Morally gray characters are fascinating. They’re unpredictable and leave the reader sitting on the edge of their seat, wondering what will happen next. In romance and fantasy, morally gray characters create tension by being both tender and destructive. Writing a morally gray character isn’t about making someone both “hot and bad” or “good and tragic.” […]

A villain without wounds, desires, contradictions, and emotional logic is forgettable. To really get your readers’ hearts racing with anticipation for the final battle, you need to craft a villain worth fighting against. Here are some tips about how to write villains with depth and power that your readers will never forget.

Some sci-fi stories entertain you. Some unsettle you. Then there are the kind that linger with you, feeling more like a warning than imaginative stories.  The first time I read a novel by Octavia Butler, I finished thinking, How did she see this coming? There is a saying in the sci-fi world that Octavia knew […]

Every aspiring and published author understands the importance of editing for every manuscript. Still, for writers of science fiction and fantasy, there is an essential pre-editing step that can save hundreds of hours: creating a style sheet. Genre fiction relies heavily on invented rules, worlds, and languages, which can make consistency difficult to maintain. Without […]

Love, magic, fantasy worlds, morally gray love interests… What more could you ask for? Since 2022, the sub-genre of romantasy has exploded in popularity. The word “romantasy” is a combination of “romance” and “fantasy,” perfectly describing a fantasy story with romance as its primary plot. But what is romantasy really all about? Let’s take a […]

This post will help you with valuable tips and resources so finding an editor for your book can be less overwhelming.

A Guide to Believable World-Building in Fantasy Writing and Sci-Fi Writing Great world-building is one of the most complex and rewarding aspects of sci-fi and fantasy writing. Working as a fiction book editor, I’ve witnessed the incredible power of a well-crafted sci-fi and fantasy world. They are the backbone of storytelling in fantasy and sci-fi, […]