I have nothing very new to say today, so I thought I’d let you fill in the blanks. Enjoy this “new school meets old school” Typewriter Simulator:
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Posts Tagged ‘writing’
Fill in the Blanks
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, Writers, writing, your turn on June 3, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Firefly or Lightning Bug?
Posted in Science!, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, characters, linguistics, maps, regions, Writers, writing on June 2, 2023| 1 Comment »
I’m knee-deep in appliance shopping (yes, 1, 2, 3, 4 again), but I ran across a fun dialect survey and thought you, gentle readers, might find it amusing. There are fireflies (or are they lightning bugs?). There are drive-through liquor stores (or not). There are maps!
Word choice is also a useful dimension to consider when developing a character.
Here’s the source that tipped me off:
The Decade-Old Dialect Quiz You Should Take – Now I Know
And here’s a link to the survey:
And here’s a more in-depth look at firefly vs. lightning bug:
Why Some Americans Say ‘Firefly’ and Others Say ‘Lightning Bug’
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You’ve Got Mail
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, #wotf39, #WritersOfTheFuture, creativity, genre fiction, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on June 1, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Two of my fellow Writers of the Future v39 winners have posted blogs about craft, and I wanted to share:
Writing Resilience | by David Hankins
One Writer’s Journey | by Elaine Midcoh
David and Elaine are great writers and terrific people, and both of those traits come through in these posts. Enjoy!
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Working On It
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, Thoughts, Writers, writing on May 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »
“A problem is a chance for you to do your best.”
— Duke Ellington
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Excellent In So Many Ways
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, constraint, creativity, inspiration, making stuff, sheep, Thoughts, Writers, writing, yay on May 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »
I like crafting in general, I like weaving in particular, and I like the freeing nature of creative constraints, so this “sheep to shawl” competition is right up my alley.
In a Sheep to Shawl competition, you have 5 people, 1 sheep, and 3 hours – NPR
Each team is made up of one sheep and five people: one shearer, three spinners, and a weaver. The team has three hours to shear the sheep, card the wool, spin the wool into yarn, and then weave that yarn into an award-winning shawl.
It’s not exactly the same as NaNoWriMo or drabbles or the 24-hour story challenge we recently did at Writers of the Future (crazy, fun, and not nearly as bad as I thought it would be:) but it’s in the same vein.
Here’s to artists exploring boundaries everywhere.
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Wishing You a Special Night
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, Fiction, Thoughts, Writers, writing on May 20, 2023| Leave a Comment »
“It was not really Saturday night, at least it may have been, for they had long lost count of the days; but always if they wanted to do anything special they said this was Saturday night, and then they did it.”
― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
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The 58th Annual Nebula Awards
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, Nebula Awards, Writers, writing on May 19, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Who won the latest Nebulas? Here’s an abbreviated list to get you started, but click through for all the details!
SFWA Announces the Winners of the 58th Annual Nebula Awards
NEBULA AWARD FOR NOVEL
Babel, R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager US; Harper Voyager UK)
NEBULA AWARD FOR NOVELLA
Even Though I Knew the End, C.L. Polk (Tordotcom)
NEBULA AWARD FOR NOVELETTE
“If You Find Yourself Speaking to God, Address God with the Informal You”, John Chu (Uncanny 7–8/22)
NEBULA AWARD FOR SHORT STORY
“Rabbit Test”, Samantha Mills (Uncanny 11–12/22)
THE ANDRE NORTON NEBULA AWARD FOR MIDDLE GRADE AND YOUNG ADULT FICTION
Ruby Finley vs. the Interstellar Invasion, K. Tempest Bradford (Farrar, Straus, Giroux)
Congratulations to all the winners!
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Still Smiling
Posted in Holidays, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, genre fiction, inspiration, Writers of the Future, writing on May 17, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Why is that, you ask? Because yesterday was my book birthday and that makes me happy. Thanks to everyone who has expressed interest in volume 39, preordered, ordered, or requested the book from the local library!
It’s a little bit like a fairytale, so today let’s tag along with my Writers of the Future award, which went on a little trip to see the Hugh Comstock fairytale cottages in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.
Here’s the award visiting Storybook Cottage (although I digitally removed the barriers between the award and the cottage, because symbolism!).
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Happy Book Birthday, v39!
Posted in Entertainment, Favorites, Likes, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, Writers, Writers of the Future, writing, yay on May 16, 2023| 5 Comments »
Today is the day: Volume 39 of Writers of the Future is live!
Where to buy: Amazon | Apple Books | Audible | B&N | BAM | Bookshop | Google Play | Indigo | Kobo | OverDrive Libraries | Powell’s | Vroman’s
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Here’s the synopsis:
In the world of speculative fiction…
Your favorite authors…
Have selected the best new voices of the year.
24 Award-winning Authors and Illustrators
3 Bonus Short Stories by Kevin J. Anderson • L. Ron Hubbard • S. M. Stirling
Art and Writing Tips by Lazarus Chernik • L. Ron Hubbard • Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Edited by Dean Wesley Smith • Jody Lynn Nye
16-page color gallery of artwork • Cover art by Tom Wood
Check out the stories Brandon Sanderson, Orson Scott Card, Nnedi Okorafor, Robert J. Sawyer, Kevin J. Anderson, Jody Lynn Nye and others chose as the best of the best.
Be amazed. Be amused. Be transported … by stories that take you by surprise and take you further and deeper into new worlds and new ideas than you’ve ever gone before….
Twelve captivating tales from the most exciting new voices in science fiction and fantasy accompanied by three from masters of the genre.
A miracle? An omen? Or something else? One day, they arrived in droves—the foxes of the desert, the field, the imagination….—“Kitsune” by Devon Bohm
When a vampire, a dragon and a shape-shifting Chihuahua meet on a beach in Key West, fireworks go off! But that’s just the background. —“Moonlight and Funk” by Marianne Xenos
Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I., faces one of his funniest and most perplexing cases ever—an enlightened ogre, a salamander with low self-esteem, and a raging fire dragon terrorizing the Unnatural Quarter! —“Fire in the Hole” by Kevin J. Anderson
The Grim Reaper, trapped in an IRS agent’s dying body, must regain his powers before he dies and faces judgment for his original sin. —“Death and the Taxman” by David Hankins
In a metaverse future, a woman who exposes falseness in others must decide what is real to her—the love she lost or the love she may have found. —“Under My Cypresses” by Jason Palmatier
Vic Harden wasn’t lured by glory on a daring mission into the reaches of outer space—he was ordered out there by his editor.—“The Unwilling Hero” by L. Ron Hubbard
Dangerous opportunities present themselves when an alien ship arrives in the solar system seeking repairs. —“White Elephant” by David K. Henrickson
With her spaceship at the wrong end of a pirate’s guns, a former war hero must face down her enemies and demons to save Earth’s last best chance for peace. —“Piracy for Beginners” by J. R. Johnson
Years after the Second Holocaust, the last surviving Jews on earth attempt to rewrite the past. —“A Trickle in History” by Elaine Midcoh
When I said I’d do anything to pay off my debts and get back home to Earth, I didn’t mean survey a derelict spaceship at the edge of the solar system—but here I am. —“The Withering Sky” by Arthur H. Manner
High-powered telescopes bring galactic life to our TVs, and network tuner Hank Enos figures he’s seen everything—until the day an alien boy stares back. —“The Fall of Crodendra M.” by T. J. Knight
Knights, damsels and dragons, curses and fates foretold—the stuff of legends and stories, but unexpectedly perverse.—“Constant Never” by S. M. Stirling
Determined to save his wife, Tumelo takes an unlikely client through South Africa’s ruins to the heart of the Desolation—a journey that will cost or save everything. —“The Children of Desolation” by Spencer Sekulin
When a terrorist smuggles a nuclear weapon into London, a team regresses in time to AD 1093 to assassinate a knight on the battlefield, thereby eliminating the terrorist a millennia before his birth. —“Timelines and Bloodlines” by L. H. Davis
The Grand Exam, a gateway to power for one, likely death for all others—its entrants include ambitious nobles, desperate peasants, and Quiet Gate, an old woman with nothing left to lose. —“The Last History” by Samuel Parr
You will love this collection of the best new voices because, as Locus magazine puts it, “Excellent writing…extremely varied. There’s a lot of hot new talent.”
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One More Day!
Posted in Likes, Reviews, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, #WritersOfTheFuture, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, inspiration, Writers, writing, yay on May 15, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Tomorrow is the book birthday for Writers of the Future Volume 39, which includes my story “Piracy for Beginners” and much more. The publishers went all out, with 544 pages plus a full-color gallery for illustrations, and of course electronic and audiobook versions.
Am I excited? I am. Am I eager for you to meet my fellow authors and illustrators, who are all amazing talents? They are! Will I remind you of these facts again tomorrow? Probably, because I think that anyone with an interest in science fiction and/or fantasy will find something to love in this collection. After reading the book and spending a week with the other new authors, I was impressed and I hope you will be too.
Links!
e/BOOK/AUDIO: Amazon | Apple Books | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop | Google Play | Kobo
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