Timothy’s Comments (group member since Jul 30, 2013)

Timothy’s comments from the Adventures in SciFi Publishing group.

Hmm, that's an interesting one. We had a little bit of that in our Marie Brennan interview where she discussed the story structure pitfalls in Wheel of Time. Hmm. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the suggestion!

I've yet to read Will, but I hear he's terrific. Love Minus Eighty hit a few best of lists last year.

Here's the Amazon link.

Yeah, when I come up with a topic I'm interested in roundtabling. Any suggestions? I will have two authors on in a few weeks discussing a variety of topics related to second books improving on the first.

Our new podcast is up: http://www.adventuresinscifipublishin...

Timothy C. Ward hosts a panel with authors and editors from Ragnarok Publications to discuss Grimdark character arcs, what makes them Grimdark and what we love about them. Ragnarok is also offering a giveaway to one of our subscribers to pick an ebook from their catalogue. As usual, the giveaway will end next Monday at 11:59PM CDT. There is a bonus prize package from 47North, five sets of Mark T. Barnes The Echoes of the Empire trilogy, which will also go to our subscribers.

Listen on AISFP website, iTunes, or Stitcher Radio.

To enter giveaway, sign up for our newsletter. Giveaway ends 5/5/14 at 11:59 PM CDT.

Listen on AISFP, iTunes, or Stitcher Radio.

Moses Siregar III sat down with literary agent, Barry Goldblatt (BG Literary), at the recent World Fantasy Convention. They discussed:

■News on Barry’s clients
■Stories on how his clients were chosen
■How he got started as an agent
■State of industry for author advances
■Advice for aspiring authors, such as developing thick skin and perseverence
■What he loves most about his job
■Good time of year to query an agent
■Print book industry

The Lives of Tao

and

The Deaths of Tao by Wesley Chu

are both on sale today only for $1.99 on Kindle

The Lives of Tao: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASI...

*Purchased the Audible version for only $.99!

The Deaths of Tao: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASI...

http://www.adventuresinscifipublishin...

Timothy C. Ward interviews Bruce Taylor for the second part of their phone conversation that began on AISFP Episode 241, Bruce Taylor on Magical Realism. In this interview, he asks how Bruce became known as Mr. Magical Realism. Tim posted a panel on Quantum Physics Meets Magical Realism from ChiCon 7, where Bruce was a panelist. In today’s podcast, Bruce goes over all kinds of advice on becoming a professional author. He also discusses some of his favorite pieces of fiction and the story behind writing them.

Ben Arzate recently reviewed his collection of short stories, The Final Trick of Funnyman: And Other Stories.

Lots of topics discussed in this podcast panel at ICON in Cedar Rapids, IA, 2013, with Ellen Datlow, Gregory Frost and Nancy Kress.

■Funny stories of what not to do when submitting stories
■Blending Horror and Humor without losing either element’s effect
■Self-editing
■Scene breakdowns
■When a story goes off the rails
■“Do not psyche yourself out of writing the start of the story because you don’t know the right place to start it, because trust me it won’t be the right place even if you think it is. You’ll get to the end of the story and you’ll find out, oh, this is what I needed to put in in order to aim the story at the ending I discovered. ” – Gregory Frost (39:40), who has a story in Supernatural Noir, edited by Ellen Datlow.
■Strengthening your editing skills for others
■A funny story of a Robert Silverberg rejection “letter”
■Rewriting stories
■How to get on an editor’s blacklist
■How a writer should face rejection

Episode sponsored by Utopiates Audio Drama on Kickstarter.

The Blade Itself: The First Law: Book One by Joe Abercrombie is on sale for $1.99.

Kindle link.

The Legend Award's longlist is below. You can VOTE until April 13 at 23:59.

The Raven's Shadow by Elspeth Cooper

The Crown Tower by Michael J. Sullivan

Children of Fire by Drew Karpyshyn

Imager's Battalion by L.E. Modesitt Jr.

The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch

Elves: Beyond the Mists of Katura by James Barclay

The Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince by Robin Hobb

Valley of Shields by Duncan Lay

Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett

Dragon Queen by Stephen Deas

The Thousand Names by Django Wexler

Kinless by Stephen Godden

Two Serpents Rise by Max Gladstone

Herald of the Storm by Richard Ford

Reunion by Jennifer Fallon

Esrever Doom by Piers Anthony

The Shadowed Throne by K.J. Taylor

Czas Pogardy by Andrzej Sapkowski

Shattered Pillars by Elizabeth Bear

The Ace Of Skulls by Chris Wooding

The Black Guard by A.J. Smith

The Crimson Shield by Nathan Hawke

Blood of Dragons by Robin Hobb

War Master's Gate by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Sorry, but this list looked smaller when I first started. Here's the rest of the books:

Written in Red by Anne Bishop

Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan

Fade to Black by Francis Knight

Antiagon Fire by L E Modesitt Jr

Black Sun Light My Way by Jo Spurrier

Drakenfield by Mark Charan-Newton

Kinslayer by Jay Kristoff

Skarsnik by Guy Haley

The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes

The Grim Company by Luke Scull

Ice Forged by Gail Z Martin

Dreaming of Zhou Gong by Traci Harding

She Who Waits by Daniel Polansky

Master of Dragons by Chris Wraight

Magician's End by Raymond E Feist

Allegiance by Beth Bernobich

The Last Dark by Stephen Donaldson

Moon's Artifice by Tom Lloyd

A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

The Garden of Stones by Mark T Barnes

Turtle Recall, that's hilarious in and of itself. I've never read Pratchett, but I hear he's funny. That title alone gives him credence.

Revelations by Paul Antony Jones has my attention. I was a little disappointed with the first book, Extinction Point, because of some believability issues on the character's part, but the apocalypse was very interesting and at times very scary. It was also really short. I'm glad to see this third book is over three hundred pages.

Oh Steles of the Sky, how I wish I could be instantly caught up on reading the first two books. Same to you, Shipstar, though I don't know where I come down on Hard SF, some is just too cumbersome to get through.

Congrats on another geeky magical adventure to Michael Underwood and his Ree Reyes series. Truly unique stuff there.

New releases this week, as posted on Adventures in Scifi Publishing:

Extinction Point: Revelations by Paul Antony Jones

Attack the Geek by Michael R. Underwood

Shipstar by Gregory Benford and Larry Niven

Dragon Age: The Masked Empire by Patrick Weekes

Turtle Recall: The Discworld Companion . . . So Far by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs

Steles of the Sky by Elizabeth Bear

Operation Shield by Joel Shepherd

The Word Exchange by Alena Graedon

The Klaatu Terminus by Pete Hautman

Burn Out by Kristi Helvig

Robot Uprisings by Daniel H. Wilson and John Joseph Adams

Here's the Amazon link.

Here are some reviews:

Review
“[A] spectacular adventure . . . one heart-pounding ride . . . Pierce Brown’s dizzyingly good debut novel evokes The Hunger Games, Lord of the Flies, and Ender’s Game. . . . [Red Rising] has everything it needs to become meteoric.”—Entertainment Weekly

“[A] top-notch debut novel . . . Red Rising ascends above a crowded dystopian field.”—USA Today

“Red Rising is a sophisticated vision. . . . Brown will find a devoted audience.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch

“A story of vengeance, warfare and the quest for power . . . reminiscent of The Hunger Games and Game of Thrones.”—Kirkus Reviews

New podcast up with Brent Bowen interviewing Jamie Todd Rubin, Evernote Ambassador and acclaimed short fiction SF writer about organizing his life into a paperless system and writing in his spare moments.

Listen here.

Our podcast this week had Jim C. Hines, Nancy Kress, Jack Skillingstead, Gregory Frost, and Ellen Datlow discuss their writing process. Recorded at ICON in Cedar Rapids, IA, 2013.

One thing I really took from this was Greg's advice about writing two beginnings, the one that gets you writing and the one the story needs. Applying this to my novel's second draft has really cleared up my characters and world (both for self and reader).

Listen here: http://www.adventuresinscifipublishin...

Discussed in this episode:
How to ensure your dialect is accurate when writing in a non-native culture
What idioms can we use when making up worlds and civilizations?
“The rhythm of the language is more important than the words that you use.” – John Dodds
Including swearing and made up swear words
How religion affected early censorship as well as in modern books, but also the surprising openness to sex that non-religious people react to
How to include religion or not within fiction
His deals with Blackstone Audio for his books, Bone Machines and Kali’s Kiss, and his search for an agent or going indie.
Bone Machine on Smashwords
Matt Hughes’ review of Bone Machines on AISFP.

Well, the news may be out by now. We have welcomed Michael J. Sullivan to the show as a co-host. He will be interviewing "his friends in the publishing industry" as he put it. He is very intelligent and knowledgeable about writing and the industry, but his segments will focus on publishing. Hopefully this will add a new flavor to the show and give me more time to produce team shows where the gang gets together to discuss news and topics in SF/F and Horror.

We also talked about pov switching, dictating, Moses' book nearing completion, an Indie Gogo campaign Brent Bowen is starting, my new writing routine, etc.

Listen here: http://www.adventuresinscifipublishin...

I'm embarking on a new reading experience, the epic series, or even short term, a thousand page book. Funny enough, I'm also reading, or just started by Brandon Sanderson. I'm 20% into .

This is especially hard for me to see through since I review books here for AISFP and SF Signal. I want to be a part of the new release fever of reviewing a hot new release. Those happen every month for me, or at least I try and then end up putting a book down and picking up what I hope will be the hot new release for next month.

As a writer, I'm curious how authors weave so many storylines without losing the reader. How many chapters can you go in one pov before you've taken the reader too far from where another pov left off? Does this sacrifice them remembering what emotional circumstance they were left in when that chapter or scene ended? I'm considering a serialization of the current work in progress, and then having different parts take a set of povs more seamlessly from one point to the next.

For readers, it seems like the best way to read epic fiction like the above mentioned is to not distract yourself with other books. We'll see how far I can get into this before I have to read another book for the podcast or review.

Our new book reviewer, Peter Snede reviewed Adam Christopher's new Urban Fantasy, Hang Wire:

http://www.adventuresinscifipublishin...

We also have a written interview with Adam here:

http://www.adventuresinscifipublishin...