Category Archives: Pulp Fiction

HE WHO CONTROLS THE PAST, CONTROLS THE FUTURE, OR WHY REVISING OLD RACISTS IS A TERRIBLE THING

Posted on March 7, 2023 by Philip Athans

On February 27th, the estate of author Ian Fleming released a statement in which they made a lackluster effort to defend the indefensible, and that is their program to rewrite at least one of Ian Fleming’s James Bond books in order to … Continue reading →

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DESCRIBING WOMEN (AND MEN)

Posted on February 21, 2023 by Philip Athans

All the way back in March of 2017 I cautioned you not to describe characters in terms of numerical statistics (height, weight, age) or obvious features (hair and eye color, etc.), but reading some more “vintage” (1950s-1960s) fiction and running into the perfectly … Continue reading →

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MAKE THEM EARN IT

Posted on January 31, 2023 by Philip Athans

Your characters need to earn the things they need to succeed in their own stories. Don’t let anything come too easily, and in most genre fiction, at least, I mean anything and everything must feel that it came at the cost of significant effort. If not, it’s not … Continue reading →

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MAYBE WE SHOULD ALL BE MORE LIKE ROBERT SILVERBERG

Posted on December 20, 2022 by Philip Athans

Last week, inspired by my reading of his collection Gentleman Junkie, I wondered aloud if we should all be more like Harlan Ellison—an author who found, developed, and protected his own voice, his own career, and steadfastly defended that against all odds … Continue reading →

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READ THIS INTERVIEW WITH RAY BRADBURY

Posted on November 29, 2022 by Philip Athans

This week, I’m just going to toss this over to The Paris Review and an interview with the great Ray Bradbury, The Art of Fiction No. 203. Read this interview while you still can—it might drop back behind their paywall. In any case, … Continue reading →

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WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM A RANDOM SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL: PERRY RHODAN #1 ENTERPRISE STARDUST

Posted on November 8, 2022 by Philip Athans

This loose series of posts started out in response to my random science fiction (and fantasy and horror and now including other genres) paperback grab-bag box, but let’s expand that out to the series I’m collecting as well, which I talked about here … Continue reading →

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I COLLECT BOOKS, DAMN IT

Posted on October 18, 2022 by Philip Athans

There, I did it—I came out! Well, not really. I’ve talked about my Ace Doubles collection and even my Star Trek shrine in the past, but this whole book collecting thing has been ramping up for me over the past several years … Continue reading →

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10/80/10

Posted on September 27, 2022 by Philip Athans

“Ninety percent of everything is crap.” —Sturgeon’s Revelation Science fiction author Theodore Sturgeon meant that about fiction in particular, but since then (and not to take anything away from Mr. Sturgeon, before then) it’s become a sort of rule or … Continue reading →

Posted in authors helping authors, authors to writers, best fantasy blogs, best genre fiction blogs, best horror blogs, best science fiction blogs, best websites for authors, best websites for writers, Books, characters, fiction writing blog, fiction writing websites, freelance editing, help for writers, helping writers become authors, how to write fantasy, how to write fiction, how to write horror, how to write science fiction, Publishing Business, Pulp Fiction, SF and Fantasy Authors, websites for authors, websites for writers, writers to authors, Writing, writing advice, Writing Community, writing fantasy, writing horror, writing science fiction, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

I RANDOMLY GENERATED A RELIGION

Posted on September 20, 2022 by Philip Athans

…and here’s why, how, and what I ended up with… This is part of what at this point is just kind of a fun exercise, exploring the idea of writing a randomly generated fantasy novel as part of an effort to maybe write … Continue reading →

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SHOULD WE STOP CONJURING THE APOCALYPSE?

Posted on August 30, 2022 by Philip Athans

Right from the start let me make sure you know that I in no way subscribe to any version of the “Satanic Panic” or its second incarnation, which was to blame “violent video games” for any and every real life … Continue reading →

Posted in authors helping authors, authors to writers, best fantasy blogs, best genre fiction blogs, best horror blogs, best science fiction blogs, best websites for authors, best websites for writers, Books, characters, fantasy movies, fiction writing blog, fiction writing websites, help for writers, helping writers become authors, horror movies, horror novels, how to write fantasy, how to write fiction, how to write horror, how to write science fiction, Publishing Business, Pulp Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, science fiction movies, SF and Fantasy Authors, websites for authors, websites for writers, writers to authors, Writing, writing advice, Writing Community, writing fantasy, writing horror, writing science fiction, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments