Blog Archives

Author Interview: Steve Statham

Posted on September 19, 2018 by KL Wagoner — 2 Comments

Steve Statham is an editor, freelance writer, and photographer who has turned a lifelong love of speculative fiction into a second writing career. Along with short stories and two standalone novels, he has authored two sci-fi series. The first, his…

Tagged with: Connor Rix series, Gods and the City, Gods and the Stars, Gods and the Starways series, science fiction writers, space opera authors, speculative fiction writers, Steve Statham books, Strange Trails by Steve Statham
Posted in Author Interviews

Author Interview: M. Pax

Posted on April 18, 2018 by KL Wagoner — 11 Comments

Speculative fiction author M. Pax is a self-professed workaholic with a dozen published novels and numerous short story collections. Her seven-book space opera series, The Backworlds, takes readers to a universe where bio-engineered humans survive on different planets and the…

Tagged with: benefits of writing short stories, creating characters, fantasy authors, fantasy writers, Freefall by M. Pax, space opera authors, speculative fiction writers, The Backworlds series by M. Pax, the challenges of writing a series, The Rifters series by M. Pax, The Tracer by M. Pax, urban fantasy authors, world building, writing encouragement
Posted in Author Interviews

Author Interview: D Wallace Peach

Posted on March 21, 2018 by KL Wagoner — 78 Comments

Author D. Wallace Peach infuses her speculative fiction with vivid prose and intriguing plots. Her twelve published books are divided between two four-book series and four standalone novels. Kari’s Reckoning (2017) is the fourth and final novel in her Rose…

Tagged with: Catling’s Bane by D. Wallace Peach, fantasy authors, fantasy writers, Farlanders' Law by D. Wallace Peach, Kari’s Reckoning by D Wallace Peach, magic systems, Oathbreakers' Guild by D. Wallace Peach, sentient landscapes in fantasy, speculative fiction writers, The Rose Shield series by D Wallace Peach, world building
Posted in Author Interviews

An Interview with Author Zachry Wheeler, Part 2

Posted on February 14, 2017 by KL Wagoner — 1 Comment

Science fiction novelist Zachry Wheeler is a web applications developer and self-professed nerd who also writes nonfiction articles for BrewChief.com and HerringtonPost.com. You’ll find him on his website ZachryWheeler.com and at SFF conferences throughout the Southwestern United States (see his…

Tagged with: Max and the Multiverse by Zachry Wheeler, New Mexico Authors, new vampire lore, science fiction writers, SouthWest Writers Authors, Speculative Fiction, speculative fiction writers, Transient by Zachry Wheeler
Posted in Author Interviews

Speculative Fiction: Culture Lab

Posted on August 14, 2015 by KL Wagoner — Leave a comment

Speculative Fiction: Culture Lab by Betsy James Speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, horror, magic realism, and slipstream) gives voice to those who explore societal and technological change along with deeper considerations of underlying archetypes of human experience. ~ from the…

Tagged with: Betsy James, power of words, Speculative Fiction, speculative fiction writers, words change the world
Posted in Writing Advice

The Benefits of a Genre-Specific Critique Group

Posted on May 29, 2015 by KL Wagoner — 6 Comments

If you’re blessed, as I am, to have some of the best critique partners…, you undoubtedly realize the benefit of having a watchful pair of eyes to run over your manuscripts, a merciless tongue to point out the weak points,…

Tagged with: become a better writer, benefits of critique, Breaking Down Genres, fantasy writers, Janice Hardy, K. Kitts, K.M. Weiland, mixed-genre critique groups, science fiction writers, speculative fiction writers, writing commitment
Posted in Critiquing and Critique Groups

Story Promises: What Readers Expect from Fiction

Posted on April 24, 2015 by KL Wagoner — 2 Comments

Like many readers, my main reason for reading fiction is to be taken out of my world and into someone else’s. Before I became a writer, I didn’t expend a lot of brain power to decide what stories to pick. I…

Tagged with: believable characters, reader expectation, speculative fiction readers, speculative fiction writers, story promises, story resolution, story world, suspension of disbelief, truth in story, world building
Posted in Writing Advice, Writing Fiction

10 Reasons Why You Should Write Fan Fiction

Posted on April 17, 2015 by KL Wagoner — 4 Comments

We write [fan fiction] because we love these vampires, Doctor Who companions, or demon hunters so much that we can’t stand not knowing what happened in those missing scenes or giving them the chance to make a different or better…

Tagged with: Big Bang Press, fan fiction, FanFiction, Kindle Worlds, reading and writing connection, Skrawl, speculative fiction readers, speculative fiction writers, Trekiverse, Wattpad, writer's block
Posted in Writing Fiction

Speculative Fiction Calls for Submissions: Summer 2014

Posted on June 13, 2014 by KL Wagoner — 2 Comments

If you’ve been working hard to polish your speculative fiction short stories, this summer might be a good time to let them go and find a home in a paying publication. Here are a few markets calling for submissions of…

Tagged with: 2014 Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide, Call for Submissions, Clarkesworld Magazine, Crossed Genres Magazine, Dreaming Robot Press, horror writers, Luna Station Quarterly, Penumbra, science fiction writers, SFWA Qualifying Markets, short story contests, Speculative Fiction, speculative fiction writers, speculative fiction writing contest
Posted in Call for Submissions

Speculative Fiction Writing Contests: 2nd Quarter

Posted on May 17, 2014 by KL Wagoner — 3 Comments

Do a Google search for writing contests and you’ll find over 44 million results. That huge pool of general fiction contests is one reason I don’t submit my work to them anymore — the thought of my speculative fiction entry getting…