Special Guest Host: Vanessa Finaughty (Editor-in-Chief, Space Wizards)
Panelists: Frank Dutkiewicz, Joanne Agosta, Tim Maloney, James Field, Juneta Key, Merry Muhsman, and Vanessa Wells (authors, Space Wizards)
Willy Martinez: Today on Authors and Allies, we’re tearing up the standard script.
Usually, it’s a one-on-one duel. But today, we’ve built a roundtable of creators. I’m stepping back and handing the steering wheel over to our special guest host—Vanessa, the editorial architect behind Space Wizards. This anthology doesn’t ask for permission; it dares to collide high fantasy with deep space.
Vanessa, take the mic. It is all yours.
VANESSA: Thank you, Willy. It’s an absolute pleasure to be here and to dive into the engine room of Space Wizards with this incredible group of writers.
Frank, let’s kick things off with you. You asked earlier what actually inspired me to create this specific universe.
FRANK: That’s the core question, Vanessa. What made you want to pull the trigger on Space Wizards?
VANESSA: Pure creative curiosity. I’ve always been obsessed with epic fantasy and space opera, and I kept asking myself: What happens if Lord of the Rings and Star Wars crash into each other at lightspeed? Space Wizards was born right at that impact point, and it delivered every ounce of scale and dark humor I hoped for.
JOANNE: When you were brewing this up, did a specific archetype lead the charge? Any particular wizard sitting in the co-pilot seat?
VANESSA: Honestly, no single figure. But whenever the word ‘wizard’ hits my mind, the heavyweights—Merlin and Gandalf—are always lurking in the shadows.
Speaking of the engine room, Tim, you mentioned that putting together an anthology involves a lot of invisible heavy lifting.
TIM: Yes, anthologies bring incredible minds together, but the behind-the-scenes engineering must be a nightmare compared to a solo novel. What is the invisible heavy lifting readers never think about?
VANESSA: The administrative iceberg, Tim! I had to architect custom author contracts—a completely new frontier for me. (Huge shoutout to one of our authors who handles contracts daily and helped me lock down the fine print.)
Then came the slush pile, though, to my shock, zero submissions were actual slush! Every single story brought heat. But the operational grind was relentless: spreadsheets for tracking elements, video trailer assets, social campaigns, podcast schedules, and literally hunting down new distribution channels mid-project when my aggregator decided to start nickel-and-diming authors.
JUNETA: Speaking of that promotional engine—you built video trailers tailored to our specific characters for Space Wizards. How brutal was that technical curve?
VANESSA: Easily the most time-consuming phase—it took longer than writing my own story! I had to master AI video prompting from scratch. I accidentally rendered my entire first batch in portrait mode instead of landscape—a completely useless, expensive mistake! The end credits almost gave me a migraine, and I was only saved from editing software hell when a friend gifted me proper rendering software.
WILLY: [Returning to the microphone] I just have to jump in here and say that kind of dedication is exactly what we champion at Mind on Fire, where our mantra is Precision over Politeness. A real editor doesn’t smooth down an author’s sharp edges until they sound like corporate filler; they hone the blade until it cuts clean through.
Vanessa, let’s get back to your roundtable and see how the authors handled that editorial process.
VANESSA: Right, let’s turn the torch back to the writers at the table. James, you asked earlier how editing ten totally different stylistic minds compared to a single-author book, and how I kept from homogenizing everyone’s work.
JAMES: That tension is real. Vanessa, how did you manage it?
VANESSA: The absolute hardest choice was regional mechanics—UK vs. US English. In a single-author book, mixing conventions looks sloppy. But here, I made a definitive call to protect each writer’s native spelling and cadence. It gives the reader an unvarnished taste of who that author truly is.
JAMES: Did any submission require a complete overhaul?
VANESSA: Never. I respect the author’s voice—it’s your baby, not mine. If there were logic gaps or thematic drifts, we sparred over them, but the final execution stayed strictly in the writer’s hands.
Let’s hear from the writers directly. What was it like stepping into the crucible?
TIM: This was my first time working with a professional editor for Space Wizards. I went in sweating, expecting blood-red ink over every single page based on horror stories from other authors. Instead, Vanessa turned it into a high-level collaborative sparring match. We refined every beat until the core story exploded off the page.
MERRY: She edits with surgical precision. She catches weak links instantly without distorting your voice. My biggest hurdle was shifting gears—I’m a fantasy writer! I was terrified of butchering sci-fi spaceship mechanics. Vanessa helped me dial in the technical authenticity while keeping the story’s emotional engine burning.
VANESSA: She’s one of the few editors I trust unconditionally. If she had a magic wand, it’d be a blood-red editing pen moving at supersonic speeds! My biggest challenge? Explaining why my drafts were late.
JAMES: Looking forward, for the next deployment, is there anything that you’d do differently?
VANESSA: I assumed a three-month submission window was enough to draft, polish, and submit. I was wrong—I had to extend it. For Volume 2, we’re opening a full six-month runway.
JAMES: What do you want the next batch of contributors to bring?
VANESSA: Beyond stories that change the room’s temperature, I want a marketing vanguard! Authors who command their space, run active platforms, engage reviewers, and help us turn a launch into a culture shift.
MERRY: Consider my spot reserved. When do we drop submissions for Volume 2?
VANESSA: The official call goes out in the coming weeks, targeting an early publication window for Volume 2!
WILLY : [Stepping back in as host] Thank you, Vanessa, and thank you to all the brilliant authors for joining this incredible roundtable.
VANESSA: Thanks for hosting us today, Willy! As always, it’s been fun!
WILLY: Space Wizards exists because one guest host dared to crash two genres together, and eleven authors had the grit to build the engine.
Grab your copy of Space Wizards today, enter the void, and drop a comment below. Which story changed the temperature in your room?
Thank you for visiting with us. For more Reviews or Literature related content, visit our blog at The Ritual. Copyright Mind on Fire Books.
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