Reader Mail: Writing Resources

Reader Mail: Writing Resources

A reader writes: I've been reading the exhortations of John C. Wright, Sarah Hoyt, you, and others for some time about the creation of better art; the coining of the term "Superversive" on L. Jagi Lamplighter's blog felt like a much-needed call to rise up from prison.  Indeed, Daddy Warpig's…
August 24, 20172 Comments
Sword and Sorcery

Sword and Sorcery

Today I had the pleasure of chatting with author Howie K. Bentley about sword and sorcery and sword and planet fiction, including his pulpy masterpiece Under a Dim Blue Sun. We also discussed the state of men's SFF and gave some practical writing tips. Hear all this and more on…
August 23, 2017
Clarity over Cleverness

Clarity over Cleverness

Over at the Castalia House blog, Daddy Warpig dispenses some sage and actionable advice for pleasing readers and thereby making a living as an author. Folks, books are a niche market right now. Novels are a niche of a niche, Fantasy & Science Fiction novels a niche of a niche…
August 22, 20176 Comments
Geeking Out

Geeking Out

Over the weekend I appeared on not one, but two geek-related podcasts. Now you can experience the geekery! First up: on the latest episode of Geek Gab, your intrepid hosts discussed author Nick Cole's productivity checklist. Writers, do you find yourselves stuck in a rut or generally procrastinating? There's a…
August 21, 2017
Reader Mail: World Building

Reader Mail: World Building

A reader writes: I recently [read] Cole's article you linked to and I was wondering if you could help me with something. I mean I've been working on a world for awhile now, and I'm uncertain about the first steps I should take about it. Basically, I keep going between…
August 18, 20172 Comments
Get out of Your Way

Get out of Your Way

Best selling author Nick Cole shares some highly profitable productivity tips for authors. This is how you're getting in the way of You the Writer and preventing your success: attempting too much at once unrealistic time estimates procrastinating lack of specific priorities failure to listen well doing it myself--failure to…
August 17, 20171 Comment
Death of the Short Story

Death of the Short Story

Short stories built science fiction into a cultural force to be reckoned with and launched the careers of countless stellar authors. Yet the short fiction market has seen a steep decline in the past few decades. Is the short story dead? Your humble Geek Gab hosts recently spoke with Castalia…
August 16, 2017
Orwell Was 4 Years off

Orwell Was 4 Years off

Over at the Castalia House blog, a reader poses this pivotal question: Follow-up question. Several articles said the Hugo Awards have been a SocJus Safe Space for three decades and a little. So did the Hugo Awards go down hill in 1980? CH blog editor and Appendix N author Jeffro Johnson…
August 15, 20173 Comments
Razörfist on the YouTube Blacklist

Razörfist on the YouTube Blacklist

Razörfist, the double Hugo-nominated video blogger whose eloquence is rivaled only by his vulgarity, has conducted an experiment to test the criteria according to which YouTube's algorithm demonetizes videos. The results, documented below, are revelatory. The current censorship epidemic across social media platforms highlights a perennial deficiency of conservatives. They're…
August 14, 20175 Comments
A Conservative Play

A Conservative Play

The Dragon Awards saga continues taking unexpected twists and turns as Dragon Con first refuses; then allows, authors to withdraw from the ballot. Dragon Con's decision drew comment from a number of prominent critics in the #PulpRev movement. Here's Castalia House blog editor Jeffro Johnson: Anybody that has ever run a…
August 11, 20177 Comments