Books set in worlds we see on screen. Short stories and audio content featuring characters we've loved elsewhere. The world of media tie-ins is a nebulous but exciting corner of the publishing world, but how does one get a foot in the door, and what can one expect once inside?
Join our panel of esteemed authors who have all worked on tie-in content for film and TV franchises, video games, and comic book series; hear them talk about their experience getting into the field, how they navigated the fun aspects and challenges of writing for licenced IPs, and bring your questions along for a fun and insightful discussion on a career path not frequently travelled.
Our panelists:
- Elsa Sjunneson-Henry (Marvel's Jessica Jones: Playing with Fire for Serial Box)
- Mike Brooks (Black Library/Warhammer 40k novels)
- Alex White (Alien franchise novels, Star Trek DS9 novel)
- Una McCormack (Star Trek novels)
- Mur Lafferty (Minecraft novels; Star Wars' Solo novelisation)
Part of the 2021 Spectrum Writers London special event series.
Hugo, Aurora and BFA award winning editor and author Elsa Sjunneson is a Deafblind hurricane in a vintage dress. Her work has appeared on metro.co.uk, CNN Opinion, The Boston Globe and many other venues, as well as being part of the writing team behind Serial Box Presents Marvel's Jessica Jones: Playing with Fire. Her memoir Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman's Fight to End Ableism releases in October of 2021.
Mike Brooks is the author of The God-King Chronicles epic fantasy series, the Keiko series of grimy space-opera novels, and various works for Games Workshop’s Black Library imprint. He worked in the homelessness sector for fifteen years before going full-time as an author, plays guitar and sings in a punk band, and DJs wherever anyone will tolerate him. He is queer, and partially deaf (no, that occurred naturally, and a long time before the punk band).
Alex White was born in Mississippi and has lived most of their life in the American South. Alex is the author of The Salvagers Trilogy, as well as official novels for Alien (THE COLD FORGE, INTO CHARYBDIS) and Star Trek (DS9 REVENANT). They enjoy music composition, calligraphy, and challenging, subversive fiction.
Dr Una McCormack is a New York Times bestselling science fiction author. She is passionate about women’s writing, science fiction, and helping people find their words and voices. Her latest release, the Star Trek: Picard novel The Last Best Hope, became a USA Today bestseller.
Mur Lafferty is the author of the novelisation of Solo: A Star Wars Story, as well as the Hugo and Nebula nominated novel Six Wakes, The Shambling Guides series, and several self pubbed novels and novellas, including the award winning Afterlife series. She is the host of the Hugo-winning podcast Ditch Diggers, and the long-running I Should Be Writing. She is the recipient of the John Campbell (now 'Astounding') Award for best new writer, the Manly Wade Wellman Award, the Best Fancast Hugo Award, and joined the Podcast Hall of Fame in 2015, its inaugural year.
Tickets available through Eventbrite. Proceeds will go towards reimbursing our speakers with an honorarium, and covering the running costs of the Spectrum London Writers Group.
