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.
Masterclass
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.
SFF Addicts Ep. 95: Circular Storytelling with Moses Ose Utomi (Mini-Masterclass)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and M.J. Kuhn as they delve into a mini-masterclass on Circular Storytelling with author Moses Ose Utomi. During the episode, Moses traces the circumference of circular storytelling, including what it is, how Moses approached it in The Forever Desert series, mythology and storytelling traditions, how to utilize circular storytelling in scenes vs. chapters vs. whole stories, managing characters, world and plot in a circular story, beginnings, endings and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 93: War in Speculative Fiction with Premee Mohamed (Mini-Masterclass)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and M.J. Kuhn as they delve into a mini-masterclass on War in Speculative Fiction with award-winning author Premee Mohamed. During the episode, Premee unveils the shadowy nature of war, including how she incorporated it into her new novel The Siege of Burning Grass, good and bad examples of war in media, realism when depicting war in SFF settings, civilians and the costs of war, humanizing combatants on both sides, intimate perspectives of war, the importance of change and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 91: Connecting World & Character with Robert Jackson Bennett (Mini-Masterclass)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and M.J. Kuhn as they delve into a mini-masterclass on Connecting World & Character with bestselling author Robert Jackson Bennett. During the episode, Robert connects the dots between character and worldbuilding, including the intersections of world, character and theme, different ways to start your stories, worlds as distinct characters, how world dynamics can inform character behavior, character perspectives and description, mood, dialogue, Die Hard and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 82: Working Through Grief with Kevin Hearne (Mini-Masterclass)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and M.J. Kuhn as they delve into a mini-masterclass on Working Through Grief with bestselling author Kevin Hearne. During the episode, Kevin unpacks the weighty burdens of grief, including how it fits into the human experience, reading and writing as therapy, incorporating the theme of grief into fantasy worlds (like The Seven Kennings trilogy), putting yourself in the mindset of grieving characters, music as a writing aid, grief and writer’s block, readers, healing and community, things that make us happy and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 80: Impactful Scenes & Sequels with Jim Butcher (Mini-Masterclass)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and M.J. Kuhn as they delve into a mini-masterclass on Impactful Scenes & Sequels with bestselling author Jim Butcher. During the episode, Jim dissects the nitty gritty of writing effective scenes and sequels, including the potent scene-sequel dynamic, the building blocks of scenes (emotion/reason/review/decision), transitions between scenes and books, creating believable worlds, adding new characters to a series, keeping characters and stakes fresh, planting seeds, character progression and more.
SFF Addicts Ep. 66: Real Cultures as Inspiration with Gabriela Romero Lacruz (Mini-Masterclass)
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and M.J. Kuhn as they delve into a mini-masterclass on Real Cultures as Inspiration with author Gabriela Romero Lacruz. During the episode, Gabriela unpacks different facets of culture, including what culture means, countercultures, SFF as a reflection of our world, immersive worldbuilding, pulling from real cultures vs. creating your own, research, cultural appropriation and more.