Links

A good writing site with a ton of information, including a great Background Check forum for agents and publishers. Well worth a visit.

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.

A fellow Writers Symposium and Codex member, Brad's first novel is due out from Night Shade Books next year...and if it's as good as it sounds, he's in for some serious success (to go along with the success he's already achieved on the short story front). Since he's an interesting and good guy, this is, of course, a Good Thing. Check out his work.

A well-respected review site for fantasy literature, especially of the epic variety. Andy Gray is a thoughtful and dedicated reviewer, and his attention to detail is obvious. If you're looking for some good epic fantasy, The Beezer Review is an excellent place to start your search.

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.

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'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's site... updated approximately once every 1.52 years.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Joshua is an extraordinarily talented artist and designer whom I was lucky enough to meet at Gen Con a couple of years back...I admit to a certain amount of bias, since he did the cover art for THE THIRD SIGN, but hey, that art ought to show you some of what he can do. He's done a lot of good work on a number of projects, of course, and you can see more of that work on his site...well worth a visit.

Another well-regarded review site for fantasy literature; Shari Mulluane knows her stuff and is well-connected in the blogger community. It's well worth checking out.

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.

I've recently been accepted for inclusion in the directory of Poets and Writers, the premier directory for poets and writers (heh) in the U.S. Beyond the directory, P&W is a well-respected source for lots of information on the business, craft and art of writing, and is well worth checking out for those things alone.

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... :)

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.

This is a major site for all things science fiction and fantasy (I know, you're shocked...the name of the place is so subtle), and it's very connected on the Internet...in other words, there are references to it EVERYWHERE. (Which is why I'm glad it gave THE THIRD SIGN a positive review... ;) ) It's got reviews, features, forums and more, and at the low low price of free it's definitely worth a visit.

This is the show I host with friend and fellow speculative fiction author Brad Beaulieu (look earlier in this list for a link to his site) on all things speculative fiction, particularly focusing on discussions of (and interviews with) authors, editors and artists in the field. We've already interviewed N.K. Jemisin, Pat Rothfuss and Kij Johnson among others, and there are many more to come. If you're even a little interested in speculative fiction, make sure to check the show out (and, if you're so inclined, spread the word).

It takes something to be a clinical laboratory scientist and a speculative fiction writer without breaking a sweat, but Kelly seems to have no problem with the combination--it helps that she's an exceedingly nice person (except when she plays Word on the Street, at which point her trash talking shoots up exponentially) too. She's also a fellow Writers Symposium and Codex member.

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.

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 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.

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'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.