journey toward publication began at the behest of his long-suffering […]
Humor is an often neglected aspect of science fiction and fantasy. Not only does it significantly improve less serious works, but it can make deep, thoughtful stories more memorable and engaging. However, if it were so simple, then every book in those genres would be a barrel of laughs, right? Not only is there the […]
Between Sherlock Holmes and Marlowe: Nero Wolfe
Saturday , 25, November 2017 Authors, Before the Big Three, Fiction 13 CommentsIt’s easy to forget nowadays, given the legion of predictable, played-out, repetitive, and boring works, but the mystery genre is relatively young. The earliest notable entries were several Poe short stories featuring C. Auguste Dupin (1841-1844), Collins’ The Moonstone (1868), and Dickens’ unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870). The Dupin stories were the earliest and most influential, […]
Mary Shelley gets a lot of credit these days. It’s been increasingly said that her seminal work Frankenstein birthed the science fiction genre. I personally find the arguments unconvincing, as do some of my esteemed colleagues. Make no mistake – Frankenstein was a great tale, and I certainly enjoyed my read-through of it last year. But […]
You Don’t Need to Know Science to Write Science Fiction…But it Helps!
Saturday , 16, September 2017 Authors, Fiction 9 CommentsContrary to the genre’s title, most authors writing science fiction know less about science than a curious twelve year-old. Even more surprisingly, one can still write good, even great SF with this impediment! And I note this as a professional scientist who loves “hard science” works. While this might seem like great news for the […]
To celebrate the life and work of Jerry Pournelle, we will be giving away volumes of his classic military science fiction series, THERE WILL BE WAR, all week. Today and tomorrow, you can download THERE WILL BE WAR Vol. I for free. If you have never read Dr. Pournelle before, this is an excellent opportunity to acquaint yourself […]