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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
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- 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!
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- The Haunting of Dragon's Cliff with Mel Odom, a new sword & sorcery barbarian is born!
- Completely Broken A novel of contemporary horror
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Interviews & Guest Posts
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- 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: Wondercon
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
THE JOYS OF TEACHING
There’s an old saying: “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” This is crap. Though there are people in this world who would not consider me particularly old, there’s another old saying: “You’re only as old as you feel.” … Continue reading
Posted in Books, conventions, creative team, Dungeons & Dragons, Publishing Business, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, Science Fiction Story, SF and Fantasy Authors, transmedia, Writing, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged author, authors, Books, creative process, editor, Fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, R.A. Salvatore, Science Fiction, Wizards of the Coast, Wondercon, worldbuilding, Writing, writing advice, writing exercises, writing process
2 Comments
DO I HAVE TO GO TO COLLEGE?
Two things inspired this week’s post. First, my daughter has been accepted to a private art college here in Seattle, and we’re all very excited. Now we’re off, like all parents of college-bound students who are not independently wealthy (and … 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, conventions, 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, Books, editor, Fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, Science Fiction, Wizards of the Coast, Wondercon, Writing, writing advice, writing process
1 Comment
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE
You’ve heard that old joke. A guy asks a New York cabbie how to get to Carnegie Hall, and the cabbie says, “Practice, practice, practice.” I’ve written before about work ethic issues, deadlines, laziness, and the barriers we tend to … 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, conventions, 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, 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, best sellers, Books, creative process, Fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, Jessica Simpson, literary agents, MIchael Jordan, Philip Athans, practice, Publishing, Publishing Business, Sarah Palin, Science Fiction, Snooki, Wondercon, Writing, writing advice, writing exercises, writing process, Yo-Yo Ma
2 Comments
WONDERCON 2011
Last weekend I flew down to San Francisco from home-base Seattle for the big giant comic book/pop culture convention Wondercon. Though both big and giant compared to some conventions I’ve attended, Wondercon is a little sister convention to the overwhelmingly … Continue reading
Posted in Books, comic books, conventions, creative team, Publishing Business, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, SF and Fantasy Authors, transmedia, Writing, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged author, authors, Books, comic books, creative process, DC Comics, Fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, Marvel Comics, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, San Diego Comic-Con, Science Fiction, Wondercon, Writing, writing advice, writing process
2 Comments
PART III ERRATA & ADDITIONAL MATERIAL: The Guide to Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction
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, conventions, Dungeons & Dragons, Publishing Business, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, SF and Fantasy Authors, transmedia, Writing, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged author, authors, best sellers, Books, creative process, Dungeons & Dragons, Fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, literary agents, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, R.A. Salvatore, Science Fiction, Star Wars novels, Wondercon, Writing, writing advice, writing process
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LOOK OUT, WONDERCON, HERE I COME!
On March 31st, only sixteen days from today, I jet down the coast from Seattle to San Francisco to attend WonderCon. WonderCon is sort of a little-sister convention to the mega-event San Diego Comic-Con, and this’ll be my first time … Continue reading
Posted in Books, comic books, conventions, Publishing Business, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, SF and Fantasy Authors, transmedia, Writing, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged author, authors, book marketing, book promotion, Books, comic books, creative process, Emerald City Comicon, Fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, PAX, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, R.A. Salvatore, San Diego Comic-Con, Science Fiction, Wondercon, Writing, writing advice, writing process
2 Comments
HEARD YOU MISSED ME, COMIC BOOKS. I’M BACK.
I do not have the world’s biggest or most valuable comic book collection by any means, but I do have one, and it’s among my most prized possessions. Very little evidence of my childhood still exists. I have not a … Continue reading
Posted in Books, comic books, Publishing Business, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, SF and Fantasy Authors, transmedia, Writing, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged author, authors, Blue Bolt, Books, comic books, creative process, Fantastic Four, Fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, read more, San Diego Comicon, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Wondercon, Writing, writing advice, writing process, X-Men
3 Comments
Fantasy Author's Handbook 