Amy L. Herring (Louise Herring-Jones) writes speculative fiction, with a preference for historical fantasy and alternate mystery. Her stories, appearing in fourteen anthologies, include “The Poulterer’s Tale” in God Bless Us, Every One—Christmas Carols beyond Dickens (Voodoo Rumors Media, 2019). Amy is a NaNoWriMo co-municipal liaison. She also coordinates the Huntsville (Alabama) Literary Association’s writers’ group. Visit her online at http://www.louiseherring-jones.com.
Writing at any time can be daunting, sometimes rewarding, sometimes eminently frustrating. But what about writing in a pandemic with all the accompanying social, economic, political, and weather distractions in addition to health concerns? The Daily Dragon asked authors participating in the first virtual Dragon Con how they faced and survived these particular challenges and kept on writing—or not. Daily… Read more →
SF Lit hosted a batch of writers notable for writing comedy, early enough on Monday morning that I hadn’t finished my coffee. Kathleen O’Shea David, John G. Hartness, Erin Michelle Sky, and Dave Schroeder debated how and when to get readers laughing. Toni Weisskopf moderated. David and Hartness exchanged comments on live performances, their physicality, and the need to inject… Read more →
Cover artists Don Maitz and Don Dos Santos joined publisher Toni Weisskopf of(Baen Book) Sunday evening to discuss the making of cover art and final covers for SF Lit. Both Dons knew early on that they wanted to do covers. After finishing art school, to break into the field, they hit the pavement and showed their portfolios to publishing house… Read more →
Jim Butcher, Dave Weber, Sherrilyn Kenyon, and Eric Flint shared tactics for keeping their long-running series fresh to a full house on Saturday afternoon in the Hyatt Regency VI–VII. Steve Saffel moderated. The camaraderie was apparent in the commentary on the series represented: Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files (“affected every other writer in modern fantasy”) and Eric Flint’s 1632/Ring of Fire… Read more →
“Never give up,” author L.L. McKinney told writers hoping to publish during a Writers’ Track panel on Saturday. Her animated, provocative discussion prompted me to approach her for more sage advice. Daily Dragon (DD): Tell us about your work as an author. How would you describe your stories and novels? L.L. McKinney (LLM): I would say it’s fantasy with an… Read more →
New York Times bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon charmed writers and alumni at Jody Lynn Nye’s Writers’ Workshop with tales of her writing, publishing, and marketing trials, travails, and ultimate victories. Kenyon was first published in a magazine in 1978 although she wrote her first story for her mother when the author was only in third grade. Becoming an NYT best-selling… Read more →
Coming into the Hyatt today, I had the distinct pleasure of listening to a spontaneous quartet of three bagpipers and a drummer. Although they had never played together before the convention, they granted my request for the “Skye Boat Song” (also the musical theme for the series Outlander, based on Diana Gabaldon’s time-travel/historical romance books). For an American Scot like… Read more →
Baen Books publisher Toni Weisskopf enlightened writers about the mysteries of publishing at Jody Lynn Nye’s Dragon Con Writers’ Workshop. According to Nye, these include incantations, spells, secret handshakes, tattoos, and, Weisskopf added, a prized chili recipe. Weisskopf, now the publisher at Baen Books, began work at Baen in 1987. Before her start in publishing, she moved from the Northeast… Read more →
