Writers of the Future Podcast
Providing writing and illustrating tips and advice from Contest Judges, Winners and industry professionals for writers and artists, along with needed inspiration to keep on going! Based on the world-famous Writers of the Future Contest created in 1983 by L. Ron Hubbard.
Episodes
August 29, 2025 • 59 mins
How do you weave short stories into a cohesive novel? In this episode, we’re thrilled to welcome back award-winning author Martin L. Shoemaker, a “Writers of the Future Volume 31” winner, to discuss his latest novel, “A Fine and Dangerous Season.”
Martin shares his unique process of transforming a series of short stories, all written in October 2023, into a gripping, interconnected narrative. From his early success with “Unrefined...
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August 22, 2025 • 63 mins
Join us as Nev March, the first Indian-born winner of the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America Award for a First Crime Novel and 2024 NY Chapter chair, shares her journey into murder mystery. A departure from our usual SF&F, we explore new genres, as top authors recommend reading broadly.
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August 15, 2025 • 62 mins
Lydia Sherrer is a USA Today bestselling author and has published multiple novels, including “Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus,” a delightful urban fantasy with snarky humor. In this episode, we discuss writing urban fantasy fiction and how to add a bit of snark to make it even better.
Learn more at www.lydiasherrer.com.
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August 8, 2025 • 57 mins
Nicole “N. V.” Haskell was a Writers of the Future winner in Volume 38 with her fantasy short story, “The Mystical Farrago.” Her recent novel, “The Malice of Moons and Mages,” is an epic fantasy novel, first in a series, where Nicole creates a world filled with magic but with special rules and laws. In this episode, we discuss how to world-build a magical realm and the importance of staying true to the system you have created.
We ...
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August 1, 2025 • 61 mins
Laurence O’Bryan is an author and the Founder of the International Dublin Writers’ Festival and BooksGoSocial. In this episode, we discuss how BooksGoSocial provides personalized book promotion with expert feedback, Amazon ad optimization, and extensive social media reach to boost sales. Galaxy Press uses this service, and we want to make this known to other creatives who want to realize more success in book sales.
Learn more at b...
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July 25, 2025 • 59 mins
Django Degree is the founder and CEO of Focus on Words, a book platform that gives authors full ownership of their work, royalties, and audience. He’s also the author of “I Hope You Wake Up” and “They Lied To You,” books that dive deep into truth, identity, and how we break free from the systems that shape us.
His mission is clear: help authors reclaim their voice, rebuild broken systems, and eventually use the success of that wor...
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Craig Martelle is an international bestselling author of thrillers and science fiction. His nonfiction book, Wit and Wisdom, provides incredible advice to authors. His first podcast interview was based on his thriller Ian Bragg Series. This interview is built around his book—a must-read for writers wishing to improve their game.
He founded IASFA (Independent Association of Science Fiction & Fantasy Authors), which we also discuss ...
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July 11, 2025 • 59 mins
Brittany “Bea” Jackson illustrated the New York Times bestselling picture books, “Parker Looks Up,” about America’s First Lady, and LeBron James’s “We Are Family,” and her own “Lilly’s Dream,” which she both wrote and illustrated.
She is a former grand prize winner of the Illustrators of the Future Contest and was published in “L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 24.” She has been a judge since 2021.
We discuss h...
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July 4, 2025 • 63 mins
Tom Wood is a fantasy art illustrator among the best-selling poster artists in the US and Canada.
We met at the Dragon Con in Atlanta 10 years ago, where he exhibited at a booth next to ours. We became friends, then great friends. We also appreciated his desire to help other artists. We invited him and he has been an Illustrators of the Future judge since 2021.
In “Writers of the Future Volume 41,” he wrote an article titled “A...
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June 27, 2025 • 60 mins
Robert J. Sawyer entered Writers of the Future and won three Honorable Mentions before disqualifying himself by selling professionally. We met 20 years ago at Torcon III, where he won his first Hugo award. The following year, he was invited to Hollywood to attend the Gala and subsequently invited to be a judge. He agreed and has been a judge for 20 years as of this interview.
Find him at https://www.sfwriter.com/
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June 20, 2025 • 59 mins
Tim Powers is a three-time World Fantasy Award winner and Writers of the Future Contest judge and instructor. In this podcast, we discuss why fantasy has to be believable...and how to make that happen!
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June 14, 2025 • 62 mins
Sean Williams was a Writers of the Future winner in 1992 and published in Volume 9. He became a judge in 2003. He is a NYT bestselling author of 60 books and over 120 short stories for adults, young adults, and children.
Sean wrote the cover story based on Craig Elliot’s cover art for “L. Ron Hubbard Presents Volume 41” titled “Under False Colours.”
In this episode, we discuss his journey as a writer, which is an inspiration in and...
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June 6, 2025 • 59 mins
Four Illustrators of the Future winners: CL Fors, illustrator of "A World of Repetitions"; Tremani Sutcliffe, illustrator of "Ascii"; Breanda Petsch, illustrator of "Karma Birds"; and Daniel Montifar, illustrator of "The Boy from Elsewhen."
We discuss their journeys as artists, Illustrator Workshop week, illustration, and the Illustrators of the Future Forum. Sign up on the forum at https://writersofthefuture.com/forum/.
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These eight winners from year 41 at the Writers & Illustrators of the Future workshop and awards gala: Seth Atwater, Jr., author of "A World of Repetitions," Jefferson Snow, author of "The Rune Witch," Joel C. Scoberg, author of "The Stench of Freedom," Sandra Skalski, author of "Slip Stone," T.R. Naus, author of "Storm Damage," Haileigh Enriquez, illustrator of "Storm Damage" and "Slip Stone," HeatherAnne Lee, illustrator of "Cod...
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These four winners from year 41 at the Writers & Illustrators of the Future workshop and awards gala: David Hoffrichter, illustrator of "The Rune Witch"; Lauren McGuire, author of "Karma Birds"; Barlow Crassmont, author of "The Boy from Elsewhen"; and, Patrick MacPhee, author of "Thirty Minutes or It's a Paradox."
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May 16, 2025 • 60 mins
These four winners from year 41 at the Writers & Illustrators of the Future workshop and awards gala: Robert Lowell, author of "Kill Switch"; Jordan Smajstrla, illustrator of "Kill Switch"; CL "Cherrie" Fors, illustrator of "A World of Repetitions"; Ian Keith, author of "Blackbird Stone."
We discuss their journey as creative individuals and what makes the workshop so special for them and what Writers and Illustrators of the Futur...
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Jonathan Merkh is the President and Publisher at Forefront Books. Andrea Fleck-Nesbit, president of the Independent Book Publishers Association and a previous podcast guest, introduced Merkh to the host.
Merkh previously served as vice president and publisher at Thomas Nelson Publishers, led Howard Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, and Guidepost. Jonathan has published nearly 100 New York Times bestsellers. In 2023, Publishe...
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May 2, 2025 • 54 mins
Isaac Stewart, once an independent author and artist, now serves as the Vice President of Creative Development at Dragonsteel Entertainment. Isaac designed and illustrated the interior art for Brandon Sanderson’s “The Way of Kings,” including the Alethi Women’s script, maps, Shallan’s and Navani’s notebook pages, and additional artwork. He also created the interior art for the Mistborn series, featuring the Steel alphabet, maps, an...
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Today’s guests are Jim, Tamra, and Taylor Meskimen along with Kirby Heyborne. The Meskimens were recorded in a studio in Los Angeles while Kirby was from his home in Utah. This episode discusses creating the Writers of the Future Volume 41 audiobook.
Jim is an actor, comedian, and impressionist best known for his voice-over work in video games. His IMDB page has over 330 entries, some of which include Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Thun...
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April 19, 2025 • 58 mins
On the evening of Thursday, April 10, 2025 at the 41st Annual Writers of the Future and the 36th Annual Illustrators of the Future L. Ron Hubbard Achievement Awards Gala in the genres of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Randyn C. J. Bartholomew from Brooklyn, NY was named the 2025 Grand Prize Writer Winner and Jordan Smajstrla of Boerne, TX was named the 2025 Grand Prize Illustrator Winner.
Randyn C. J. Bartholomew said, “This is a d...
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