Join Adrian M. Gibson and guest co-host Greta Kelly as they delve into a mini-masterclass on Convincing Details & Descriptions with award-winning author Nghi Vo. During the episode, Nghi gets into the nitty gritty of details, exploring what details/descriptions can do for readers, how to approach details in your writing, delivering effective details, setting expectations for your descriptive style, description in short vs. long form fiction, surface detail vs. hyper detail, describing characters, character actions, world details, plausibility and more.
Masterclass
SFF Addicts Ep. 125: Omniscient Narration & POV with Cat Rambo (Mini-Masterclass)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and M.J. Kuhn as they delve into a mini-masterclass on Omniscient Narration & POV with award-winning author Cat Rambo. During the episode, Cat lays out all there is to know about omniscient narration, exploring what it is and when to use it, the benefits and challenges of an omniscient POV, finding a narrative voice, how to transition between characters, internal vs. external characterization, experimenting with POV styles, the viability of omniscient stories with agents/editors and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 123: Modernity & Building Believable Futures with T. R. Napper (Mini-Masterclass)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and M.J. Kuhn as they delve into a mini-masterclass on Modernity & Building Believable Futures with award-winning author T. R. Napper. During the episode, Tim unpacks the complexities of modernity, exploring what modernity is, its relationships with hardboiled fiction and cyberpunk, confronting modernity in real life, relevancy and genre expectations, worldbuilding and crafting believable futures, thematic resonance, historical context fact vs. fiction and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 121: Researching for Fantasy with Christian “Miles” Cameron (Mini-Masterclass)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and M.J. Kuhn as they delve into a mini-masterclass on Researching for Fantasy with author Christian “Miles” Cameron. During the episode, Miles takes a deep dive into research, exploring how research provides convincing surface details, methods for researching, balancing historical fact and creative freedom, lived research and reenactment, combat and swordfighting, systems and worldbuilding details, when to stop researching and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 119: Content Creation 101 with Evan Leikam, Mike’s Book Reviews & Kay’s Hidden Shelf (Masterclass Panel)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and M.J. Kuhn for a masterclass panel on Content Creation 101, featuring Evan Leikam from Book Reviews Kill, Mike from Mike’s Book Reviews and Kayla from Kay’s Hidden Shelf. During the panel, Evan, Mike and Kayla lay out the fundamentals for getting into content creation, including how they started, the big content platforms, editing software and recording equipment, content length on different platforms, algorithms and originality, connecting with your audience, monetization and advertising, reviewing books, receiving ARCs, relationships with publishers/authors and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 118: Writing as Collaboration with James S.A. Corey (Mini-Masterclass)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and M.J. Kuhn as they delve into a mini-masterclass on Writing as Collaboration with bestselling co-authors Daniel Abraham & Ty Franck (AKA James S.A. Corey). During the episode, Daniel and Ty team up to discuss collabs, exploring the importance of collaboration, screenwriting and TV/film adaptations, co-writing as negotiation, solo vs. collaborative writing, working with editors and writers rooms, critique partners, sensitivity readers and feedback, writing for Star Wars, DMing for D&D and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 112: Writing the Opposite Gender with Stephen Aryan (Mini-Masterclass)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and M.J. Kuhn as they delve into a mini-masterclass on Writing the Opposite Gender with author Stephen Aryan. During the episode, Stephen bridges the gap between genders, exploring the importance of writing outside your own gender, stereotypes and how men often write women badly, how to enjoy writing the opposite gender, the advantages of writing in SFF, how to research other genders, gender norms and little details, intent and power dynamics, awareness, biases, empathy and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 110: Making Old Monsters New Again with Christopher Buehlman (Mini-Masterclass)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and M.J. Kuhn as they delve into a mini-masterclass on Making Old Monsters New Again with author Christopher Buehlman. During the episode, Christopher uncovers the mysteries of old monsters, exploring examples of classic monsters, human psychology and allegory, advantages of using classic monsters, monster films and why some monsters feel dated, approaches for different genres/monsters, researching monsters, atmosphere, setting and emotion, gore vs. psychological horror, new takes on old monsters and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 108: Creating Fictional Cultures with Rebecca Roanhorse (Mini-Masterclass)
Join host Adrian M. Gibson as he delves into a mini-masterclass on Creating Fictional Cultures with bestselling, award-winning author Rebecca Roanhorse. During the episode, Rebecca weaves a cultural tapestry, exploring why “culture” is important to human beings, approaches for creating a fictional culture, research and lived experience, details and sensory descriptors, characters in relation to culture, real world vs. secondary world cultures, cultural appropriation vs. inspiration and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 99: Swashbuckling Fantasy with Sebastien de Castell (Mini-Masterclass)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and M.J. Kuhn as they delve into a mini-masterclass on Swashbuckling Fantasy with author Sebastien de Castell. During the episode, Sebastien plays the daring hero by laying out the essentials of swashbuckling, including how he defines it, famous examples of swashbuckling (like The Three Musketeers and The Princess Bride), the interaction between swordplay, action and stakes, how to pace a swashbuckling story, applying humor to swashbuckling, heroes, villains, contrast and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 98: Sebastien de Castell talks Play of Shadows, Found Family, Banter & More
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and M.J. Kuhn as they chat with author Sebastien de Castell about his new novel Play of Shadows, his career trajectory and being a bard, channeling your experiences into writing, traveling, culture and language, writing witty dialogue and banter, found family, worldbuilding approaches, shared worlds and much more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 97: Genre Mashups with Adrian M. Gibson (Mini-Masterclass)
Join host M.J. Kuhn as she delves into a mini-masterclass on Genre Mashups with her co-host/author Adrian M. Gibson. During the episode, Adrian picks apart the various aspects of genre mashups, including how he incorporated police procedurals and crime thrillers into Mushroom Blues, milieu and aesthetics as mashup elements, genre mashups vs. subgenres, meeting reader expectations in multiple genres at once, why authors shouldn’t force genres together and more.