I’m Kevin. I Write Speculative Fiction, and I Help Other Writers Do the Same.
I didn’t set out to teach writing. I set out to finish a novel.
That took five years, two professional appraisals, three rounds of copy editing, and more abandoned drafts than I care to count. The novel was Lightmaker, and by the time it was done I’d lost most of my hair and gained an unhealthy dependence on tea.
But somewhere in those five years, I started to notice something. I was surrounded by brilliant writers. People with extraordinary ideas, worlds nobody had imagined, characters that deserved to exist. And most of those brilliant writers were stuck.
Not because of talent. Never because of talent.
They were stuck because the craft skills they needed, the specific, practical knowledge of how speculative fiction actually works, were scattered across a hundred different books. And almost none of those books were written for science fiction and fantasy.
I kept hearing the same struggles. In critique groups, in workshops, at conventions. Year after year, writer after writer. Worldbuilding that swamped the story. Characters who existed only to explain the magic system. Action scenes that confused the reader. And a quiet frustration that generic writing advice didn’t fit the worlds they were building.
So I started figuring out what actually worked. And I started sharing it.
What I Bring to Your Writing
I’ve been writing and teaching speculative fiction for fifteen years. Here’s what that means for you.
I’m still in the trenches. I’m not someone who wrote a novel fifteen years ago and now only teaches. I’m deep into Lightmaker‘s sequel right now, and it’s teaching me things the first book couldn’t. Every guide I write comes from problems I’m actively solving in my own work. When I tell you something is hard, it’s because I wrestled with it last Tuesday. When I suggest a potential solution, it’s because I’ve seen it work.
I’ve worked with hundreds of SFF writers. Through workshops, critique groups, and one-on-one feedback. I’ve seen what trips people up, I’ve seen what unlocks their work, and I’ve learnt to spot the difference between a story problem and a confidence problem. They need very different solutions.
I’ve spoken at WorldCon, FantasyCon, and EasterCon. On storytelling in virtual reality games, on developing a unique writer’s voice, and on writing disability in science fiction and fantasy. I love the speculative fiction community, and I’ve been part of it for a long time.
I teach for your genre, not around it. Most writing advice was built for realistic fiction. Write what you know. Stay grounded. Avoid the fantastical. That’s fine if you’re writing a coming-of-age novel set in suburbia. It’s useless if you’re building a civilisation inside a dying star. Science fiction and fantasy have their own rules, their own challenges, and their own ways of going wrong. Everything I teach is built for the worlds you’re actually creating.
How I Can Help
The Guides
I’ve distilled fifteen years of trial and error into a series of short, practical guides called the Writer’s Secret Toolkit series. Each one tackles a specific craft challenge and gives you the tools to overcome it.
The Character Breakthrough helps you build characters with genuine depth; those contradictions, desires, and flaws that drive your story forward. You’ll finish it with 6 to 8 foundation scenes and a character who feels real enough to push back against your plans.
The Worldbuilder Workout gives you a structured system for building your world in five foundation documents. You’ll end up with 1,500 words of focused worldbuilding that serves your story rather than smothering it. A few hours of work, and your world will feel lived-in.
The Battle Blueprint walks you through writing clear, character-driven action scenes. If your fights look vivid in your head but turn into mush on the page, this is the guide that fixes it.
AI-Proof Your Story shows you how to make your prose unmistakably human. Eight practical techniques you can read at breakfast and apply to a scene by lunch.
These aren’t theory. They’re exercises, worked examples, and diagnostic tools you can use on your draft tonight. I built them to be the guides I wished had existed when I started.
The Full Course
The guides tackle specific problems. The full Writer’s Secret Toolkit course tackles everything else.
It’s a complete, structured journey through the craft of speculative fiction. Characters, plot, worldbuilding, voice, dialogue, action, and the business of getting your work into the world. It’s coming soon, and if you’d like early access, the best way to hear about it first is to join my mailing list.
My Published Work
If you want to see these principles in action, you can read my work directly.
Lightmaker is a speculative fiction novel set inside what looks like an underground habitat (but which is actually a lot more). It follows a thirteen-year-old protagonist named Phos, a born scientist in a world where curiosity is punished. If you’ve ever felt the pull of a setting that doesn’t quite behave like any world you’ve read before, I think you’ll enjoy it.
I’ve also published a short story collection, Go When the Light Turns Red, which the Sci-Fi and Fantasy Reviewer described as deeply compelling and darkly humorous.
Reading another writer’s work is one of the best ways to decide whether you trust their advice. I’d rather you judged me on my fiction than on my sales page.
What You Won’t Find Here
You won’t find me pretending I’ve got all the answers. I don’t. I’m still learning, and my sequel is proving that on a daily basis.
You won’t find generic advice repackaged for science fiction. Everything here was built from the ground up for writers who are creating worlds that don’t exist yet.
And you won’t find me talking down to you. I’ve sat where you’re sitting. I’ve stared at a draft that wouldn’t come together, read my work back and hated it, and wondered whether the story in my head would ever match the story on the page.
It can. The gap between the two is craft. And craft can be learned.
I’m not here as an expert looking down. I’m here as a fellow writer who found some things that worked, and wants to pass them on.
Where to Start
If you’re new here, I’d suggest picking the guide that matches your biggest struggle right now.
If your characters feel flat, start with The Character Breakthrough. If your world feels thin, start with The Worldbuilder Workout. If your action scenes lose clarity, start with The Battle Blueprint. If your prose sounds like everyone else’s, start with AI-Proof Your Story.
And if you’d like to stay in touch, join my mailing list. I write about craft, about the reality of building stories in speculative fiction, and about whatever I’ve learnt most recently from the sequel that’s slowly driving me round the bend.
No spam. No filler. Just honest writing talk from someone who’s still doing the work.