We are looking for people to write up articles on panels and events at Conflux. If you're going to be going to Conflux anyway, and taking notes for yourself, why not share them with the thousands of visitors we get every month?

Email me at overlord@aboygoesonajourney.com if your interested :)

(I hear that the draft for panel times will be coming out soon! And I hope for your sake that you've already booked for workshops)

There has been an update to the prizes offered in the current competition. Please visit the home page for details.

Running out of space on your computer, website archive or desk because of old reviews you did 5, 10 years ago?

Aboygoesonajourney.com doesn't care if the book is 10 years old, 20, or 400 - as long as it can be related to speculative fiction with any elements of scifi, fantasy or horror - we want your review!

You don't even need to register! (Warning: If you are not registered and logged on, your review will have to be approved before it is made public).

Categories include:
* Novels (including single author collections)
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* And upcoming - non-fiction!

If you are an author, editor or publishing company and want to see your book/s on the site, email me at overlord@aboygoesonajourney.com and I'll post it up and let you know when there are new reviews on it.

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Brilliant author Fiona McIntosh takes about writing, torture and research with us here:
http://www.aboygoesonajourney.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=263

Be aware! The competition is ending soon - sign up now and don't miss out!

http://www.aboygoesonajourney.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=238&Itemid=135 - The Serpent Bride by Sara Douglass

http://www.aboygoesonajourney.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=241&Itemid=135 - Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

http://www.aboygoesonajourney.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=235&Itemid=131

Anyone interested in hosting or submitting news for the next blog carnival, email me at overlord@aboygoesonajourney.com and I'll pass it along.

Check out the new, improved, super-advanced review system!
http://www.aboygoesonajourney.com/index.php?option=com_jreviews&task=listcategory§ion=6&cat=131&dir=1&Itemid=135

You can now rate stories and movies by individual aspects, like plotting, characterisation, acting etc and you can post your own favourite novels and add reviews.

Phillip Berrie teaches us about preservation in the digital dark age:
http://www.aboygoesonajourney.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=226

Shadowfall by James Clemens

Royal Exile by Fiona McIntosh

The Accidental Sorcerer by K. E. Mills

Path of Revenge by Russell Kirkpatrick

New Articles

• The Digital Dark Age by Phillip Berrie

• The Digital Dark Age – Unicode by Phillip Berrie

 

Upcoming Articles

• Review of The Path of Revenge by Russell Kirkpatrick

• Review of The Accidental Sorcerer by K. E. Mills

• Review of Royal Exile by Fiona McIntosh

• Interview with Fiona McIntosh (email me at overlord@aboygoesonajourney.com or leave a comment if you have any questions you would like to ask!)

Hot

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Daikaiju 1

Daikaiju 3

Hal Spacejock No Free Lunch

 

New

Royal Exile – Fiona McIntosh

The kingdom beyond the waves stephen hunt

The Accidental Sorcerer – K E Mills

Phillip Berrie has the Reality Bit(e)s series so you can make your worlds and societies more realistic.

 

Mark Deniz has interviews with the Stars of Speculative Fiction.

 

Traci Harding's series on writing a manuscript: from the start, to middle, to finish

 

Nyssa's series on critiquing

 

Karen Miller interviews the Fantastic Women in speculative fiction

 

Nyssa has a series on how to create a religion in your fiction with Religion 101 and what to think about concerning culture with Culture 101

 

Nyssa tells us about the Stereotypes in Fantasy and Archetypes in Fantasy

 

Tishalicious has also started her own Stereotypes in SciFi

 

 

And there are over a hundred articles from many different people, including editors, agents and authors!

Group Name | Status| Category |Open to new management (*)

After Draft |Open to all |Friends |*
Beginner Writers |Open to all | Friends |*
Fantasy Writers Guild | Open to all ||Writers Groups |*
Horror Writers Cabin |Open to all |Writers Groups
Lobo Luna |Approval to join Writers Groups
Poets |Open to all |Writers Groups |*
Roleplaying Games -> Fiction |Open to all | Role Playing Games
SciFi Rocketeers |Open to all |Writers Groups
SciFi-Fantasy Metal Dragons |Open to all | Writers Groups
Spec Fic classics with Tishy | Open to all |Book Clubs
Sword and Soul |Open to all |Writers Groups
Teen Writers |Open to all |Friends |*
Writing for Young Adults | Open to all | Writers Groups| *

All categories
Friends
Writers Groups
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Fan Club
Mentoring

 

Want to run your own group without having to hassle about websites, code, and all that jazz? Make it on Aboygoesonajourney.com! Three different privacy options, moderate your own forum, join a chatroom, customise your profile, add friends to your buddy system and it's all free!

On SFNovelists.com, Diana Pharaoh Frances, Simon Haynes and Kate Elliot say how they write:

 

I was asked how to keep a story going and keep it fresh in my head and keep plugging away at it, and so I said, ‘write every day.’ And now I want to talk about why.

A novel is like a river. To keep the words flowing, I have to be in it over my head. I have to be swept away so that all I can think about is the river. Nothing else matters. When I am not writing, I’m not in the river. I may be walking its edges, maybe even danging my feet in, but unless I’m writing, I’m not in the river.

Every day, I have to return to the river and leap in. But the river doesn’t necessarily want me there. It pushes me away–sort of like oppositional magnetic fields. If I write every day, then I usually can force my way back in pretty easily, and the next thing I know, I’m riding the rapids.

~ Diana Pharaoh Francis

 

Before I got a publishing deal the ‘not writing’ mode could last … years. The only way I sorted my priorities out was to give myself a deadline. I’d work out that book X should be finished by date Y, and I’d work backwards from there to identify dates for first & second drafts. Then I’d split the remaining days until my self-imposed deadline up so that I knew exactly how much to write per day.

~ Simon Haynes

 

Some dry spells stem from weariness.  I aim for 2000-2500 words a day.  If I write 4000 words in one day, the chances are I’ll only manage 1200 the next day, having drunk too deeply and worn myself out.  Or, having finished a novel, revised it once twice and thrice and revised again from the editor’s comments, I may simply not write for a month simply because I need the well of creativity to refill.

~ Kate Elliott

Sword and Soul
Manager - the Griot
"A group dedicated to the enjoyment and development of Sword and Soul, fantasy stories based on African culture and mythology."

Rolepolaying --> Fiction
Manager - Phillberrie
"I think a lot of us do it or have done it in the past ... so let's be loud and proud about it. Oh, I'm talking about Roleplaying, just in case you were wondering :-)"

Make sure you read terms and conditions before entry.
http://www.aboygoesonajourney.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=212&Itemid=122


Writers gifts

* Your manuscript on the top of the consideration pile for Morrigan Books. Check out their website to see if your manuscript would fit their style.

* A professional and in-depth critique of up to 15,000 words of your manuscript by Phillip Berrie

* One seat in a 2 hr online writing course 'What not to do in your medieval setting 101'


Fantasy Book Pack

* Royal Exile by Fiona McIntosh
* The Accidental Sorcerer by K E Mills
* Winterbirth by Brian Ruckley


Dark Book Pack

* In Bad Dreams vol 1 edited by Mark Deniz and Sharyn Lilley
* The Painted Man by Peter V Brett
* The Scent of Shadows by Vicki Pettersson


Eclectic Book Pack

* Hal Spacejock - No Free Lunch by Simon Haynes SIGNED!
* Daikaiju Vol 1 edited by Robert Hood and Robin Pen
* Daikaiju Vol 3 edited by Robert Hood and Robin Pen

• Geosynchronous Orbits – Communications Satellites by Phillip Berrie
• Interview with Kylie Chan Part 1 :: Part 2 by VoyagerOnline
• The problem with writing TV characters by Jennifer Fallon
• Getting the language right by Jennifer Fallon
• Megalomania by Karen Miller
• Where to start writing a manuscript by Traci Harding
• How to keep writing a manuscript by Traci Harding
• How to finish a manuscript by Traci Harding
• The moment of inspiration by Fiona McIntosh
• Getting it right by Fiona McIntosh
• Writing the poetic apocalyptic by Kim Westwood

Hot

· Daughters of Moab by Kim Westwood

· White Tiger by Kylie Chan

 

Bestsellers

· Cry wolf by Patricia Briggs

· By schism rent asunder by David Weber

· Storm Born by Richelle Mead

· Mage guard of Hamor by L E Modesitt Jr

 

New

· Deep water by Pamela Freeman

· Sepulchre by Kate Mosse