By May Haddad Knot tying (“nodology” in Latin, “kompology” in Greek) is a time-honored skill honed in seafaring for millennia. Its history intertwines with maritime exploration, naval warfare, and the development of trade routes all over the world. Even as synthetic ropes replaced natural fibers, knots used by sailors centuries ago remain in wide use […]

by Georgina Kamsika Have you ever read something that you knew was incorrect? Sometimes, research has fallen short of convincing people who know better, even though other readers might not notice anything wrong. For those who know, it can be jarring and pull them out of the story. How would you feel if that error […]

by J. D. Harlock Boxing (pugilism) is a martial art and combat sport in which fighters trade punches for a predetermined amount of time on a raised platform (boxing ring or squared circle). Forms practiced today include bare-knuckle boxing, kickboxing, and Muay Thai, and show up in SFF ranging from the grit of Richard Matheson’s […]

By Austin Conrad Fantasy worlds often include a single “common” language spoken by a majority of the setting’s inhabitants. Often simply called Common, this shared language smooths over communication challenges in both fiction and games. Dungeons & Dragons is perhaps the most infamous example of a work utilizing Common in this way. This convenience is […]

By John Dale Beety What do your characters spend? Currency, the forms of money used in a setting, can add rich and suggestive detail to your worldbuilding. Here are eight key questions to answer when creating fictional currency. Does Your Setting Need Currency? Not necessarily! The word “money” shows up only twice in Andy Weir’s […]

By Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki This essay is the first of eight in the Publishing Taught Me: A SFWA Anthology Project   So, does the writer’s identity matter? The short answer is, well, yes.   But the question people mean to ask when they ask if the writer’s identity matters is: should the writer’s identity matter? Whether […]

By Holly Henderson Poetry can be one of the shortest forms of fiction, but it has the ability to make an outsized impact on the reader. This is especially true when poetry is combined with fantasy and science fiction—both forms aspire to express common concepts in uncommon ways. From classics like The Lord of the […]

(Kind of like the Star Trek Experience—lots of diversity that some accept, some fight, and others never see) by Elle Ire   Concluding Mission Our exploration of the experiences of various members within the LGBTQ+ spec-fic community concludes by examining the professional writing organizations our interviewees have had experience with and how welcoming or inclusive […]

By J.D. Harlock Four years ago, I started writing speculative fiction professionally to modest success. I owe my entire career in the field to the inspiration I drew from Middle Eastern history, mythology, and literature. My personal favorites from my own writing are, in fact, retellings of classic stories, changed in one way or another […]

Michael F. Flynn (20 December 1947–30 September 2023), who also wrote as Rowland Shew, was a prolific writer of science fiction, poetry, essays, and blogs. He used his experience as an engineer and statistician to explore the world, working the results of his constant learning and passion for debate into his fiction.  A regular in […]