Every writer has a moment when the world shifted. For me, it happened when I was 14 years old. Once the Iron Curtain fell, Russia was flooded with bootleg translations. I had plenty of exposure to hard science fiction, but what I got after Perestroika was fantasy, sword and sorcery, sword and
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Entomologist/Biologist
Thank you, expert found! Dear BDH, I'm looking for an insect expert for some brainstorming regarding research for the book involving imaginary oversized insect monsters. If you are reading this and happen to be an entomologist who doesn't mind answering a few questions, please email me at
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Characters: Stories and Descriptions
You do such a wonderful job describing people so that we can almost visually see them, the little details that just make a person come alive in our imaginations. How do you keep from everyone blending together? Do you search for images? Do you just imagine that person? Do you
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Trad Publishing: Editing and Production Glossary
I heavily debated posting this. I might still take it down, because I've long ago decided that the internet doesn't need my "wisdom." Also, I am bitter and jaded. However, we keep getting repeated questions and there is some weird erroneous stuff floating out there. With that caveat, here is the
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Bake on, Bake off
I'm happy to report that Ilona made it home yesterday in one piece and will be back to give us a full update and more good news after some well-deserved rest. We’re staying in the realm of food today, but moving on to more sensitive matters. The kind that can divide nations, friendships, and
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Explain the Plot Badly
It’s Monday! Before you boo, we’re ushering in a week when classic museum heists are back on the news, the clocks are about to turn back, and it’s hard to focus pocus on anything but tricks and treats. The immortal Texan wereferret hedgehog diaspora fun in Friday's comment section have once again
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The Two Sides of the Reading Coin
Thank you for all the blog prompts. I wanted to answer this one sent to us by an aspiring author: Since I started writing, I hate everything I read. Reading used to be an escape. It makes me feel like I’ve lost a part of myself. I think I've talked about it before, but coincidentally, Grace
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Special Edition FAQ
When Mod R sent over the list of questions, my first instinct was to dismiss it, but then I realized that she is going to spend a long time posting individual replies and that time needs to be spent elsewhere. So let's talk about the special editions. What is a special edition? A special,
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Kindle Unlimited and Libraries
Amazon lifted KU exclusivity for libraries. More information in this article from New Shelves. My question is to the librarians among us. Will your libraries be taking advantage of this feature? Is this something useful or will this have no bearing on your library collections?
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Working Monday
It's a working Monday. I have no news to share and no announcements to make. I have a cup of tea and a file opened in front of me. Some people find the blank page intimidating, but to me it is always exciting. It's full of possibilities. You can go anywhere. Do anything. And then the first word
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Merchandise Poll
The BDH has been loud and clear in their need for merch to be available. We understand that Christmas is coming up, and we are very flattered that you want to have cool stuff related to our writing. We are in talks with a small business who offered to print merch in-house, meaning they make it
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Book Marketing, Trad Publishing and Other Questions
Update: We had an unexpected crash that wiped out this post. We recreated it, but you might get it twice in your email. It’s Monday! The release week is over. Okay, I understand that enthusiasm about Mondays might seem strange, but to me this Monday means that I finally get to write. I feel
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