Author and teacher Nisi Shawl joins us for a chat about writing different ethnicities, fights with guitarists, and why writing is a power trip.
Resources
Writing the Language of the Future
When you’re inventing a future, you need to create terms to describe the contents of that future – and so almost from the genre’s inception, writers were coining new words [...]
Farewell Summer: An Interview with Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury is perhaps the greatest living master of science fiction, with hundreds of short stories in print; his novels, including Something Wicked This Way Comes and Fahrenheit 451 are taught in classrooms around the world. In this interview, the creator of The Martian Chronicles talks about his hopes for manned NASA missions, his reasons for writing, and his work with Ray Harryhausen, Katherine Hepburn, and John Huston.
Why Review Books?: My Sort-of Manifesto
Upon joining RE as a staff reviewer, Mathilde Madden had one request: let her introduce herself to the readers. Being generally accomodating people (and delighted to read almost anything she writes), we said “sure—just say something nice about us, and don’t try to convince anyone to join a cult.” We’re not so sure she managed the second one; her passion for books is kind of infectious.
How to Sell a Story
Yes, we’ve told you what slush readers hate (Confessions of a Slush Monkey); we’ve even told you what we consider some of the finer points of writing (Letter from the [...]
The Runner Who’ll Never Die: An Interview With William F. Nolan (part one)
William F. Nolan, author of science fiction classic Logan’s Run, is one of the most prolific writers in a field of prolific writers. In this interview, he talks about his early short stories, his friendship with Ray Bradbury, and his many collaborations with Dan Curtis – as well as his training as an artist and illustrator, biographies of mystery writers Dashiell Hammett and Max Broad, and brief career as a sports car racer.
The Runner Who’ll Never Die: An Interview With William F. Nolan (part two)
[Return to The Runner Who'll Never Die: An Interview With William F. Nolan, part one]
William F. Nolan is so prolific that to try to list all his books, short stories, [...]
Characters on the Couch: Depression
Wars, gunfights, predatory monsters, alien invasions, displaced populations, doomed kingdoms – genre fiction’s strong themes lend themselves to strong emotion. But how do you keep characters’ depression realistic, nuanced, and above all, readable? Staff Writer AJ Grant continues her series of psychology primers for writers.
Writing Visual Dialect in Fiction
Standardized spelling is the magic trick that lets readers and authors know they share a vocabulary. But let’s face it – different people pronounce words differently, and a fieldworker from Cornwall is unlikely to use American collegiate English. What can authors do to make words on the page sound the way they do in the air, without alienating readers? Tony Burton, author of “Bluetick,” opens up his writer’s toolbox.
Usage: The Nice and Exacting Practice of Using the Correct Words Correctly
Last summer I spoke on two panels about grammar – one to a group of writers, the other to a group of editors. At both panels, audience members aired some [...]
Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Betrayal, by Aaron Allston
A new Star Wars series pits Luke, Leia, and Han against their children.
The Man Who Sees Tomorrow: An Interview with Grand Master Frederik Pohl
Frederik Pohl has been writing science fiction for longer than most of us have been alive; he’s published over a hundred books and many more short stories, and edited magazines like Galaxy, If, and Worlds of Tomorrow – winning three Hugos and multiple Nebulas in the process. In this interview, he talks about China, science fiction fans, bad movies, and his new short story collection.
Characters on the Couch: Introduction
Are your characters depressed? Phobic? Hallucinating? As authors, we know we should understand our characters as well as possible, but the brain is a complicated organ, and psychology can be a forbiddingly complicated science. Staff writer AJ Grant tells you what you need to know in a new series about mental illnesses that commonly appear in genre fiction.
In addition, our Research section continues to expand, this time with a series of comparative religion links about Christianity. Need to pull up an ominous biblical quote for a horror story? Want to know how and why the Christian church—and its views toward sin and science—developed the way they did? Fantasy authors and historical fiction writers alike will find inspiration.
Is the Matrix Really Green and Black? A Writer’s Intro to Hacker Culture
There’s something to be said for being misunderstood—it gives you staying power. Two decades after hackers first began to gain prominence in the media, news writers are still talking about [...]
A Cliché by Any Other Name
Are clichés all wet, or do they leave you high and dry? Can they be short and sweet, but in it for the long haul? Science fiction author Bruce Golden gives us a tour through Clichéland in this April Fool’s special.