British Fantasy Award-winner Lucy Holland (also writing as Lucy Hounsom) will guide you through the essential elements of the genre – from using and subverting traditional tropes to worldbuilding and creating a diverse cast of characters with genuine depth and intrigue – crucial for sustaining your story over the course of a novel or series.
You’ll join a group of 15 fantasy authors for flexibly timed weekly writing workshops on our bespoke online learning platform, plus live group teaching sessions via Zoom covering important genre-topics, and an in-depth one-to-one tutorial with Lucy towards the end of the course.
This course is open to all writers dedicated to crafting an excellent fantasy novel. Before joining the course, you should have an idea for your book already and have at least started writing your early chapters. The course is also suitable for writers with a complete first draft they want to shape and improve.
This course will be delivered via our private online Learning Platform and in live teaching sessions on Zoom. Please note that precise dates of sessions and details of course speakers are subject to change.
The 15 places on this course are allocated on receipt of payment, on a first come, first served basis. Please sign up as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. Securing your course place is a simple two-step process. Firstly, select your preferred date and then click ‘enrol now’ and complete our payment process.
If you are unable to pay the full fee upfront, please email students@curtisbrowncreative.co.uk and we can arrange an instalment plan with three payments of £330. The first instalment must be paid in advance to secure your place.
Then on receipt of payment, we will send you a link to our registration form and you will be asked to submit your 3,000-word opening and one-page synopsis. Your work will be read by the CBC team to ensure you are a good fit for the course, after which your course manager will be in touch with a welcome email and course handbook. Please note, that in the unlikely event that your work isn’t suitable for the course (i.e., you’re not writing within the specified genre), you will be granted a full refund.
If you encounter any problems during the sign-up process, or have any more questions about the course, please email help@curtisbrowncreative.co.uk for assistance.
If you’re thinking about joining this course and want to know if it’s the right fit, book a free 15-minute phone consultation to discuss your needs.
Consultations will take place on Tuesday afternoons (14.00 to 17.00) or Friday mornings (10.00 to 13.00). Times listed are UK times.
Lucy Holland is the author of The Times bestselling Sistersong, a finalist for the Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award and the British Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 2022. Her second historical fantasy novel Song of the Huntress is published by Pan Macmillan in 2024. Writing as Lucy Hounsom, she is the author of the Worldmaker Trilogy. Her first book Starborn was shortlisted in the 2016 Gemmell Awards for Best Fantasy Debut. She worked for twelve years in corporate account sales for Waterstones Booksellers before becoming a full-time author. Lucy co-hosts the intersectional feminist podcast ‘Breaking the Glass Slipper’, which won Best Audio in the 2019 British Fantasy Awards. She has given talks and workshops for various organisations, including the British Library, MCM ComicCon, Cymera Festival, Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival, and the universities of Exeter, Bath Spa and Royal Holloway. In June 2024, she was selected by UNESCO Cities of Literature as one of the ILX10: rising stars of UK Writing.
