Writers of the Future Podcast

Martin Shoemaker is a winner published in volume 31, with his story "Unrefined," a sub-genre he refers to as Neo-Apollo, a concept based on the next era of space exploration after the Apollo generation where humanity is struggling to reach the stars. He now has well over 60 publications including 3 novels. "Today I am Carey" is a ground-breaking novel following his award-winning short story, "Toda...

Stoney Compton was a winner in 1993, published in WOTF 9, with his story, "Messages." Stoney writes historical fiction and alternate history published by Ring of Fire Press with Eric Flint, a co-winner in volume 9. He discusses the importance of good research in writing either genre. He also discusses self-publishing vs traditional publishing. Discover his books at StoneyCompton.com

Nnedimma Nkemdili "Nnedi" Okorafor (WOTF 18) grew up a great student and athlete, competing semi-pro Tennis. As a result of a surgery, she was paralyzed from the waist down. She turned to writing. The very first story she wrote was the character in her winning story Windseekers published in volume 18. She could fly, which was special to Nnedi who could not walk at that time. She became a Contest j...

Mark Payton was an Illustrators of the Future winner in volume 25. At 57, he is now back in school studying graphic illustration. Currently, he is one of four production artists of the Star Trek fan film Axanar and has created illustrations for social media promotion and portraits of the cast of the first part of the production called, "Prelude to Axanar." Mark discusses the history of Axanar, the...

Melissa Yuan-Innes (WOTF 16) loved reading and writing as a child. She was taught to play "the safe" game for her career. So she put off being a writer. Instead, she became a medical doctor working as an emergency room doctor. That accomplished, she returned to seriously addressing her writing and has gone on to publish nearly 15 novels in SF, Fantasy, and Medical Thrillers (as Melissa Yi). At her...

Brittany Jackson had a different set of artistic goals when she started out with her career: comics or video games. She eventually realized that for a bright future she would have to make changes. With the constantly changing art environment, she has evolved and is making a living illustrating children's books as a full-time artist, with an agency representing her. For FB and IG she can be found a...

James C. Glass, the 1991 Grand prize winning author (WOTF 7) has written 10 novels and 4 compilations, primarily hard science fiction. His first love was writing which transitioned to education for a career with twin Masters in Astronomy and Physics and then a PhD in Physics. After a long successful career, kids grown up, he transitioned back to writing in 1987 when he published his first story. H...

Jean-Paul Garnier is a poet, science fiction author and has become an indie bookstore owner ⎯ Space Cowboy Bookstore in Joshua Tree, CA ⎯ to pay back the joy he has gotten from science fiction. He talks about the value of science fiction, both as a fan, writer, and bookstore owner. He discusses how his involvement with Writers of the Future has paralleled his involvement with science fiction. Chec...

Michael Michera, from Warsaw, Poland, was Illustrators of the Future Golden Brush Award winner for volume 33. He worked three weeks on the art he submitted to win. That is his work ethic: it requires hard work to be in the right place at the right time. And he has several examples to prove how this works. Since winning the Contest, he has been extremely busy to the point of not looking for new wor...

Multiple World Fantasy Award-winner Tim Powers discusses suspense in storytelling. How do Ian Flemming, Dean Koontz, Michael Connelly do it? They don't tell you. Luckily Hubbard did. It's a whole article. You know suspense when you read it. But with this article it helps crystalize with the examples and descriptions, you can see where you fall short and are so half-way to doing it." The essay is a...

Dustin Panzino won Illustrators of the Future in 2011 when he was 19. Two judges in particular, Cliff Nielsen and Steven Hickman, made an impression on him to move beyond being a gallery artist with his oil paintings. He now survives well through his art as a full time profession. He transitioned from being a traditional oil painter to many other styles, including digital. When the shut down occur...

Corry Lee graduated with a PhD in Physics from Harvard, but had wanted to be a writer since a young girl. She was published in Writers of the Future Volume 28 with her story, "Shut Down." Writing short fiction has improved her craft of writing overall. Now, as a PhD physicist, award winning science teacher, data geek, mom, and with the support of her husband, she has now released her first fantasy...

Our first-ever illustrator winner from Iran, Mason Matak, talks about the importance of art in Iran and the challenges he has in practicing art as a profession. He has a message for his fellow countrymen who pursue art. But his message is actually for anyone who loves creating art. You can find Mason at: Facebook: mohamadhossein.matak Instagram: @mason_matak

Multiple World Fantasy Award-Winning Author ("Last Call" and "Declare") and author of "On Stranger Tides," Tim Powers has been a Writers of the Future judge for over 30 years. In this interview, he discusses the craft of writing fantasy, both World Fantasy, and Urban Fantasy. www. TheWorksofTimPowers.com

David Farland discusses L. Ron Hubbard's writing essay, "Manuscript Factory" and how it was an eye-opener for him. His instructors in college had been hobby-writers and didn't write to make a living. He used this advice to help build his very successful career as a writer with his own manuscript factory. You can read this and several other essays, along with 13 videos featuring David Farland, Orso...

Multiple NYT bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson has been a Writers of the Future Judge since 1996 and now teaches a Masters Program at Western Colorado University. In this interview, we talk about publishing in today's world from writing, to the need for agents, to self-promotion, and what the future holds. Oh yeah, we also talk about Writers of the Future and its impact on science fiction & fan...

Mike Wood won Writers of the Future in 2009 and was published in volume 25 which provided him his first trip to the US. Now having completed a career he has set a new direction, that of an author.

David D'Amico was a Writers of the Future winner in volume 27. He has retired his job to embrace his lifelong dream of being a published author. This is his journey. Learn more about David at dadamico.com

Sean Williams has been very successful with his story collaborations. He originally read an article on collaboration by Larry Niven who famously co-wrote with Jerry Pournelle. This interview takes what he learned from that essay and expands on that theme with his own experience. Sean also covers this subject in more detail in his article entitled "Making Collaboration Work for You or Co-Writing wi...

Diane Dillon has been an Illustrators of the Future Judge since 1998. She along with her husband Leo (now deceased) lived by this motto: “Dream the dream, aim for the best you can do, and make the next job better than your last.” In this interview, we discuss how she and Leo began their career in art and design, as students at Parsons and the amazing obstacles they had to overcome to survive as ar...

Orson Scott Card discusses L. Ron Hubbard's writing essay "Magic Out of a Hat" and how it is as valid today as it was when he wrote it. He compares the styles and techniques of several early masters and why Hubbard's work remains memorable. You can read this and several other essays, along with 13 videos featuring David Farland, Orson Scott Card, and Tim Powers in "L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the...

Matthew Rotundo (WOTF 25) wrote his first story when he was 8 years old and later in life remembered that story and became certain he wanted to be a writer. In this interview, he explains how to start a story and then watch it totally change direction as he proceeded with his trilogy, "Petra: The Prison World Revolt." You can reach Matthew at matthewsrotundo.com

Ken Scholes was rejected 75 times before his first story sale. After winning Writers of the Future in 2005, he sold his first novel within a year, got an agent and sold a 5-book series, "The Psalms of Isaak." He has been a gospel singer, preacher, a multiple award-winning writer, and a performing musician. He is a single dad with 10-year-old twins, still writes, and performs his own music as well...

Illustrators of the Future Golden Brush Award winner Bea Jackson (vol 24) has been creating art all her life. She discusses the importance of communicating the words of the author through her art. She approaches digital art using traditional methods which she explains. She is an introvert who must step out of her comfort zone to meet new people, nerves, shakes, and all! But it has paid off. She tr...

Jason Fischer (WOTF 26 winner, 2010) is a speculative fiction writer from South Australia who himself is on the autism spectrum. He runs Spectrum Writing (SpectrumWriting.com.au) to mentor young people anywhere on the autism spectrum who aspire to be a storyteller. He is predominantly recognized as a writer in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres. He talks about the value of Writers & I...