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Watch the Penning the Perfect Atmosphere panel with Alexis Henderson, Alix E. Harrow, & Olivie Blake from BookCon 2026!

At BookCon 2026, the creators of The Year of the Witching, Starling House, and The Atlas Six - Henderson, Harrow, and Blake, respectively - presented a masterclass in setting the literary mood. Popverse was there to film it

Grant DeArmitt
News by Grant DeArmitt, Staff Writer
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Any author will tell you how important atmosphere is in creating a compelling fantasy or science-fiction novel, and some authors will tell you better than others. We bumped into some pretty darn great explainers ourselves at BookCon this year - specifically The Year of the Witching, Starling House, and The Atlas Six creators Alexis Henderson, Alix E. Harrow, and Olivie Blake.

In case you couldn't alos make it to their joint panel, Penning the Perfect Atmosphere: Creating the Riveting Worlds and Emotions of Speculative and Fantasy Novels, we went ahead and filmed the whole thing for your enrichment. Enjoy!

This is one of the many Bookcon 2026 panels Popverse filmed at New York City's Javits on the Hudson. Consult our Bookcon 2026 panel hub for a list of all of the panels we have available, and what's left to be released.

Watch Penning the Perfect Atmosphere: Creating the Riveting Worlds and Emotions of Speculative and Fantasy Novels with Alexis Henderson, Alix E. Harrow, and Olivie Blake now:

Having trouble viewing this video? Read our streaming/VOD FAQ to find the answers you need. Want more? Here's our expansive Popverse panel video hub with years of panels from New York Comic Con, C2E2, Emerald City Comic Con, and more.

If you've enjoyed this coverage, please give Popverse a shoutout by tagging us @popversesays on X/Twitter, Instagram, BlueSky, or Facebook.   

Here's a list of all the major upcoming prose novels in our favorite genres.

 

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Grant DeArmitt

Grant DeArmitt: Grant DeArmitt (he/him) likes horror, comics, and the unholy union of the two. In the past, and despite their better judgment, he has written for Nightmare on Film Street and Newsarama. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner, Kingsley, and corgi, Legs.

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