The Military Science Fiction Podcast

Aliens are hard. Developing aliens that enhance a Military SF story is its own unique challenge. The Military Science Fiction Podcast, with Rick Partlow, Josh Hayes, Jeffery H. Haskell and James S. Aaron.  Published weekly. #amwriting, #militarysciencefiction, #scifi Our Books: Jeffery H.Haskell: https://amzn.to/3Yaq6VZ Rick Partlow: https://amzn.to/3W74AzL Josh Hayes: https://amzn.to/3Wdcpmz Jame...

The Military Science Fiction Podcast, with Rick Partlow, Josh Hayes, Jeffery H. Haskell and James S. Aaron.  We finish out our deep dive on plotting and planning with a discussion of what makes a great ending. #amwriting, #militarysciencefiction, #scifi Our Books: Jeffery H. Haskell: https://amzn.to/3Yaq6VZ Rick Partlow: https://amzn.to/3W74AzL Josh Hayes: https://amzn.to/3Wdcpmz James S. Aaron: h...

The Military Science Fiction Podcast, with Rick Partlow, Josh Hayes, Jeffery H. Haskell and James S. Aaron.  Published weekly. #amwriting, #militarysciencefiction, #scifi Our Books: Jeffery H. Haskell: https://amzn.to/3Yaq6VZ Rick Partlow: https://amzn.to/3W74AzL Josh Hayes: https://amzn.to/3Wdcpmz James S. Aaron: https://amzn.to/4eTVDBa Join the Facebook Group:   https://www.facebook.com/groups/m...

We share some our favorite military science fiction books. Some you know, and some are off the beaten path. What's your favorite?   The Military Science Fiction Podcast, with Rick Partlow, Josh Hayes, Jeffery H. Haskell and James S. Aaron.  Published weekly. #amwriting, #militarysciencefiction, #scifi Our Books: Jeffery H. Haskell: https://amzn.to/3Yaq6VZ Rick Partlow: https://amzn.to/3W74AzL Josh...

The Military Science Fiction Podcast, with Rick Partlow, Josh Hayes, Jeffery H. Haskell and James S. Aaron.  Published weekly. #amwriting, #militarysciencefiction, #scifi Our Books: Jeffery H.Haskell: https://amzn.to/3Yaq6VZ Rick Partlow: https://amzn.to/3W74AzL Josh Hayes: https://amzn.to/3Wdcpmz James S. Aaron: https://amzn.to/4eTVDBa Join the Facebook Group:   https://www.facebook.com/groups/mi...

The team continues our discussion of how to develop a military science story from concept to outline and now chapters that fit into common story structures. Why follow structure at all, Drill Sergeant? Because it's what the readers expect, private. Now beat your face. ___ The Military Science Fiction Podcast, with Rick Partlow, Josh Hayes, Jeffery H. Haskell and James S. Aaron.  Published weekly....

The team invites Steve Beaulieu, author (as Jaime Castle) and co-owner of Athon Books on the show to talk about the publishing side of military science fiction, what the future of the genre holds and what excites him about the coming years. ___ The Military Science Fiction Podcast, with Rick Partlow, Josh Hayes, Jeffery H. Haskell and James S. Aaron.  Published weekly. This week's guest https://ae...

James and Jeff discuss what makes a great military science fiction cover (or any genre fiction) as well as what makes a great side character in MILSF, and why we don't see more novels about heroic cooks. ___ The Military Science Fiction Podcast, with Rick Partlow, Josh Hayes, Jeffery H. Haskell and James S. Aaron.  Published weekly. This week's guest https://aethonbooks.com/ #amwriting, #militarys...

In this episode we start a multi-episode conversation that gets very in the weeds on how to take a series from conception to summary, plot, chapter outline and even deeper. The Military Science Fiction Podcast, with Rick Partlow, Josh Hayes, Jeffery H. Haskell and James S. Aaron.  Published weekly. #amwriting, #militarysciencefiction, #scifi Our Books: Jeffery H.Haskell: https://amzn.to/3Yaq6VZ Ri...

Josh and Rick talk about how they name ships, vehicles and weapons in their stories, how names can have meaning and dropships probably don't need a name. The Military Science Fiction Podcast, with Rick Partlow, Josh Hayes, Jeffery H. Haskell and James S. Aaron.  Published weekly. #amwriting, #militarysciencefiction, #scifi Our Books: Jeffery H.Haskell: https://amzn.to/3Yaq6VZ Rick Partlow: https:/...

Jeff and James talk about their new co-writing project in the Grimm's War universe, and a bit more about how to approach a project like this, how to find new stories in an existing world. Jeff also compliments Rick extensively. _______________ The Military Science Fiction Podcast, with Rick Partlow, Josh Hayes, Jeffery H. Haskell and James S. Aaron.  Published weekly. Our Books: Jeffery H.Haskell:...

Technology continues to advance and its impacts on military operations  can change everything... and sometimes War, War never changes. In this episode we talk about crafting stories that include changes in technology, how they can be explored in a convincing but also fun way, and why MILSF readers love their gun porn. _______________ The Military Science Fiction Podcast, with Rick Partlow, Josh Ha...

Military Science Fiction presents some unique opportunities to explore villains.  The same rules of great villains apply, but in MILSF you get to play with rank, weapon systems, politics, aliens, a whole gamut of special jerks that the civilian world doesn't get to experience. Motivations can be personal, cultural, or purely professional, but on the whole nobody is satisfied by an incompetent jerk...

On the first day of 2025, we round the corner into Season 2 of the podcast! Today we're talking about plans for the new year, for ourselves and for the show. When you look forward, you can't help looking back a bit, so there's also some review of 2024 and how things went.  Let us know what you'd like to see in the comments! _______________ The Military Science Fiction Podcast, with Rick Partlow, J...

It's one thing to love Military Science Fiction, another thing to have written a MILSF book, and yet another to keep doing it, even when sales might be down or a story's reception different than you hoped (sometimes in a great way!)  In today's episode we talk about what kept us writing and what keeps us going, even when the going gets tough. (In Rick Partlow's case, on to 75+ novels!) ___________...

The 2014 film Edge of Tomorrow, starring Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt and Bill Paxton, has all the fixin's of an excellent milsf story, with the added twist of time travel (or is it multiverse?), showcasing a soldier who experiences a riveting journey from coward to hardened veteran. Do we have to say we like this movie? It's great, and if you haven't seen it, stop reading this and seek it out. Sure, w...

We came to Military Science Fiction from a love of military history, lessons learned, mistakes made, and the hard decisions made by real people in the past. Today we talk about how we love to see history used in stories, and what works and what doesn't. _______________ The Military Science Fiction Podcast, with Rick Partlow, Josh Hayes, Jeffery H. Haskell and James S. Aaron.  Published weekly. Our...

Finishing a book, selling books and building audience are all different skills, and today we talk about some of the industry advice that gets left out of new author pep talks. We're nice, we promise. _______________ The Military Science Fiction Podcast, with Rick Partlow, Josh Hayes, Jeffery H. Haskell and James S. Aaron.  Published weekly. Our Books: Jeffery H.Haskell: https://amzn.to/3Yaq6VZ Ric...

From Clip vs Magazine to Unit Details to calling NCOs sir, Military Science Fiction might have more pitfalls than any other genre. Readers have expectations in a great story, military action dictates certain responses, and relying on historical examples doesn't always make sense...  Today we talk about some of the mistakes Military Science Fiction authors make in their stories and characters and h...

Despite being science fiction, periods in Military SF are often defined by the conflicts readers are most familiar with. From World War II to Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan, the types of conflicts characters face, weapons systems and politics are often reflections of current times. As we move away from the last twenty years of conflict, what can we expect to see in future military science fiction...

A second in-depth discussion of story-building around invading a hostile planet. What are some analogs with history? What makes this sort of story better? Hang out with us while we point out what Avatar 2 does wrong, among other things. _______________ The Military Science Fiction Podcast, with Rick Partlow, Josh Hayes, Jeffery H. Haskell and James S. Aaron.  Published weekly. Our Books: Jeffery H...

Today we answer some viewer questions about interacting with fans and how to respond to reviews. A good discussion on dealing with criticism in general, and how Military Science Fiction can appeal to anyone who loves great stories. Check out Burn Enough's channel! https://www.youtube.com/@BurnEnough _______________ The Military Science Fiction Podcast, with Rick Partlow, Josh Hayes, Jeffery H. Has...

Today we host our first interview with Science Fiction author Richard Fox.  Richard is the accomplished military science fiction author of the Ember War Series, Terran Armor Corps, Ascent to Empire with David Weber, Hell’s Horizon with Jonathan Brazee, as well as Terra Nova with our own Josh Hayes.  Richard’s latest book is Men of Bretton, out November 5th from Baen Books.  Find it here: https://a...

It's Aaaaaaarmy training, sir! Today we talk about ways to use training in MilSF. From Basic Training to rehearsals to hip-pocket training to fill hours of hurryupandwait, training is a major part of the military experience and can do a lot of work in a MilSF story. _______________ The Military Science Fiction Podcast, with Rick Partlow, Josh Hayes, Jeffery H. Haskell and James S. Aaron.  Publishe...

Considering the missions being carried out by the U.S. military to support victims of the natural disasters in North Carolina and Florida, we figured this would be a good time to talk about humanitarian missions and the roles they can play in great military science fiction stories. Notes from this episode: Learn about Jake McNiece: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jake_McNiece _______________ The Mil...