Scott Oden
@orcwriter.bsky.social
Author of whimsical tales disguised as found manuscripts. Specializing in mouse-run libraries, and gardens where magic blooms between dewdrops. The mushrooms insist they're 'philosophically inclined.'
https://claudemoreaugarden.wordpress.com/
https://claudemoreaugarden.wordpress.com/
Pinned
Scott Oden
@orcwriter.bsky.social
· Jul 22
Books by Scott Oden
Since 2005, I’ve been writing a myriad of historical adventure, fantasy, and sword-and-sorcery . . . as well as a side-trip into cozy fantasy in the style of Grahame and Milne. This page is m…
scottoden.wordpress.com
In a strange crashing together of worlds, I created a page where you can find ALL of my author-direct work -- from straight historical fiction to historical fantasy to the gentlest of cozy fantasy:
scottoden.wordpress.com/books-by-sco...
scottoden.wordpress.com/books-by-sco...
Writing a novel is a long-term commitment, a year-long journey; sometimes, you need to stop at the Inn along the way . . .
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
Inns Along the Road
The Problem of Pacing One's Self
open.substack.com
January 4, 2026 at 6:14 PM
Writing a novel is a long-term commitment, a year-long journey; sometimes, you need to stop at the Inn along the way . . .
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
Building the skeleton upon which will hang the meat of the tale: open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
The Skeleton of the Beast
Tipping Points, Set Pieces, and Inciting Incidents . . . Oh, My!
open.substack.com
January 2, 2026 at 2:25 AM
Building the skeleton upon which will hang the meat of the tale: open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
Wherein I go on a wee rant about faithful adaptation and Nolan's Odyssey . . .
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
"But It's Only Mythology!"
The Controversy Around Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey"
open.substack.com
December 27, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Wherein I go on a wee rant about faithful adaptation and Nolan's Odyssey . . .
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
And Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, became a Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet.
And Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, where the shadows lie, One Tim to rule them all, One Tim to find them, One Tim to bring them all, and in the darkness, bind them.
And Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, blew up the Death Star.
December 25, 2025 at 5:15 PM
And Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, became a Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet.
I learned a long time ago that you have *maybe* three chapters in which to hook your reader and make them want to read more. Here's a look at the first three chapters of REH's Hour of the Dragon:
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
Of Sleepers, Black Winds, and Reeling Cliffs
The Importance of the First Three Chapters
open.substack.com
December 22, 2025 at 5:17 PM
I learned a long time ago that you have *maybe* three chapters in which to hook your reader and make them want to read more. Here's a look at the first three chapters of REH's Hour of the Dragon:
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
An AI detector just told me it was 89% certain my writing was machine-generated because of the archaic style and uncommon word choices.
I need to use this new-found information to get a billionaire to invest in me . . .
I need to use this new-found information to get a billionaire to invest in me . . .
December 19, 2025 at 3:03 AM
An AI detector just told me it was 89% certain my writing was machine-generated because of the archaic style and uncommon word choices.
I need to use this new-found information to get a billionaire to invest in me . . .
I need to use this new-found information to get a billionaire to invest in me . . .
Write the Conan pastiche novel. After that . . . maybe something else? Who knows . . .
My 2026 writing goal is to finally finish this novel in the first half and then write weird shit for the second half. What's your writing goal?
December 18, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Write the Conan pastiche novel. After that . . . maybe something else? Who knows . . .
It should be the least controversial statement in the world to state that, to write prose well one must read prose (and lots of it). Not watch movies or TV, not play video games, but read.
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
On Being a Writer
A Screed Forty-One Years in the Making
open.substack.com
December 18, 2025 at 5:04 PM
It should be the least controversial statement in the world to state that, to write prose well one must read prose (and lots of it). Not watch movies or TV, not play video games, but read.
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
I am most often asked "how?". How does my writing mimic so closely to that of Robert E. Howard? Here is my answer. It is the mechanics and the mindset, distilled from 41 years of trial-and-error.
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
December 12, 2025 at 2:47 PM
I am most often asked "how?". How does my writing mimic so closely to that of Robert E. Howard? Here is my answer. It is the mechanics and the mindset, distilled from 41 years of trial-and-error.
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
Reposted by Scott Oden
Introduction to a new playlist on aspects of the Macedonian court (by request). Before we can talk about Philip II's and Alexander the Great's courts, and how they changed, we must look at Macedonia more broadly.
#ancientbluesky #classicsbluesky #alexanderthegreat #ancientmacedonia #blueskyclassics
#ancientbluesky #classicsbluesky #alexanderthegreat #ancientmacedonia #blueskyclassics
Macedonia before Philip II & Alexander the Great
YouTube video by Let's Talk Alexander the Great & Ancient Macedonia
youtu.be
December 11, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Introduction to a new playlist on aspects of the Macedonian court (by request). Before we can talk about Philip II's and Alexander the Great's courts, and how they changed, we must look at Macedonia more broadly.
#ancientbluesky #classicsbluesky #alexanderthegreat #ancientmacedonia #blueskyclassics
#ancientbluesky #classicsbluesky #alexanderthegreat #ancientmacedonia #blueskyclassics
Join me as I take a few paragraphs of my synopsis and turn them into the opening paragraphs of prose: open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
#Sword&Sorcery #pastiche #Conan #Booksky
#Sword&Sorcery #pastiche #Conan #Booksky
The Opening Thus Far
From Synopsis to Prose
open.substack.com
December 10, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Join me as I take a few paragraphs of my synopsis and turn them into the opening paragraphs of prose: open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
#Sword&Sorcery #pastiche #Conan #Booksky
#Sword&Sorcery #pastiche #Conan #Booksky
Sometimes, pastiche writing is all about following a line of picked-over breadcrumbs . . .
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
Different Roads, Same Destination
Using Internal Chronology to Cement My Timeline
open.substack.com
December 9, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Sometimes, pastiche writing is all about following a line of picked-over breadcrumbs . . .
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
⚔️ Looting history isn't lazy world-building, it's the cornerstone of good Sword-and-Sorcery.
#Sword&Sorcery #Conan #BookSky #S&S
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
#Sword&Sorcery #Conan #BookSky #S&S
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
History As Shorthand
If you’re writing Conan pastiche and have any hope of recreating even the smallest measure of Robert E.
open.substack.com
December 7, 2025 at 3:41 PM
⚔️ Looting history isn't lazy world-building, it's the cornerstone of good Sword-and-Sorcery.
#Sword&Sorcery #Conan #BookSky #S&S
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
#Sword&Sorcery #Conan #BookSky #S&S
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
Under the Influence of Sorcery
(Actually, Cold Medicine . . .)
open.substack.com
December 5, 2025 at 2:38 PM
What drives a man to topple a throne and take it for himself? Motivation is the question of the day . . .
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
The Man Who Would Be King
The Psychology of "Why"
open.substack.com
December 3, 2025 at 3:55 PM
What drives a man to topple a throne and take it for himself? Motivation is the question of the day . . .
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
For me, writing pastiche and writing historical fiction both begin in the same place: a comfortable spot with a ton of books in front of me 🪶📜
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
The First Steps
An occasional newsletter about sword-and-sorcery, historical fantasy, writing, and publishing.
open.substack.com
December 1, 2025 at 2:12 PM
For me, writing pastiche and writing historical fiction both begin in the same place: a comfortable spot with a ton of books in front of me 🪶📜
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
I've written shorter length pastiche . . . time to see if I have the grit to write a full-length Conan novel (ENTIRELY unasked for by the Powers-That-Be):
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
Put Up or Shut Up
Or, Fortune Favors the Bold (and sometimes the Foolish)
open.substack.com
November 29, 2025 at 2:18 PM
I've written shorter length pastiche . . . time to see if I have the grit to write a full-length Conan novel (ENTIRELY unasked for by the Powers-That-Be):
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
A topic to give some thought to while you're recovering from the food hangover . . .
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
A Question, If You Will
For your Thanksgiving consideration . . .
open.substack.com
November 27, 2025 at 6:24 AM
A topic to give some thought to while you're recovering from the food hangover . . .
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
Apropos of yesterday's post: a taste of Conan Unconquered open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
Conan Unconquered
A Taste . . .
open.substack.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Apropos of yesterday's post: a taste of Conan Unconquered open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
I feel like this gets asked enough in certain circles that it deserves an answer, insofar as I know it . . .
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
"Why Aren't You Writing Conan?"
And Other Questions, Answered.
open.substack.com
November 23, 2025 at 5:06 PM
I feel like this gets asked enough in certain circles that it deserves an answer, insofar as I know it . . .
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
open.substack.com/pub/soden/p/...
I write things, sometimes, that I have no idea what to do with. If you read my post about what I've done since November 2024, you probably saw the line about having drafted the rules and mechanics for a TTRPG about creating art in the Italian Renaissance.
It's not a bad idea, IMHO.
It's not a bad idea, IMHO.
November 21, 2025 at 6:42 PM
I write things, sometimes, that I have no idea what to do with. If you read my post about what I've done since November 2024, you probably saw the line about having drafted the rules and mechanics for a TTRPG about creating art in the Italian Renaissance.
It's not a bad idea, IMHO.
It's not a bad idea, IMHO.
Since 2023 and the release of THE DOOM OF ODIN, I've felt useless and adrift. A rudderless boat riding the whims of fate. I've felt like I haven't accomplished anything. Like my career is spiraling down the toilet of obscurity.
This morning, a memory on FB prompted me to tally up my recent work.
This morning, a memory on FB prompted me to tally up my recent work.
November 19, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Since 2023 and the release of THE DOOM OF ODIN, I've felt useless and adrift. A rudderless boat riding the whims of fate. I've felt like I haven't accomplished anything. Like my career is spiraling down the toilet of obscurity.
This morning, a memory on FB prompted me to tally up my recent work.
This morning, a memory on FB prompted me to tally up my recent work.
🌿✨🍄 Mr. Thistledown takes us to school for proper leaf-fall watching . . .
open.substack.com/pub/claudemo...
#BookSky #whimsical #CozyFantasy #cottagecore
open.substack.com/pub/claudemo...
#BookSky #whimsical #CozyFantasy #cottagecore
November 19, 2025 at 3:32 PM
🌿✨🍄 Mr. Thistledown takes us to school for proper leaf-fall watching . . .
open.substack.com/pub/claudemo...
#BookSky #whimsical #CozyFantasy #cottagecore
open.substack.com/pub/claudemo...
#BookSky #whimsical #CozyFantasy #cottagecore