science fiction author
I read this book about 3 weeks ago while backpacking in the Eastern Sierra. I enjoyed it. It was the tale of “The Lost Colony” from Zoe’s perspective, and after reading the afterward, I felt like I understood the difficulty of writing such a piece. Scalzi says there that writing a story that fit between the cracks of another story was way more difficult than he thought it was going to be. I can see…
I made a goal for myself for the coming 12 months and that is to submit at least 8-10 stories over the next year. I have a lot of stories that are close to being submittable, and I just need to focus on them and just get over my fear of submitting. So, when I heard about the Cast of Wonders flash contest (https://www.castofwonders.org) I just knew I had to do it. The word count…
It’s been more than a month since my last post. I’ve done a little writing but work has gotten in the way. I’ve spent as much time as I could reading this book, which is now up to a series of 7 more the same length. It is a long read, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I watched part of The Expanse on a streaming service a few years ago and never got back to…
Spin, by Robert Charles Wilson. This book was a trip. I really enjoyed it. 3 teenagers, one October evening, sneak outside during a grown up party. And the stars and moon disappear. The Earth has been encased in a permeable membrane that slows time, so that for every minute, 3 years go by outside. This novel is broadly sweeping, discussing the technological, social, political, and religious fervor that grow up as millions of years go…
so tired. I took 36 pages of notes (9300 words). I have a lot to think about but now I am going to go check on my family and see if they are still alive.
My first con! I spent the whole day in my chair in front of 3 screens and multiple windows, frantically taking notes, listening to authors read their works. I got so many ideas on how to improve my writing… but I fear that I will slip into an “I’m not worthy” funk after all of this. There is so much to learn and understand. I mean, I get it, I haven’t taken a fiction writing…
I am so new to this world. I don’t know what exists, I don’t know what I should know. For example, I frantically applied to the Clarion workshops at the last minute because I didn’t know they were happening. I now have a calendar of deadlines and workshops for next summer, so hopefully this pandemic eases up. I knew that there were SF conventions but I didn’t really know what they entailed. I have never…
This novella is by Nnedi Okorafor, known for Africanfuturism. This is a term she coined because she did not agree with how her work was being portrayed in reviews. She states on her website that “Africanfuturism is a sub-category of science fiction. Africanjujuism is a subcategory of fantasy that respectfully acknowledges the seamless blend of true existing African spiritualities and cosmologies with the imaginative.” This was probably the first book I have ever read where…
I first read Old Man’s War about 8 years ago and it was one of those books that I couldn’t put down. I am only 2 years younger than him, and I feel like the SF that motivated him in his debut novel was similar to what I read. I read Starship Troopers multiple times, enjoyed Friday for its strong female lead (I know that Heinlein is problematic in some ways but to have a…
I meant to add this last month when I found out but we are in the middle of a pandemic, and I was still doing my regular job and it got a little crazy. Let me follow up with a news update. First of all, I did not get into either Clarion or Clarion West. It was a long shot at best, and honestly, since they have cancelled at least one of them (delayed until…
