Posted in Holidays, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, Thoughts, Writers, writing on August 24, 2024| Leave a Comment »
A quick programming note: Mr Man and I have a little time off and we’re hoping to have some fun and be a bit spontaneous with our scheduling. In service of that goal, it’s time for a short series of posts featuring quotes! And pretty pictures!
“What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do?”
― Ralph Ellison
No matter where you are or what you do, I hope you can take a moment to enjoy these last days of summer.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, genre fiction, Hugo Awards, Writers, writing on August 22, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Apologies for the delayed announcement, but in case you were looking at the clock and idly wondering, “Who do you suppose won the Hugos this year?” I am here to help!
The awards are announced at the annual Worldcon, and this year it was held in Glasgow. I’ve never been, but it sounds like a lovely, storied locale.
Right, ahem, the envelope please!
2024 Hugo Award Winners | Glasgow 2024
Best Novel
Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh (Tordotcom, Orbit UK)
Best Novella
Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher (Tor, Titan UK)
Best Novelette
“The Year Without Sunshine” by Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny Magazine, November-December 2023)
Best Short Story
“Better Living Through Algorithms” by Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld, May 2023)
Best Series
Imperial Radch by Ann Leckie (Orbit US, Orbit UK)
See the above link for the complete list of winners.
I haven’t read all of these yet but I do love the feeling of having good stories waiting in the wings.
/rubs hands with glee!
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, #wotf39, creativity, editing, genre fiction, perfectionism, Thoughts, Writers, Writers of the Future, writing on August 21, 2024| 2 Comments »
Consider this: when you over edit something, you polish off the edges that made it unique and vibrant. A little polish is good, but not too much. Nobody wants a diamond polished into a ball bearing. They want something unique. Something sparkly. The world is full of uniform ball bearings. Be a flawed diamond.
— David Hankins, award-winning writer, author of Death and the Taxman, and all-around good duck
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Posted in Science!, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, learning@lunch, nonfiction, science, Thoughts, Writers, writing on August 13, 2024| Leave a Comment »
I’m reading a nonfiction book that is fascinating, detailed and (so far, at least) very well written. My favorite sentence from the bit I read at lunch is this perfect illustration of how to set the tone as well as the stage:
The lighting is subtle, the decor an elegant symphony of beige.
— Gretchen Bakke, The Grid: The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future
Can’t wait to read the rest!
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, Thoughts, Writers, writing on August 9, 2024| Leave a Comment »
“It’s good to do uncomfortable things. It’s weight training for life.”
― Anne Lamott
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, #wotf, #wotf40, #WritersOfTheFuture, creativity, genre fiction, inspiration, Kal M, Thoughts, Writers, writing on August 8, 2024| Leave a Comment »
If you are a writer, an illustrator or creator of any kind, this Writers of the Future winner has a message for you.
You Don’t Need to Fit In | Kal M
Hey, you. Yes, you, the one fretting in front of the computer because you’re too nervous to start on that story you promised yourself you’d work on. Come here a second; I have something to tell you.
Ready? Okay, here it is: you’ll be fine.
Maybe today is the day you need to hear this. If not, put it in your pocket and save it until you do.
Then pick yourself up and make something. It will be beautiful.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, computing, tech tools, Writers, writing on August 7, 2024| 4 Comments »
Are you laces over Crocs? Pedals over e-bike? Spiral pad over iPad? And are you looking for a tried-and-true way to translate your stories from mind to digital matter?
This new/old writing program could be for you.
Sci-fi writer and WordStar lover re-releases the cult DOS app for free | Ars Technica
WordStar’s most recent claim to fame might be that it’s the word processing application on which George R.R. Martin is still not finishing A Song of Ice and Fire.
But many writers loved and still love WordStar, a word processor notably good for actual writing.
Last updated in 1992, Wordstar still has devoted users. Rob Sawyer, all-around nice guy and winner of (checks notes) pretty much every sci-fi award ever, is one of them. He’s also done waiting.
Deciding that the app is now “abandonware,” Sawyer recently put together as complete a version of WordStar 7 as might exist. He bundled together over 1,000 pages of scanned manuals that came with WordStar, related utilities, his own README guidance, ready-to-run versions of DOSBox-X and VDosPlus, and WordStar 7 Rev. D and posted them on his website as the “Complete WordStar 7.0 Archive.”
I’ll be honest, this program probably isn’t for me. But I do love the fact that Rob figured out what works for him, found a way to keep it working for him (no mean feat in our current environment of disposable tech), and wants to share it with the rest of us.
If you are in the market for a head-down, “focus first” approach to writing and don’t mind installing a DOS emulator to use it, check out this beloved program.
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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, submission manager, submissions, The Grinder, Thoughts, Writers, writing on August 2, 2024| Leave a Comment »
For various reasons, my new writing output has been a little slow, but today I thought to myself, “Self, if you don’t have any new material to submit for publication, you should submit some of your favorite reprints and see if they can find a new audience.”
I thought that was a great idea.
Perhaps you have the Next Great Novel all ready to go (more power to you, friend), but even if you don’t I bet you still have something you can send out.
If you use The Grinder for your submission tracking (and I recommend that site highly), it’s easy to search for reprint markets.
So keep writing and submitting, getting those ho hum rejections and delicious acceptances, as often as you can. It’s all part of the Great Circle of Writing Life™.
Submit early, submit often!
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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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