Orbit Books, an imprint of Hachette, has developed a free virtual event series for aspiring science-fiction and fantasy writers. Attendees can attend any of the 14 sessions—which are spread out over six weeks in October and early November—for free. The topics range from nitty gritty advice on worldbuilding to a panel on how to write a novel while also still having to deal with the rest of life.
The sessions are, essentially, a mini-convention for writers, aiming to give people who don’t know where to start a complete course on writing. But after looking over the full lineup of seminars, there are a few that stand out. I may have a decent chunk of writing under my belt, but you can be sure to find me in “Love Triangles and Other Shapes” with S.T. Gibson, C.L. Clark, Josiah Bancroft, and Melissa Caruso. And I would be so disappointed if I missed
“Creating Otherworldly Cultures” with Ann Leckie, Suyi Davies Okungbowa, Essa Hansen, and Davinia Evans, all of whom have written books recently which have completely transported me to entirely new universes.
Other incredible writers across the Orbit Books sphere are also doing short seminars, across a wide range of experiences, from every-award-winner Leckie to Alex Jennings, who made his stunning debut last year with the queer and evocative New Orleans ghost story The Ballad of Perilous Graves. The press release states that these working SFF authors write “across a variety of SFF subgenres, from space opera to horror to epic fantasy to romantic fantasy.”
If you can’t make it to any of the sessions, you should still register on crowdcast and feel free to submit your questions in advance, because “recordings will be available after each session concludes.”
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