Writing About Writing About Writing: A Review

I was very lucky to get an ARC of Spec Fic for Newbies which you can pre-order here for £16.99 from Luna Press Publishing (an award winning small press).

I’ve been dipping in and out of it for a couple of weeks and I think it’s fab. The book is aimed at “future spec fic authors” –

From the blurb: “

Tiffani and Val are approaching these three exciting fields by breaking them down into bite-sized subgenres with a fun, open, and contemporary approach.Each chapter contains 10 subgenres or tropes, with a quick and nerdy history of each derived from classroom teaching practices, along with a list of potential pitfalls, a description of why it’s fun to write in these subgenres, as well as activities for new writers to try out and to get them started!"I feel that maybe there is space for a sequel or there could indeed have been three books - as SF, Fantasy & Horror are quite different. However that said this is an absolute treasure trove - I wouldn't count myself a newbie (maybe I'm kidding myself) and I'm fairly widely read but the breakdown introductions in a few chapters gave me new information or recast a genre in a light I'd not considered before.I think the format of history then activities is fresh and there's a sense of fun and exploration that you don't always get from dusty 'let's teach you how to write' books.For example - Aliens (just the titles in the sub-section):A Short History of AliensA Spotter's Guide: Who's WhoThings that are cool about AliensClose Encounters - I like the sub-titles in this category, e.g. "Variety is the spice of alien life (No Dune pun intended!)" or "Early Humans weren't idiots" (thankyou so much Tiffani & Val as I hate, hate, hate the Ancient Astronauts built the pyramids trope!)ActivitiesThat's a small taste of the chapter breakdowns. The chapter following Aliens is called "Big Dumb Objects" There's a subtitle in Paranormal Romance called "Bow-Chicka-Wow-Wow" -I'll stop there in the hope these are tasters rather than spoilers.Being a writer of stories that tend towards darkness I was most interested in the last section on horror which includes sections on Zombies, Vampires, Cosmic Horror, Body Horror etc. Even here I was finding out stuff. On the whole I was left wanting more - which isn't a bad thing. I hope the book is successful and Val & Tiffani explore some of the more, niche, of the genres - I'm hoping for something on Slipstream since I don't really understand what that is and people tell me that a lot of my stuff fits there...Anyway - go and pre-order and make the book a success so I get to read a sequel!