Welcome! Grand Opening! Fabulous Prize!

Welcome to Diabolical Plots, a nonfiction zine focused on speculative fiction. Our goal is to provide interviews of industry professionals, reviews, con reports, editorials about writing, and anything else that may touch on the realm of science fiction, fantasy, or horror.

Check out our past interviews, with well-known subjects such as Cat Rambo, David Farland, and KD Wentworth. Stay tuned for new content on a regular basis. We have a full interview schedule out to early 2010, including Jordan Lapp, Charles Coleman Finlay and many others.

Also, please note the art at the top of the page, an original by professional illustrator Joey Jordan. That art was made just for Diabolical Plots and she did a splendid job of it if I do say so myself.  That image is part of a larger piece. You can see the whole thing if you click on the “Diabolical Art” tab.  If you want to see more of her work, check out her site. Also, she is the subject of the most recent interview, posted just before this announcement.

Have any ideas for interviewees? Drop us a line. Do you have a con report you’d like us to consider printing (or reprinting)? Just ask–we don’t make it to as many cons as we’d like and we may be able to fit your report in. Questions and comments? We’d love to hear them.

This site is owned and operated by Anthony Sullivan and myself (David Steffen), two writers in the early stages of our careers trying to claw our way up into the professional writing world. We’re pretty nice guys, at least after the first cup of coffee, so if you have questions or comments don’t hesitate to drop us a line.

Now I’ll move on to the important part: the free stuff! Complete a simple series of questions and we’ll enter you in a drawing for a free copy of Writers of the Future XXV, which will be mailed to the winner free of charge. Writers of the Future is one of the most prestigious venues for short story work, and I never cease to be amazed at the quality of the stories I find in it each and every year. You won’t be disappointed.

To enter the drawing, simply answer the following questions and email them directly to . The trivia questions are all right here on this site, so you should be able to find them all with just a bit of effort. Do NOT post the answers publicly or this will result in disqualification (and we’d have to make up new questions, which we’d rather not do). Relatives of Anthony and myself are not eligible. You have one week. You must send your answers by the end of the day on Sunday, September 6th.

Everyone who answers the questions correctly will be entered in the random drawing, probably through the sophisticated randomization algorithm I like to call “names in a hat”.

• Name:
• City, State, Country:
• Where did you hear about Diabolical Plots:
• What sort of content would you like to see on Diabolical Plots?
• Is there any particular interview guest, movie, book, game, or con you would like to see featured?

TRIVIA:

1. Who is the editor of the Shadows of the Emerald City anthology?
2. What story in the August issue of Fantasy and Science Fiction magazine did Anthony review?
3. Who is the hero of “Sweeney Todd”, according to David?
4. What does Anthony believe is the most effective way to improve your writing?
5. What is Joey Jordan’s favorite art medium to work in?
6. David Farland once received a story penned with what unlikely utensil?
7. Name one of David’s fiction stories scheduled to be published.
8. What forum or workshop is credited for earning Anthony both of his Honorable Mentions in the WotF contest?
9. What are the three purposes listed for “beats” while writing dialog?
10. Name one of Anthony’s hobbies, other than writing.