LAURA DIEHL: Laura Diehl was an Illustrators of the Future winner for volume 20 and has been busy working as a professional illustrator since.

What am I doing these days?

Lots! I've been really working on the business side of illustration as of late. I'm now officially Laura Diehl Illustration, registered with all the applicable local people (clerk of the court, my town). I've most recently been working on another website redesign, and, of course, that huge post-card promo took a while to get together.

What's new?

Since I graduated with my Bachelor of Fine Arts (almost a year ago, hard to believe!), I've been working primarily with small presses and self-published authors creating cover artwork for Fantasy and Sci-Fi books. I am also hard at work on a fantasy picture book, writing and illustrating my own story. We'll see where that goes!

What's been published?

Here's the list of what I've done from last January to present (to make things easier all of my images have titles that correspond to their applicable books):

- Dragon Moon Press , Alberta, Canada - Book Cover for Too Many Princes (2007) [small press]
- Danny Kelly , Glendora, CA - Book Cover for Book of Angels: The Fall (2007) [to be published]
- Luna Brillante Publications , Yosemite, FL - Book Cover for Just Like A Fairy Tale (2006) [small press]
- Destifire Entertainment , Northampton, PA - Book Cover for Time Warriors 4 (2006) [self-publishing author]
- Sfxfantasy, Singapore - Book Covers for: Dark Warriors, Lost in Another Realm, Warrior Girl, and A Warrior's Death (2006) [self-publishing author]
- Zumaya Publications , Austin, TX - Book Cover for A Knight's Wish (2006) [small press]
- Continuum New York, New York, NY - Book Cover for Phillip Pullman: Master
Storyteller (2006) [larger academic press]

I'm currently reading the manuscript for a story called Small Magics, to be published by Dragon Moon Press.
—Best, Laura
Laura Diehl Illustration

STEVEN SAVILE: Steven Savile (Writers of the Future Vol. XIX) has had incredible success since winning the contest. Here is what the Writers of the Future Contest has done for him.

The last few years since winning in Writers of the Future XIX have been something of a whirlwind for me.

Immediately after the workshop with Tim Powers and K.D. Wentworth I came home to Sweden and sold an adaptation of my story Bury My Heart at the Garrick (Houdini's Last Illusion) and a collection of my older short stories, Angel Road, in the UK.

Six months later my debut novel Skrattande Pojkens Skugga came out in my native Sweden. It was an addictive experience, actually. I was even 'recognized' in the hairdressers (ironic considering I have none) and a few other places thanks to appearances on morning TV and the headline 'Sweden's Scariest Teacher' in the premier broadsheet.

Things really started getting interesting two years ago when I turned full-time as a writer, selling three dark fantasy novels, Inheritance, Dominion and Retribution to Games Workshop's Black Library imprint in the UK, as well as two more novels, this time Celtic fantasy, Slaine the Exile and Slaine the Defiler to their sister imprint Black Flame.

I wrote three quarters of a million words in a fifteen month period. This from a man who managed about the same amount in fifteen years before that.

In between writing the books I co-edited Elemental, with Alethea Kontis, for Tor Books in the US. All proceeds raised from the sales of the anthology go to Save the Children to raise money to provide schooling and essential counselling services for victims of the Southeast Asian Tsunami.

More recently I have edited two more anthologies, one on behalf of the Dr. Who franchise for Big Finish/BBC, Destination Prague, which is due next month I believe, and one for a small press in the US, Empire of London, which is an alternate history anthology by some of the brightest talents in the UK right now.

2006 saw me trying something different, a quarterly serial, Temple, in the newsstand magazine Apex Digest, which wrapped up last month to pleasing reviews.

I've been hired to write a band promo, sold a series of YA horror novels, joined the John Jarrold Literary Agency, written for Dr. Who, have just sold a non-fiction book about the influence of Cult Television and am currently collaborating on a novel with New York Times bestselling novelist Stel Pavlou.

Next month, my first ever limited edition hardcover, the English Language edition of Skrattande Pojkens Skugga (Laughing Boy's Shadow) is released, for oodles of cash but it does look very pretty, and there will only be 100 of the hardcovers and 200 paperbacks making it something of a collectors piece.

I write, on average, 4,000 words a day, be these fiction or proposals for new TV related projects, books, anthologies or what have you.

Sometimes I even try to lead a normal kind of life...
—Steven Savile

SCOTT NICHOLSON: Scott Nicholson comments on life after having his winning story published in Writers of the Future XV. He has done incredibly well since winning the contest back in 1999. You can find out all about Scott at www.HauntedComputer.com.

My career has been thriving since I was a Writers of the Future winner in 1999, having been a published finalist the year before. Those early sales were not only important to my confidence as a writer, but I also made some personal contacts that I still maintain, and I've watched some of my "classmates" also publish books.

Two years after winning the contest, I had my first supernatural novel accepted. My sixth novel, They Hunger, will be published in April. I've also sold about 50 professional stories in science fiction, fantasy, and horror since winning the contest, and recently had a story accepted for The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror.

The benefits of the contest were also intangible and continue to be rewarding. At the moment, I am working on an anthology for the Horror Writers Association with bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson, whom I first met at the Writers of the Future workshop and who has been very helpful over the years. I consider myself not only a fortunate to have been selected from among the many talented new writers in the field, but I also feel like I'm part of a great fellowship that extends back into the contest's past and on into the future.

The contest is not just about great fiction; it's about great people who share a belief that it's okay to dream.

—Scott Nicholson

LAWRENCE SCHLIESSMAN: Lawrence Schliessman won the Writers of the Future contest and published his story "Cancilleri's Law" under the pen name Gabriel F.W. Koch.

As a bookstore owner and a writer, I am very aware of how difficult it can be for a new author to get that first important break.

Through research, I learned that L. Ron Hubbard started the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future contest in 1984 as a vehicle to assist new and aspiring writers enter the world of successfully published authors.

Of course writing skill is required as is persistence. I entered five times over the years. Each time, I entered without great expectations and was surprised that I was one of the 2003 winners, and astonished at how hard the people at Galaxy Press worked to promote my work thereafter.

This contest is a must for anyone, writer or illustrator, who loves working creatively in Science Fiction. —Lawrence Schliessman