FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer ‘Nathan Smith: Knowing that audiences say they want series, but being aware of the financial diminishing returns—how long a series is too long, the different types of series, and do you write them in one go, or do you pepper with standalones, etc. Join the chat
FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Julia AT Weaver Flowers: “Using different tenses and/or mixing them in your writing”. It’s an interesting topic. IIn general, most writers use third person, although even this is split into a few versions, like deep 3rd person POV and third person subjective. Some writers also choose present tense to give a story a more immediate feel. This can be jarring at first, but it does put the story right in your face, like sitting in the front row at the movie theater. I’ve tried mixing both in one story – deep 3rd … Read more
FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Richard Wood: I just noted a series in which the covers for the second and third books in the series both feature the main protaginists. They bear no resemblance to one another on the two books covers. In the second book the Earth Human character has tattoos, including facial ones, and red hair. The cover of the third one shows a no facial tattoos Blond. Should authors of a series try to have continuity of the cover characters too? In this case the only thing tying the covers together is the series … Read more
FOR READERS Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Ryane Chatman: “I know we have talked a lot about mpreg. Is there anything else you have found that is amazing in the way of procreation?” Interesting question. We have dealt a lot with mpreg, but that generally only appears in MM romance – what about the other colors of the queer rainbow? How does procreation work in a sci fi setting with an FF relationship?How about paranormal babies from a trans MTF character? There are many other paths to explore here. What have you read? Writers: This is a reader chat … Read more
FOR READERS Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Kari Trenten: “Also, I’d love to have conversations about specific authors, whether it’s Plato or J.R.R. Tolkien, their particular works.” Today – James Tiptree Jr. For those who don’t know about her (from Wikipedia): Alice Bradley Sheldon (August 24, 1915 – May 19, 1987) was an American science fiction author better known as James Tiptree Jr., a pen name she used from 1967 to her death. She was most notable for breaking down the barriers between writing perceived as inherently “male” or “female”—it was not publicly known until 1977 that James Tiptree … Read more
Apologies for being a day late with my post. I thought I’d already scheduled this one ahead of time, but clearly I was thinking of last month’s post instead. Oops. Anyway, without further ado….
It’s summer here in Australia, and with the weather hotting up, it seemed a good time to talk about writing sex scenes. Plus, it conveniently ties in with one of our recent discussions. Below I’ll outline the four points to keep in mind to ensure your climax goes off with a bang.
FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Kari Trenten: Kari says: “Also, I’d love to have conversations about specific authors, whether it’s Plato or J.R.R. Tolkien, their particular works.” Sounds like a great idea to me. Let’s kick it off with a look at J.R.R. Tolkien. How did he achieve such in-depth worldbuilding? What are your favorite works of his? Do you like his work? Hate it? Why? Why did he have three initials? Join the chat
FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Kari Trenten: “History and how it interacts with world building also interests me.” Yes, no man is an island, and very few worlds are built without at least a little history. Think of Guy Gavriel Kay, who builds fantasy worlds heavily dependent on existing (often European) countries and history. So how much history goes into your own worldbuilding, and where do you get it? Join the chat
