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Posts Tagged ‘Fiction’

Reality, Transformed

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »

If you haven’t seen it yet, there’s a nice piece by Lev Grossman in The New York Times on “Finding My Voice in Fantasy.”

We — as a whole, as a culture — seemed to be getting more interested in the kinds of questions fantasy deals with: questions about history, and about our connection to the natural world, and about power, how to find it in yourself, how to master it, what to do with it.

…

Fantasy is sometimes dismissed as childish, or escapist, but I take what I am doing very, very seriously. For me fantasy isn’t about escaping from reality, it’s about re-encountering the challenges of the real world, but externalized and transformed.

 

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It’s Uncanny!

Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 31, 2014| Leave a Comment »

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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CC Finlay Guest Editing F&SF Again

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 7, 2014| 1 Comment »

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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Quick Week

Posted in Entertainment, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 2, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Canada Day was July 1st and American Independence Day is July 4th, neatly bookending the week with parties and fireworks and associated festivities. Yay. That said, work must be done and so I am a wee bit crunched for time. In lieu of a long essay on the state of the world and/or gracing you with my recipe for meringue, say, allow me to direct you to “The New Provisions,” a story by Adam-Troy Castro fresh out at Lightspeed.

It’s not true, but it’s not all false, either. Enjoy!

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Building Better Strong Female Characters

Posted in Entertainment, Likes, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »

We’re losing all our Strong Female Characters to Trinity Syndrome

This excellent piece by Tasha Robinson sums up a lot of the problems mainstream storytelling has with “Strong Female Characters.”

For the ordinary dude to be triumphant, the Strong Female Character has to entirely disappear into Subservient Trophy Character mode. This is Trinity Syndrome à la The Matrix: the hugely capable woman who never once becomes as independent, significant, and exciting as she is in her introductory scene.

If you are interested in learning how not to bury your SFC’s light under a bushel, I recommend this article. It highlights on-point questions creatives should ask themselves, like:

03. Could your Strong Female Character be seamlessly replaced with a floor lamp with some useful information written on it to help a male hero?

:p

In many instances, what starts out as an interesting character is hobbled in order to provide the male hero with whatever thing he needs (knowledge, motivation, etc.) to make it to the finish line. There are exceptions, of course, and I’m pleased to say that Emily Blunt’s character in Edge of Tomorrow was one such.

So maybe all the questions can boil down to this: Looking at a so-called Strong Female Character, would you—the writer, the director, the actor, the viewer—want to be her?

Like Tasha Robinson, I loved Cate Blanchett’s character in How to Train Your Dragon 2 and was as disappointed when the role for this supremely kick-ass woman who was willing to live in exile for twenty years to uphold her principles just sort of… fizzled out. I hope to see more from her in a third installment. In fact, I hope to see more Strong Female Characters across the board.

Who knows, one day we might even just call them, oh, I don’t know, “Female Characters.”

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Women Destroy Science Fiction! Now on Sale

Posted in Entertainment, Likes, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 3, 2014| Leave a Comment »

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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On Practice

Posted in Holidays, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »

This may be the best advice I’ve given myself all week:

Don’t worry about being good – worry about getting better.

 

P.S. More good advice – don’t run barefoot over these sand dunes in the middle of summer. Ask me how I know!
 

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Nebula Awards Announced

Posted in Entertainment, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »

In case you missed it over the weekend, the SFWA has announced the winners of this year’s Nebula Awards. (You may remember the winner for best novel from an earlier post here at this site.) Congratulations to all!

AncillaryJustice

 

Novel

Winner: Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
Nominees:
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Karen Joy Fowler (Marian Wood)
The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neil Gaiman (Morrow; Headline Review)
Fire with Fire, Charles E. Gannon (Baen)
Hild, Nicola Griffith (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
The Red: First Light, Linda Nagata (Mythic Island)
A Stranger in Olondria, Sofia Samatar (Small Beer)
The Golem and the Jinni, Helene Wecker (Harper)

Novella

Winner: ‘‘The Weight of the Sunrise,’’ Vylar Kaftan (Asimov’s 2/13)
Nominees:
‘‘Wakulla Springs,’’ Andy Duncan & Ellen Klages (Tor.com 10/2/13)
‘‘Annabel Lee,’’ Nancy Kress (New Under the Sun)
‘‘Burning Girls,’’ Veronica Schanoes (Tor.com 6/19/13)
‘‘Trial of the Century,’’ Lawrence M. Schoen (www.lawrencemschoen.com; World Jumping)
Six-Gun Snow White, Catherynne M. Valente (Subterranean)

Novelette

Winner: ‘‘The Waiting Stars,’’ Aliette de Bodard (The Other Half of the Sky)
Nominees:
‘‘Paranormal Romance,’’ Christopher Barzak (Lightspeed 6/13)
‘‘They Shall Salt the Earth with Seeds of Glass,’’ Alaya Dawn Johnson (Asimov’s 1/13)
‘‘Pearl Rehabilitative Colony for Ungrateful Daughters,’’ Henry Lien (Asimov’s 12/13)
‘‘The Litigation Master and the Monkey King,’’ Ken Liu (Lightspeed 8/13)
‘‘In Joy, Knowing the Abyss Behind,’’ Sarah Pinsker (Strange Horizons 7/1 – 7/8/13)

Short Story

Winner: ‘‘If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love,’’ Rachel Swirsky (Apex 3/13)
Nominees:
‘‘The Sounds of Old Earth,’’ Matthew Kressel (Lightspeed 1/13)
‘‘Selkie Stories Are for Losers,’’ Sofia Samatar (Strange Horizons 1/7/13)
‘‘Selected Program Notes from the Retrospective Exhibition of Theresa Rosenberg Latimer,’’ Kenneth Schneyer (Clockwork Phoenix 4)
‘‘Alive, Alive Oh,’’ Sylvia Spruck Wrigley (Lightspeed 6/13)

Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation

Winner: Gravity
Nominees:
Doctor Who: ‘‘The Day of the Doctor’’
Europa Report
Her
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Pacific Rim

Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy Book

Winner: Sister Mine, Nalo Hopkinson (Grand Central)
Nominees:
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, Holly Black (Little, Brown; Indigo)
When We Wake, Karen Healey (Allen & Unwin; Little, Brown)
The Summer Prince, Alaya Dawn Johnson (Levine)
Hero, Alethea Kontis (Harcourt)
September Girls, Bennett Madison (Harper Teen)
A Corner of White, Jaclyn Moriarty (Levine)

Kevin O’Donnell Jr. Service to SFWA Award: Michael Armstrong

2013 Damon Knight Grand Master Award: Samuel R. Delany  

2013 Special Honoree: Frank M. Robinson

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The Shape of Stories

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , on May 7, 2014| Leave a Comment »

I’m work, work, working this week, getting lots done and I hope you are too. Today I bring you Kurt Vonnegut’s ideas on the shapes of stories, posted by Aerogramme Writers’ Studio with a terrific infographic designed by Maya Eilam. If you are a visual person, like to shore up your understanding of concepts with images, or just enjoy seeing how a great storyteller conceptualizes his work, you may find this useful.

The Shapes of Stories by Kurt Vonnegut

Those who believe in telekinetics, raise my hand.
― Kurt Vonnegut

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Audio Fiction! Story Now at Cast of Wonders

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 4, 2014| Leave a Comment »

I’m very pleased to announce that I have a story now up at Cast of Wonders, the speculative fiction podcast for young adults. The story is “Taxidermy and Other Dangerous Professions” (originally published as “Heaven’s Lot” in Not One of Us), and it is narrated by the marvelous MK Hobson. Free to listen or read along, check it out!

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