Award-winning author Lavie Tidhar takes you through the ingredients he uses to begin a story even when he has no idea what the story is going to be about.

Lavie Tidhar is author of numerous novels such as Osama, A Man Lies Dreaming, Central Station, Neom, and Maror. His awards include the World Fantasy and British Fantasy Awards, theJohn W. Campbell Award, the Neukom Prize and the Jerwood Prize, and he has been shortlisted for the Clarke Award and the Philip K. Dick Award. A prolific author of short stories, he has published more than two hundred, everywhere from Tor.com (where he created the popular Judge Dee series of vampire mysteries) to Analog, Asimov’s, Clarkesworld and Apex. As editor, he created the five-volume Apex Book of World SF series and edited the three volumes of The Best of World SF. Currently an honorary visiting professor and writer in residence at the American International University in London, he has taught both undergraduate and graduate courses on fantasy fiction and creative writing.