Middle Earth 90210: How Tolkien and Howard’s Successors Blew Their Inheritance

Middle Earth 90210: How Tolkien and Howard’s Successors Blew Their Inheritance

As this blog's subtitle implies, I write speculative fiction. So far my works include hard SF, mil-SF, weird fiction, SF/horror, and space opera. Perhaps you noticed the absence of fantasy from that list. The omission seems even stranger when you consider that I'm an incorrigible Tolkien fan. The Hobbit, The…
September 23, 2015
The Long-Awaited Liberation of Rachel Griffin

The Long-Awaited Liberation of Rachel Griffin

It is with great enthusiasm that I report that my esteemed editor, L. Jagi Lamplighter, has regained all rights to her work from her former publisher, Tor Books. Jagi has stated that her rights reversion has been in the works for over a year. It had nothing to do with…
September 22, 2015

Souldancer Deleted Scene

Whenever I revise a novel, scenes--and even whole chapters--end up getting cut. Most of the time, material isn't cut because it's terrible. Quite often, scenes become casualties to continuity changes. Others need to go because they inflate the number of peripheral POV characters, while some otherwise solid scenes must be…
September 21, 2015

Geek Gab: Writing Ain’t Much of a Living

This week's episode of Geek Gab was supposed to be about Skin Game; then Agents of Shield, but we ended up talking about Daddy Warpig's book deal (congratulations!) and Larry Correia's epic fisking of a HuffPo article on self-publishing. Note to aspiring authors: listen to Daddy Warpig's writing advice. Take notes…
September 19, 20153 Comments
Disney’s Competence to Guide Star Wars Undermined in New Novel’s Aftermath

Disney’s Competence to Guide Star Wars Undermined in New Novel’s Aftermath

Unless you've been living on Mars, the buzz surrounding Disney's acquisition of the Star Wars franchise, and their plans to release a whole new series of films, has completely enmeshed you in an inescapable web of hype. The first wave of movie marketing has already arrived in a multimedia blitz incorporating everything…
September 19, 2015
How to build 3D Characters with the Maass Breakout Novel Exercise

How to build 3D Characters with the Maass Breakout Novel Exercise

I've been making final revisions to my next novel, and my editor recommended a few ideas from Writing the Breakout Novel by literary agent extraordinaire Donald Maass. One day, Maass set out to see if best selling novels had any significant common elements. His research consisted of reading 100 novels that had…
September 17, 2015

Eyewitness to PNH Outburst Refutes CHORF Cover Story

This blog's regular readers may recall Tor Science Fiction Manager Patrick Nielsen Hayden's unprofessional outburst in response to my editor's appeal for reconciliation at this year's Hugo Awards. Now, more than three weeks after the fact, Teresa Nielsen Hayden emerges with a markedly (and conveniently) different version of events. Lamplighter's…
September 15, 2015
Nethereal Review at Yard Sale of the Mind

Nethereal Review at Yard Sale of the Mind

I'm greatly pleased to report that the redoubtable Joseph Moore has reviewed Nethereal with his customary insight and wisdom. Here's a sample: Nethereal is an exercise not so much in world-building as in universe-building. Niemeier creates a universe only superficially related to ours, and then explores the differences. This universe is…
September 12, 2015
Project Updates

Project Updates

I've been blessed with an abundance of projects lately, so I thought I'd update everyone on what's in store for the near future. First up, I'll be rejoining Daddy Warpig and Dorrinal tomorrow at 4 PM Central for a brand-new episode of Geek Gab, which made its highly anticipated and triumphant…
September 11, 2015