First, watch this video… Okay, so then that’s my opinion of reviews, critics, the critical mob on social media, etc. But is that just me, shouting alone into the roaring masses of naysayers and worst-listers? I’d like to take this Tuesday to open the floor to a few other authors, living and dead, for their take on the value of reviews for authors, the nature of the review, and the personification of the book critic. Buckle up… First of all, behold Bertolt Brecht seeming to describe social media in “Writing the Truth: Five Difficulties” way back in 1934… It takes little courage to mutter a ge ..read more

Honestly, I don’t write manifestos. I’m not sure I’ve actually ever even read a manifesto. In fact, I can’t help feeling that when someone sits down and writes a manifesto, that’s when we need to call in the men in white coats. Authors of a manifestos are calling out for help, and we should be making sure they get the help they need before the cult is gathered at the End of Times. What makes this not a manifesto is that this is for and about me, and me alone. These are not instructions for how you must live your life or conduct your writing career, but how I plan to conduct my own writing care ..read more

I happened upon this Big Think video this morning and it got me thinking. It’s only six minutes long, so watch it now, please. Isn’t that the primary role of the fantasy and science fiction author? To create and convey a sense of wonder? One of the earliest science fiction magazines was called… The guy they named the Hugo Award after was onto that idea at least as early as 1930. So then the question bears asking… How much wonder are you conjuring in your work in progress?   —Philip Athans Fantasy Author’s Handbook is now on YouTube! Did this post make you want to Buy Me A Coff ..read more

A couple days ago I started reading The Deceivers by John D. MacDonald, chosen at random from my huge shelf of old paperbacks. Very early in the book, two characters, both of whom are readers, have a late night conversation that centers on their mutual dissatisfaction with the ordinariness of their own late 1950s suburban American middle class existence… I mean that if you take a lot of mealy little people who have already sort of sold their souls down the river before the book even starts, then you can’t really give a very large damn about what happens to them. The author can ..read more

Harkening way back to December of 2014, and the first appearance of “The Sci-fi Paperback Grab-bag,” and continuing a series of posts showcasing how any and every novel we might read is a lesson in writing, one way or another, let’s look at Star Bridge by Jack Williamson and James E. Gunn, which I randomly chose from those stacks of now-400+ mass market paperback books. In an effort to combat the weird backlash I’ve been seeing against the basic fiction writing advice: “show, don’t tell,” and continuing on from my post from December 26, “How to Tell,” let’s look at a genre-specific e ..read more

I recommended Take Joy: A Writer’s Guide to Loving the Craft by Jane Yolen here at Fantasy Author’s Handbook way back in April of 2010. Since then it’s remained on the top of my list of books on the art and craft of creative fiction. This past month I had an opportunity to re-read it, along with the Fantasy Author’s Handbook GoodReads group, and was delighted to find it has held this position in my mind. Instead of getting into any sort of a review, I’m just going to go ahead and share all the quotes I pulled out of this book for my notes. You’ll see these pop up again here, on ..read more

From time to time I’ll recommend—not review, mind you, but recommend, and yes, there is a difference—books that I think authors should have on their shelves. Some may be new and still in print, some may be difficult to find, but all will be, at least in my humble opinion, essential texts for any author, so worth looking for. By now you’ve joined the Fantasy Author’s Handbook GoodReads Group, right? Because… well, of course you have. There you will have seen that we do a bimonthly group read, and this month (March 2024) we read Growing Great Characters from the Ground Up: A Thorough Primer ..read more

A bit of rant here, to take or leave. There are a lot of ways to take a shortcut past thinking and into talking and for what at least seems to be a majority of people talking about books (and movies, etc.) the quickest and easiest thinking bypass is the process of reducing a work of art to a series of “tropes.” There aren’t a lot of words I truly hate but this is one of them, at least in the context in which it’s become popularized. And you know what I mean. There are two things that are terrible about this process of reduction into tropes and that is that it diminishes books and the authors w ..read more

There’s good writing advice, interesting writing advice, iffy writing advice, and then there’s terrible, awful, spirit- and creativity-destroying writing advice, and the worst example of the latter category is “Kill your darlings.” What makes this nonsense so bad is how often and irresponsibly it’s repeated. Often attributed to Dylan Thomas, sometimes William Faulkner (who, if he followed this advice himself would have killed The Sound and the Fury in its entirety), and then repeated by other teachers and authors including Stephen King. In reality the concept seems to have ..read more

I have been vocally anti-AI/LLM/Chat bots “writing” fiction—“writing” anything—or making any sort of “art” since the first rumblings made themselves known, and I continue to rail against it as it continues to accelerate into an uncertain future. But something made me start to really think about this. Am I turning into that fusty old man ensconced entirely and forever in the Good Old Days? Am I reacting to AI like Woody Allen reacting to the computer? If you’ve watched any Woody Allen movies in the last couple decades you’ll know what I mean. Here’s a bit of a scene from Blue Jasmine  ..read more