A Letter from the Editor
by Timothy Pike

Dear readers,

Joining us this month, and featured on the cover, is author and publisher Samantha Atzeni. Wishing to give a voice to writers who may not have been given a chance to tell their stories, she co-founded Read Furiously Publishing, a publishing house that seeks to improve the industry and make reading a more sustainable activity.

“Sustainable reading,” she explains, “is a combination of positive actions that benefit all aspects of the independent publishing community: the readers, the authors, and the communities.”

In our interview, Samantha talks about the frustrations that led her to found her publishing company, the book series they publish that literally fits in your pocket, and how her home state of New Jersey has shaped her into the person she is today.

As a bonus, Samantha also has some advice for new writers looking to publish for the first time.

Learn from a publishing insider →

There’s plenty to discover (and learn!) in the July 2024 issue of Books & Buzz Magazine. Let’s take a look:

Although creepy, it makes a good setting

Mystery author Diane Bator has hated basements since childhood, when family trips to the grocery market required her to tiptoe downstairs in order to access the washrooms. “Old basements were notorious for seeping walls, bugs, and flooding,” she recalls. “Even creepier were the bare light bulbs hanging every few feet—just far enough apart to cast brief, elongated shadows.”

That basement had such an impact on her young mind that she can describe it perfectly to this day. “This is one example of writing what you know,” she says. “Taking a place you loved or hated as a child and exaggerating it to the point it either enchants or terrifies a reader.”

And it works for any genre. Settings are very important, Diane argues, because they not only serve to establish where the story takes place, but can even act as characters sometimes, allowing readers to feel immersed in the story.

Let your strongest memories guide your writing →

Erase your novel and start over?

If the novel you’re writing isn’t going the way you want, fantasy author Bjorn Leesson has a few words of caution. While your instinct might be to scrap it and start over, Bjorn urges you to think twice about that. In other words, “select all, delete”—the computer command that erases everything you’ve typed—should be a last resort.

“After a few of my own ‘select all, deletes,'” Bjorn says, “I finally trusted my uninhibited instinct to follow the budding story to where it goes, and that has made all the difference for me.” In his article, Bjorn insists that when all hope seems lost, hang in there, because your story might yet have a few surprises up its sleeve.

Follow your story to the end →

How do you feel about magic in fantasy stories?

Alethea Lyons, author of science fiction and fantasy, notes that readers have a complicated relationship with the use of magic in stories. “Whatever the reasons,” she writes, “there can be a stigma attached to the word ‘magic.'”

In a trip back through history, Alethea reveals how magic, at various points, has been associated with witchcraft, used to justify murder, or even banned altogether by religion—but still wonders if we are in a different place today. “Are we slowly changing thousands of years of history,” she asks, “or do we need new language to describe inherent gifts that cannot be explained by science?”

Learn about magic’s role through the ages →

Enjoy this month’s issue of Books & Buzz Magazine!

To your success,

Timothy Pike
Editor of Books & Buzz Magazine