 Red Room Writer Profile
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Alma Alexander's Blog
November 24, 2009
- The first time I went to see "Pan's Labyrinth" I was blown away. This was one of the true dark fairy tales, the ones that ruled my European childhood. That faun was no tame creature who came to perch on Disney's sweet porch. This was the elemental creature in whom I could, I would, I did (without question when I was very young) believe. This was power and awe and fear ripped from the ...
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November 22, 2009
- I understand the aversion to spoilers -- the revelation of some key plot twist -- so long as we are talking about current work, something that's still in the cinemas, some book that's barely hit the shelves.But just where does one draw the line when talking about older works?In a newsgroup I frequent, recent discussions have centered on the Oz books. Someone asked a question along the lines of ...
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November 19, 2009
- Israeli edition"...and Hebrews learn it backwards, which is absolutely frightening..."(Leave it to Henry Higgins...)But seriously folks. My head has just been SERIOUSLY messed with.I've just received copies of the Israeli edition of "Secrets of Jin Shei".It's absolutely "backwards", in that it's to be opened and read from left to right instead of vice versa. And ...
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November 16, 2009
- The Nebula Award nominations are now open and much to my astonishment I have three short stories that people might want to consider if they feel in a nominating mood…The first is "End of the World", the story appearing in Professor Brotherton's online anthology Diamonds in the Sky, consisting of astronomically correct Science Fiction stories written by graduates of his awesome ...
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November 12, 2009
- Lightly enough scheduled this year – but this is where you can find me at Orycon:Fri Nov 27 3-4 pmAlternate History Fantasy? Fantasy is often written in a pseudo-medieval society. Some authors bring freshness to the setting by traveling the world, while others go backward, or forward, in time or just adopt technology or lack thereof on a secondary world. Lace and blade, prehistoric, and other ...
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November 9, 2009
- Somebody is advertising a product absolutely guaranteed to kill writer's block. You'll get chains that will keep your muse bound in your basement to do your bidding. Words, muse. I want words. Deliver. And it can be yours for just a Tiny! Small! Fee! For heaven's sake. Writers' block isn't a disease that needs a cure. It may come and linger temporarily in all of us, like a summer cold, but the ...
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October 30, 2009
- A while ago I wrote a couple of pages of New Novel, and even before I printed them out to get a second opinion from my first editor (who is married to me, but who doesn't let that fact interfere with the sometimes brutal honesty) I knew that they were not good enough. They were dense -- four scenes of story stuffed into six paragraphs, a synopsis of what I needed to write. My instinct was ...
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October 28, 2009
- If you are a writer who does a less-than-complimentary review of another writer's book, you run the risk of one of two things. 1) If the writer whom you are reviewing is more famous than you, your bad review might come off as sour grapes. 2) If the writer is a rung or two lower on the publishing ladder, you run the risk of of being seen as snotty and snobby I started writing book reviews ...
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October 21, 2009
- It used to be, if you got picked up by a halfway-decent publishing house, your book got a publicist whose job it would be to make sure that the world knew about it. No more. Or, not so much if you aren't already a mega-star.A recent Washington Post article explores the world of the new and midlist author in the literary jungle these days. "Authors are expected to behave like ...
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October 13, 2009
- Sabrina Banes, a writer and former journalist in Brooklyn, has a website, YA New York ( www.yanewyork.com ), dedicated to young adult literature. She has an unusual interview technique in which the interviewee also gets to ask questions of the interviewer. Here are a couple of the questions.Alma Alexander's Worldweavers trilogy was completed earlier this year with the release of Cybermage…In ...
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October 12, 2009
- SF Signal asked several authors: What Book Introduced You to Fantasy? And, as usual, I couldn't limit myself to one book. Here is an abridged version of what I told them.Urban fantasy, by the likes of Charles de Lint), has always had its own fascination. Before that the two authors who drew my attention to historical fantasy were Judith Tarr and Guy Gavriel Kay.By historical fantasy, I mean an ...
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July 21, 2009
- … and being shelved in the wrong place….It was a long time ago. A century ago. A millennium ago.Well, all right, it was in 1999.A man I met on a Usenet newsgroup concerned with writing – who became a friend, and subsequently my husband – and I collaborated on what must have one of the first few novels which could be described as "email epistolary". We each took on a character's ...
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September 10, 2008
- It's my favourite season of the year. I glance outside and yes, although it's still early September, the leaves are starting to turn - the shrubbery alongside the road I take to town from my house is already tinted scarlet and gold, and there are hints on the maples that they are thinking about following soon. I'm busy on a new book, about 80% done but still a lot of work left to do - I had ...
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January 29, 2008
- Today, over 300 bloggers, including bestsellers, Emmy winners, movie makers, and publishing houses have come together to talk about THE LIAR'S DIARY by Patry Francis. Why? To give the book the attention it deserves on its release day while Patry takes the time she needs to heal from cancer. Patry Francis. Imagine, after many years, you beat the odds. You work for years as a waitress, deal ...
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January 16, 2008
- Over a decade ago now, the man I was to marry and I met face-to-face for the first time, in the city of Vancouver in Canada. This meeting took place after months of Internet acquaintance; we were not strangers to one another, but we were, at best, friends, and anything else was still a fledgling thing and hidden by the mists of the future. On one evening, as we walked across one of ...
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