Archive for October, 2011
Wednesday, October 26th, 2011
Tags: Annihilation, Bryan Thomas Schmidt, business of writing, Cleopatra: Queen Of Seattle, craft, craft of writing, d&d, editing, Forgotten Realms, Phil Athans, publishing, RPGs, sffwrtcht, The Guide To Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy, transcript, Twitter, Wizards Of The Coast, WOTC, writing
Posted in Interview, Transcript | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
Rebecca Minor draws narrative experience from a BFA in animation from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA. Since her graduation in 1997, she has worked as a game animator, freelance artist, full-time mom, teacher, and sheet music customer service representative. She is the author of The Windrider Saga, serial fantasy fiction from Diminished Media Group. She blogs at http://callofthecreator.blogspot.com on anything from fantasy reading and writing to the life of mother and wife. In addition to writing, Rebecca also creates occasional illustrations, three of which will appear in Port Yonder Press’s The Book of Silvari: An Anthology of Elves. Rebecca resides outside Philadelphia, PA with her husband and three sons, whom she is slowly infusing with a love of fantasy, one member at a time.
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SFFWRTCHT: Where’d your interest in Science Fiction and Fantasy come from?
Rebecca P. Minor: I think I have always been interested in the not-so-beaten path, and when it comes to reading, speculative fiction fits this tendency well. I have enough “believable” in my everyday life. I’m happy to escape to worlds where the unimagined happens whenever I have the chance. I guess my interest is just an outgrowth of my personality.
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Tags: authors, Bryan Thomas Schmidt, business of writing, craft of writing, Diminished Media Group, fantasy, interview, publishing, Rebecca Minor, sffwrtcht, Windrider Saga, Windrider: Divine Summons, worldbuilding, writing
Posted in Interview | 4 Comments »
Monday, October 24th, 2011
Review by Michelle Ristuccia
“Lightbringer” by K. D. McEntire is a YA urban fantasy about a teenager, Wendy, who does much more than just “see” ghosts after the death of her best friend’s father in a car wreck. As a Lightbringer, Wendy has the power to send spirits wandering the Never into the light, but this power comes at a cost. For each ghost sent into the Light, Wendy gives up a bit of her own life. Yet, if a soul remains in the Never, it risks fading into nothing. This fate-worse-than-death is what Wendy fears lays in store for her comatose mother, whose soul has inexplicably vanished during a strange accident involving the Lost, child souls in limbo. After bringing herself to the point of exhaustion searching for her mother’s soul every night, Wendy meets a dead boy whose presence might be the key to this mystery and more.The first two scenes plunge us straight into Lightbringer’s plot, first by introducing us to Wendy and Eddie in the living world, and then Piotr and his lost in the Never. Wendy’s search for her mother provides Wendy’s character motivation while the the Riders’ protection of their Lost against the White Lady provides a firm sense of urgency, and both drive us on to discover the end. Scenes from Wendy’s point of view, such as the car accident and the funeral, are interspersed in rapid non-linear succession with scenes of the Never from Piotr’s point of view in an artful release of information to the reader. Like the half-trained Wendy, the reader must learn the complicated rules of the Never as they are revealed through dialogue and circumstantial evidence. Underlying these mysteries is the implication that Wendy’s lack of knowledge threatens her own soul because, until she learns what caused her mother’s soul to disappear, the same thing could happen to her.
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Tags: book review, column, KD McEntire, lightbringer, Pyr, review, urban fantasy, YA, YA Report
Posted in Book Review | No Comments »
Friday, October 21st, 2011
by Timothy C. Ward, SFFWRTCHT Columnist
This post will stretch beyond my comfort zone a little by highlighting two podcasts I haven’t listened to as closely: The Fullcast Podcast and Dragonlance Canticle. 
Dragonlance Canticle is a show about the world of Dragonlance, ranging from the novels to the RPG. I’ve listened to this podcast a little over time, but since I’ve only read the first few Dragonlance novels, I’ve avoided this show to keep from hearing spoilers. For fans of the series, this is a great show. I’ve heard some fun discussions on themes within Dragonlance, and the most recent episode, #46 “Essentials of Dragonlance,” upholds this standard.
Even if you don’t play the Dragonlance RPG, or RPGs at all, there is still content here for fans of Fantasy. As a Fantasy lover, and fan of nostalgic memories of Dragonlance and its inspiration for my Fantasy fandom, I enjoyed their discussion of what elements are essential to a Dragonlance “story.” They veered off a little towards campaigns for RPGs, but I was able to mold their discussion to fit my desire to build Fantasy worlds for novels.
Orson Scott Card’s How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy is one of many platforms where people have discussed what elements are essential for distinguishing Fantasy from Science Fiction – be it magic or ray guns. Well, in this podcast, they discuss whether dragons and lances are essential for a Dragonlance setting. I’ve got to say, writing that makes me laugh, because those two words are in the title of the series, but I don’t think they are necessary. In fact, they discuss how the lance is like the easy idea for killing the dragons, and it makes sense to try and find new ways to slay the dragon – if you even choose to make dragons essential to the plot. This plays on the value of messing with tropes and reader expectation. As soon as your reader guesses your solution correctly, you’ve bored them. Keep your ideas fresh and you’ll keep your readers.
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Tags: Dead Mech, Dragonlance Canticle, FullCast Podcast, Jake Bible
Posted in Podcast Purview | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 19th, 2011
Tags: bruce cordell, Bryan Thomas Schmidt, business of writing, craft of writing, dungeons and dragons, dvd, fantasy, Forgotten Realms, gaming, publishing, rpg, science fiction, sffwrtcht, Sword & Sorcery, transcript, Twitter, Wizards Of The Coast, writing
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 18th, 2011
Urban Fantasy Month Contest!
So, it’s October and there’s only two weeks left until the highest of holy holidays for lovers of the arcane everywhere–Halloween. I got thinking about how Halloween is also the perfect holiday for lovers of urban fantasy. These two thoughts collided into an idea so epic, so awesome that my brain exploded.
I am hereby declaring October International Urban Fantasy Month!
Yes, yes, we only have two weeks left. But I think we put our evil minds to it, we can really blow this out. Naturally, my first thought was to hold a contest to celebrate. But I didn’t want to do just any contest. I wanted to do something that celebrates the genre but also brings new fans into the fold.
Here’s where you come in. Everyone who writes a love letter to Urban Fantasy on their own blogs (be sure to track back to this one so you’re counted) or here in comments if you don’t have a blog of your own, will be entered for a chance to win an epic prize pack of Urban Fantasy novels (with a couple of paranormal romances thrown in for spice).
So what constitutes an urban fantasy love letter? Talk about your favorite books or characters. Talk about what you love about the genre in general. Write a snarky haiku, romantic sonnet or dirty limerick. Anything goes as long as its about UF and how awesome it is.
So what will the winners get?
Brace yourselves. This big, bad collection of tricks and treats is so awesome its scary!
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Tags: Contest, giveaway, Jaye Wells, urban fantasy
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 18th, 2011
A New SFFWRTCHT Column by Sarah Hendrix
When you scope out the science fiction and fantasy aisles, often you find books with hot women and men, vehicles, weapons and sometimes monsters. These books attract the eyes with bright bold titles and well crafted book covers. The blurbs are intriguing; with fascinating glimpses into the lives of these heroes and mentions of the monsters they live with, fight and even love. But a lot of people get confused as to what genre Urban Fantasy really is.
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Tags: column, commentary, edge of the city, essay, reviews, sarah hendrix, uf, urban fantasy
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 12th, 2011
Tags: AC Crispin, advice, Ann Crispin, Bantam, Bryan Thomas Schmidt, business of writing, craft of writing, fantasy, Han Solo, Jack Sparrow, Pirates Of The Caribbean, Price Of Freedom, publishing, science fiction, sffwrtcht, star trek, Star Wars, Starbridge, tie-ins, transcript, Twitter, V, V: East Coast Crisis, writer beware, writetips, writing, Yesterday's Son
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Saturday, October 8th, 2011
The last two weeks of September had even more power-packed podcasts on marketing. Check out my last Podcast Purview for a few more.
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Tags: AISFP podcast, Allison Duncan, back linking, Dead Mech, Dead Robots Society, Get Published, Goodreads, Jake Bible, Kickstarter, Michael Sullivan, Michell Plested, Podcast, Ridan Publishing, Robin Sullivan, SEO ranking, The Apocalypse Ocean, Theft of Swords, Tobias Buckell
Posted in Marketing, Podcast Purview | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, October 5th, 2011
Tags: ari marmell, Bryan Thomas Schmidt, conquerer's shadow, d&d, fantasy, gehenna, goblin corp, Pyr, RPGs, sffwrtcht, tie-ins, transcript, Twitter, warlord's legacy, white wolf
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
BryanThomasS: Upcoming guests: 11/2 @brentweeks 11/9 @tobiasbuckell 11/16 @gailcarriger 11/23 Special Guest 11/30 @davidleesummers #sffwrtcht (Thu Oct 27 00:56:52 +0000 2011)
Jaleta_Clegg: RT @sffwrtcht: Upcoming guests: 11/2 @brentweeks 11/9 @tobiasbuckell 11/16 @gailcarriger 11/23 Special Guest 11/30 @davidleesummers #sff … (Thu Oct 27 00:58:55 +0000 2011)
shadowflame1974: #sffwrtcht hey wait! we have a chat on my birthday? 11-30 whohoo!(Thu Oct 27 00:59:52 +0000 2011)
sffwrtcht: Welcome to Science Fiction Fantasy Writer´s Chat. #sffwrtcht (Thu Oct 27 01:00:13 +0000 2011)
#sffwrtcht (
#sffwrtcht (
Edge Of The City: Urban Fantasy – The All-around Genre?
Tuesday, October 18th, 2011A New SFFWRTCHT Column by Sarah Hendrix
When you scope out the science fiction and fantasy aisles, often you find books with hot women and men, vehicles, weapons and sometimes monsters. These books attract the eyes with bright bold titles and well crafted book covers. The blurbs are intriguing; with fascinating glimpses into the lives of these heroes and mentions of the monsters they live with, fight and even love. But a lot of people get confused as to what genre Urban Fantasy really is.
(more…)
Tags: column, commentary, edge of the city, essay, reviews, sarah hendrix, uf, urban fantasy
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »