Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson & M.J. Kuhn as they delve into a writing masterclass on What is an Antihero? with author Jeremy Szal. During the episode, Jeremy delves into the dark core of the antihero, including how we can define antiheroes, the antihero as antithesis to the “heroic ideal”, moral ambiguity and cynicism, flawed motivations and selfishness, why audiences root for antiheroes, how an antihero is a product of their world, using an antihero to play with expectations, good/bad antihero tropes and more.
Masterclass
SFF Addicts Ep. 190: LitRPG 101 with Matt Dinniman (Writing Masterclass)
Join co-hosts M.J. Kuhn & Greta Kelly as they delve into a writing masterclass on LitRPG 101 with bestselling author Matt Dinniman. During the episode, Matt gives the lowdown on the LitRPG subgenre, including what it is, the rising popularity of the subgenre, incorporating game systems into your story, power progression and consequences, how to pace a LitRPG, writing from the perspective of NPCs and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 185: Building a Supporting Cast with Nicole Glover (Writing Masterclass)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and M.J. Kuhn as they delve into a writing masterclass on Building a Supporting Cast with author Nicole Glover. During the episode, Nicole gets by with a little help from her friends, exploring what a supporting cast is, secondary character archetypes/tropes, dynamics between the protagonist and supporting characters, conveying character backstory, the motivations and goals of the supporting cast, balancing character development and skills, creating supporting “baddies” and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 182: Heroism & Villainy with Christopher Ruocchio (Writing Masterclass)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson, M.J. Kuhn and Greta Kelly as they delve into a writing masterclass on Heroism & Villainy with author Christopher Ruocchio. During the episode, Christopher treads the fine line of morality, delving into how we define heroes and villains, moral ambiguity vs. complexity, laying the foundations for your heroes and villains, establishing the moral framework of your story, character relatability, motivations vs. justifying actions, threats to your characters, how characters can shift over time and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 180: Planning a Trilogy with Jay Kristoff (Writing Masterclass)
Join co-hosts M.J. Kuhn and Greta Kelly as they delve into a writing masterclass on Planning a Trilogy with bestselling author Jay Kristoff. During the episode, Jay lays out the foundations for writing trilogies, including what works about the “trilogy” format, examples of iconic trilogies, starting with the midpoint climax, satisfying arcs across each book AND the trilogy, foreshadowing and laying seeds, rewriting and second book syndrome, mapping character arcs across three books, strategies for long-term worldbuilding, structuring/pacing a trilogy, maintaining creativity/motivation across multiple books and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 179: Jay Kristoff talks Empire of the Dawn, Vampires, Creative Reinvention & More
Join co-hosts M.J. Kuhn and Greta Kelly as they chat with bestselling author Jay Kristoff about his new novel Empire of the Dawn, writing vampires and monstrous characters, (un)reliable narrators, handling heavy themes, the costs of victory, creative reinvention, shifting genres, writing for younger audiences, approaches to beautiful yet brutal prose, Tolkien and the magic of fantasy books and much more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 178: Prose & Rhythm with Alix E. Harrow (Writing Masterclass)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson, M.J. Kuhn and Greta Kelly as they delve into a writing masterclass on Prose & Rhythm with award-winning, bestselling author Alix E. Harrow. During the episode, Alix expounds upon prose and rhythm essentials, including what prose and rhythm are, setting expectations with prose style, fine tuning your prose and rhythm, the musicality of prose, beauty and truth in language, the flexibility of prose styles, how prose informs characterization, description and world, the fluidity of authorial voice, how to have FUN with your prose and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 177: Alix E. Harrow talks The Everlasting, Lady Knights, Mythmaking & More
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson, M.J. Kuhn and Greta Kelly as they chat with award-winning, bestselling author Alix E. Harrow about her new novel The Everlasting, the significance of foundational myths, mythmaking and subverting heroism, the spectrum of cowardice and courage, sexuality and obsession, symbols and the weight of history, magic and time loops, breaking in and changes in the publishing industry, being a second generation book nerd, villains, agency and much more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 176: Writing Cozy Fantasy with Julie Leong (Writing Masterclass)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and Greta Kelly as they delve into a writing masterclass on Writing Cozy Fantasy with bestselling author Julie Leong. During the episode, Julie gets comfy and lays out the cozy fundamentals, including what cozy fantasy is, the growing popularity of cozy stories, stakes and realism in cozy fantasy, wish fulfillment and reader expectations, whether romance is necessary in every fantasy story, approaches to cozy worldbuilding and character arcs, the roles of community, antagonists and secondary characters in cozy fiction and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 175: Julie Leong talks The Keeper of Magical Things, Underdogs, Resilience & More
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and Greta Kelly as they chat with bestselling author Julie Leong about her new novel The Keeper of Magical Things, quitting a corporate job to pursue writing, the appeal of cozy fantasy, the debut author experience, underdog/outsider protagonists, varying magical powers, imposter syndrome and resilience, how opposites can attract, writing effective character arcs, community and breathing life into your setting, creating a quirky cast of side characters and much more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 174: How to Write Battle Scenes with Anna Smith Spark (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 Battle Scenes with author Anna Smith Spark. During the episode, Anna arms herself for war (and writing), exploring why we love battle scenes, how to study and analyze historical battles, the immersion/cinematography of a battle, laying the seeds of conflict, approaches to warfare across cultures, setting and styles of battle, scale and shifting perspectives, realism and the aftermath of battle, heightening emotional resonance, war councils, expectations, foreshadowing and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 173: Anna Smith Spark talks A Sword of Gold and Ruin, Anderson Versus Death, Grimdark & More
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and Greta Kelly as they chat with author Anna Smith Spark about her TWO new novels A Sword of Gold and Ruin and Anderson Versus Death, the 2000 AD/Judge Dredd universe and dystopian prescience, the pursuit and joys of storytelling, the appeal of grimdark, the current state of the grimdark genre (and responses to it), the ups and downs of publishing, writing what you’re passionate about, folkloric horror, autism, dyspraxia and much more.