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). Amy coordinates the HSV Writers’ group in Huntsville, AL. Visit her online at http://www.louiseherring-jones.com.
Editors Claire Eddy, Steve Staffel, and Stephen Mazur joined editor/author Jaym Gates and agent/author Lucienne Diver at a Sunday panel that addressed how to care for writers during the editorial and sales phases of publishing. Regarding the relationship between editors and authors, Diver said that the ideal is one of respect and open communication. Ideal relationship notwithstanding, she stressed that… Read more →
Anya Martin moderated a stellar panel on writer’s block for the Writer’s Track with fellow panelists Mercedes Lackey, Kim Harrison, Gail Z. Martin, John G. Hartness, Jennifer St. Giles, Kathryn Hinds, and Anne Bartolucci, PhD, CBSM. Wondering about the significance of the size of the audience, Anya Martin began the panel with a one-size-fits-all solution for writer’s block: coffee! But… Read more →
Gail Z. Martin, John G. Hartness, Misty Massey, and Darin Kennedy brought the “hold on to the light” initiative to Dragon Con in a Science Fiction Literature Track panel Saturday afternoon. Martin clarified that the presentation was not a workshop or a prescriptive, but a look at how mental health issues are portrayed in literature and the media. The panelists… Read more →
Mike Resnick spoke to writers at Jody Lynn Nye’s Writer’s Intensive Workshop on Friday. Resnick’s topics were announced by Nye: “Long careers and short stories.” The legendary Resnick is the all-time leading award winner for short science fiction and has won a Nebula, five Hugos (nominated 37 times), and other major awards in six countries. He reminded his rapt listeners… Read more →
John Robinson, moderator, led the cohort of fighting experts who advanced on the topic from several different perspectives in Friday night’s not-your-usual Writer’s Track “Fightin’ and Writin’” panel. Scouts out front included panelists Chris A. Jackson (fantasy and role-playing games), Allen Johnson (screenwriting and historic values), Nick Eftimiades (martial arts, defense, diplomacy, and counter-terrorism, all spliced into Hollywood consulting), and… Read more →
Anne Sowards spoke about acquisition and editing novels to a group of participants and alumni at Jody Lynn Nye’s Writers Intensive workshop on Friday afternoon. An executive editor at Penguin Random House, Sowards acquires and edits fantasy and science fiction for their Ace and Roc imprints. Sowards said that her office does not accept unrepresented submissions and, therefore, no longer employs slush-pile readers. She said she reads a few chapters before making a decision, and… Read more →
On Saturday afternoon, a panel of judges for L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future contest (WotF) encouraged Dragon Con fans to enter the renowned contest. Moderated by Canadian science fiction author Robert J. Sawyer, the panel included five additional award-winning and best-selling authors also serving as WotF contest judges: Mike Resnick, Todd McCaffrey, Jerry Pournelle, Larry Niven, and Jody Lynn Nye. Sawyer said that author and contest-coordinating judge David Farland reviews the anonymous contest entries and winnows down the entries to eight finalists per contest quarter. Judges read these high-quality… Read more →
Drawing on forty years of experience in the book business, Bill Fawcett answered his own query in an entertaining talk on Friday afternoon to Jody Lynn Nye’s Writer’s Intensive Workshop participants and alumni. Fawcett said that you should not have an agent until you have an offer in hand but that some authors are able to engage an agent earlier… Read more →
