PLEASE DONATE! Fantasy Author’s Handbook is brought to you free of charge, but if you can spare a one-time donation of $5, $20, or maybe $5 per month, that would really help keep Fantasy Author’s Handbook happily handbooking into the 2020s.
-
Join 4,911 other subscribers
Fantasy Author\’s Feeds
Fantasy Author’s Datebook
February 2023 M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Are you following me?
- Improving quality of life and health outcomes for VHL patients, families, and caregivers with inclusive community b… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 4 hours ago
- a letter from a young psycho by Vaishnavi Kolluru trashtotreasurelit.com/publishedpiece… 5 hours ago
- Hands on advice for #writing Monsters in #fantasy #sciencefiction #horror #books #ttrpgs and anywhere else things g… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 10 hours ago
!NEW!
- Updated Rate Card: Athans & Associates Creative Consulting
- BUY ME A COFFEE! Ready to throw a couple shekles into the cause?
- I'm on HIVE as @PhilAthans (just like Twitter)!
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.
- LinkedIn Here’s my public profile on LinkedIn, for what it’s worth
- Athans & Associates Creative Consulting Creative consulting services from an IP development pro.
- GoodReads Join me at Facebook-for-readers
- Find me on Kindlepreneur: Master Guide to Selecting the Best Book Editor
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
Tag Archives: Magic: The Gathering
THOUGHTS ON THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY
In the introduction to an episode of The Twilight Zone, Rod Serling said: “It’s been said that science fiction and fantasy are two different things. Science fiction—the improbable made possible. Fantasy—the impossible made probable.” I wrote that down a couple … Continue reading
Posted in Books, comic books, creative team, Dungeons & Dragons, fantasy movies, horror movies, horror novels, how to write fiction, monsters, Publishing Business, RPG, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, Science Fiction Story, science fiction technology, SF and Fantasy Authors, technology, transmedia, Video Games, Writing, writing advice, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged author, authors, best fantasy novels, Books, comic books, creative process, Dungeons & Dragons, editor, Fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, Magic: The Gathering, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, Science Fiction, Star Trek, worldbuilding, Writing, writing advice, writing process
11 Comments
I GEEK, YOU GEEK
Let’s call this one a love letter to jocks everywhere . . . I’m a geek. I’m a nerd, too. In England they’d call me an anorak. If I were to travel to Japan I would be an otaku, I think. The definition … Continue reading
Posted in Anime, 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, conventions, Dungeons & Dragons, 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, RPG, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, science fiction movies, SF and Fantasy Authors, transmedia, Traveller, Video Games, 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, Dungeons & Dragons, Fantasy, geek, geek chic, geek culture, genre fiction, golf, golf geek, Magic: The Gathering, nerd, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Wizards of the Coast, Wondercon, Writing, writing advice
4 Comments
CHARACTER VS. GIMMICK: A TALE OF TWO SHORT STORIES
I have a love/hate relationship with short stories. I’ve written a few of them, and some have been published. I don’t write a lot of short stories and since I’ve been publishing with some regularity, I have seen maybe 40% … 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, 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 Story, 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 author, authors, Books, creative process, editor, Fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, Magic: The Gathering, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, Science Fiction, short story writing, Wizards of the Coast, Writing, writing advice, writing exercises, writing process
6 Comments
NIRVANA GATES AND MY TENDENCY TO AVOID GROUPS
What could these two things possibly have in common? A couple weeks ago, in my class at Bellevue College, we were discussing how characters interact with the world they live in, and we went through an exercise inspired by the … Continue reading
Posted in Arron of the Black Forest, Books, creative team, Dungeons & Dragons, E-Books, Publishing Business, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, SF and Fantasy Authors, The Fathomless Abyss, Writing, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged author, authors, Books, Brad R. Torgersen, Cat Rambo, creative process, Dungeons & Dragons, e-books, editor, Fantasy, Fiction, Forgotten Realms, genre fiction, J.M. McDermott, jay Lake, Magic: The Gathering, Mats Minnhagen, Mel Odom, Mike Resnick, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, Science Fiction, Wizards of the Coast, worldbuilding, Writing, writing advice, writing exercises
2 Comments
COMPLETE BIBLIOGRAPHY
Excuse for why I missed a Tuesday . . . I’ve been working on finally assembling a complete bibliography. It’s not exactly perfect yet, and when it is, it will appear as a separate page here, but for now . … Continue reading
Posted in Arron of the Black Forest, Books, Dungeons & Dragons, horror novels, Publishing Business, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, Science Fiction Story, SF and Fantasy Authors, The Fathomless Abyss, Writing, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged author, authors, best sellers, Books, Dungeons & Dragons, e-books, editor, Fantasy, Fiction, Forgotten Realms, genre fiction, Magic: The Gathering, Mel Odom, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, R.A. Salvatore, Science Fiction, Wizards of the Coast, Writing
Leave a comment
THE ART & SCIENCE OF THE TITLE
What a tired old phrase: “X is more art than science,” in which X can be anything, including art or science. And saying “Choosing a title for your novel or short story is more art than science” is particularly silly … Continue reading
Posted in Arron of the Black Forest, 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, Dungeons & Dragons, E-Books, 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, 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 author, authors, best sellers, Books, creative process, Dungeons & Dragons, e-books, editor, Fantasy, Fiction, Forgotten Realms, genre fiction, Magic: The Gathering, Mel Odom, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, R.A. Salvatore, Science Fiction, Terry Brooks, titles, Wizards of the Coast, Writing, writing advice, writing exercises, writing process
4 Comments
THE FANTASY AUTHOR’S HANDBOOK INTERVIEW: ARI MARMELL
I’m ten years older than Ari Marmell, author of The Goblin Corps, The Conqueror’s Shadow, a handful of other novels, and 27,492 role-playing game supplements, but we have eerily similar back stories. We were both born in New York, but … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Dungeons & Dragons, E-Books, Publishing Business, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, SF and Fantasy Authors, Writing, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged Ari Marmell, author, Author Interview, authors, Books, creative process, Dungeons & Dragons, e-books, editor, Fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, Magic: The Gathering, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, Science Fiction, teen books, worldbuilding, Writing, writing advice, writing process, young adult fantasy
3 Comments
WHERE ARE ALL THE TIE-IN NOVELS?
In my preparation for E3, which is where I am today, I’ve been digging into the numbers behind the game-related novel. Everybody who knows anything at all about me, knows that for about fifteen years, I edited game tie-in novels, … Continue reading
Posted in Books, conventions, Dungeons & Dragons, E-Books, Publishing Business, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, SF and Fantasy Authors, transmedia, Video Games, Writing, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged author, authors, best sellers, Books, Dungeons & Dragons, e-books, e-readers, E3, editor, Fantasy, Fiction, Forgotten Realms, genre fiction, Magic: The Gathering, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, R.A. Salvatore, Science Fiction, Wizards of the Coast, worldbuilding, Writing, writing advice, writing process
2 Comments
THE FANTASY AUTHOR’S HANDBOOK INTERVIEWS XIII: PETER D. ADKISON
My former boss, Peter Adkison, founded Wizards of the Coast in 1990 with the hope that it would be “the next Judges Guild.” If you even know what that means, you’re a geek after my own heart. When game designer … Continue reading
Posted in Books, conventions, Dungeons & Dragons, Publishing Business, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, SF and Fantasy Authors, transmedia, Video Games, Writing, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged author, Author Interview, authors, Bella Sara, Books, creative process, Dungeons & Dragons, Fantasy, Fiction, Gen Con, genre fiction, Hasbro, Magic: The Gathering, Peter Adkison, Philip Athans, Pikachu, Pokemon, Publishing, Publishing Business, Science Fiction, Wizards of the Coast, worldbuilding, Writing, writing advice, writing process
2 Comments
STEP THREE ERRATA & ADDITIONAL MATERIAL: The Guide to Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction (PART 1)
Is there such a thing as a perfect book? If there is, I haven’t read one, let alone written one. One of the things I’d hoped to accomplish with this blog was not just to promote the book but to … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Dungeons & Dragons, Publishing Business, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, SF and Fantasy Authors, Writing, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged author, authors, Books, Dungeons & Dragons, Fantasy, fantasy maps, Fiction, genre fiction, Kamigawa, Magic: The Gathering, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, Science Fiction, worldbuilding, Writing, writing advice, writing process
Leave a comment
Fantasy Author's Handbook 