As of November 30, our blog editor, C.L. Clark (Cherae) has stepped down from her role for personal reasons. Clark joined SFWA’s staff in the summer of 2020. Her editorial perspective has brought many new voices to the blog over the past year, voices with a lot of insightful and fresh perspectives on the publishing industry today and the craft of science fiction and fantasy writing in the many mediums in which our members work. She’s also provided essential assistance with the release of The Bulletin #216 and our other SFWA Publications projects. 

Cherae wanted to share the following statement:

Thank you so much for your trust and support in me as the SFWA Blog Editor for the past year. It’s been my absolute pleasure to usher in new essays, guides, and analyses of the industry and I hope that you’ve found hope, help, and succor in them the same way I did as I edited them. I’m also honored by the faith that my colleagues put in me, including Presidents Mary Robinette Kowal and Jeffe Kennedy, and former Editor-in-Chief Michi Trota. It’s been a joy also to work with the rest of the SFWA publications crew, a team that is truly devoted to the SFFH community.

Though my tenure as the SFWA blog editor was short, I am immensely proud of the work we published in this time. I’ll leave you with a few essays I’m especially proud of. I’d like to say a special thanks to the writers who trusted me with your work while I was here. I’m looking forward to the continued progress SFWA and the SFWA Blog are making to support new and marginalized authors.

SFWA President Jeffe Kennedy, had the following to share, “Cherae has been unfailingly delightful to work with. Her grace, intelligence, humor, and insight have elevated the SFWA Blog to new heights. We’ll greatly miss her and wish her the very best in her next endeavors.”

Here are some of the essays Clark is most proud of having brought to the SFWA Blog over the past year:

SFF Writing for White Goblins: Decolonising your Defaults – Nick Wood and Isiah Lavender III use the Maori description of colonizers as “white goblins” as a launching point to discuss how writers can move away from the assumption of whiteness as default in their own minds and work.

What Communities Can Do – Aigner Loren Wilson talks about the importance of finding the right communities for her own needs as a creator, and provides a descriptive list of several great SFFH communities, including our own, SFWA.

So, you think your publication is working to advance equity in SFF? – Sabrina Vourvoulias encourages publishing organizations to stop limiting diversity and equity initiatives (DEI) to content. Consider expanding DEIs to procedures and staffing, such as submission processes, editorial staff makeup, and data analysis.

Spec-Fic-Fu: How to Make Aliens and Robots Fight Better – Andrew Hoe suggests that creators use martial philosophy to make fight scenes better, particularly considering the differences in non-human combatants’ physicality, weaknesses, and armament/equipment.

We’ll miss Cherae on the Publications team, but we’re excited for her next chapter! Please join us in wishing her well.

The SFWA Publications Team