By Chesley Oxendine As a Native American—Lumbee Cheraw, specifically, and hailing from Robeson County, North Carolina—storytelling has always been important to me. I grew up around stories, immersed in tales of my forebears and parables that serve as the groundwork for our traditions. I pin my fascination with science fiction and fantasy (SFF) squarely on […]
By Anessa Kemna Science fiction and fantasy should be the perfect places for disability representation. Writers make the rules in their worlds. But it’s difficult to find disabled characters and even harder to find quality representation in the SFF genres. It’s difficult in mainstream fiction too, but a genre built on imagination should have higher […]
by Michael Edelson I’m old enough to remember widespread use of the term “vanity press,” and although that is thankfully a thing of the past, the stigma attached to self-publishing still persists. But the reality is that the publishing industry is changing, and independent publishing is gaining an ever-increasing market share. [1–3] As early as […]
by R. K. Thorne Worldbuilding is a fun aspect of writing fantasy and science fiction. It is so tempting to get lost in drawing maps, hoarding pictures, plotting lineages, or researching how that awesome weapon system could actually work. Our efforts often focus on geography, history, and politics. But part of worldbuilding should be envisioning […]
by Gabriel Murray We tend to remember our first brushes with the imaginary vast: when we read our first children’s portal fantasy, were enchanted by the animated world of our first Studio Ghibli film, or got lost in our first strange, endless game map. As writers, we often want to bring our own readers there […]
Welcome to the June edition of the SFWA Market Report. Please note: Inclusion of any market in the report below does not indicate an official endorsement by SFWA. The markets included on this list all pay at least $0.08/word in at least one length-category of fiction. New Markets Monstrous Futures Currently Open for Submissions Al […]
by Wole Talabi Introduction Since 2016, I’ve maintained a database of published science fiction and fantasy (SFF)[1] works by African authors[2] for the African Speculative Fiction Society (ASFS). It is, admittedly, incomplete and limited by my collection methodology, which mostly involves soliciting information from the public (requiring validation) and trawling the internet for unreasonable periods […]
by R J Theodore An author promoting their upcoming release might feel like Sisyphus, because the effort to keep people aware of your book is neverending. When you let up on promotion, you and your boulder wind up back at the bottom of the slope. When you do benefit from a flash of attention, you […]
Patricia A. McKillip (February 29, 1948–May 6, 2022) began publishing fantasy in 1973 with the novel The House on Parchment Street and the novella The Throme of the Erril of Sherill. Over the next few years, she published the award-winning The Forgotten Beasts of Eld and the Riddle-Master trilogy, comprised of The Riddle-Master of Hed, […]
by Jeffe Kennedy In interviews, I’m often asked how I ended up writing a blend of fantasy and romance. It’s become a more frequent question, in fact, in the year since I’ve been president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). It’s a subject of well-intended curiosity in most cases, why I’m […]
They are the last survivors of the settlers of the moon Sturnus, forty children rescued by the benevolent people of the planet Janus. Except Bear is starting to remember, and what he remembers is nothing like what he and the others have been told.
Nicole M. Wolverton writes (mostly) YA and adult horror. Her debut YA novel A Misfortune of Lake Monsters, horror with a scifi twist, will be released in July 2024 (CamCat Books). She grew up in the rural PA hinterlands and now lives in Philadelphia.
