Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Writers’

Today’s Reads

Posted in Other, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 21, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Pieces I want to read, have just read, or am reading again:

Writing Stuff:
Random Stuff:

Read Full Post »

Keys to the Universe

Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on August 20, 2014| 1 Comment »

The very existence of libraries affords the best evidence that we may yet have hope for the future of man.
― T.S. Eliot
I’ve just discovered a lovely series by NPR on libraries. It’s ongoing but there are already close to a dozen pieces on the role libraries play in society, how they are transforming to meet new needs (disaster preparedness, anyone?) and the challenges they face in this new century.
Also, I had no idea that not all states supported public libraries. Srsly?

Read Full Post »

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.

 

Read Full Post »

Make Mistakes

Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on August 13, 2014| Leave a Comment »

If you’re making mistakes, it means you’re out there doing something.

This is a terrific saying. Thanks to Epic Reads for the lovely image, and thanks to Neil Gaiman for saying it.

Read Full Post »

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.

Read Full Post »

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.

Read Full Post »

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.”

Read Full Post »

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:

Read Full Post »

Maya Angelou (1928–2014)

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on May 28, 2014| 2 Comments »

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.

Read Full Post »

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

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »