Tucson Festival of Books

A Little Attitude and a Lot of Swagger


Three masters of attitude-driven storytelling discuss what it takes to create characters who command the page with charisma and swagger. They'll dive into how they craft unforgettable voices, writing characters who pop off the page, and why a little attitude goes a long way.


Panelists
Tochi Onyebuchi

Award-winner, Tochi Onyebuchi, is the author of "Goliath," a Locus Award and Dragon Award finalist, and the young adult novel, "Beasts Made of Night," which won the Ilube Nommo Award for Best Speculative Fiction Novel by an African....

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John Scalzi

One of the most popular science fiction authors, John Scalzi's debut, "Old Man's War," won him the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. His New York Times bestsellers include "The Last Colony," "Fuzzy Nation," "Redshirts," which won the Hugo Award for Best Novel, "The Kaiju Preservation Society," and "Starter Villain....

Martha Wells

Martha Wells has written many novels, including The New York Times and USA Today bestselling Murderbot Diaries series, which has won multiple Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and Alex Awards. Other works include "Witch King," "City of Bones," "The Wizard Hunters," "Wheel of the Infinite," the Books of the Raksura series, beginning with "The Cloud Roads" and ending with "The Harbors of the Sun," and the Nebula nominated "The Death of the Necromancer," as well as young adult fantasy novels and short stories....

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Books:
Harmattan Season
A Novel
Tochi Onyebuchi
Sci-Fi / Fantasy / Horror
Tor Publishing Group
January 2026
ISBN 9781250814494
240 pages
Buy now

The Shattering Peace
Old Man's War Book 7
John Scalzi
Sci-Fi / Fantasy / Horror
Tor Publishing Group
September 2025
ISBN 9780765389190
288 pages
Buy now

Queen Demon
Martha Wells
Sci-Fi / Fantasy / Horror
Tor Publishing Group
October 2025
ISBN 9781250826916
400 pages
Buy now