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Home / Desert Nights, Rising Stars Writers Conference / Schedule / 2019 / Conference Schedule Friday, February 22, 2019 / Beyond Genre: Unforgettable Science Fiction with Malik Toms

Conference Schedule 2019

Conference Schedule 2019

Friday, February 22, 2019, 1:45 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.

Beyond Genre: How to Tell Unforgettable Science Fiction Stories with Malik Toms

Date(s): Friday, February 22, 2019, 1:45 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.
Location: Basha, Old Main (view map)
Type(s): Presentation, Workshop
Genre and Form(s): Climate Fiction, Fiction, Genre Fiction, Science Fiction, Short Stories
Tags: Character, Plot

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Meet our Faculty

About the Session

Science fiction, climate fiction and more all represent molds into which we pour our stories. However, genre alone is not what make stories memorable. The heavyweights of genre fiction all know this one secret: You must create characters worth following. In this workshop we will discuss what makes a character story worthy. We will peel back the layers of genre convention and uncover how to place your character in a situation compelling enough to keep the reader turning pages until the end.

Meet the Presenter(s)


Malik Toms

Malik Toms was born and raised in Harlem, New York, and is a 20+ year veteran of the pen and keyboard. He did his undergraduate work in Sociology at Iowa State University, working as a drug rehabilitation counselor before returning to college to pursue a graduate degree in Creative Writing. He published his first short story at the age 18 after two years of "No thanks." Since then he has worked as a freelance author, which is a bit like being a freelance mercenary minus all the bullets and moral ambiguity.

Learn more about Malik Toms