Release Date 24 March 2026
Available in paperback and digital (through all major retailers).
The Locus Recommended and British Science Fiction Association and British Fantasy Society Awards
Shortlisted Series!
Join Tiffani Angus (Ph.D.) and Val Nolan (Ph.D.) as they share their years of classroom experience in this third stand-alone volume of the Spec Fic for Newbies writing guide series.
Learn about writing Superheroes, Fungal Horror, Terraforming Tales, Magical Realism, Elves, Shapeshifters, Swashbuckling Fantasy, Mad Scientists, and many more subgenres and major tropes across Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror! Take nerdy deep dives into each subgenre’s history, access spotter’s guides of their typical elements, familiarise yourself with pitfalls to beware of, and then tackle imaginative—and sometimes kinda weird!—activities to help you get started.
Are you ready to take your creativity to lightspeed?
Praise for Spec Fic for Newbies
“The sections are compact, clearly explained and well laid out, and really help my students understand the basics as well as giving them more detail as needed. The examples throughout are particularly good for this as they recommend reading, movies, and TV series which they can quickly access…”
– Esther MacCallum-Stewart, Professor of Games Studies, University of Staffordshire
“There are other studies of genre fiction on the market, and other writing guides, but there is no book combining the two in quite this way or breaking down genres and tropes in similarly concise but granular detail…”
– Interzone
Spec Fic for Newbies vol 3
Space Academies
Superheroes
Terraforming Tales
Mad Scientists
Space Westerns
SF Procedurals
Meta SF
Spy-Fi
Searches for God in Space
End of the Universe
Dinosaur Tales
Archaeologist Stories
Hollow Earth
Elves
Magic Schools and Dark Academia
Wizards and Sorcerers
Magical Realism
Anthropomorphic Fantasy
Fantasy of Manners
Swashbuckling Fantasy
Weird Fiction
Urban Gothic
Shapeshifters
Birthing Monsters
Alien Abductions
Fungal Horror
Bugs!!!
Kaiju
Deals with the Devil
Near Death Experiences
Spec Fic for Newbies Vol 3
"While the newbies of the title will bewell catered for, there is plenty here formore experienced writers, especially ifthey are looking to venture into asubgenre new to them. Also, the book has a lot to offer non-writers as it willcertainly add to their reading list. There is surely scope for at least a third volume." Gary Couzens for Parsec 12
"... volume I was interesting and fun and useful for newbies and more experienced writers alike, and the latest volume, SpecFic for Newbies II continues in this vein... Spec Fic For Newbies III is in the works; if it is anything likeas enjoyable as the first twovolumes, it will be one to lookforward to."
Alexander Glass for Interzone 303
Praise for Volume 1:
Locus Recommended Reading List 2023
BSFA for Best Non-Fiction, Shortlist 2024
"There are other studies of genre fiction on the market, and other writing guides, but there is no book combining the two in quite this way, or breaking down genres and tropes in similarly concise but granular detail." Interzone Digital
