Melisa C. Michaels (b.1946) died on August 30. Michaels began publishing with the 1979 short story “In the Country of the Blood, No One Can See,” which appeared in the January issue of Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine. She followed up with a handful of short stories and the first two novels of her five volume Skyrider […]
Brad Linaweaver (b.1952) died after a lengthy battle with cancer on August 29. Linaweaver began publishing science fiction in 1980 with the short story “The Competitor.” His second published story, the novella “Moon of Ice” was nominated for the Nebula Award in 1983 and Linaweaver later expanded it to novel length, for which he won his first […]
The SFWA minimum payment rate for professional short fiction markets is now eight cents per word. In accordance with our mission to support and empower science fiction and fantasy writers, SFWA periodically reviews and adjusts the minimum payment rate for professional short fiction markets (known colloquially as the SFWA pro rate). On January 16, 2019, […]
by Ken Pelham
World-building is more than misty mountains, crumbling castles, dripping neon cityscapes, and talking rats. It’s also about psychology and language, and the language equation includes the everyday corruptions of jargon and slang.
Just a friendly reminder to all SFWA readers that today (August 22, 2019) is the very last day of the SFWA time travel bundle. That 14 books dripping with the finest paradox flavorings for fifteen bucks. Check it out at: https://storybundle.com/timetravel Full details: A Matter of Time Bundle – Curated by the Science Fiction and Fantasy […]
The Committee has been alerted to potential problems for some writers when they register their copyright(s) with the US Copyright Office. The information authors must include when registering a copyright is considered public, and will become visible to anyone searching the Copyright Office’s records, either in person or online at https://cocatalog.loc.gov/
by Filip Wiltgren
Want to be insanely productive? Check this:
I live in a country where the fruit comes with stickers on it. Meaning that before you eat your apple, you need to remove a piece of plastic, clawing at the little sucker, then going and tossing it in the garbage. This takes about five seconds.
by Alan Bailey
Podcasters generally have a mixed reputation. Why? I’m not totally sure. Perhaps it’s because the entry fee is low, and anyone with an opinion can put it out there. The sheer number of podcasts doesn’t help either. So, how do you know which are worthwhile?
by Alex Woolf
One trend that I think is likely to have more enduring appeal is narrative non-fiction (NNF): the blending of story elements with non-fiction. Typically, this involves the author inventing characters and a simple plot device, such as a journey. Along the way, the characters discover real-world information, be it about science, history or geography. The idea is that by employing narrative techniques such as characterization, dramatic tension, dialogue and atmosphere, the process of information acquisition is made a lot more compelling.
We all know ‘an army marches on its stomach,’ but it’s not like Napoleon discovered something new. Vegetius (De re militari) and Sun Tzu (The Art of War) were well aware of this concept, as was Alexander the Great (Engels, Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army, 1980). And it wasn’t news to them, either. Pre-modern military commanders knew this; they planned for this. They paid attention to logistics.
Fantasy writers should, too.
Simon Moody and Clara Barley, a pair of amateur paranormal investigators, discover that Clara’s freshman dorm room at Harvard is haunted by the ghost of a student murdered in 1841. So the two friends set out to solve the mysterious murder.
S.B. Divya is a lover of science, math, fiction, and the Oxford comma. She is the Hugo and Nebula nominated author of Meru and Machinehood. Her stories have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, and she is a former editor of Escape Pod.
