Marc Aplin's Blog, page 104
July 16, 2017
How The Other Half Successfully Self-Publish
Uncle Mike has some things to say, people, and you’re not prying this karaoke mic from his hand until he’s done. Is this thing on? Right, okay. Hello. My name is Michael McClung, but for the duration of this little talk, you can think of me as Uncle Mike. In the self publishing world, I’m […]
July 14, 2017
Monthly Short Story Winner: Corpses
Corpses. Still trickling blood or ancient and dusty. Result of a horrible crime or a fatal accident. Left where they should be or somehow missing. Stone-dead or fake and still alive. Anonymous or well-known. Pumpkin-spiced or…okay, I think you got it. There’s a lot one can say or write about a corpse and our entrants […]
July 13, 2017
On Character Development
A broken soldier overcoming his failings to make a stand for his home, a powerful sorceress corrupted by her magic and falling into darkness, a boy embarking on a journey and reaching its end as a man. Character development is one of the core aspects of fiction, many readers love watching their favourite protagonist grow […]
July 12, 2017
Jeff Noon Interview – A Man of Shadows
Jeff Noon is the Arthur C. Clarke Award Winning author of novels including Vurt (1993) and its sequels, Pollen (1995) Automated Alice (1996) and the prequel Nymphomation (1997), many of which are set in a vividly realised alternate Manchester in which people can access a dream realm known as the Vurt through sucking on feathers. […]
July 11, 2017
The New Voices of Fantasy edited by Peter S. Beagle and Jacob Weisman
If these ladies and gentlemen represent the future of fantasy we are in for a wild and terrific ride. All the stories have been published since 2010 so whilst they might not be technically new, their writers are blossoming, following new and different paths to their humble beginnings. Being excellent examples of their kind you […]
July 10, 2017
Worlds Within Worlds – Part Two: Magic Warfare
Fallout taught fans that war…war never changes. Military historians, however, argue otherwise. Case in point: the stirrup. Before firearms dominated the battlefield, it’s generally agreed that the stirrup was the most important innovation in warfare for a couple centuries. Fans of the Rohirrim will recognize why: cavalry is fast and maneuverable, and the stirrup allows […]
July 9, 2017
Winter Tide by Ruthanna Emrys
“It’s one thing to say that humanity is ultimately unimportant in the face of the cosmos. It’s another to stand before someone who believes, deep down, that your pain is trivial.” “We’re all monsters, or related to monsters, one way or another.” H. P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth (1936) is one of the writer’s […]
July 7, 2017
Monthly Short Story Winner: Pirates
Ahoy, me beauties!!! Be prepared and polish up your pirate lin’o! Pirates have a tradition on this here site, so get your hooks polished and start spinnin’ some yarn! Only bilge rats and land lubbers don’t take part! Rules: 1. This must be prose or poetry. 2. PIRATES! 3. Prose must be 500-1500 words long. […]
July 6, 2017
Cover Reveal for PATERNUS by Dyrk Ashton
Hello everyone! Some of you may be familiar with my novel, Paternus, from last year’s SPFBO competition hosted by Mark Lawrence (Archsaint of self-published authors). Paternus was Fantasy-Faction’s pick for the final round and ended up taking third place out of three hundred entries. Even with that success, I’ve decided to give the book a new cover. […]
July 5, 2017
Small Press, Big Stories: Fox Spirit Books
Small Press, Big Stories is a monthly column focusing on small and independent presses from around the world. This month’s featured publisher is Fox Spirit Books. This month on #smallpressbigstories we’re talking with Auntie Fox, aka Adele Wearing, who heads up one of the best known independent presses in the genre today – the award-winning […]
