Category: Writing
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The Page is Not The Screen
The pulp era was a different time. Dime novels, pulp magazines and radio were the primary forms of fiction. Silent films dominated the theatres until the 1920s, with musicians playing music to accompany the show. The first Technicolor feature film arrived only in 1935, and it would take another three decades until colour firmly supplanted…
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Babylon Without Christ
Babylon is an unapologetically Christian series. The set-up is perfect for it. The world is in the grip of false gods who war with each other for control of souls. They twist their worshipers into slaves and meat puppets, turning them into pawns and soldiers for their forever wars. Humans are nothing more than prizes…
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3 Lessons From Writing A Female Protagonist
Babylon Red was my first attempt at writing a novel-length work anchored by a female protagonist. Unlike other modern fiction, I sought to write a female character, not a man with breasts. She had to think, talk, act and feel like a woman. How she sees and interacts with the world and other characters is…
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H P Lovecraft and Robert E Howard: A Contrast in Horror
When one thinks of horror in the pulp age, the figure of H P Lovecraft inevitably comes to mind. A doyen in the then-emerging field of weird fiction, he conceived of many modern horror tropes, and through his prodigious works brought to life the genre of cosmic horror. But another pulp giant also contributed immensely…
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SWORDS OF SAINT VALENTINE is a Wrap!
With the end of February comes the conclusion of SteemPulp’s inaugural open call, SWORDS OF SAINT VALENTINE. Over the next few hours, the final submissions will come in, and the next phase will begin. SWORDS OF SAINT VALENTINE met and exceeded many of its objectives. Participants exercised their creative juices, wrote and published stories, helped…
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‘Gritty’ and ‘Realistic’ SFF Isn’t
Today it is all the rage to label a specific brand of modern science fiction and fantasy as ‘gritty’ and ‘realistic’. Championed by writers like Joe Abercrombie and George R R Martin, these stories star villain protagonists and antiheroes, oceans of blood, torture and treachery, and all manner of depredations. Every time such a dark…