FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Janet Gershen Siegel: How much description of mundane life do you use in your world-building? None, a touch, lots? And why? Writers: This is a writer chat – you are welcome to share your own book/link, as long as it fits the chat, but please do so as part of a discussion about the topic. Join the chat
What were the top 10 strangest science stories of the past year? It wasn’t easy to choose just 10 — 2018 was pretty darn strange. However, writers at Live Science and at our sister site Space.com managed to put together a list of our favorites; from a space-bound Tesla to an unusual (and uncomfortable) confrontation between a seal and an eel. Ne-crow-philia? Crows can do some pretty amazing things. They use tools. They can solve puzzles. They also, sometimes, have sex with their dead. Scientists placed a dead crow on the ground and watched how other crows reacted. Some mounted … Read more
QSFer Rebecca Langham has a new FF fantasy book out: Finding Aurora. Aurora Rose slumbers in the city of Oldpass, a cursed kingdom once allied with Grimvein. The victim of a malicious spell, she is powerless to control her own fate. At least, that’s how the story goes. Now, as Grimvein faces attack, Prince Amir has been tasked with the life-threatening rescue of Aurora, his parents hopeful he will marry the princess and secure safety for their kingdom. Talia, the strongest spellcaster in the known lands, protects and guides the prince in his quest to save a woman that threatens … Read more
Welcome to M3: ME ME MONDAY at our FB discussion group – your chance to pop in and tell us about your latest success. Have a new book or short story coming out? Let us know. Just sell something? Let us know so we can cheer you on. HOW IT WORKS: I’ll pin this topic to the top of our FB discussion page for the day. –Please post your announcement as a separate post so we can comment on yours specifically –Check out the other posts and congratulate and share them too! And congratulations!!!
In summer 2019, Netflix will release its remake of the ‘80s- and 2000s-era anime classic Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac, an animated series about five cosmic warriors defending Earth against vengeful Greek gods. The original Japanese TV program featured a gentle male character named Andromeda Shun. Shun had long green hair, wore magenta armor, was openly emotional and always tried to resolve conflicts without violence, despite being a skilled warrior. As such, some Saint Seiya fans viewed Andromeda Shun as queer or at least a groundbreaking depiction of a male warrior. However, Netflix’s remake will change Andromeda Shun’s gender to female, upsetting some … Read more
Helios Quarterly wants short science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories for upcoming issues. It will accept submissions Jan. 1–Jan. 15; pays 1¢–3¢/word for fiction and 25¢/line for poetry.
Read the full post on Dale Cameron Lowry’s blog for writers.
QSFer ‘Nathan Burgoine has a new YA fantasy book out: Exit Plans for Teenage Freaks. Being the kid abducted by old Ms. Easton when he was four permanently set Cole’s status to freak. At seventeen, his exit plan is simple: make it through the last few weeks of high school with his grades up and his head down. When he pushes through the front door of the school and finds himself eighty kilometers away holding the door of a museum he was just thinking about, Cole faces facts: he’s either more deluded than old Ms. Easton, or he just teleported. … Read more
FOR READERS Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Denise Dechene: While reading do you have to be in a specific mood? Do you gravitate to a certain trope if your happy, sad, mad etc? Writers: This is a reader chat – you are welcome to join it, but please do not reference your own works directly. Thanks! Join the chat
It was just a few months after NASA’s Opportunity rover touched down on Mars in 2004 that it spotted a geological curiosity: tiny, iron-rich spheres scattered across the rock surface near the robot’s landing site. Snack-loving scientists working with the mission dubbed these objects “blueberries,” but the features were easier to name than to understand. Their recipe remains something of a puzzle. Trying to sort out the origins of these blueberries has always involved studying similar-looking spherical formations here on Earth. New research takes its inspiration from these terrestrial analogs to offer a new idea of the chemistry that may have gone … Read more
FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer J. Scott Coatsworth: The science on climate change is now virtually undisputed (unless you’re a scientist hired by a fossil fuel company). How does this play out in your speculative fiction? Share how you integrate this into your sci fi stories, if you do, and if not, why you choose not to. Writers: This is a writer chat – you are welcome to share your own book/link, as long as it fits the chat, but please do so as part of a discussion about the topic. Join the chat