Members Blog
The Final Summons – Available for Pre-Order
The New England Speculative Writers are proud to announce that Pre-Ordering is now available for our debut anthology, The Final Summons. This collection features fourteen amazing stories by New England authors. We are also excited to announce that USA Today Best...
NaNoWrimo Write-Ins, your novel and you!
So with NaNoWrimo just mere weeks away, it’s time to makes plans! Plan your novel! Pants your novel! No one cares if it makes sense as long as you get the 50k in the kitty before November 15th it’s all good! Also, plan to go to a write-in. Wait, what’s a...
The Reality of Royalties & Being More than a Number
I published my first book, Suburban Zombie High in October of 2013. I had been writing for a few years and decided it was time to press the dreaded "publish" button. I self edited the book (my mastery of the English language is questionable at best.) The story didn't...
New England Speculative Writers Conference Open for Registration
Learn More & Register We're proud to announce the first New England Speculative Writers Conference. We've talked about it for the last year and what it would take and we're out to make this a banner event. We've watched the group discussions and talked to...
It’s Official We’re One
The New England Speculative Writers has officially survived its first year. We've been so busy we almost forgot our inception on July 2nd, in 2017. It's hard to believe a year (14 months, but who's counting) ago we decided to put together a group for New England's...
Why I write: The Need of a Creative
For as long as I can remember I’ve had the urge to create. When I was little I would draw storybooks, read them out loud, and record them so you could follow the story. It was usually a tale I made up to go with the random pictures. I don’t remember much about the...
I Write for the Outsiders
My name is Anders. When I was an only child, my dearest companions were the characters who lived inside the books I loved. Stories helped me discover the mystery, wonder, beauty, and complexity of life, and they helped me feel like I had somewhere to belong. Today I...
Why I Write
I write because I finally believe I can. That may sound a little strange. I definitely write because I have stories to tell. And I write because it's exciting to create something from my own imagination. It's satisfying to watch the thread of an idea weave into a...
Why do I write? Why not?
Why do I write? Honestly, I don't have a good answer to that. There is no specific moment I can recall that explains it. Like most people as a kid I played with toys, I read comic books, I read fantasy and sci-fi novels. And I had ideas. I didn't really write, not...
The Plague of the Writer: Why Do I Write?
Authors are often asked this question, and I have yet to form a conclusive answer. To put it simply: Compulsion. There are universes constantly exploding inside of my brain, vibrant worlds pushing against my bones and demanding release. Scenes play out on loop in my...
Why I write
There is a cold disbelief in this cruel world of ours, a disbelief in the freedom of the mind and a slippery conviction that imagination is bad for production. For an example, look at the hard-on Wall Street has for AI. Those financial types think they're going to be...
Why do I write? Blame the childhood…
I write because I’ve always written. It’s just what I do and what I’ve done. To be honest, I’ve never really stopped to ask why, and even if I did, I’m not sure what my answer would be. If hard-pressed to give an answer, it would probably all come back to my...
Needing to Shelf Your Author Ego
I've been publishing for several years now and had the chance to work with extremely amazing people. The stories have ranged from heartfelt successes to humorous failures. I've sat with million dollar earners as well as authors struggling to make a single sale. What...
A Quick and Dirty Guide to Copyrighting Your Work
If you want to know why it’s important to copyright your artistic creation, just ask George A. Romero. (Not literally, of course. The guy’s dead.) (Or IS HE?) Romero’s classic horror film Night of the Living Dead is and always has been a public domain creation because...
Gay Plots – Avoiding the Obvious
There are plenty of plots being imagined and written furiously. When it comes to LGBTQI plots, there are a handful that writers find themselves relying on. Some of this reliance on the tropes is from fear of swimming in uncharted waters, or perhaps its even lazy...
LGBT Characters: A Need for Representation
When I started writing, I made the decision to write LGBTQ characters into mainstream science fiction books as a reaction to the massive gap I saw in science fiction television shows and movies growing up in the eighties and nineties. (Sadly, I didn’t read much back...
So You Want to Write an LGBTQI+ Character…
Many writers want to diversify their characters but find themselves hesitant or scared in jumping into a culture outside their norm. With complicated social structures and contradicting opinions, it can be difficult. However, the fact authors are fearful of not doing...
Come Out, Come Out, Come Out Whoever You Are
I am many things. I am a male. I am a teacher. I am a friend. I am a partner. I am a son and a brother. I wear each of these statements as a building block of who I am as a person. I am a writer. I am white. I am single. I am a professor. The list goes on. Each, a...
Author Website Critiques
In the digital age, every author needs an online presence. This can manifest in a multitude of ways from social media, to simple newsletter landing pages to full websites. While not many websites offer discoverability for an author, it does offer fans a one-stop-shop...
