Have you ever dreamed of zipping to distant stars, jumping through time or setting out on a deadly quest? This book has loads of inspiring ideas for amazing stories and plenty of space to write them down. With lots of helpful tips for building new worlds, and links to websites for more writing tips, activities and inspiration.

Do you envision celestial cities in distant, fantastic worlds? Do you dream of mythical beasts and gallant quests in exotic kingdoms? If you have ever wanted to write the next great fantasy or science fiction story, this all-in-one comprehensive book will show you how. Writing Fantasy & Science Fiction is full of advice from master authors offering definitive instructions on world building, character creation, and storytelling in the many styles and possibilities available to writers of speculative fiction. Combining two Writer's Digest classics, Orson Scott Card's How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy and The Writer's Complete Fantasy Reference, along with two new selections from award-winning science fiction and fantasy authors Philip Athans and Jay Lake, this new book provides the best of all worlds. You'll discover: • How to build, populate, and dramatize fantastic new worlds. • How to develop dynamic and meaningful themes that will expand the cannon of sci-fi and fantasy storytelling. • Exciting subgenres such as steampunk, as well as new developments in the sci-fi and fantasy genres. • How to imbue your tales with historically accurate information about world cultures, legends, folklore, and religions. • Detailed descriptions of magic rituals, fantastic weapons of war, clothing and armor, and otherworldly beasts such as orcs, giants, elves, and more. • How societies, villages, and castles were constructed and operate on a day-to-day basis. • Astounding methods of interstellar travel, the rules of starflight, and the realities and myths of scientific exploration. • How to generate new ideas and graft them to the most popular themes and plot devices in sci-fi and fantasy writing. The boundaries of your imagination are infinite, but to create credible and thrilling fiction, you must ground your stories in rules, facts, and accurate ideas. Writing Fantasy & Science Fiction will guide you through the complex and compelling universe of fantasy and science fiction writing and help you unleash your stories on the next generation of readers and fans.

Learn to write science fiction and fantasy from a master You've always dreamed of writing science fiction and fantasy tales that pull readers into extraordinary new worlds and fantastic conflicts. Best-selling author Orson Scott Card shows you how it's done, distilling years of writing experience and publishing success into concise, no-nonsense advice. You'll learn how to: • utilize story elements that define the science fiction and fantasy genres • build, populate, and dramatize a credible, inviting world your readers will want to explore • develop the "rules" of time, space and magic that affect your world and its inhabitants • construct a compelling story by developing ideas, characters, and events that keep readers turning pages • find the markets for speculative fiction, reach them, and get published • submit queries, write cover letters, find an agent, and live the life of a writer The boundaries of your imagination are infinite. Explore them with Orson Scott Card and create fiction that casts a spell over agents, publishers, and readers from every world.

Science fiction and fantasy is one of the most challenging—and rewarding—genres to write. But with New York Times bestselling author Philip Athans and fantasy giant R. A. Salvatore at your side, you’ll create worlds that draw your readers in—and keep them reading! Drawing on his years of experience as one of the most acclaimed professionals in publishing, Wizards of the Coast editor Athans explains how to set your novel apart and break into this lucrative field. From devising clever plots and building complex characters to inventing original technologies and crafting alien civilizations, Athans gives you the techniques you need to write strong, saleable narratives. Athans applies all of these critical lessons together in an unprecedented deconstruction of a never-before-published tale by the one and only R. A. Salvatore! There are books on writing science fiction and fantasy, and then there’s this book—the only one you need to create strange, wonderful worlds for your own universe of readers.

Vivid and memorable characters aren't born: they have to be made. &break;&break;This book is a set of tools: literary crowbars, chisels, mallets, pliers and tongs. Use them to pry, chip, yank and sift good characters out of the place where they live in your memory, your imagination and your soul. &break;&break;Award-winning author Orson Scott Card explains in depth the techniques of inventing, developing and presenting characters, plus handling viewpoint in novels and short stories. With specific examples, he spells out your narrative options–the choices you'll make in creating fictional people so "real" that readers will feel they know them like members of their own families. &break;&break;You'll learn how to: &break; draw the characters from a variety of sources, including a story's basic idea, real life–even a character's social circumstances&break; make characters show who they are by the things they do and say, and by their individual "style"&break; develop characters readers will love–or love to hate&break; distinguish among major characters, minor characters and walk-ons, and develop each one appropriately&break; choose the most effective viewpoint to reveal the characters and move the storytelling&break; decide how deeply you should explore your characters' thoughts, emotions and attitudes

Love arrives at the most unexpected time . . . 1821: Elias Roch has ghastly luck with women. He met Josephine De Clare once and penned dozens of letters hoping to find her again. 2021: Josie De Clare has questionable taste in boyfriends. The last one nearly ruined her friendship with her best friend. Now, in the wake of her father's death, Josie finds Elias's letters. Suddenly she's falling in love with a guy who lived two hundred years ago. And star-crossed doesn't even begin to cover it . . . “Dearest Josephine is the type of story that becomes your own. The characters’ heartaches worked their way into my own chest until I hurt with them, hoped with them, and dared to dream with them. This book is teeming with swoon-worthy prose, adorable humor, and an expert delivery of ‘Will they end up together?’ I guarantee you’ll be burning the midnight candle to a stub to get answers. Step aside Pride and Prejudice, there’s a new romance on the English moors.” —Nadine Brandes, author of Romanov “Caroline George infuses an epistolary love story with a romance and charm that crosses centuries. Touching and inventive, it bursts with wit, warmth, and a blending of classic and contemporary that goes together like scones and clotted cream. Dearest Josephine is a delight.” —Emily Bain Murphy, author of The Disappearances “Dearest Josephine is more than an immersive read. It is a book lover’s dream experience. Josie’s residence in a gothic English manor and her deeply romantic connection to Elias, who lived years in the past, is as chillingly atmospheric as Rochester calling across the moors. This story is George’s treatise on the power of books and character to creep across centuries, to pull us close and invite us to live in a fantasy where we find love—literally—in the kinship of ink and binding. But it also acknowledges the dangers of letting ourselves fall too deeply when sometimes an equally powerful connection is waiting next door. This love letter to books, and the readers who exist in and for them, is a wondrously singular escape.” —Rachel McMillan, author of The London Restoration and The Mozart Code Romantic and evocative read in both contemporary and historical time periods Stand-alone novel Book length: 86,000 words Includes discussion questions for book clubs

Take your shot at becoming the next Tolkien, Asimov, or King with this simple roadmap to transforming your fiction into works of art Writing Sci-Fi, Fantasy, & Horror For Dummies is your skeleton key to creating the kind of fiction that grips readers and compels them to keep turning pages (even if it's well past their bedtime!) You'll start with the basics of creative writing—including character, plot, and scene—and strategies for creating engaging stories in different forms, such as novels, short stories, scripts, and video games. After that, get beginner-friendly and straightforward advice on worldbuilding, before diving headfirst into genre-specific guidance for science fiction, horror, and fantasy writing. This book also offers: Strategies for editing and revising your next work to get it into tip-top shape for your audience Ways to seek out second opinions from editors, experts, and even sensitivity readers Techniques for marketing and publication, working with agents, and advice for writers going the self-publishing route The perfect beginner's guide for aspiring writers with an interest in horror, fantasy, or science fiction, Writing Sci-Fi, Fantasy, & Horror For Dummies is the first and last resource you need before you start building your next story about faraway lands, aliens, and fantastic adventures.

Caroline George once again transports readers with lush, evocative prose, leading them to ask the question: what happens when we can’t even trust ourselves? Some memories are better left forgotten. Darby and Morgan haven’t spoken for two years, and their friend group has splintered. But when the body of their former science teacher is found in the marsh where they attended camp that summer, they realize they have more questions than answers . . . and even fewer memories. No one remembers—or no one is talking. The group of reunited friends suspects that a murderer is stalking the coastal highway 30A, and they are desperate to recover their memories as quickly as possible . . . before their history they can’t remember repeats itself. Everyone has a secret. As tensions rise and time runs out, Darby and Morgan begin to wonder if they can believe one another . . . or if they can even trust themselves. Young Adult suspense with romance Stand-alone novel Book length: 95,000 words Includes discussion questions for book clubs

In January 2088, life in outer space is rocked with news of its first homicide. The dead man—a young Dominican Priest—had secretly made his way “upside” and lived as a common laborer. His intentions are a mystery and the killer’s identity and motive are questions that the best investigators of the new world cannot answer. With public order threatened, the reputation of the ruling engineers at stake, and criminal elements seizing the opportunity to gain control, authorities seek help from Earth—itself recovering from decades of war and environmental crises. With assistance from the Vatican, they recruit Father John Francis McClellan, a parish priest from Boston and a retired US Marine Corps expert in “high-defs”—the artificially intelligent three-dimensional printers that built the new world. A Printer’s Choice tells a story of faith, the future, and the power of free will. It explores questions about sentience, choice, and the necessity of choosing well. Set in locations on Earth and in the orbits, the story takes place in a future extrapolated from today’s geopolitical and ecological turmoil.In this epic debut novel, author W. L. Patenaude illuminates not just the struggles of our world, but also the promises and implications of building a better one, one choice at a time. Praise for A Printer’s Choice Patenaude’s masterful debut novel tells a gripping story of the near future. This is a superb morality tale in which the power of free will and the implications of making good choices are carefully woven together. Patenaude’s take on the possibilities of technology is inventive and in line with contemporary science, and his work truly shines as a nuanced, character-driven drama. This work is a must-read for those who enjoy thought-provoking, challenging speculative fiction. —Publishers Weekly Starred Review The novel grabs our attention from the first page, and delivers a suspenseful whodunit set in the chilled darkness of outer space. There are rumors that the novel could be the first in a series, and we certainly hope those rumors are true. —Dr. Kelly Scott Franklin, Writer, Assistant Professor of English at Hillsdale College Complex, action-packed and thought-provoking all at once, A Printer’s Choice is a uniquely crafted piece that doesn't handily limit itself to a single genre, but spreads its message and vision across a broad spectrum to attract a diverse audience of readers who like their sci-fi intricate, original and compelling. —D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review Just as Aragorn embodied the role of a king in The Lord of the Rings, Father McClellan's portrayal in A Printer’s Choice captures what Christians and priests should be. His actions speak of a love for others grounded in a God who is love itself. By setting his story in the future and space, Patenaude enables readers to see the universality of this truth—that the choice to love is at the heart of the universe—more clearly. —Dr. Jason King, Professor of Theology, St. Vincent College Father McClellan is artfully drawn and compelling in his hard-won spiritual wisdom works. He uses his Marine toughness, programming skills, and gritty faith to sort out potential motivations and methods to solve the murder of an undercover priest, Father Tanglao. An engineer himself, Patenaude describes all the technological details, societal tensions, and moral ambiguities of New Athens with confidence and finesse. The most compelling passages, though, are the human ones, where McClellan and other characters grapple with their troubled pasts and future options, and the free will choices before them. —Marybeth Lorbiecki, Author A Fierce Green Fire Mr. Patenaude is a highly skilled and masterful storyteller. He crafts a story that is unique and absorbing. The ability to weave elements of science fiction, faith, and purpose into one book is truly inspiring. —Trudy Thompson, AML W.L. Patenaude pens an out-of-this-world, whodunit mystery in A Printer’s Choice. —Cheryl E. Rodriguez for Readers' Favorite

A write-in book which will allow children to pen their very own adventure story. With lots of hints and tips on how to create characters, plan plots, write dialogue and stage all-important action scenes, this book will start budding writers off with simple exercises, and build them up until they are racing through their own short stories.