Thank you so much to all of this year’s guests for your fantastic essays and making the ninth annual Women in SF&F Month wonderful! And thank you also to everyone who shared about this month’s series—I really appreciate it!
For those of you have may have missed any guest posts from earlier this month, you can browse through all of the Women in SF&F Month 2020 guest posts here, or you can find the individual links below. More information on the ongoing recommendation list project is also below.
2020 Women in SF&F Month Guest Posts
Amayo, Reni K — “Why We Should All Know More About African Mythology”
Onwe Press co-founder and Daughters of Nri author Reni K Amayo wrote about the importance of myths and what we can learn from them.
Brissett, Jennifer Marie — “The Sophomore Book”
Elysium author Jennifer Marie Brissett discussed working on her second novel, Destroyer of Light, and the experience and pressures of writing the sophomore book.
CW from The Quiet Pond
CW shared about her journey as an artist and how it tied into her journey with mental health in the story of how her fantasy-themed book blog, The Quiet Pond, and its first animal caretaker(s) came to be.
Estep, Jennifer
Crown of Shards author Jennifer Estep discussed early influences on her writing, particularly how Leia not becoming a Jedi in the original Star Wars movie trilogy prompted her to write the fantasy stories she wanted to tell.
Ibañez, Isabel
Woven in Moonlight author Isabel Ibañez wrote about her love for the badass warrior girl trend in YA fantasy but also wondered if depictions of other types of strength and multi-talented characters are getting left behind.
Kennedy, Jeffe
Forgotten Empires author Jeffe Kennedy discussed being a writer whose cross-genre work was accepted and published as romance before also being recognized as fantasy—and what surprised her when she started attending SFF conventions.
Kerr, Katharine — “What is Good Prose, Anyway?”
Deverry author Katharine Kerr proposed definitions for what constitutes “good” prose and “bad” prose.
Kirk, Robin — “Science Fiction and Human Rights”
The Bond author Robin Kirk discussed the power science fiction has to inspire and teaching a course on human rights with fiction, interviews, and/or talks by Ursula K. Le Guin, N. K. Jemisin, Octavia E. Butler, Nnedi Okorafor, and more.
Larkwood, A.K.
The Unspoken Name author A.K. Larkwood delved into why she wrote about a non-human protagonist in her debut novel.
Madson, Devin — “Perfectly Shallow Characters”
We Ride the Storm author Devin Madson discussed characters—including what can make them seem to lack depth, Messy Characters who do not conform to social ideals, and what the amazing characters she’s read lately have in common.
Mandanna, Sangu — “Creativity in the Time of Corona”
Celestial Trilogy author Sangu Mandanna shared about the difficulty of holding on to creativity in the midst of a global pandemic and discussed a few things that have helped get her creativity flowing again.
Skrutskie, Emily — “The Badass Mothers of SFF”
Bonds of Brass author Emily Skrutskie wrote about her fondness for badass moms as characters and some of her favorites in science fiction and fantasy.
Stewart, Andrea — “Happily Ever Aftermath”
The Bone Shard Daughter author Andrea Stewart discussed fairy tales and fiction, exploring what happens after a couple gets together, and writing an established relationship between two of the women in her debut epic fantasy novel.
Suvada, Emily — “On Heroes, Horror, and Hope”
This Mortal Coil author Emily Suvada explored the coronavirus pandemic—and the one thing that surprised her about it having authored a series that feels uncomfortably familiar at the moment—stories, community, and hope.
Thakrar, Shveta
Star Daughter author Shveta Thakrar discussed messages in fiction and examining internalized ideas about the path a story must take—and how and why the female friendship in her fantasy debut novel changed after early drafts.
Villoso, K.S.
The Wolf of Oren-Yaro author K.S. Villoso shared how her Chronicles of the Bitch Queen series sprung from the concept that Queen Talyien was a badass—and how being a badass went beyond her skill with a sword.
The Reader-Recommended SFF Books by Women Project
Although there are no more guest posts for this year’s series and April is nearly over (how did that happen?!), the recommendations list will remain open for new submissions for at least a little while.
The recommendations list began when Renay of Lady Business first asked for recommendations of favorite science fiction and fantasy books by women in 2013, and the list has continued to grow as new recommendations have been submitted every year since. It now has 2,710 titles with the most recommended book having been submitted 58 times.
If you would like to add some SFF books by women that you loved, you can add up to 10 here. Or, if you have already added some favorites in the past, you can limit your entries to 10 SFF books by women that you read in the last year.
For more background on the origins of Women in SF&F Month, my introduction post for this year’s series discusses how it began in 2012 and why it ended up being an April event.
Thank you for reading!
