What makes fantasy different from other types of fiction? How do you build a science fiction world? Does magic need rules? From outer space to cyberspace, from The Lord of the Rings to Harry Potter, fantasy and science fiction are more popular with readers than ever before, and offer a unique set of challenges to the writer.

This writer's guide explains how to write short stories and horror fiction for children and adults. The author shows how to build on the inital idea and develop characters and plot. There are ideas for selecting and approaching publishers and information about contracts and publication.

Popular fiction includes romance, thrillers and fantasy but this is a guide to writing any kind of fiction. It is a guide to starting out, avoiding pitfalls and getting published and includes discussion of ideas, research, style, dialogue and construction in writing.

Follows a woman's Herculean struggle against the curse of infertility. The woman's barrenness becomes a metaphor for her marriage in a traditional society that denies women sexual or social equality. Her desperate desire for a child drives her to commit a terrible crime.