Writing advice and traditional publishing advice, fantasy worldbuilding tips and author interviews.
I am a traditionally published fantasy author with two epic fantasy trilogies from Orbit Books, a duology from Angry Robot books and a new historic fantasy series set in 13th Persia. My debut novel, Battlemage, was published in 2015.
My new trilogy, the Nightingale and the Falcon started on 13 July 2023 with The Judas Blossom.
If you want advice about writing, or getting traditionally published then you've come to the right place. Over the years I learned a lot of lessons which I'm sharing with others. I want to help you avoid the same mistakes that I see others repeat over and over again.
Email for business enquiries only.
This isn't a booktube or book review channel. I do not take interview requests.
I am represented by Juliet Mushens of Mushens Entertainment.
The Dresden Files is one huge long series that it still ongoing. However, every book is a standalone story that has threads will carry over into the next book, but each book is a different Case File as he is a private investigator. So start with Storm Front, book 1.
I'm working on a trilogy right now and I really needed a video like this! I too believed the myth that querying with a series is a bad, bad idea so it's good to hear that isn't the case. Maybe I'll put that novella on the backburner. Thanks Stephen!
Happy for you Stephen! Amazing hardback! So sad I can't buy hardback of The Coward and The Warrior anymore. I would pass them on to my children in the future - so much did I like them. But it is what it is.
fun conversation from the start XD "I live just down the street" "They don't know that!" . I enjoyed listening to the two of you chat also, i finished reading The Judas Blossom, the end was a bit sudden but I loved it and being i tend to struggle with multiple POV, some content stuff, and can have a short attention span that doesn't always hold through people's world-building, you did an amazing job! Things that often would at least slow a read for me weren't a problem at all and worked great because of how well you wrote it ^.^
Animorphs represent! As a teenager in the early 00's I also relied on a WH Smith for my fiction. It was Lord of the Rings, Discworld, Harry Potter or Animorphs, and that's your lot.
I enjoyed seeing your respective takes on this series, which I consider a masterpiece of Fantasy. I know George RR Martin, Brandon Sanderson, Brian Lee Durfee, Neil Gaiman, Patrick Rothfuss, and Christopher Paolini have also heaped praise on MS&T. Krystle's take on Simon's excruciating long time in the tunnels "...and then we discover it's only been a couple of hours") was priceless! X)
Your formative reading mirrors a lot of my own - Brooks, Eddings, etc - but it was Donaldson’s “Lord Foul’s Bane” that was a bit too advanced for me at the time and I had to return it to my mother’s bookshelf. That is a very long lasting memory, when I struggle to recall my early reading journey.
Nice ^.^ library finally has The Judas Blossom so i've borrowed and started it! :D and that makes sense needing enough confidence to keep working but not so much you become a nuisance XD.
Do you conduct interviews with authors from Asia and other regions? It would be really interesting to watch interviews with successful webnovel authors, gaining insights from their perspectives.
If they've written SFF novels in English, or have been translated into English, then I might do in the future. But I always pick people I want to chat to for my channel so don't take publisher requests as I've been approached several times.
When you are trying to get a literary agent and then get traditionally published, you send an agent a sample of the book. This is called a query package. It's a letter with a few chapters from the start. If they like what they read, they ask for the whole book.
@@StephenAryan44 Oh, I see. Interesting. I'm starting to get into writing, so maybe I'll have to do this one day lol. I'll keep this video in mind. Thank you for responding, as well!
The Coward was my first introduction to your books and the cover was what had me!!!! Still one of the most beautiful books I own and I only have the standard edition!! TBB special editions are… well, I envy everyone who owns any and all of them! I hope Blood Dimmed Tide gets a matching edition!
I fell into the Broken Binding collecting hole last spring and am now a subscriber, too. And The Judas Blossom is among the books I added to my collection. Really beautiful edition. I am hoping to add the next one to the collection, too, one day. Broken Binding is just getting better all the time. I can only imagine how good it must feel to have your own book in such an edition out there in the world.
I am about to finish The Judas Blossom and I devoured it. So good. Can't wait for the next one - hopefully soon in a Broken BInding edition to fit the one I have of the first book 🙂
Stephen, teasing me with the special edition is rude! 😂 loved this interview! I love how different Lauren’s “origin” story is compared to a lot of others, and also her publishing path as well! Can’t wait for the new novellas!!!!
It was nice, as a lot of people of a certain age do have Tolkien as a foundation. But some I talk to came into fantasy later, or their starting point is so very different it creates a different POV like Christopher Ruocchio whose foundation stories are not the same as that of most people.
@@StephenAryan44 yep!! One of my favourite things about your interviews is highlighting how different people’s paths into both sff and creative spaces are.
I really enjoy these interviews. They’re so insightful, and I think you’re really quick to build an on-camera rapport with your guests! The only thing I would suggest is maybe to introduce the interviewee slightly more - even if it’s just a this is X, author of X, Y, and Z, or a little background about how you guys know each other. Love that you’re spotlighting indie authors as well!
I prefer that people find out who they are as we go, and who they are as people, which is why I've adopted the origin story approach. I always include links to each interviewee so people can look them up if they want more info on their books.