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Posts Tagged ‘creativity’

Worlds of Their Own

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Other people are some of the best, most interesting sources for story ideas, if you can find your way behind their facades.

Most of us would prefer to avoid awkward conversations with strangers, however.

PostSecret is one way to get a glimpse of the former without the latter.

You are invited to anonymously contribute a secret to a group art project. Your secret can be a regret, fear, betrayal, desire, confession or childhood humiliation. Reveal anything – as long
as it is true and you have never shared it with anyone before.

Some secrets are funny, some poignant, and all are reminders that every person you meet is a complex, ever-changing world of their own.

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Photo by Etienne Girardet on Unsplash

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The Secret of Creativity

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , on September 19, 2023| Leave a Comment »

According to Ray Bradbury (who ought to know), this is the secret to creativity:

As soon as things get difficult, I walk away. That’s the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you. If you try to approach a cat and pick it up, hell, it won’t let you do it. You’ve got to say, “Well, to hell with you.” And the cat says, “Wait a minute. He’s not behaving the way most humans do.” Then the cat follows you out of curiosity: “Well, what’s wrong with you that you don’t love me?” Well, that’s what an idea is. See? You just say, “Well, hell, I don’t need depression. I don’t need worry. I don’t need to push.” The ideas will follow me. When they’re off-guard, and ready to be born, I’ll turn around and grab them.

― Ray Bradbury, Zen in The Art of Writing

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Photo by DNK.PHOTO on Unsplash

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Great Deal on Sci-Fi

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on September 15, 2023| 1 Comment »

Storybundle, home of the “pay what you want and if it’s more than $20 we give you a whole bunch of extra books” e-book bundles, has a new bundle out: 

https://storybundle.com/scifiTo the Stars Adventure SF StoryBundle

The site has a rolling roster of interesting bundles, so why do I mention this bundle in particular? Because it happens to include a certain story collection with a certain author in it (a.k.a. me, in case you’re wondering).

That’s right, Writers of the Future: Volume 39 is available as a bonus book. So if you pay more than $20 for the bundle, you’ll get e-books by the baker’s dozen, including v39.

Am I biased? Sure, I happen to think our collection is great. But the bundle is curated by Kevin J. Anderson and also includes books by other names sci-fi/fantasy fans may have heard of, like Todd McCaffrey and Nancy Kress, as well as others I look forward to discovering.

Like all bundles, this one is a limited-time offer, expiring in 20 days. So if you are in the market for e-books and sci-fi, this may be the deal for you.

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Photo by Alex Shuper on Unsplash

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Here They Do Magick

Posted in Likes, tagged , , , , , , , on September 13, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Yes, the internet can sometimes be a bit of a drag, but then you stumble across the one thing your six-year-old heart most desired: A map of Fairyland.

An anciente mappe of Fairyland – newly discovered and set forth

Excerpt from Sleigh, Bernard, and Sidgwick & Jackson. An anciente mappe of Fairyland: newly discovered and set forth: imaginary locality. [London: Sidgwick & Jackson, ?, 1920] Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/2006628749/.

Found when perusing Texas A&M Libraries’ Maps of Imaginary Places.

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Photo by Daniel Kempe on Unsplash

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New Visions, New Worlds

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 6, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Elizabeth Bear recently posted about a new Ukrainian speculative fiction anthology at Kickstarter.

Heads up about a very cool Ukrainian SFF Anthology!

The project is focused on Ukrainian and diaspora writers, all translated into English.

I enjoy supporting artists where I can, particularly those in such difficult situations. 

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I’m interested in seeing the current and future world through new perspectives. 

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Sign me up.

Here’s a link to the project.

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Photo by SIMON LEE on Unsplash

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Atwood on AI

Posted in Science!, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 5, 2023| 1 Comment »

What does one of the great speculative fiction writers of our time have to say about AI (or at least, her own AI doppelgänger)?

Margaret Atwood: Murdered by My Replica?

Apparently, 33 of my books have been used as training material for their wordsmithing computer programs. Once fully trained, the bot may be given a command—“Write a Margaret Atwood novel”—and the thing will glurp forth 50,000 words, like soft ice cream spiraling out of its dispenser, that will be indistinguishable from something I might grind out. (But minus the typos.) I myself can then be dispensed with—murdered by my replica, as it were—because, to quote a vulgar saying of my youth, who needs the cow when the milk’s free?

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Photo by Fernando Rodrigues on Unsplash

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Hypnotic Hyperlapse

Posted in Likes, tagged , , , , on August 28, 2023| 1 Comment »

I enjoy stumbling across an interesting new way of looking at or interacting with the world, and realizing that a non-zero number of people are highly invested in a thing I had no idea existed. 

Exhibit A: The hyperlapse is a niche art form documenting travel via a time lapse plus camera movement, where both distance and time are compressed into one immersive experience.

Here’s an example video of a walk around Canberra, Australia’s capital city.

Journey Through Seasons: A Hypnotic Hyperlapse of the Canberra Centenary Trail

A year in the making, it follows a 145km walking track that circumnavigates Canberra, the capital of Australia.

This article from The Guardian discusses this particular project in more depth.

Canberra hyperlapse: a year walking 145km around Australia’s capital – squeezed into seven minutes

What a world.

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Photo by Rosie Steggles on Unsplash

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Me and My Spotlight

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

I recently took part in an interview with Madilynn Dale from The Chapter Goddess, about writing, the Writers of the Future experience, and the creative life in general. I think I’ve mentioned that I’m a little shy, but Madi gave a fun and friendly interview and I had a good time. Hope you enjoy it too.

Creative Spotlight on Award-Winning Author J.R. Johnson

This is a collection of questions answered by this amazing author for her “Creative Spotlight on Award-Winning Author J.R. Johnson” article featured here. They may or may not have been answered in the live. I loved chatting with her and hope you take some helpful information away from our chat.

Thanks, Madi!

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Photo by Strvnge Films on Unsplash

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One Cool Thing

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 20, 2023| Leave a Comment »

One cool thing about being a writer with writer friends is that sometimes, you have the opportunity to read their stories before other folks. I’ve just finished reviewing a friend’s new novel and it is excellent. 

I don’t know when it will see the light of day so I’ll wait to promo it, but it was a treat. Can’t wait until you can read it too!

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Photo by Diego PH on Unsplash

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Worth Every Minute

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »

“If you love what you do and are willing to do what it takes, it’s within your reach. And it’ll be worth every minute you spend alone at night, thinking and thinking about what it is you want to design or build. It’ll be worth it, I promise.” 

― Steve Wozniak

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Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash

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