2022 was a strange year in many ways. As it wraps up, I wanted to look back at the things I wrote and edited, as well as some big-picture observations about the publishing industry. New Books in 2022 Somehow, through the quirks and long timetables that seem to pervade publishing, I ended up with three […]
Fact in Fantasy (#FactInFantasy) Series
Fantasy novels often draw on real-world concepts, either from history or present day. Good world-building relies on everything from economics to military strategy to animal husbandry.
The goal of this blog series is to go in-depth on these topics -- with help from people who have experience and expertise -- to help fantasy authors get the details right. For more information, see the Science in Sci-fi, Fact in Fantasy main page.
The Monster You Feed: Mental Health in Fiction
This article on mental health in fiction is part of the Science in Sci-fi, Fact in Fantasy blog series. Each week, we tackle medical or technical aspects of science fiction or a historical / world-building topic of fantasy with input from an expert. Please join the mailing list to be notified every time new content is posted. The Expert: […]
PFIF Highlights, Bookstores, and Brushes with Fame
Here we are a week into the launch of Putting the Fact in Fantasy. It’s been three and a half years since Putting the Science in Fiction came out, and I’d forgotten how much fun it is to publish a book for SF/F writers. It’s not so much a story of mine I hope people […]
Self-defense Versus Martial Arts
This article on self defense and martial arts is part of the Science in Sci-fi, Fact in Fantasy blog series. Each week, we tackle medical or technical aspects of science fiction or a historical / world-building topic of fantasy with input from an expert. Please join the mailing list to be notified every time new content is posted. The […]
Lessons for Writing Realistic Fantasy Stories
About eight years ago, I finally got serious about becoming a fantasy author. I established this website and, for lack of anything better to do with it, started blogging. At the time, I had few credentials as a fiction writer. However, I had hands-on knowledge of genetics because of my day job, as well as […]