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Posts Tagged ‘artists’

A new pro-level magazine of science fiction and fantasy? Yes, please! Uncanny Magazine is being launched via Kickstarter, and as a supporter of things sfnal, writerly, and otherwise cool I signed on. It’s a project by three-time Hugo Award-winner Lynne M. Thomas and three-time Hugo Award nominee Michael Damian Thomas, and it already features a terrific contributor roster of authors and artists.

Also? Space unicorns!

So if you also like the idea of more markets for professional science fiction and fantasy, check out Uncanny: A Magazine of Science Fiction & Fantasy.

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A quick heads up for writers of speculative fiction: CC Finlay will guest edit two more issues of Fantasy & Science Fiction in the coming year. Unlike standard F&SF subs, he will also accept electronic submissions. Wondrous!

For additional details, dates, etc. dive on in with CC Finlay’s blog post.

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Lightspeed’s special Women Destroy Science Fiction! issue is now out, and it is a humdinger. Original fiction, reprints, non-fiction, editorials, text, audio, the works. Interested in quality science fiction, women in the arts (and science fiction in particular) and/or great storytelling? Then this collection is for you (and me, since I backed the Kickstarter:)

Two of the stories are available right now, free online, and more stories will be made available throughout the month:

Each to Each by Seanan McGuire
A Word Shaped Like Bones by Kris Millering
Editorial, June 2014: Women Destroy Science Fiction!

If you can’t wait or want to support the excellent Lightspeed, you can find the full issue at these fine stores:

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Maya Angelou, Poet, Activist And Singular Storyteller, Dies At 86

This is such a loss. And yet…

I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life. I’ve learned that making a “living” is not the same thing as making a “life.” I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back. I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one. I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn. I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
― Maya Angelou

I still remember finding a battered, much-read copy of Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings on my parents’ bookshelf, and meeting her singular voice. That woman knew how to live.

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What’s that? You’d like to read an interview with George R.R. Martin with lunch? Well, I happen to have just the thing for you, via the good people at Longreads:

George R.R. Martin: The Rolling Stone Interview

 

In which GRRM discusses his history as a writer, the evolution of his epic (and as yet incomplete!) The Song of Ice and Fire cycle and how, despite the great swaths of death that characterize those books, his “worldview is anything but nihilistic.”

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I just pledged to support Year 3 of the excellent Fireside Magazine on Kickstarter. They’re close to the end of their funding cycle, so if quality fiction and terrific rates for authors are your cup of tea, check it out!

We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about. ― Charles Kingsley

Update 04.01.14: In happy news, the Kickstarter was successful!

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I’m home from a trip and happily catching up on work. Lots to do, so I will leave you with this link to Nina Paley’s essay on The Cult of Originality:

The trick is, what’s completely obvious to you isn’t obvious to anyone else. Many people can tell exactly the same story about exactly the same event, but if each speaks from their authentic point of view, each story will seem “original.”

Well, that helps take the pressure off. Now to see if I can’t apply some of that originality to my current projects. In other news, this weekend I discovered the Rijksmuseum’s terrific online digital library, learned to stack wood, and can now tell a male partridge apart from a female.

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Yes, after much social media back and forth, The Amtrak Residency for Writers Is Now Accepting Applications. Like the idea of riding the rails with nothing to do but be inspired by the scenery and write write write? I know I do:) Check out all the details at Amtrak’s site:

#AmtrakResidency was designed to allow creative professionals who are passionate about train travel and writing to work on their craft in an inspiring environment. Round-trip train travel will be provided on an Amtrak long-distance route. Each resident will be given a private sleeper car, equipped with a desk, a bed and a window to watch the American countryside roll by for inspiration. Routes will be determined based on availability.

A desk too? Heaven!

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Oh, this is sad news:

Harold Ramis, ‘Ghostbuster’ Actor And ‘Groundhog Day’ Director, Dies : The Two-Way : NPR

 

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Invention, my dear friends, is 93% perspiration, 6% electricity, 4% evaporation, and 2% butterscotch ripple.
—Willy Wonka, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

Perhaps your weekend will be spent climbing Everest or solving cold fusion, but if you plan to spend at least some time facing down a blank page in an effort to write, the following TED talks may be of some use. This collection comes to us via Aerogramme Writers’ Studio and includes a variety of topics and speakers:

  1. Chimamanda Adichie: The Danger of a Single Story
  2. Isabel Allende: Tales of Passion
  3. Andrew Stanton: The Clues to a Great Story
  4. Lisa Bu: How Books Can Open Your Mind
  5. Amy Tan: Where Does Creativity Hide?
  6. Billy Collins: Everyday Moments, Caught in Time
  7. Elif Shafak: The Politics of Fiction
  8. Joe Sabia: The Technology of Storytelling
  9. Elizabeth Gilbert: Your Elusive Creative Genius
  10.  Tracy Chevalier: Finding the Story Inside the Painting
  11. Jarred McGinnis: Writing is the Only Magic I Still Believe In
  12. Julian Friedmann: The Mystery of Storytelling
  13. John Green: The Paper Town Academy

I featured #9 in a previous post but there are a dozen other talks too. A baker’s dozen. … Hmm, baking… Perhaps I’ll make something tasty to go along with the above educational material. Because, cookies. Butterscotch ripple cookies, even:)

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