Today we welcome David Walton, whose science fiction thriller Living Memory was just released on October 18th (here’s my review). This is the seventh novel of David’s we’ve reviewed and in the past he’s been gracious enough to sit down with us (so to speak) to answer some questions about his books and his writing in general.
This time, we’re not doing any of the talking. Instead, David has gifted us with an essay about how Living Memory, at least in part,
October 21st, 2022. Bill Capossere | David Walton | Author Interviews, Expanded Universe, Giveaway! | 12 comments |
Today we welcome Greg Hickey, a former international professional baseball player and current forensic scientist, endurance athlete, and award-winning screenwriter and author. His debut novel Our Dried Voices was a finalist for Foreword Reviews’ INDIES Science Fiction Book of the Year Award. The novel depicts a future colony where humans live without disease or hunger, where every want is satisfied automatically, and there is no need for labor, struggle or thought. Interested readers can start Our Dried Voices for free at Greg Hickey’s website. Greg lives in Chicago with his wife,
June 21st, 2019. Bill Capossere | Expanded Universe, Giveaway! | 15 comments |
Terry Weyna, a FanLit staffer since December 2010, has often wished she had pursued a Ph.D. in English rather than a J.D., but recognizes that she’d have the same feeling, but in reverse, had she done so. As a hobby, she occasionally commits literary criticism, as the following close textual analysis of The Girl Who Was Plugged In by James Tiptree, Jr. demonstrates. You can read The Girl Who Was Plugged In here. We’d love to hear your thoughts on Tiptree’s work.
The Girl Who Was Plugged In: James Tiptree,
April 12th, 2019. Terry Weyna | Expanded Universe | 4 comments |
Today we welcome Livia Blackburne whose young adult novel Rosemarked has recently been released (here’s my review). Livia is a neuroscientist and, since we have two neuroscientists on our team here at FanLit, we asked her how her background influences her writing. Livia says that she views neuroscience and fiction as two sides of the same coin.
One random commenter with a U.S. address will win a copy of Rosemarked.
NEUROSCIENCE AND FICTION: Two Sides of the Same Coin
People are often surprised when I tell them that I earned a PhD in neuroscience before I became a young adult author,
December 15th, 2017. Taya Okerlund | Livia Blackburne | Expanded Universe, Giveaway! | 7 comments |
Today we welcome Ken Scholes, author of the PSALMS OF ISAAK series, which began with Lamentation and concludes this month with the fifth volume, Hymn. I have enjoyed this series, especially its internal mythology and interesting characters.
One randomly chosen commenter will win a copy of Hymn!
The Whymer Maze from Lamentation to Hymn
I think sometime around Canticle or Antiphon,
December 8th, 2017. Bill Capossere | Ken Scholes | Expanded Universe, Giveaway! | 13 comments |
Today we welcome Kari Maaren, a Toronto-area writer, academic, and award-winning musician and cartoonist. She created the webcomics West of Bathurst and It Never Rains, and is also known as a musician for her popular song “Beowulf Pulled Off My Arm.” Weave a Circle Round is her first novel. Learn more about her at www.karimaaren.com.
One random commenter in the US or Canada wins a trade paperback copy of Weave a Circle Round.
I don’t see my upcoming novel as a time-travel story;
November 24th, 2017. FanLit | Expanded Universe, Giveaway! | 13 comments |
Today we welcome Greg Hickey, a former international professional baseball player and current forensic scientist, endurance athlete, and award-winning screenwriter and author. His debut novel Our Dried Voices was a finalist for Foreword Reviews’ INDIES Science Fiction Book of the Year Award. It depicts a future colony where humans live without disease or hunger, where every want is satisfied automatically, and there is no need for labor, struggle or thought. Interested readers can start Our Dried Voices for free at Greg Hickey’s website. Greg lives in Chicago with his wife,
November 17th, 2017. Kat Hooper | Expanded Universe, Giveaway! | 10 comments |
Today, we welcome Tom Doyle, the author of a contemporary fantasy trilogy from Tor Books. In the first book, American Craftsmen, two modern magician-soldiers fight their way through the legacies of Poe and Hawthorne as they attempt to destroy an undying evil — and not kill each other first. In the sequel, The Left-Hand Way, the craftsmen are hunters and hunted in a global race to save humanity from a new occult threat out of America’s past. The final book of the trilogy, War and Craft,
September 29th, 2017. John Hulet | Tom Doyle | Expanded Universe, Giveaway! | 22 comments |
Welcome back to Kathryn Troy, an historian turned novelist who, last time she was here, gave us An Undead History. She has taught college courses on Horror Cinema and presented her research on the weird, unnatural, and horrific to academic conferences across the country Her nonfiction book, The Specter of the Indian: Race, Gender and Ghosts in American Séances, 1848-1890, has just been released by SUNY Press. Her historical expertise in the supernatural and the Gothic informs her fiction at every turn. Her genres of choice include dark fantasy,
September 8th, 2017. Kat Hooper | Expanded Universe, Giveaway! | 7 comments |
Today, Fantasy Literature welcomes Theodora Goss, who stopped by Fantasy Literature to talk about her research and writing process for The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter, a late-Victorian-era murder mystery starring some familiar faces from classic works of fiction — and which posed all sorts of interesting problems regarding the accurate portrayal of both men and women of that time period.
And we’ve got one copy of The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter to give away to a lucky commenter!
August 11th, 2017. Jana Nyman | Theodora Goss | Expanded Universe, Giveaway! | 16 comments |
Today Linnea Hartsuyker stops by Fantasy Literature to share some interesting facts about Vikings, which she heavily researched for her debut novel, The Half-Drowned King (which I loved). This novel brings to life the figures and circumstances surrounding Harald Fairhair, the ruler who unified the lesser kingdoms or Norway, and who happens to be a great-great-etc. ancestor of Mr. Hartsuyker herself! We have three copies of The Half-Drowned King to give away, so please comment below for a chance to win!
Five Surprising Things I Learned About Vikings
When I set out to write The Half-Drowned King,
August 4th, 2017. Jana Nyman | Linnea Hartsuyker | Expanded Universe, Giveaway! | 22 comments |
Laurence MacNaughton entered the urban fantasy universe with his DRU JASPER series, It Happened One Doomsday and A Kiss Before Doomsday. The adventures of crystal witch Dru Jasper and her magical friends as they race to stop Doomsday has a neat twist; demons and heroes who drive muscle machines, particularly a demonic car named Hellbringer.
We asked Laurence to tell us how the unholy 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona came to be, and he wrote us this guest column explaining the car’s origins.
July 21st, 2017. Marion Deeds | Laurence MacNaughton | Expanded Universe, Giveaway! | 11 comments |
Today Bradley W. Schenck stops by Fantasy Literature to discuss his writing process for Slaves of the Switchboard of Doom, an illustrated retro-futuristic novel that pays homage to the Golden Age of science fiction while embracing twenty-first century sensibilities. We’re giving away a hardcover copy of the book as well as a Retropolis-themed coffee mug to one lucky commenter! (Oh, and please read my review of Slaves of the Switchboard of Doom.)
When I look back to 2012 I don’t know when,
June 16th, 2017. Jana Nyman | Bradley W. Schenck | Expanded Universe, Giveaway! | 11 comments |
Today we welcome Kathryn Troy, an historian turned novelist. She has taught college courses on Horror Cinema and presented her research on the weird, unnatural, and horrific to academic conferences across the country Her nonfiction book, The Specter of the Indian: Race, Gender and Ghosts in American Séances, 1848-1890, is forthcoming from SUNY Press. Her historical expertise in the supernatural and the Gothic informs her fiction at every turn. Her genres of choice include dark fantasy, romance, horror, and historical fiction. She lives in New York with her husband and two darling children.
June 2nd, 2017. Kat Hooper | Expanded Universe, Giveaway! | 11 comments |
Robyn Bennis’s debut novel is The Guns Above, which blends steampunk, airships, and some of the saltiest dialogue we’ve read so far this year. Marion and I agreed that it’s a tremendously fun book, and today Robyn stops by Fantasy Literature to talk about her path to publication and her abiding love of a classic sci-fi television series.
We’ve got one copy of The Guns Above to give away to a random commenter, too!
My path to publication is the most exciting and unlikely story you’ll ever hear.
May 5th, 2017. Jana Nyman | Robyn Bennis | Expanded Universe, Giveaway! | 19 comments |
Today we welcome back Dr. Kate Lechler who retired from FanLit so she could focus on her writing career.
I’m a writer and a teacher. By day, I teach English literature at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, MS, and at night, I write about genetically engineered dragons and unicorns. My work has appeared in Podcastle, Metaphorosis, and Arsenika, and is forthcoming from Superstition Review. From 2014-2016, I reviewed SFF for FanLit but in December I retired so I could concentrate on my fiction.
April 7th, 2017. Kate Lechler, Bill Capossere and Marion Deeds | Expanded Universe, Giveaway! | 26 comments |
Today Erika Lewis stops by Fantasy Literature to discuss the research process for her Celtic mythology-inspired debut YA novel, Game of Shadows, which, in my review, I called “action-packed” and “perfect for YA readers … who enjoy high fantasy.” And we’ve got one copy of Game of Shadows to give away to a randomly chosen commenter!
I didn’t set out on writing a book steeped in Irish Celtic mythology. Game of Shadows was about Ethan Makkai, a Los Angeles high school kid cursed (his word,
February 24th, 2017. Jana Nyman | Erika Lewis | Expanded Universe, Giveaway! | 13 comments |
David B. Coe / D.B. Jackson is the award-winning author of nineteen fantasy novels. As David B. Coe, he writes THE CASE FILES OF JUSTIS FEARSSON, a contemporary urban fantasy series from Baen Books, including Spell Blind, His Father’s Eyes, and Shadow’s Blade. Under the name D.B. Jackson, he writes THE THIEFTAKER CHRONICLES, a historical urban fantasy from Tor Books that includes Thieftaker, Thieves’ Quarry,
September 30th, 2016. Kate Lechler | D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe | Expanded Universe, Giveaway! | 15 comments |
A. J. Smith has been devising the worlds, histories and characters of THE LONG WAR CHRONICLES for more than a decade. He was born in Birmingham, UK, and works in secondary education. He is the author of The Black Guard (October 1, 2016) and The Dark Blood (December 1, 2016) from Head of Zeus, distributed by Trafalgar Square Publishing.
Swords are big chunks of toughened, often sharpened, metal. They have one practical application – to cut or pierce flesh. Some are better at cleaving or crushing armour, some are designed to be light and others designed to be duelling weapons –
September 23rd, 2016. Kate Lechler | Expanded Universe, Giveaway! | 4 comments |
Tade Thompson lives and works in the south of England. His first novel Making Wolf won the 2016 Kitschies Golden Tentacle award for best debut novel. He has written a number of short stories including “Budo” at Escape Pod. His horror novella Gnaw will be released in December from Solaris Books. Rosewater comes out 15th November, but is available for pre-order now.
Look, let’s just get this out of the way right now: Aliens have been done.
August 26th, 2016. Kate Lechler | Tade Thompson | Expanded Universe, Giveaway! | 13 comments |
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.
COMMENT Was I hinting that? I wasn't aware of it. But now that you mention it.... 🤔
So it sounds like you're hinting Fox may have had three or so different incomplete stories that he stitched together,…