Links
Absolute Write
A good writing site with a ton of information, including a great Background Check forum for agents and publishers. Well worth a visit.
Backspace
In my opinion this is the best writing site out there, at least in terms of its forums--there are a lot of published authors here, and a number of them contribute to the always ongoing discussions. There is a fee to join, but it's not expensive, and well worth the cost.
David Anthony Durham
David made his bones with his historical fiction, but he's recently begun a new fantasy series which seems very promising...and not run-of-the mill either. Another guy I met at the Fantasy Matters conference; interesting and smart.
Neil Gaiman
If you don't know who Neil Gaiman is by now, you haven't been paying close enough attention--not only is he a fantasy author with every award in the book, he's now a big player in the movie industry as well (script co-writer of last year's BEOWULF, for starters). I had the chance to meet him at the Fantasy Matters conference (which had a lot of big name people), and like the other people I met there he was both gracious and entertaining (people could seriously take some lessons from the British on how to read their work). Check him out.
Paul Genesse
Paul's the author of THE GOLDEN CORD, which has rapidly become a huge seller for Five Star (my publisher for THE THIRD SIGN); I had heard of him before, but only met him in person for the first time at GenCon. He was kind enough to sit down and talk with me about lots of promotional and publisher issues, and to give me some pointers on things to consider as my debut release nears--Paul really redefines the term "go-getter," and although he was impressed with my release plans (especially the video game conversion), I'm not sure anyone could match his energy level on the promotion side! But he's a good guy with a good book, and his work is worth checking out. (And take a look at that cover!)
Kevin Grinberg
Kevin's site... updated approximately once every 1.52 years.
Jim C. Hines
Jim is the author of the wildly popular GOBLIN QUEST series, and in addition to being a gifted author with a steady career rise is an exceptionally nice guy. He also writes one of the most effective author blogs around--so effective, in fact, that lots of people want to link to it, including me. Lots of good stuff here.
Alex Hugon
The home for the book-to-Neverwinter Nights 2 module conversion of THE THIRD SIGN, being ably undertaken by Alex Hugon. Alex is a good writer, great developer, and all around good guy, and I fully acknowledge my good luck in landing him for this project. Of course Alex does a bunch of other NWN2 stuff as well, which you should check out while you're over there.
James Patrick Kelly
Jim is a Hugo and Nebula award winning science fiction author who has been expanding our minds and reading habits for over three decades now; it helps that he is also extraordinarily generous with both his work and time. I was lucky enough to meet him at Readercon, and he's appeared on an episode of our show Upon Further Review--if you haven't read anything by him yet, go to his website ASAP and download a few of his podcasts, where he reads much of his work for free.
Jackie Kessler
I'll fully admit that supernatural demon romance isn't really my bag, but that's obviously only my problem. :) In all seriousness, Jackie's one of the best ones out there writing in this field, and there are few people who know how to run a promotion or contest better than her. She's also extremely friendly and helpful, and a good read--check her stuff out.
Patrick Rothfuss
Pat's been on a roll ever since the release of his heralded debut novel THE NAME OF THE WIND last year (and I do mean heralded. When Orson Scott Card, Terry Brooks and Ursula LeGuin all say you're the next big thing, you probably are.). But I had a chance to meet him last year at the Fantasy Matters conference in Minnesota, and as it turns out he's also a down to earth guy with a great sense of humor (ask him about slow vs. fast zombies sometime). Besides, the banner on his website is freaking tremendous.
Liz Rubincam
Liz is the photographer responsible for the majority of the shots of me on this site, and if the quality of those pictures doesn't convince you (it's up to you to decide the quality of the subject of said pictures, of course...), the photos on her own website will. Liz is a gifted documentary photographer, and, perhaps even more important, a truly nice person. Well worth a visit.
The Road
So there's a whole other website dedicated to my band, but, well...music is important to me, and so I couldn't resist throwing in a link here. We're an original progressive rock band, together in one form or another for almost ten years and nearly finished with our second album. Our music goes perfectly with reading material, say of the fantasy variety...if you can think of where you could get some of that... :)
J.R.R. Tolkien
I don't care what anyone says about epic fantasy and cliches, you don't get better than this guy. He pretty much single-handedly pulled fantasy fiction into the realm of serious literature, and on a personal level inspired both my reading and writing. One of the best.
Upon Further Review
This is the review show my wife Clea and I do--it's supposed to be weekly, but the addition of a child to the family has slowed down our release schedule considerably in the short term. :) We review everything from books to games to politics to movies...so if you've got something you'd like us to check out, head over there and drop us a line!
David Niall Wilson
David is a Bram Stoker award winning author of horror and fantasy, and if for some odd reason that doesn't impress you, the fact that he writes horror poetry should. (Seriously--horror poetry. I'd like to see Lovecraft try that!) He also happens to be a truly nice and generous guy who keeps an interesting blog over at his website--go check his stuff out.
Gregory A. Wilson's Red Room Page
I really am trying not to spread myself far and wide over the Internet...the site you're on right now is the main source for all information about me (or at least what I'm willing to reveal in public... :) ). But the folks at Red Room have put together a pretty nifty site for authors, and when you get a chance to be on the same site as Toni Morrison and Barack Obama, it's hard to say no. Worth a look whether you're a reader looking for authors, an author looking to reach more readers, or both.
Bryan Thao Worra
Bryan's a very interesting guy--smart and talented, especially in poetry. He gave me a copy of his new book ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE EYE at--guess where--the Fantasy Matters conference, and when I started to read it I was very pleasantly surprised--there's a lot of garbage that passes for poetry these days, but this is definitely the real deal. Bryan writes movingly about the experience of being a Laotian American, but he's good, and often startling, on any number of subjects. Good stuff.
