My first fantasy novel, Dragon Reign – Book 1 of the One Prophecy, began its life in the form of a novella called Dragon Tails – Or Warriors Roasting on an Open Fire. Its sole purpose was to record the adventures my friends and I were having in our weekly role-playing games. All I wanted was to preserve for posterity the storyline that we were living out because it seemed unique, funny, exciting and entertaining! As I got further into recording this story, I found that my biggest challenges came from character development and plotting. While plotting was mostly in the hands of our game leader, the players were in control of their characters. So, when writing these characters, it …

I probably say this every time I talk about Scott, but he is a driving force in the effort to bring Queer Sci-Fi and Fantasy to the world. To date most of his efforts have been to create a platform and give authors a voice. He’s written some very good short stories, but we’ve been waiting for his coming out party. And the wait is over. Skythane is Scott’s first full length novel and it is the first in the series. So with that, I’ll turn it over to Scott: Feet in Two Camps When I was growing up, I was a voracious reader, tearing my way through my mon’s bookshelf of sci fi and fantasy. My formative years were, …

Running The Bases’ guest this week Joe Jackson. How cool is that? (For those who don’t know, Shoeless Joe Jackson was one of the greatest player ever and I love that his twitter handle is @shoelessauthor. This must be what nerd heaven is like.) What make’s this even more timely, pitchers and catchers report for spring training this week. Baseball is about to be reborn for 2017! Joe’s epic fantasy series, Eve of Redemption, saw a fourth installment released last month with Legacy of the Devil Queen.  So round the bases with Joe and then leave a comment when your done. One lucky commenter will win an eBook of their choice from Joe’s backlist. Your series has big expansive world building. What is one …

A couple of weeks ago, Steven A. McKay did an interview of me for his readers, and I found out that I inadvertently used Steven’s home town in my books. (You can read that interview HERE: ) Being a good natured sort, he let that slide because I’m sure his home is far nicer than what I wrote in my books. Today I get to ask him the same questions. And, Steven is offering anyone who asks for it, an exclusive, fans only short story. Read through to the end for details. Welcome Steven!. Since this is your first time to the blog, tell the audience a bit about yourself.  I’m from the outskirts of Glasgow, Scotland and I write mostly …

Welcome to Running The Bases!  The first guest to sprint around the base paths is Drew Avera.  Drew is an unabashed space pirate at heart and in keeping with true pirate grit, he agreed to be the first guest on this feature.  So round the bases with Drew and then leave a comment when your done. Three lucky commenters will win an eCopy of Broken Worlds, the first book in the Alorian Wars Series. Why space pirates? Wouldn’t the better question be why not? Seriously, space pirates are cool. Just look at Han Solo. Yeah, he’s a good guy, but he isn’t a law abiding citizen necessarily. Though, I have to say the space pirates in The Alorian Wars aren’t really …

Starting tomorrow, January 23 2017, I’ll be starting a new feature on the blog called, Running The Bases (RTB).  This will combine my love of baseball with my writing to bring you short, four question interviews—one for each base—with primarily speculative fiction authors.  My hope is these will be a home run as I try to bring on authors who are new to the Land of Make Believe to give readers new idea for books/series to check out.  There will also be chances to win free eBooks from my guests. If there are any authors you’d like me to try to get on the feature, let me know in a comment. If you’re an author who wants to be featured, contact …

Today, the lovely A. E. Via is taking over the Land of Make Believe to tell everyone about her latest release, The Secrets in My Scowl. I’m not giving nothing away when I say I do love a story where the lawyer gets his HEA. Call it looking out for my own. Check out the blurb, read the except and then go get the book. (Did I mention she’s giving away a Fire Tablet!! Read through to find out how to enter.) Blurb: Sparks ignite and tempers flare when a sexy, optimistic wedding planner moves his business in across the hall from a jilted, divorce lawyer’s practice. “Look smart ass. This is the last time I’m going to remind you about …

A couple months ago I hosted Angel Martinez for Lime Green Gelatin and Other Monsters, Book 1 in the Offbeat Crimes, series and ask her why Philadelphia (I’m originally from Philly and was pleased to see a series set there.) When asked to host The Pill Bugs of Time, I suggested she give the readers a walking tour of places from the books. To my great surprise, she agreed.  What follows is awesomeness that needs to be seen. So strap yourselves in and let Angel and her friend take you on a magic Philly walking tour! A Pill Bug Walking Tour of Philadelphia Last fall at about this time, my friend Diane came down from Calgary for a convention. Since …

This is a first for the blog – a judge from a writing contest. Aides Ladnier is here today to talk about how to write contest-winning flash fiction. And she would know a thing or two about this as her story came in 3rd out of 117 stories in Queer Sci-fi’s 2015 flash fiction contest.  So please welcome Aidee and then go find out more about the book. The proceeds go to support the Queer Sci-fi site and help give a voice to LGBTQA authors. How to Write Contest Winning Flash Fiction; by Aidee Ladnier To my great delight, one of the prizes for placing third in the QSF 2nd Annual Flash Fiction Contest was a chance to judge the entries …

Please welcome back Anna Butler.  Anna came to visit last year about this time to talk about Heart Scarab, Book 2 of her Sci-fi series Taking Shield. You can find that interview here: Anna Butler Interview: This time, Anna and I are going to getting into more specifics about not only the book, but the universe she created.  When you’re done reading the interview, make sure you enter her giveaway. An Interview With Anna Butler Hi Anna. Welcome back. What have you been up to since you last visited? I’ve been working hard on the fourth Taking Shield book, The Chains of Their Sins, which went to my publisher and editor only this week in final draft. It picks up the …