Blog
Here’s where you’ll find previews of all my current projects, as well as updates on signings and convention appearances.
I also post links to essays that appear on my monthly newsletter Agent of Weird: Exploring the Write Fantastic
Subscribe for FREE to receive an in-depth feature every month, plus access to the AOW archive - a dragon’s horde of writing tips, industry insights, genre guidance and more!
Is The Dying Earth Still Worth Visiting?
Jack Vance’s 1950 fantasy classic was vastly influential and beloved by a generation, but does it hold up under the hype? What can modern fantasy learn from a book written in a time before Tolkien?
Six Things I’ve Learned About Plot and Story Structure from 20 Years of Freelance Writing
Lessons from a recovering plot-addict
Invaders From Mars (1953): Making Sci-Fi Feel Like a Fairy Tale
From the 'kids on bikes' of Stranger Things to the monster matinees of the Atomic Age
Excalibur (John Boorman, 1981): The Weird Wisdom of Epic Fantasy
Still a masterclass in movie mythmaking, knowing when to print the legend, and why the lessons of fantasy can only be learned by letting go
Saving the Writer’s Soul from Work-for-Hire Hell
What creative ownership really means, writing a sword and sorcery tale I can finally call my own, and how it all went wrong when I wasn’t writing for money
Audio of Weird: A Clutch of Christmas Ghost Stories
Snuggle down, drink up and listen in to a read-aloud of ‘Rats’ by M.R. James and ‘Over Before Christmas’ by Alec Worley
Who Dies First? Conan the Barbarian vs. The Bloody Nine
Fantasy writers, learn how to keep your fight scenes sharp with two classic examples of sword and sorcery
We Need To Stop Being Weird About Theme in Stories
What your story is really saying and why you need to stop saying it
Lessons from Hannibal Lecter: How to Write a Human Monster
Can horror be scary without the supernatural?
The Best Scene in 'An American Werewolf in London' (1981) Isn't the One You Think
How to write a comedy of terrors
28 Days Later (2002) vs. 28 Weeks Later (2007)
The first two in the ‘28’ trilogy predicted the future and made ‘zombies’ scary again. But the movies’ terrors are more subtle than you think
Science Fiction Double Feature: Who Goes There? (1938), The Thing (1982)
John W. Campbell's classic novella of Golden Age science fiction and John Carpenter's modern horror masterpiece - both absorb new meanings in the age of Covid, identity politics and generative AI
