Big Idea Category

The Big Idea: Matthew Sangster

Want to dig into the tropes and traditions of the fantasy genre? Matthew Sangster has come over from the University of Glasgow to give us An Introduction to Fantasy, and to retrace the steps that brought him to propose and then write the book. MATTHEW SANGSTER: People who love Fantasy know viscerally in their hearts […]

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The Big Idea: Malon Edwards

Death isn’t always the end. In author Malon Edward’s world, death is the precursor to becoming something more than you previously were. Follow along in his Big Idea to see how growing up in Chicago inspired his newest book, If Wishes Were Obfuscation Codes and Other Stories. (Trigger warning: suicide) MALON EDWARDS: One of the core […]

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The Big Idea: Abby Goldsmith

Standing apart from the crowd is usually seen as a good thing. It makes you cooler than the majority. But what if going against the majority was dangerous? Even life threatening? Enter the dystopian world of Majority, the first novel in author Abby Goldsmith’s newest series. ABBY GOLDSMITH: What if everyone had an audience inside their […]

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The Big Idea: Jon Evans

There’s the observation that at any sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic. In Jon Evans’ new novel Exadelic, this may be more right than anyone ever suspected. JON EVANS: Exadelic‘s big idea is why it is, probably, the only book about occult magic categorized by Amazon as ‘Hard Science Fiction.’ That high concept: in […]

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The Big Idea: Dwain Worrell

When you read a novel, you might think you know who the villain might be. But in Dwain Worrell’s new novel Androne, whoever and whatever you think that villain is, it’s not that. Probably. DWAIN WORRELL: ANDRONE | ən-drōn | Noun Imagine we were at war, millions of casualties, protesters on the White House lawn, […]

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The Big Idea: A.J. Hartley

Shape-shifting creatures… in small-town North Carolina? There’s a reason they’re there, and as A.J. Hartley explains in this Big Idea for Hideki Smith, Demon Queller, there’s no better place for them to be.  A.J. HARTLEY: Japanese folkore and mythology is packed with shape-shifting monsters. Seriously. Everywhere you look there’s something pretending to be something else. […]

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The Big Idea: Joe R. Lansdale

Today’s Big Idea is short… but is it sweet? Joe R. Lansdale’s collection title promises that Things Get Ugly, and maybe, sometimes, that’s the way it should be. JOE LANSDALE: Things Get Ugly has been years in the making, containing my best crime stories from the eighties on. Not every crime story I’ve written is […]

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The Big Idea: M. A. Carrick

Collaboration is key. Whether it’s writing a book together, backing a Kickstarter together, or changing the world together, people need each other to make things the best version they can be. Follow along with authors Alyc and Marie, who joined together as M. A. Carrick to bring you the newest novel in their Rook and […]

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The Big Idea: Michael A. Burstein

For writer and editor Michael A. Burstein, an encounter with an anthology in his youth changed with way he looked at science fiction and its possibilities. Now, with his own anthology Jewish Futures, Burstein looks to that personal past to inform this collection of stories about what comes next. MICHAEL A. BURSTEIN: For me, it […]

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The Big Idea: Howard Andrew Jones

History is often an inspiration for fantasy, but as Howard Andrew Jones explains in this Big Idea for Lord of a Shattered Land, how that inspiration hits can be a surprise, even for the author himself. HOWARD ANDREW JONES: It seemed like such an obvious what-if question I couldn’t believe no one had written about […]

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The Big Idea: Jacqueline Carey

Author Jacqueline Carey is no stranger to the sort of fandom that thrives on fringes, but in this Big idea for her latest novel, Cassiel’s Servant, Carey explains how that fame and fandom exists for reasons that many might not expect. JACQUELINE CAREY: Kushiel’s Legacy is a cult fan favorite. It must be true, because […]

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The Big Idea: J.D. Blackrose

There are things in the world we wish we had the power to change, but as J.D. Blackrose explains in this Big Idea for Wish Magic, wishing for that power, and having it, are two different things entirely. J.D. BLACKROSE: What’s it like to be powerless when you’re used to being in control? And how […]

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The Big Idea: Sheila Jenne

Authors often use the past for inspiration. But what point does the inspiration of earlier days become a problem for the setting our author wants to write for? It’s a question Sheila Jenne confronts in this Big Idea for Black Sails to Sunward. SHELIA JENNE: My dad has two major obsessions: space and the sea. […]

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The Big Idea: Jennifer Estep

Author Jennifer Estep is back with another Big Idea for the second installment in her Galactic Bonds series. Come along to see how writing the second book of a series is actually preferable for her, and how much she enjoyed the process of bringing us Only Good Enemies. JENNIFER ESTEP: Only Good Enemies was released earlier […]

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The Big Idea: Stephen Blackmoore

If we don’t remember history, we are doomed to repeat it. But what happens when the past comes crashing into the present? Author Stephen Blackmoore plays with this idea in the ninth novel of his Eric Carter series, Cult Classic. Follow along in his Big Idea to see how he picked which cult to highlight in […]

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