Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and Greta Kelly as they delve into a writing masterclass on Infusing Politics into SFF with author Kate Elliott. During the episode, Kate deconstructs the meaning of politics in sci-fi and fantasy, including why SFF and politics meld so well, choosing political themes for your story/world, revealing politics through characters, political biases, nuance and empathy, in-groups/out-groups and “otherness”, using environment and geography to convey politics, “access” as a foundation for political structures and more.
Masterclass
SFF Addicts Ep. 157: Constructing an Alternate History with P. Djèlí Clark, Mary Robinette Kowal & Sophie Burnham (Masterclass Panel)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and Greta Kelly for a masterclass panel on Constructing an Alternate History, featuring authors P. Djèlí Clark, Mary Robinette Kowal and Sophie Burnham. During the panel, they lay out the foundations of alternate history stories, discussing what an alternate history is, what these stories can achieve, the divergence point, cause and effect, balancing real history vs. imagined history, bringing modern ideas/concerns into an alternate history, the legitimacy of history, historical research and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 156: Reading to Become a Better Writer with Evan Leikam (Writing Masterclass)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and M.J. Kuhn as they delve into a writing masterclass on Reading to Become a Better Writer with author/content creator Evan Leikam (AKA Book Reviews Kill). During the episode, Evan examines the relationship between reading and writing, including how reading shapes us, how to read as a writer, finding the time to read, reading however (and wherever) you can, reading for enjoyment vs. learning, improving your writing through the books you read, applying lessons and breaking the rules, writing craft books and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 154: How to Write Unlikable Characters with Joe Abercrombie (Writing Masterclass)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson, M.J. Kuhn and Greta Kelly as they delve into a writing masterclass on How to Write Unlikable Characters with bestselling author Joe Abercrombie. During the episode, Joe unpacks the core traits of unlikable characters, including what makes an unlikable character likable, why readers are fascinated by awful people, the process of creating an unlikable character, the importance of character voice, conveying character details through dialogue, morally gray character arcs, active vs. passive characters, revealing character vulnerabilities and flaws, reader investment, morally gray worlds, external conflict and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 152: Writing for Different Mediums with Luke Arnold (Writing Masterclass)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and Greta Kelly as they delve into a writing masterclass on Writing for Different Mediums with author/actor Luke Arnold. During the episode, Luke breaks down his approaches to four different mediums (prose, comics, screenwriting and video games), including expressing your creativity through various mediums, learning from other mediums, researching and understanding your medium, as well as comparing story structure, pacing, expectations, character development and worldbuilding across mediums.
SFF Addicts Ep. 150: Writing Nature & Wildnerness with Hannah Kaner (Writing Masterclass)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and Greta Kelly as they delve into a writing masterclass on Writing Nature & Wilderness with bestselling author Hannah Kaner. During the episode, Hannah ventures out into the wilds of storytelling, including incorporating your natural surroundings into fiction, drawing influence from environments you’ve never visited, using landscape/environment to enhance story elements, awe and the unknown, nature as a character, the economy of nature and its resources, agency and control in the natural world, elemental magic, spirits and monsters, cities in contrast to nature and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 148: Finding the Emotional Core with Nicholas Binge (Writing Masterclass)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and Greta Kelly as they delve into a writing masterclass on Finding the Emotional Core with bestselling author Nicholas Binge. During the episode, Nick delves into the emotional heart of storytelling, including what “emotional core” means, why characters and relationships are vital for emotional investment, developing a character’s emotional journey, emotional resonance through plot and structure, the malleability of the emotional core, how worldbuilding can reflect the emotional journey, endings, expectations, emotional payoff and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 146: Bringing the Funny to Sci-Fi with John Scalzi (Writing Masterclass)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and Greta Kelly as they delve into a writing masterclass on Bringing the Funny to Sci-Fi with bestselling, award-winning author John Scalzi. During the episode, John sets up the punchline for sci-fi comedy, including what humor means to us, humor as a skill that you develop, Douglas Adams and the progression of humor in sci-fi, the marketability of humorous sci-fi, why sci-fi and comedy combine so well, deciding how to infuse humor into a story, balancing humor with drama, action, etc., character voice and comedic delivery, worldbuilding with humor in mind, the subjectivity of humor and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 144: How to Train Your Character with C. L. Clark (Writing Masterclass)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and Greta Kelly as they delve into a writing masterclass on How to Train Your Character with award-winning author C. L. Clark. During the episode, Cherae works out the fundamentals of character strength and training, including the body and the stories we tell ourselves, convincing fictional examples of physicality, how the body affects plot and character, biological sex, body type and societal standards, how to determine your character’s starting strength, an early defeat and setting the stakes, finding the ideal method for training your character, satisfying climaxes, boss battles, injuries and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 142: Mythological Retellings with Gourav Mohanty (Writing Masterclass)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and Greta Kelly as they delve into a writing masterclass on Mythological Retellings with author Gourav Mohanty. During the episode, Gourav delves into humanity’s ancient relationship with mythology, including why mythology has appealed to us across time, the popularity of mythological retellings, how to choose which myth to retell, pairing a myth with a genre/theme, reframing ancient stories for modern audiences, expectations and how close to stick to the original, bringing your voice to established stories, the sustainability of mythological retellings and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 140: Creating a Shared Universe with Richard Swan (Mini-Masterclass)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and Greta Kelly as they delve into a mini-masterclass on Creating a Shared Universe with bestselling author Richard Swan. During the episode, Richard lays out the foundations for creating a fictional shared universe, including what a shared universe is, examples of shared universes (such as the MCU, Star Wars and Discworld), giving your world depth through details, languages, geography and more, the chronology of a shared universe, keeping track of world history, loose shared universes vs. linear shared universes, avoiding problematic plot holes, writing in different formats and more.
Review: In Solitude’s Shadow (Empire of Ruin Series #1) by David Green.
Synopsis War Comes For Those Who Forge It. And It Never Forgives… Haltveldt is a nation built on bloodshed. With the Order of Sparkers brought to heel, Emperor Locke wields his mages – and their magic the Spark – like a weapon as he wages a war of genocide. But the enemies of his empire […]