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Last Updated:
March 9, 2008 0:57 AM

Hello, my friends... come and look through a few of the pieces of my work that I've put up, as well as other resources for aspiring writers. Most of the material is oriented toward science fiction and fantasy, though there are some good general references as well.

LEGAL STUFF: All of this stuff that's contained on my site is written by me, unless denoted as a quotation in which case the source is cited.. As such, it is my copyrighted intellectual property. If you really like it and would like to copy it for some reason, then e-mail me and allow me the opportunity to give you permission.

Original Work

Fiction

Non-Fiction

Short Stories

  • "Diminished Capacity"
    Originally written and workshopped at the Banff Centre for the Arts' "Writing With Style" workshop in September 2005, this story made its appearance in the online magazine Abyss & Apex, where it is still available.
  • "Abraham Lincoln's Children"
    Abraham Lincoln is an entomologist with some family issues in this heartwarming, or heartchilling, tale of a man who loves his work ... perhaps a bit too much.
  • "Ascension"
    First tale in my Kingdom of Lakes fantasy setting. The King is dead, the Prince is dead, and now the Bastard son is moving in to take over the faery kingdom surrounding Detroit, MI.
  • About.com Physics
    Find out the latest in physics news and research as well as exploring
  • Heresy Today, Law Tomorrow
    A column on scientific theories that the scientific establishment would like to see removed ... most of which probably should be.
  • Author Overview:
    Robert J. Sawyer     (w/ interview)

  • Essays - The High School Years
    (coming sometime)

Poetry

Writing Resources

General Writing Links

Science Fiction Writing Links

Author Links

Speculative Fiction Magazine Links

Print Magazines:

 

Online Magazines:

Books for Writers

The Writer's Complete Fantasy Reference
by Writer's Digest Books editors
Offers details about the mythological basis of fantasy, including high fantasy races, styles of magic and religion, and non-Western cultural descriptions. In addition, the book gives an overview of the historical feudal system upon which the majority of fantasy stories are based.
 
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Science Fiction
by Cory Doctorow/Karl Schroeder
This book includes phenomenal detail, describing all aspects of science fiction, including: manuscript format, market information, the history and sub-genres of science fiction and fantasy literature, e-publishing, and a score of other useful information.
 
Writing Horror
by Edo van Belkom
I bought this book at Eeriecon III because I met the author and he seemed a witty fellow. An autographed copy of an early book on writing would be worth a lot of money if he became a King-level legend in the field. Little did I expect it to have so much truly useful information. The analysis of story structure, pacing, characterization, and other elements of the writing craft is great for anyone interested in writing. He is also the author of Writing Erotica, but I haven't read it so can't recommend it specifically.
 
Science Fiction Writing Series
edited by Ben Bova
This series includes books written by experts in science and science fiction, detailing the knowledge that a writer needs in order to deal with the technical aspects of science fiction. The series includes Space Travel, Time Travel, Aliens & Alien Societies, and World-Building (this last one is on back order at the time I put it up here).
 
Howdunit: How Crimes Are Committed and Solved
edited by John Boertlein
This book knocked my socks off. It covers everything from police procedures to criminal methodology to forensic psychology to truly bizarre crimes that are actually committed. Many, if not all, of the articles are written by actual police officers (leading to some very amusing anecdotes about their time on the force). This is a must have for anyone interested in writing any story that involves cops, criminals, or crime.
SEARCH FOR OTHER HOWDUNIT BOOKS!

 

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
by Stephen King
I was extremely impressed with this book. It begins with an overview of King's life, told in a series of anecdotes of some of the influences in his life that led to him becoming a writer. His early career, of occasional successes and failures at getting into print, is detailed in such a way to give hope to the aspiring author. It also details a wide range of advice on writing specifically - from getting an agent to linguistic & grammatical concerns to methods of revision. All of it is the advice of just one man... but it's a man whose advice is very welcome.
 
Creating Short Fiction
by Damon Knight
This was recommended to me by someone in my Critters online critique group. I've got to say that I'm glad I read it. It's a very well thought out overview of writing short fiction, with an emphasis on working with very specific concepts as you need them. The exercises in the book are extremely useful for sparking ideas, getting over slumps, or dealing with a problem in moving the story along.
 
The Criminal Mind: A Writer's Guide to Forensic Psychology
by
Katherine Ramsland
This was recommended to me by someone in my Critters online critique group. I've got to say that I'm glad I read it. It's a very well thought out overview of writing short fiction, with an emphasis on working with very specific concepts as you need them. The exercises in the book are extremely useful for sparking ideas, getting over slumps, or dealing with a problem in moving the story along.

Comic Writing

Understanding Comics and Reinventing Comics
by Scott McCloud
Scott McCloud's books on comics are some of the best out there. Written in comic format -- pictures, frames, dialogue bubbles, etc. -- he is able to really demonstrate the aspects of comic style that he talks about. In Understanding Comics, he focuses primarily on the fundamental storytelling aspects of comics. In Reinventing Comics, he spends a lot of time refining points brought out in the earlier book and expanding on how the digital age can help comics come into their own. McCloud both writes and draws his own comics, so some of his advice isn't as helpful for those who just want to write them, but they're still good for an understanding of the medium. Further information -- as well as Scott's own attempts at online comics -- can be found at www.scottmccloud.com
The Writer's Guide to the Business of Comics
by Lurene Haines
A very down-to-earth guide on how the business of comics works for writers. It includes information on submitting proposals to different publishers, as well as guidelines that the main comic publishers use. This book, more than any other, focuses on the mechanics of becoming a comic author.
The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics
by Dennis O'Neil
A thorough look at the business of comic book writing, from the conception of a story to the writing of a detailed and professional script, written by one of the greats in the field, editor of the Batman franchise for DC comics.
Comics & Sequential Arts
by Will Eisner
Eisner (author of the Spirit comics series) is a legend in the field of graphic storytelling. Here he takes the opportunity to lay out the art of storytelling in a graphic medium. A wonderful read, you finish it with a real appreciation of what can be accomplished. Covering everything from artistry to scripting to basic elements of a plot, this book is very useful.
How to Create Action, Fantasy & Adventure Comics
by Tom Alvarez
A good overview of the process of creating comic books, both individual stories and whole series.
 

Everyday Life

The "Everyday Life" series has proven very useful, giving in-depth information about a diverse range of historical periods. If you're considering setting your story sometime in the past, I highly recommend these books. There are several incarnations of this series, some under the guise of "The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life" and "Everyday Life in America" and other such things.

See AZJones' work at:

Google

AZJ Essay Appears in
Pink Floyd and Philosophy

My essay, "Exploring the Dark Side of the Rainbow," is out in
Pink Floyd and Philosophy
from Open Court Books'
Pop Culture and Philosophy series.
. In the essay, I explore the mysterious connection between
Dark Side of the Moon
and the classic film
The Wizard of Oz.

Don't know the connection?
Check out the book!

"Diminished Capacity"
available online at
Abyss & Apex magazine.

Other stories available in these anthologies:
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