Tag Archives: Behind the Scene

Behind the Scene: Godstorm by Solitaire Townsend

Hello and welcome to this Behind the Scene post here on Track of Words, and welcome too to author Solitaire Townsend, whose debut Fantasy novel Godstorm is out now from Bedford Square Publishers! For this article Solitaire has kindly provided an annotated excerpt from the second chapter of Godstorm, with commentary setting the scene and giving a bit of insight into what’s going on in this scene, and what to expect from the novel as a whole. If you like a bit of alternate history with your Fantasy, definitely check this out!

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Behind the Scene: The Blackfire Blade by James Logan

Hello and welcome to this Behind the Scene post here on Track of Words, where today I’m joined by the excellent James Logan for an annotated excerpt from his second novel, The Blackfire Blade – which is published on the 6th November by Arcadia in hardback, audio and ebook. Book two in the Last Legacy series, and sequel to The Silverblood Promise (which was fantastic – and you can read my interview with James about it), this promises to expand the setting of the series beyond what readers have seen before, and that’s very much the focus of this post. I’m always curious to see what writers choose for a Behind the Scene excerpt, and I hope you find this as interesting as I did!

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Behind the Scene: A Broken Blade by Melissa Blair

Hello and welcome to this Behind the Scene post, where today I’m welcoming author Melissa Blair to talk about her fantasy series The Halfling Saga, and in particular the first novel in the series. A Broken Blade is described as a “thrilling high-fantasy BookTok sensation about assassin Keera’s epic quest to bring down a tyrant king”. It’s the first instalment in the Halfling Saga, but intriguingly all four volumes in the series are being published at the same time – and are out now from Arcadia Books! Melissa has very kindly contributed an annotated excerpt from Chapter One of A Broken Blade, introducing the character of Keera and talking us through some of her aims for the chapter, and her decision making around what to include.

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Behind the Scene: Kiss of the Basilisk by Lindsay Straube

Hello and welcome to this Behind the Scene article here on Track of Words, where today I’m joined by author Lindsay Straube with an annotated excerpt of her new novel Kiss of the Basilisk – out now in the UK from Arcadia in hardback, audio and ebook. Now this is something a little different to what I normally cover, a book described as a “five-chilli TikTok monster romance fantasy sensation” and whose press release opens with “THIS BOOK IS NOT SAFE TO READ AT WORK”…but what is life without a little variety, and indeed a little spice? Lindsay has kindly contributed an excerpt from the opening of Kiss of the Basilisk, along with commentary discussing her thought process throughout this scene.

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Behind the Scene: The Briar Book of the Dead by A.G. Slatter

Hello and welcome to this Behind the Scene post where today we’re looking at The Briar Book of the Dead by A.G. Slatter, which is out now from Titan Books. One of the reasons I enjoy these Behind the Scene posts so much is that every author approaches them differently. For this one, Angela has very kindly contributed an annotated excerpt in the shape of the full fourth chapter, with her commentary interspersed throughout, picking out various moments or ideas throughout the chapter and exploring what went into her decision-making for each one. It’s an intriguing insight into Angela’s writing process, and – I think – really sets up what looks like a fascinating story!

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Behind The Scene: Darkside by Michael Mammay

Hello and welcome to this Behind the Scene post with author Michael Mammay, who’s here today to talk about his new novel Darkside – which is out on the 24th September from Harper Voyager. Book four in the Planetside series, albeit also readable as a standalone story, Darkside sounds ideal for anyone who enjoys both pacy, action-packed military SF and high-stakes, thrilling investigations. Michael has kindly contributed an excerpt from the novel alongside commentary on some of the challenges of writing this book!

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Behind the Scene: Exclusive Author Commentary on Fermi’s Progress by Chris Farnell

Hello and thanks for checking out this Behind the Scene post, where today I hope you’ll join me in welcoming author Chris Farnell – author of the Star Trek: Lower Decks Crew Handbook, among other things – who has kindly contributed an excerpt from his four-part science fiction novel Fermi’s Progress, along with an exclusive commentary discussing this scene. When Chris and I started talking about doing this post, it became clear pretty quickly that with a book about a spaceship that blows up every planet it visits, the only possible scene to choose would be the first time this happens! But fun as blowing up planets must be for a writer, there’s a lot that goes into making a scene like this work, and Chris digs into this really well in his commentary about the scene.

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Behind The Scene: Exclusive Author Commentary On The Last Phi Hunter by Salinee Goldenberg

I’m back with another Behind the Scene post here on Track of Words, where I hope you’ll join me in welcoming author Salinee Goldenberg, whose debut novel The Last Phi Hunter is coming out via Angry Robot on the 9th of April 2024! As always with these BTS posts, Salinee has kindly picked out an excerpt from her novel, and written an accompanying commentary, which this time focuses on the cinematic nature of The Last Phi Hunter. Salinee has chosen an excerpt from a couple of chapters into the book, so read on to find out more about this “mythic dark fantasy”, and in particular its central character pairing!

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Behind The Scene: Exclusive Author Commentary on Toxxic by Jane Hennigan

Hello and welcome to this Behind the Scene post here on Track of Words – I’m joined today by Jane Hennigan, with an excerpt from her new science fiction novel Toxxic (out now via Angry Robot) alongside an exclusive commentary on the subject of sequels and narrators. The follow-up to 2023’s Moths – “a thrilling dystopia, in turns heart-breaking and heart-pounding”, Toxxic “extends the world and the story of Moths, exploring the nature of gender roles and feminism through warm characters in difficult circumstances.” It sounds fantastic, and Jane’s commentary offers a fascinating insight into the thought that goes into a book long before an author actually starts writing – really interesting stuff whether you’re a reader, writer or both!

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Behind The Scene: Exclusive Author Commentary on Simul by Andrew Caldecott

Hello and welcome to this Behind the Scene post, in which I’m delighted to present an excerpt from Simul by Andrew Caldecott, accompanied by an exclusive commentary by Andrew himself. Out now from Jo Fletcher Books, Simul is the second volume of the Momenticon duology, following on from 2023’s Momenticon, which has been described as “a perplexing and brilliant story full of literary and artistic rabbit holes and quirky characters.” The idea behind my Behind the Scene series is to ask authors to talk a bit about a scene or a chapter from their book and give an insight into their thought processes as they wrote it. Here Andrew has more than fulfilled that brief, with a fascinating commentary exploring the concept and purpose of Simul’s opening chapter.

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