Shadows Beneath: The Writing Excuses Anthology

Brandon Sanderson · Mary Robinette Kowal · Dan Wells · Howard Tayler

Jun 2014 · Sold by Dragonsteel, LLC

About this ebook

From the Hugo Award-winning hosts of the Writing Excuses writing advice show comes a collection of all-new stories of the fantastic, with beautiful illustrations and a behind-the-scenes look at each story’s creation.

Brandon Sanderson’s “Sixth of the Dusk,” set in his Cosmere universe shared by the Mistborn books and the #1 New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive, showcases a society on the brink of technological change. On the deadly island of Patji, where predators can sense the thoughts of their prey, a lone trapper discovers that the island is not the only thing out to kill him.

Mary Robinette Kowal’s “A Fire in the Heavens” is a powerful tale of a refugee seeking to the near-mythical homeland her oppressed people left centuries ago. When Katin discovers the role the “eternal moon” occupies in the Center Kingdom, and the nature of the society under its constant light, she may find enemies and friends in unexpected places.

Dan Wells’s “I.E.Demon” features an Afghanistan field test of a piece of technology that is supposed to handle improvised explosive devices. Or so the engineers have told the EOD team that will be testing it; exactly what it does and how it does it are need-to-know, and the grunts don’t need to know. Until suddenly the need arises.

Howard Tayler’s “An Honest Death” stars the security team for the CEO of a biotech firm about to release the cure for old age. When an intruder appears and then vanishes from the CEO’s office, the bodyguards must discover why he is lying to them about his reason for pressing the panic button.

For years the hosts of Writing Excuses have been offering tips on brainstorming, drafting, workshopping, and revision, and now they offer an exhaustive look at the entire process. Not only does Shadows Beneath have four beautifully illustrated fantastic works of fiction, but it also includes transcripts of brainstorming and workshopping sessions, early drafts of the stories, essays about the stories’ creation, and details of all the edits made between the first and final drafts.

Come for the stories by award-winning authors; stay for the peek behind the creative curtain.

Ratings and reviews

All of the stories were interesting, with good little hooks and fun twists. The meat of the book is all of the drafts, edits, and brainstorming transcripts though. Maybe it's because I'm new to the world of writing (even though I read a lot) but I found that stuff truly fascinating. Makes me want to try and write my own short story.

The stories alone are some of the best I've ever read and leave me begging for more. Besides that, there's the addition of the creative process and a look into the minds of the creators that birthed them!

Loved the behind the scenes look at how their writing processes came together. Each story is fantastic. Especially blown away by Howard Taylor, I thought he just drew funny pictures. He's got some writing chops. Bravo crew!

About the author

Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler are the Hugo Award-winning hosts of the Writing Excuses writing advice show, with dozens of fan-favorite books between them.