Marc Aplin's Blog, page 160

Sweep in Peace by Ilona Andrews

I make no secret of the fact that I am a huge, HUGE fan of the husband and wife writing team that is Ilona Andrews. They write, I read. Sweep in Peace is their second book in a self-published series that started as serial postings on their blog. I did not read it there. I […]

From Short Form To Long Form

I recently heard that Paul Meloy, one of the genre’s finest short story writers, was releasing a novel through Solaris Books. After so many years writing successful short stories and releasing collections, I was curious as to why Paul chose now to write his first novel and whether he faced any challenges moving from short form to long form. […]

‘Drake’ Cover Reveal

Fantasy-Faction are excited to bring to you the exclusive cover reveal of Peter McLean’s Drake. Those of you who keep up with the Angry Robot Open Door Submissions Period will know that Peter was one of those who was successful from the last round, so it’s pretty cool that around the time of NaNoWriMo and in the run up to their […]

Five Favourite Wizards – Guest Blog by Stephen Aryan

bBattlemage is an epic fantasy story where overt magic is front and centre, with powerful men and women able to change the very course of the war that has swept across a large part of the world. It is influenced by many modern and classic fantasy novels and I wanted to share some of my […]

The Story of Kullervo by J.R.R. Tolkien

The last few years have seen the publication of several of Tolkien’s versions of the literary works that sparked his imagination and influenced Middle Earth. From the poems of Sigurd and Gudrun and The Fall of Arthur to his translation of Beowulf, these renditions are a fascinating look at Tolkien’s creative engagement with the European […]

His Dark Materials – TV Series

The Golden Compass was an utter failure because a movie company bought the rights to a book that explored and commented upon (primarily) the Catholic religion, and then decided it didn’t want the movie to explore or comment upon the Catholic religion. This is all the more ridiculous when you consider Pullman says that the His Dark Materials […]

The Hybrid Writer – Guest Blog by Gail Z. Martin

Once upon a time, you wrote a book, sent it to a publisher, and lived happily ever after. Now, it’s complicated. There are traditional, big publishers like the Big 5 in New York, ‘small press’ publishers which range from medium-bigger publishers to micro presses, and self-publishing. In today’s marketplace, if you’re serious about making a […]

10 Things They Never Told You About NaNoWriMo

November, the month of charity moustaches and writing productivity, is upon us and no doubt, many of you are partaking in the annual NaNoWriMo event to write 50,000 words in a month. It’s a fun challenge where you can meet a lot of awesome people, but if you’ve never done it before it can feel […]

Sins of a Sovereignty by Plague Jack

The story begins in a prologue where we meet the Spider-Witch, her husband and an elf named Adan. We don’t get to see them again until the epilogue. They serve to bracket the story and hint at deeper the goings on. The main character seems to be the Dragon Knight, Sir Clark Pendragon, a man […]

So You’re Doing NaNoWriMo!

And right about now, you might be wondering what exactly you’ve signed yourself up for. I won’t lie – November is going to be hard. Especially if this is your first time. Even if it isn’t your first time, it’s still going to be hard, but you do at least have an idea of what […]