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Books on Writing
- The Guide to Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction The book at the heart of all this!
- Writing Monsters Advice for SF, fantasy, and horror authors
- The Best of Fantasy Author's Handbook Volume I, 2009-2013
Buy My Books
- Six Guns & Spaceships Featuring my space opera western story “Rendezes”
- Devils of the Endless Deep My trip into the Fathomless Abyss
- Write to the Cover Featuring my story “Bella Lucky and the Titan of Tarvos”
- Australians, Buy Here! Order from Boomerang Books in Australia.
- The Best of Fantasy Authors Handbook …is now available–58 revised and expanded essays from the first five years of FAH!
- Tales from the Fathomless Abyss The anthology that started it all!
- The Haunting of Dragon's Cliff with Mel Odom, a new sword & sorcery barbarian is born!
- Completely Broken A novel of contemporary horror
- Annihilation My entry in the Forgotten Realms series R.A. Salvatore’s War of the Spider Queen
- A Reader's Guide to R.A. Salvatore's the Legend of Drizzt An essential companion to the greatest hero of the Forgotten Realms world
- I Made a Friend An alternate history/dieselpunk story for your Kindle!
- Morbid Dread of the Dawn Read my story in The Pulp Horror Book of Phobias!
- The Dogs Are In the Alley Again: A new horror story in Jitter #7
- Harbinger Asylum: Published one of my poems!
- The Lighthouse Keeper That Left A new poem in Harbinger’s Asylum!
- MegaTraveller: MANHUNT: Thirty-two years late, but better than never!
Communicate With Me
- Twitter @PhilAthans Admit it, you need to keep up with me at least a couple times a day.
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Interviews & Guest Posts
- CLARKESWORLD INTERVIEW 1: I took part in a roundtable interview with other speculative fiction editors.
- MAKE-BELIEVE MONDAYS INTERVIEW: Debra Parmley’s Make-Believe Mondays is a must-read blog for SF/Fantasy fans, and she’s interviewed lil’ ol’ me!
- Celebrity Game Table: A detailed look at my Tegel Manor Campaign from 2003.
- Monsters in D&D, Books, Movies… Dicegeeks Podcast interview with Phil!
- Longwinded One Podcast: Episode 158: Philip Athans: The Years of Phil
- Classic Monsters, Modern Love: How a New Generation of Fans is Keeping the Universal Monsters Alive
- Publisher's Weekly “Is the Universe Expanding or Contracting?”
- Hunting for MANHUNT: The behind the scenes tale of my lost MegaTraveller adventure!
- Inside Storytelling: Writing Monsters, Creatures & Villains
- Porter Anderson vs. Movie Examples: With some nice things to say about my Living Dialogue seminar at the Writer’s Digest conference.
- 10 Questions with…ME! I get grilled by Ryan Schneider.
- SF Signal Mind Meld: Aliens I join other SF/F authors and editors on the subject of what makes a good alien.
- Ask the (Book) Editors: Panel video from 2013 Emerald City Comicon!
- Writer's Digest Guest Blog: How to Make a Vampire Not Suck
- Horror Authors: How to Scare the Heck Out of Your Readers A guest post at The Write Life with practical tips for scaring the crap out of your readers.
- Writer's Digest Interview: On Writing F&SF.
- How To Write Monsters With Philip Athans The Creative Penn Podcasts me!
- Roleplaying Tips: Interviews me!
- The Fanitarium Podcast: Interviews Philip Athans
- How to Create a Magic System: M.S. Farzan and Storyteller’s Handbook features The Guide to Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction
- How to Write Horror: Reading, Breathing and the Long Sentence (at Writer’s Digest)
- Worldcasting: I join the guys from Worldbuilding Magazine for a chat about… everything!
Past Posts
Category Archives: The Fathomless Abyss
PANTSING MY WAY THROUGH AN OUTLINE
In an effort to dispel the ongoing nonsense “battle” between pantsers—authors who get an idea and start writing “by the seat of their pants”—and plotters—authors who write detailed outlines to which they slavishly adhere throughout the writing process—I’d like to show you … 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, help for writers, helping writers become authors, how to write fantasy, how to write fiction, how to write horror, how to write science fiction, indie publishing, Publishing Business, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, SF and Fantasy Authors, Story Structure, The Fathomless Abyss, 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 author, authors, Books, creative process, e-books, editor, Fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, Science Fiction, worldbuilding, Writing, writing advice, writing fantasy, writing horror, writing process, writing science fiction
3 Comments
YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT
Let’s start with two simple, indisputable facts: You have the right to your own opinion, and You have the right to remain silent. I awoke this morning at 3:45 am feeling out of sorts. It wasn’t just the mysterious pain … Continue reading
Posted in Books, creative team, how to write fiction, indie publishing, Publishing Business, RPG, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, SF and Fantasy Authors, The Fathomless Abyss, transmedia, Writing, writing advice, writing horror, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged author, authors, Books, comic books, creative process, editor, Fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, Mike Resnick, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, Science Fiction, Writing, writing advice
14 Comments
WHY AMAZON DOESN’T SCARE ME
Depending on whether or not you’ve put all your indie publishing eggs in the Kindle Select Program or not, you may see Amazon as the Great Liberator or the Great Satan. If you’re trying to run an independent brick-and-mortar bookstore—first … Continue reading
Posted in Arron of the Black Forest, Books, E-Books, horror novels, how to write fiction, indie publishing, POD, Publishing Business, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, SF and Fantasy Authors, The Fathomless Abyss, transmedia, Traveller, Writing, writing advice, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged Amazon, author, author self-promotion, authors, Books, e-books, e-readers, editor, Fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, KDP, KDP Select, Kindle Unlimited, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, Science Fiction, self-publishing, Writing, writing advice, writing exercises, writing process
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WORLDBUILDING NEEDS YOU!
I hate to do it, but this one is primarily for Seattle-area people . . . The next eight-week session of my Worldbuilding class at Bellevue College is starting on July 1, and there are still spots open. Register now! If you do … Continue reading
Posted in Books, creative team, how to write fiction, monsters, NaNoWriMo, Publishing Business, RPG, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, Science Fiction Story, SF and Fantasy Authors, The Fathomless Abyss, transmedia, Writing, writing advice, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged author, authors, Books, creative process, Dungeons & Dragons, Fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, Philip Athans, Publishing, Science Fiction, worldbuilding, Writing, writing advice, writing exercises, writing process
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SIX WAYS TO BREAK THROUGH WRITER’S BLOCK
Last week I bemoaned my lack of progress on various projects, and though this past week has seen a dramatic up-tick in productivity, it’s also found me continuing to think about the subject, from various angles. I’ve been asked recently, … 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, creative team, fiction writing blog, fiction writing websites, help for writers, helping writers become authors, horror novels, how to write fantasy, how to write fiction, how to write horror, how to write science fiction, NaNoWriMo, Publishing Business, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, SF and Fantasy Authors, The Fathomless Abyss, transmedia, 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 author, authors, Books, creative process, editor, Fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, Science Fiction, Wizards of the Coast, writer's block, Writing, writing advice, writing exercises, writing process
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ONLY IMPERIAL STORMTROOPERS ARE THIS (IM)PRECISE
Why is it that nobody in science fiction, especially the bad guys, can shoot straight? In all my classes on writing, including The Guide to Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction, I belabor the point that SF and fantasy are inherently … 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, creative team, fantasy movies, fiction writing blog, fiction writing websites, 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, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, science fiction movies, SF and Fantasy Authors, The Fathomless Abyss, transmedia, 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 author, authors, Books, creative process, Fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, Philip Athans, Publishing, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Star Wars novels, Writing, writing advice, writing process
8 Comments
NOBODY’S FAULT
Yesterday, another huge tornado ripped through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, brushing terrifyingly close to the home of my friend and occasional collaborator Mel Odom. After a few tense hours we finally heard through Facebook that he’d managed to … Continue reading
Posted in Arron of the Black Forest, Books, creative team, Dungeons & Dragons, E-Books, Publishing Business, RPG, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, SF and Fantasy Authors, The Fathomless Abyss, transmedia, Traveller, Writing, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged author, authors, Books, creative process, Dungeons & Dragons, e-books, editor, Fantasy, Fiction, Forgotten Realms, genre fiction, Mel Odom, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, Science Fiction, Wizards of the Coast, worldbuilding, Writing, writing advice, writing process
1 Comment
THINGS ARE GOING TO START HAPPENING TO ME NOW
Or are they? Okay, I’ll back up a little. For the past couple years I’ve been reading a lot of advice for indie/self-published authors on the subject of marketing, and giving my fair share, too. Though it’s never been easier … Continue reading
Posted in Arron of the Black Forest, Books, creative team, Dungeons & Dragons, E-Books, horror novels, NaNoWriMo, Publishing Business, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, SF and Fantasy Authors, The Fathomless Abyss, transmedia, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged author, authors, best sellers, Books, creative process, Dungeons & Dragons, e-books, editor, Fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, Science Fiction, Wizards of the Coast, Writing, writing advice, writing process
1 Comment
SIT YOUR ASS DOWN AND DO IT!
A couple weeks ago, my fellow Fathomless Abyss explorer Mike Resnick posted on Facebook about all the books and stories he finished in 2012 and I was simply blown away by his output. It put my meager word counts to … Continue reading
Posted in Books, creative team, National Buy a Book Day, Publishing Business, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, SF and Fantasy Authors, The Fathomless Abyss, transmedia, Writing, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged author, authors, Books, creative process, e-books, Fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, Mike Resnick, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, resolutions, Science Fiction, watch less TV, Writing, writing advice, writing exercises, writing process
3 Comments
BUY MY E-BOOKS, PLEASE
Tuesday again, so soon? What to write for this week’s Fantasy Author’s Handbook post? Ideas abound, but this morning I thought, hey, maybe it’s time for a little shameless self-promotion. And it might just kill two birds with one stone. … Continue reading
Posted in Arron of the Black Forest, Books, creative team, E-Books, Publishing Business, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, SF and Fantasy Authors, The Fathomless Abyss, transmedia, Writing, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged author, author self-promotion, authors, best fantasy for Kindle, best fantasy for Nook, best fantasy novels, Books, creative process, e-books, e-readers, Fantasy, fantasy author on Twitter, Fiction, genre fiction, J.M. McDermott, jay Lake, Kindle fantasy, Mel Odom, Mike Resnick, Nook fantasy, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, Science Fiction, Writing, writing advice, writing process
6 Comments
Fantasy Author's Handbook 