Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, Hugo Awards, inspiration, sff, speculative fiction, Writers, writing on August 24, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Who won Hugo Awards at this’s year’s Worldcon in Seattle? So glad you asked.
Here’s the final list!
2025 Hugo Awards – The Winners | Pixelated Geek
All nominees are included, with winners in bold. Congratulations to awardees, and to everyone on the roster!
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Posted in Science!, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, #wotf39, creativity, genre fiction, inspiration, learning, science fiction, sff, Thoughts, Writers, Writers of the Future, writing on August 5, 2024| Leave a Comment »
It’s Monday and my day job brain is a little tired. So why not take a little time to stretch my mind in other ways, like listening to a couple of cool dudes chat about a nice light topic… like controversies in quantum mechanics;)
Neil deGrasse Tyson and Sean Carroll Discuss Controversies in Quantum Mechanics
(We’re also watching 3 Body Problem, the series based on Liu Cixin’s award-winning novel, so it’s maybe kind of like semi-related big brain study material?)
Yeah, I don’t understand most of this at a deep level but I really like that there are other humans on this planet who do.
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Speaking of science, this is also an excellent opportunity to celebrate a new blog by scientist, award-winning author and friend Arthur H. Manners. He is currently working on The Sci-Fi Writer’s Guide to Reality, a series with the goal of helping SF writers understand the fundamentals of science.
I love this idea so much. One great session at last year’s Writers of the Future workshop was given by Dr. Beatrice Kondo. It was Day 6 of a long week. Many of us were half asleep, until the good doctor started talking in a serious, straightforward way about what it would take to make some of the crazy stuff in our heads work in real life. Really terrific stuff.
Writers & Illustrators of the Future Workshop Week 2023 – Day 6
Kondo talked the writers through the science of several common writing scenarios. Why can a submarine only travel at certain speeds underwater? What would happen to someone’s body if they tried to lift a car? How do exoskeletons work?
Then she touched on tissue engineering, stem cells, 3D bio-printing, breathing underwater, genetic engineering, and whether human wings or human photosynthesis would actually work.
Chatting after the session, a lot of the writers expressed a desire for a collection of introductory information on various scientific topics. Not a thick textbook for students of the field, but the sort of material one might need to both ground a story and to better imagine the possibilities of those topics.
I am so happy to see that Arthur has taken up this challenge.
New Release: Writing About Remote Sensing in Sci-Fi – Arthur H. Manners
I’ve just finished the first 6-part primer in my new blog called the Sci-fi Writer’s Guide to Reality. The blog aims to help science fiction writers with the fundamentals of science. The first primer focuses on remote sensing (the act of trying to determine what’s going on over there, i.e., at a distance, through means other than physical contact). This topic is rich and essential to many aspects of science fiction, from spaceship sensors to astronomical observations.
Yes, please!
Here’s the first installment of his six-part primer on remote sensing:
Sci-fi Primers- Remote Sensing – Part 1
Ensign: “Captain, the long-range scanners indicate that the aliens’ blood-type is O-negative.”
Captain: “My God… Universal donors. What else is on the scanners?”
Ensign: “That the aliens think Star Wars Episodes Seven through Nine were the best.”
Captain: “Monsters! Arm the photon torpedoes!”
So if you’re wondering how remote sensing works, what is handwavium (official writer terminology alert!), and what crosses the boundaries between science and magic, check out this guide:
Sci-fi Primers- Remote Sensing – Part 1
Sci-fi Primers- Remote Sensing – Part 2
Sci-fi Primers- Remote Sensing – Part 3
Sci-fi Primers- Remote Sensing – Part 4
Go, science!
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, aliens, genre fiction, sff, writing on July 30, 2024| Leave a Comment »
I need to add the stories I’ve posted here to my Fiction page. I tend to post many of the shorter stories here and it’s easy to forget a piece or three.
I stumbled on this one the other day, from March 15, 2023.
I came from the stars to meet you. I was happy. Excited, even. First contact with your verdant world. Think of all that we could share with you.
“You” could have meant a lot of things. I started with one of the most populous. An insect.
I remember little of what it was like, a flash of light, a warm wriggle in a puddle after rain. The feel of wind in my wings.
It’s embarrassing to say this now, but I was promptly eaten.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, fantasy, free fiction, inspiration, Scott Lynch, sff, Writers, writing on July 9, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Scott Lynch is the author of a favorite series, The Gentleman Bastard (start with The Lies of Locke Lamora). His writing is crisp, clear, and clever, but not what I’d call copious. So imagine how pleased I was when a notification popped up in my inbox, letting me know that he has a short story out. Even better, it’s part of a free multi-author newsletter dedicated to sharing science fiction and fantasy every Sunday: The Sunday Morning Transport.
Here’s the story. If you’d like more weekly fiction, subscribe at the link above.
Selected Scenes from the Ecologies of the Labyrinth by Scott Lynch
Akayla Sethrys’s boot hits the door just below the lock.
She’s been kicking these things in for eight or nine years now and she knows where to put her emphasis. She favors a pair of bespoke basilisk leather and steel sabatons for this purpose; today some additional luck is with her in the form of rotten wood. Jagged wet splinters fly as the broken door slams inward, peeling out of its frame. Another dungeon chamber breached.
“Onward!” cries Sethrys, crouched over her shield, blade up for quick thrusts past the rim.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, aliens, free fiction, genre fiction, sff, Thoughts, writing on June 14, 2024| Leave a Comment »
As a follow-up to yesterday’s discussion of animal crossings as one way we can be kind to the other creatures with which we share this world, I decided to resurface a post from last year:
I came from the stars to meet you. I was happy. Excited, even. First contact with your verdant world. Think of all that we could share with you.
“You” could have meant a lot of things. I started with one of the most populous. An insect.
Go forth, and be kind.
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Posted in Entertainment, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, Nebula Awards, sff, SFWA, Writers on June 9, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Last night the SFWA announced the winners of the 59th Annual Nebula Awards. Here’s the complete list:
SFWA Announces the Winners of the 59th Annual Nebula Awards – SFWA
Highlights:
- Nebula Award for Novel: The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera
- Nebula Award for Novella: Linghun by Ai Jiang
- Nebula Award for Novelette: The Year Without Sunshine by Naomi Kritzer
- Nebula Award for Short Story: Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200 by R.S.A Garcia
The complete list of finalists: SFWA Announces the Finalists for the 59th Nebula Awards – SFWA
And if you enjoy award ceremonies, here’s the video:
Congratulations to the winners, and to everyone looking for their next reads!
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, free fiction, genre fiction, humor, reading, sff, Thoughts on May 30, 2024| Leave a Comment »
The news, man, it can be heavy. If you’re in the market for lighter reads, put these short stories from Reactor (f.k.a. Tor.com, why are so many sites changing their names these days? like we don’t all have enough to keep track of) on your list.
Six Seriously Funny Speculative Short Stories – Reactor
Haven’t read them all yet but I’m looking forward to it. For even more recommendations, scroll down to the page’s comment section. Readers have thoughts.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, free fiction, genre fiction, science fiction, sff, Writers, writing on March 16, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Today only (well, yesterday and today, for any time travelers out there)!
Free free free book giveaway from a wide array of science fiction authors. I heard about it through Krista D. Ball, another SFCanada member who is part of the event.
Here’s the main link: Sci-fi Book Blast March 15 – 16, 2024
Books available in the following categories: Adventure, Alien Invasion, Colonization, Crime & Mystery, Cyberpunk, Dystopian, First Contact, Galactic Empire, Humor, Military, Post-Apocalyptic, Short Story Anthologies, Space Opera, Time Travel
Note: it does say to be sure to check that the link is free because database updates don’t always work like they should, and I did run across a few that were either not free or not available. That said, there are over a hundred books in the list so lots to choose from.
I ended last night in a bit of a funk because I 1) finished my book, and 2) the ending was disappointing as hell. Was it supposed to be a dramatic climax and just fizzled, or was the author so committed to his (also annoying) cliffhanger that he decided to just bypass the climax altogether? Ugh.
Either way, I am very much in the market for a new book and new authors, so this giveaway is excellent timing. Hope you find something you like!
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, authors, genre fiction, sff, Thoughts, weird lists on February 9, 2024| Leave a Comment »
I decided to make a list of science fiction and fantasy authors based on my reading history, organized by the starting letter of their last name. (That’s normal, right?)
This is off the top of my head and while I read a lot my memory isn’t the best. I have certainly forgotten many authors, and of course there are many more that I have not yet read. And I haven’t put everyone in here, but focused on the ones engraved into my longer-term memory banks. (As such, it tends toward the classics.) Even so, I was surprised to find that most letters have at least some entries.
Most, but not for Q, U, and X.
Here’s my list in progress. Who am I missing?
A is for Asimov, Atwood, Adams, Abercrombie, Andrews, Addison, Anders, Anthony
B is for Butler, Bradbury, Bujold, Banks, Bacigalupi, Bester, Butcher, Burroughs, Baum, Bull, Beukes, Bradley
C is for Crowley, Chiang, Card, Crichton, Arthur C. Clarke, Cronin, Chambers, Corey, Susanna Clarke, Carroll, Cooper, Cherryh
D is for Delany, Dick
E is for El-Mohtar
F is for Farmer, Farland, Feist, Fforde, Flint, Foster
G is for Grant, Gibson, Gladstone, Gaiman, Gabaldon, Green, Goldman
H is for Harrison, Herbert, Huxley, Heinlein, Haldeman, Hamilton, Hobb, Hopkinson
I is for Ishiguro
J is for Jemisin, Jordan, Diana Wynne Jones
K is for King, Kowal, Kingfisher, Kay, Kurtz
L is for Leckie, Lem, Ken Liu, Le Guin, Lewis, Lem, Lunch, Cixin Liu, L’Engle, Lowry, Lord, Leiber
M is for McCarthy, Miller Jr, Muir, Martine, Miéville, Martine, McGuire, McCaffrey, Matheson, Moorcock, Milne, Macdonald, McKinley
N is for Niven, Novik, Norton
O is for Okorafor, Orwell
P is for Pournelle, Pratchett, Pullman
Q is for …
R is for Robinson, Rothfuss, Rowling
S is for Scalzi, Shelley, Stephenson, Simmons, Sagan, Stross, Samatar, Sanderson, Sawyer
T is for Tolkien, Tchaikovsky, Tiptree Jr., Tepper
U is for …
V is for Vonnegut, Verne, VanderMeer, Vinge
W is for Weir, HG Wells, Martha Wells, Willis, Whitehead, Walton, Williams, TH White, Wilhelm
X is for …
Y is for Yolen, Yu
Z is for Zelazny
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, Escape Pod, evil ice cream carts, free fiction, genre fiction, more weaponized food, scifi, sff, short stories, speculative fiction, Writers, writing on February 1, 2024| Leave a Comment »
I have mentioned a story called “The T-4200” on this site in posts before. Originally published at Andromeda Spaceways Magazine in 2017 (yay), it was not available online (so sad!).
Until now.
That’s right, the good folks at Escape Pod looked at this goofy sci-fi adventure featuring a beleaguered civil servant just trying to do the right thing, dimension-hopping animals, and murderous ice cream carts and said, “Yes, please.”
(Fine, I may have added the “please.”)
The thing about Escape Pod is that they are an audio magazine. Because they also publish the transcript, this story (all 9,000 or so words of it), is now available in both audio and text formats.
Which means that you, fair reader (or listener!) are now able to sample the delights of this story for yourself.
Enjoy the audio performance or read the transcript at Escape Pod.
Escape Pod 923: The T-4200 (Part 1 of 2)
Escape Pod 924: The T-4200 (Part 2 of 2)
I had a great time with this story. Hope you do too!
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J.R. Johnson 
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