Writing advice and traditional publishing advice, fantasy worldbuilding tips and author interviews.
I am a traditionally published fantasy author with two epic fantasy trilogies from Orbit Books, a duology from Angry Robot books and a new historic fantasy series set in 13th Persia. My debut novel, Battlemage, was published in 2015.
My new trilogy, the Nightingale and the Falcon started on 13 July 2023 with The Judas Blossom.
If you want advice about writing, or getting traditionally published then you've come to the right place. Over the years I learned a lot of lessons which I'm sharing with others. I want to help you avoid the same mistakes that I see others repeat over and over again.
Email for business enquiries only.
This isn't a booktube or book review channel. I do not take interview requests.
I am represented by Juliet Mushens of Mushens Entertainment.
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Your formative reading mirrors a lot of my own - Brooks, Eddings, etc - but it was Donaldson’s “Lord Foul’s Bane” that was a bit too advanced for me at the time and I had to return it to my mother’s bookshelf. That is a very long lasting memory, when I struggle to recall my early reading journey.
Nice ^.^ library finally has The Judas Blossom so i've borrowed and started it! :D and that makes sense needing enough confidence to keep working but not so much you become a nuisance XD.
Hope you enjoy it!
@@StephenAryan44 so far so good! loving how the information and details are being revealed
📝😌👍T Y V M
Thanks
Welcome
One of the single greatest books ever written. Definitely the War and Peace of fantasy!
It really is
Do you conduct interviews with authors from Asia and other regions? It would be really interesting to watch interviews with successful webnovel authors, gaining insights from their perspectives.
If they've written SFF novels in English, or have been translated into English, then I might do in the future. But I always pick people I want to chat to for my channel so don't take publisher requests as I've been approached several times.
So beautiful! Wow!
Thank you! 😊
I just randomly came across this video. Could someone fill me in on what a query package is?
When you are trying to get a literary agent and then get traditionally published, you send an agent a sample of the book. This is called a query package. It's a letter with a few chapters from the start. If they like what they read, they ask for the whole book.
@@StephenAryan44 Oh, I see. Interesting. I'm starting to get into writing, so maybe I'll have to do this one day lol. I'll keep this video in mind. Thank you for responding, as well!
Some people seem to rush their query package which just seems crazy to me!
I guess they just get excited and don't realise you only get one chance.
1. Run on sentences 2. Repetition 3. Duplicate words 4. Clunky dialogue 5. Incorrect tense use
That's right.
'not just being tense' 😊
Ha, yes! Just in case it wasn't clear 😄
Sent my pages off for a mentorship thing and I put a typo in the title ! 😱
Ha! 😆
Will we have the blood dimmed tide from TBB as well? The Judas blossom got me into the series and it’ll be great to have a matching set!
It's a maybe.
They're gorgeous! 🤩
The artist really outdid themselves. They are amazing.
The Coward was my first introduction to your books and the cover was what had me!!!! Still one of the most beautiful books I own and I only have the standard edition!! TBB special editions are… well, I envy everyone who owns any and all of them! I hope Blood Dimmed Tide gets a matching edition!
Fingers crossed!
I fell into the Broken Binding collecting hole last spring and am now a subscriber, too. And The Judas Blossom is among the books I added to my collection. Really beautiful edition. I am hoping to add the next one to the collection, too, one day. Broken Binding is just getting better all the time. I can only imagine how good it must feel to have your own book in such an edition out there in the world.
It was fantastic to have some of my books produced in hardback. They had only been paperback up to that point.
I am about to finish The Judas Blossom and I devoured it. So good. Can't wait for the next one - hopefully soon in a Broken BInding edition to fit the one I have of the first book 🙂
I hope so too!
Still need the photo of baby Sir Stephen 😂 I am so excited for the novella!!! Especially after that description!!! 👀🔥
Never gonna happen! 😂😂😂
@@StephenAryan44 was worth trying my luck 😂
Exciting news!
sounds really cool, i also like the title Whispers in the Earth ^.^
Thanks!
Stephen, teasing me with the special edition is rude! 😂 loved this interview! I love how different Lauren’s “origin” story is compared to a lot of others, and also her publishing path as well! Can’t wait for the new novellas!!!!
It was nice, as a lot of people of a certain age do have Tolkien as a foundation. But some I talk to came into fantasy later, or their starting point is so very different it creates a different POV like Christopher Ruocchio whose foundation stories are not the same as that of most people.
@@StephenAryan44 yep!! One of my favourite things about your interviews is highlighting how different people’s paths into both sff and creative spaces are.
That was a great interview, Stephen. I love these author interview, they really inspire me to keep on writing and following my dream. 😄
Glad you enjoyed it!
I really enjoy these interviews. They’re so insightful, and I think you’re really quick to build an on-camera rapport with your guests! The only thing I would suggest is maybe to introduce the interviewee slightly more - even if it’s just a this is X, author of X, Y, and Z, or a little background about how you guys know each other. Love that you’re spotlighting indie authors as well!
I prefer that people find out who they are as we go, and who they are as people, which is why I've adopted the origin story approach. I always include links to each interviewee so people can look them up if they want more info on their books.
@@StephenAryan44 fair enough! And that does come through, I always feel like I know the authors more by the end! Can’t wait to see who’s next!
Ultima Online and Meridian both came out before EQ. Sorry for the pedantry, great interview.
Great interview. Fortunate journey with lots of hard work
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for the advice, insight, and perspective.
Glad it was helpful!
Enjoying this.. ^.^ On the 2nd person part... I'm surprised Ruocchio didn't mention "The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories" by Gene Wolfe. If you haven't read it yet, read it Chris :p Wonderful story. Plus, an intelligent and effective use of the 2nd person, for my taste.
I never knew zach had such an amazing personality and this is the most insightful interview I have ever seen of an author...
I'll add on to this that I like to schedule writing time that has an extra hour after it if possible. A lot of the time I find the first 20 minutes of writing to be an absolute grind, but if I stick with it I'll start to get going. If I've only got an hour total before I need to pick up the kids, go to work etc then I have to stop just as I'm making progress. You might say, well schedule yourself 2 hours to write then. This makes logical sense, but I find if I just commit to 30 or 45 minutes I'm more likely to actually start. Then once I'm going more often than not I'll carry on past my allotted time. This is all coming from an unpublished writer so of course take it with a large grain of salt.
I really should start putting those scribbles in my phone, so many times inspiration has hit then lost by the time I get home. lol
James Cameron learned the art of film making in a library.
I appreciate the note about how uncomfortable and unnatural it can be for some writers so much! Social media is so hard for me and sometimes when I hear "well you have to be good at social media to get anywhere" it can be so disheartening. I appreciate this and along with the being comfortable part another person suggested just a 30 minute once a week on one site idea, it's still a lot harder than I expected but I feel like in time it'll be more manageable
The artwork you showed at the end is amazing.
The special editions look fantastic
As a librarian myself, I can only wholeheartedly agree with your statement Mr. Aryan! Plus, I have bought «The Judas Blossom» and I am very excited for the sequel! Wish both you and especially Mr. Durfee all the best and a speedy recovery!
I hope Brian gets well very soon. And thank you for getting The Judas Blossom!