I’m  a proud member of Science Fiction Writers of America.  It costs me in the neighborhood of  $100 a year in dues or so.  And it’s more than worth it. When I was starting out, membership in SFWA was a huge goal, an indication that you had “made it”.  Why?  Because SFWA has publishing standards […]

When I was a teenager back in the 1990s, I regularly prowled through my mall B. Dalton. Back then, monthly publishing bulletins were set out on the store counter. The purple-banded bulletin for science fiction and fantasy is where I first learned about SFWA. I don’t remember what authors were mentioned in relation to it, […]

I set out to write science fiction and fantasy quite a number of years after having received one of the best gifts of my life. In fact, so many years had elapsed that I no longer thought much about this marvelous gift. No, I don’t mean the ability to create stories, but rather a more […]

In my mind SFWA has always been associated with Robert Silverberg. Bob was of course the second president of the organisation, and he introduced my young mind to the very conception of SFWA through his editing of the first of the1960s ‘Hall of Fame’ anthologies. My understanding now is that this project was Silverberg’s inspiration, […]

The aging writer hunches over her pen and paper in a cramped and cluttered room. The hour has grown late, daylight long since fled. The wicks of candles gutter as a cold draft of wind blows through the crevices of eternity. The writer shivers, pulls her tattered shawl closer around her thin shoulders. She has […]

As a young geek, I excelled at school and struggled in only one thing, really:  making friends.  Oh, I had one or two, and the occasional furtive acquaintance who was a little embarrassed to be seen with me. It’s a struggle that most adolescents face at one time or another.  Thankfully, I had books.  I […]