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Some say every story has been told; what makes it new is how you tell it. The right language immerses the reader, builds the lore, and makes the writer’s world authentic. The wrong language does the opposite, yanking the reader from the scene.
From avoiding anachronisms to weaving artistic conlangs, join moderator Morag Hannah (MK Hardy) and panellists Alex Cochran, David Thomas Moore, and Catriona Silvey as they chat about how language builds believability.
Alex Cochran (he/him): Author of the science fiction novel The Pollutant Speaks, editor of Byron and Bob: Lord Byron’s Relationship with Robert Southey, script writer for short and animated films, lapsed physicist and book hugger. Nowadays Alex focuses on crafting and conceiving fiction, with all the pain and joys involved. He has written screenplays for short films including Insider (2018), CopyCats (2020) and McPherson’s Toys (see IMDB) and short fiction in magazines and anthologies. Alex has an MA in Science Fiction to go with his near-mint-conditon-unused BSc in Astrophysics. He regularly narrates for Tales To Terrify podcast. The Pollutant Speaks is his first novel, published by Bee Orchid Press. Find out more about Alex on his website. Or connect with him on Bluesky, Instagram, or Twitter. Get his book here.
David Thomas Moore (he/him): David Thomas Moore has been an editor at Rebellion Publishing Ltd (home of Solaris, Rebellion and 2000 AD) for nearly fifteen years. He is a devoted geek and grammar nerd, a lifelong roleplayer, and an indifferent swordsman. He lives in Reading, Berkshire with his wife and daughter. You can follow David on Twitter and Bluesky.
Catriona Silvey (she/her): Catriona Silvey was born in Glasgow and grew up in Perthshire and Derbyshire, which left her with a strange accent and a distrust of flat places. She overcame the latter to do a BA in English at Cambridge, and spent the next few years there working in scientific publishing. After that she moved to Edinburgh and did a PhD in language evolution, in the hope of finding out where all these words came from in the first place. Following stints in Chicago and back in Cambridge, she returned to Edinburgh, where she lives with her husband and children. When she’s not working as a technical writer for a software company, she writes character-driven science fiction and fantasy. She is the author of Meet Me in Another Life (2021), Love and Other Paradoxes (2025), and the forthcoming Gothic horror Vervain Hollow. Find out more about Catriona on her website. Her books are available here.
Morag Hannah (she/her): Morag Hannah, together with wife Erin Hardee, writes under the penname MK Hardy. With backgrounds ranging from museum interpretation to web design, and from science communication to ghost tours, they are devoted to storytelling in almost every aspect of their lives and work. When they are not telling stories they can be found singing in choirs, foraging for fungi, and working on their 1880s fixer-upper. Their debut sapphic gothic horror The Needfire released from Solaris in the UK in July 2025. Buy The Needfire and find out more about MK Hardy on their website. Or follow them on Bluesky, Twitter or Instagram.
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