David Drake’s fiction has always been dark. His combat experiences in Vietnam made his fiction even darker and, in many ways, more honest and more horrifying. Earlier this summer Night Shade Books released the paperback edition of a collection of Drake’s “weird and fantastic” stories, Balefires.

The collection is rich with generous commentary from the author and a variety of fantasy, science fiction and horror stories. Shortly after the hardback release, Mr. Drake and I discussed writing and his experiences in Vietnam for an interview that ran in The New York Review of Science Fiction. What follows grew out of that larger conversation.

Interview by Jeremy Jones

Editor James Lowder shaped Worlds of Their Own around a very simple premise: you might know the writers featured in the anthology for their franchise fiction (such as Forgotten Realms or Warhammer Fantasy), but just you wait until you read fiction set in their own worlds.

“The stories presented herein take place, as the book’s title suggests, in worlds created and controlled by the participating writers,” Lowder says in his introduction to Worlds of Their Own. “[The writers] applied their passion and their skill, and told the fantasy and SF adventure tales they wanted to tell. Sometimes their style or theme dovetails nicely with the author’s franchise work. Other times there are surprising departures. But the stories all depict worlds for which the original author has final say, a fact that places the burden for each work’s success or failure squarely on the shoulders of that author.”

Flames Rising Project Manager, Monica Valentinelli, was delighted when Tad Williams agreed to an interview for Flames Rising. This interview gave Monica the chance to ask Tad “the” burning questions she’s always wondered about. Monica has reviewed a few of Tad William’s books for Flames, you can read her Shadowplay review and her War of the Flowers Review.

Tad Williams opens up about his writing style, favorite villains, and his new young adult fantasy series co-authored with Deborah Beale. So sit back and read along about veteran science fiction and fantasy writer Tad Williams, in this engaging interview.

USA Today bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn writes the Otherworld/Sisters of the Moon Series for Berkley (Witchling, Changeling, Darkling, etc.). In the past, she wrote the paranormal Chintz ‘n China Mystery Series, the Bath & Beauty Mystery Series (the latter written as India Ink) and eight nonfiction metaphysical books. With Darkling, she hit the extended NYT bestseller’s list.

Yasmine has been in the Craft for over 28 years, is a shamanic witch, and describes her life as a blend of teacups and tattoos. She lives in Bellevue WA with her husband Samwise and their four cats.

In this interview, we sit down with Yasmine to talk about her success on bestseller list, how her nonfiction work has influenced her writing, and her involvement with an online auction, created by writer Brenda Novak, to raise funds to find a cure for diabetes.

Paul S. Kemp lives in Michigan with his wife and preschool-aged twin sons. He is a corporate lawyer, which makes him lawful evil. He salves the pangs of conscience that arise from his career choice by imbibing ample amounts of Diet Dew and enshrouding himself in the sense-dulling smoke of Te Amo and Dunhill cigars.

He is the creator of the assassin-priest Erevis Cale and writes primarily in the Forgotten Realms setting from Wizards of the Coast (this makes him a shared world hack, true; but that’s MISTER Shared World Hack to you, bub)…

Whether you have tried to publish one piece of fiction or 100, chances are you visited Ralan.com’s SpecFic and Humor Webstravaganza for better listings of publishers than the Writer’s Market has to offer. In this interview, we hear from Ralan himself about his work and the thoughts behind offering free information for all writers to access.

If you’re not familiar with the site, Ralan does offer this invaluable information for free and survives off of donations and the kindness of others. This massive source of publishers, webzines and contests features everything from Weird Tales to Ralan’s Flash Fiction Contest. So sit back and hear from the man behind Ralan.com about his fiction, freelancing and other projects.

Eve of the Dead, a zombie novel by Nathan Tucker, combines the vision of Romero’s post-apocalyptic world with the break-neck pace and action of pulp zombie fiction at its finest to create a story that will leave you begging for more.

I recently had the chance to have short conversation with Nathan about writing Eve of the Dead and the challenges of getting from the idea stage to the final product. I didn’t want to reveal too many spoilers, so this interview is mostly about Nathan’s writing style in regards to the book.

As an editor and author, James tells us about his work on Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, All Flesh Must Be Eaten and other projects.