Chalk Scribblers / Three Ravens workshop: novel development
Details
It starts with the germ of an idea. It ends in several hundred pages on a bookshelf. Getting from one to the other is the process: weeks, months and then years of nurturing that idea germ into a forest of characters, plots and subplots and then blazing a trail through it through writing, rewriting, editing, rewriting, proofreading, yet more rewriting. It involves a great deal of thought, commitment, love and occasionally, the ruthless application of a chainsaw.
The Chalk Scribblers writers’ group has teamed up with Three Ravens Publishing to form a panel of authors and editors who regularly wrestle with the process. The event will open with two authors describing their own processes followed by discussion among the panel and then we’ll take questions from the audience.
The panel will be:
Author
Benjamin Tyler Smith
A speculative fiction writer whose work blends dark fantasy, science fiction, and Gothic hope. His stories explore mercy, sacrifice, and resilience in the face of despair. He is the creator of the Necrolopolis setting and is currently completing its debut novel, Shield of Souls.
Please call me: Ben
Relevant links:
Author
Manda Benson
An author of mysteries and thrillers. Her newest mystery novel, The Hoard, in which environmental health workers clearing up a hoarder’s house solve forgotten crimes, is available from Scottish independent publisher Sparsile Books. New editions of Manda’s previously published works are available from Tangentrine. Manda has also had published over the years a number of short fiction pieces in magazines and anthologies, including the Flame Tree newsletter, Primordial, and Aoife’s Kiss.
Her approach is summarised in her Writing a Novel handout.
Please call me: Manda
Relevant links:
Editor
William Joseph Roberts
Writes Scifi, Fantasy, Horror, and anything the evil mind squirrels demand of me as well as being a founder and editor at Three Ravens.
Please call me: Hillbilly
Relevant links:
Chair
David Miles
An author of book-length popular science and medical history and also short-form fiction under the penname of DJ Cockburn, which has been published in venues including Apex, Interzone and the 2014 anthology of The Year’s Best Science Fiction. Also a co-host of the Chalk Scribblers writers’ group.
Please call me: David
Relevant links: