Back at the beginning of March, fantasy author Mark Lawrence put out a call on his website for self-published fantasy authors looking for exposure....
Mark Lawrence’s Great Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off!
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J.S. Morin
Year 2 of My 5-10 Year Overnight Success Plan
Just like last year, I missed commemorating the late-January anniversary of my first book's release. Firehurler came out at the end of January,...
Frodo versus Bilbo: Who Is the Greatest Hobbit Hero?
Middle Earth has a curious habit of producing heroes from the most unlikely of sources: the Shire. A home for the homebody. Comforting to the...
Leonard Nimoy and Spock – The Actor Who Became an Ambassador
Leonard Nimoy passed away on February 27th, 2015, at the age of 83. He was William Bell in the TV series Fringe, and appeared in Mission Impossible...
Worldbuilding Part 01 – Introduction to Worldbuilding
Transcript (for whoever might prefer it): What is worldbuilding? The term gets thrown around a lot when talking about science fiction and fantasy....
The Best Fantasy Story Ever… Hasn’t Been Written Yet
What's the best fantasy story ever? The Odyssey? Alice in Wonderland? The Lord of the Rings? A Game of Thrones? Odds are, as good as those are, the...
7 Types of Villains
Not every hero has a villain. A hero can battle faceless foes, the environment, or even his own inner demons, but if you want to write about heroic...
5 Self-Editing Tips for Maintaining Point of View (POV)
It's common for stories to be told from multiple points of view. It allows you, as a writer, to explore and show different sides to a conflict. It...
Sci-Fi Time Capsule: The Terminator
This week in Sci-Fi Time Capsule, another take on time travel. Lost in the Hollywood blockbuster horror is the fact that The Terminator is, at its...
Ask an Author: How did you get started on Amazon?
Courtesy of /r/fantasywriters: I'm genuinely curious how you got started on Amazon? When I started, I was clueless. I didn't really start any...
Sci-Fi Time Capsule: The Twilight Zone “Escape Clause”
This week in Sci-Fi Time Capsule, we go way back. The Twilight Zone started in 1959, and "Escape Clause" is an all-time classic from the first...
The 5 Keys to Seamless Worldbuilding
When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all. -God Entity (Futurama) One of the biggest mistakes in worldbuilding is...
Great Scott! It’s the Future
Back in 1989, Back to the Future Part II came out in theaters. Unlike its retro predecessor, this movie looked ahead to the future, which arrived...
Sci-Fi Time Capsule: Back to the Future Edition
This week in a special edition of Sci-Fi Time Capsule, a look back at the Back to the Future trilogy. This is not a seminal time-travel movie. Jules...
New Year’s Resolutions for 2015
The theme of this year's resolutions is "Taking My Own Advice." So, looking back on what I blogged about in 2014, what should I focus on for 2015?...
My Holiday Book Acquisitions
Well, Christmas 2014 has come and gone, and my relatives have once again piled me with books to get next year's reading started. As I continue my...
How to Handle Surprises
Most people like surprises. For this discussion, we're going to ignore the ones who don't. We're also going to skip discussing unpleasant surprises,...
Review: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Should you go to see The Battle of the Five Armies? This is really the core question any review ought to help answer, so that's the one I'll try to...
The Twelve Days of Fantasy
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3 Tips on How to Write a Setting
Without a setting, your story takes place on a blank stage, with characters and actions without a backdrop. But how to go about presenting your...
Sci-Fi Time Capsule: Fringe “Safe”
This week in Sci-Fi Time Capsule, the spiritual successor of the X-Files, Fringe. Season 1, Episode 10 is "Safe," which is about a bank robbery...
5 More Self-Editing Tips
A while back a gave a list of tips for authors who wanted to edit their own work before sending it out to an editor. Well, here are 5 more tips for...
Movie Review: Hunger Games, Mockingjay Part 1
So, I've gone to see Hunger Games: Mockingjay (Pt 1) and braved the opening weekend crowds to do so. To to be up front about it, I haven't read any...
Sci-Fi Time Capsule: Futurama “Space Pilot 3000”
This week in Sci-Fi Time Capsule, the best sci-fi cartoon ever: Futurama. When you've created a cultural icon with the weight of The Simpsons,...