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FOR WRITERS: I Know How It Ends

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FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Christine Wright: Have you ever had a last line or scene in your book before you even knew the start? 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

For Writers: Interspecies Warfare

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FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Jim Comer: Interspeces warfare is portrayed in most SF as being like war between (human) nations.  But wars between species on Earth (such as black and brown rats or between native and Africanized bees) isn’t fought that way, and seldom ends other than with extinction.  Sheffield’s Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Baxter’s Xeelee series give examples of wars between humans and aliens who range from the damn strange to the totally incomprehensible.  Have you used this concept in your work? If you have, how did characters view it?  What reaction did your readers have? Writers: This is … Read more

FOR BOTH: Reader Questions for Authors

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FOR READERS AND WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer J. Scott Coatsworth: Readers, did you ever want to sit down with an author and ask them how they manage to put together such amazing stories and worlds? Now’s your chance. Ask your questions, and the authors on this thread will do our best to sate your curiosity. Join the chat

For Writers: Extending a Short Story

Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer LV Lloyd: How do you turn a great short story into a great novel? Is it even a good idea to try? Do you address the new story by cutting, pasting and expanding the short or by writing a completely fresh story, just using the short idea as a springboard? What have you tried and has it worked for you? Join the chat

Ayres & Graces: Queer Author Ryan Vance

Writing and getting published is hard for every writer, but queer writers face unique challenges in the publishing industry. Ryan Vance, editor of the e-zine The Queen’s Head and The Island Review, is here today to discuss some of the challenges he’s faced as a gay man in the writing community. What challenges have you personally faced as a queer writer? I’m queer. It informs my experience of the world, and the stories I go on to tell, and those stories have as much worth as any pre-existing norm I might have unintentionally adopted. It’s worth stating from the outset … Read more

Angel’s Bits – So You Want To Send a Submission

Hey all – I know a lot of our authors here are self-pub, so this post won’t apply for you guys. Or it might. You may find that you want to send a manuscript to a publisher some day. I’m not going to talk about the pieces of a submission (query letter, synopsis, etc.) but I do want to talk a teensy bit about submission etiquette. Etiquette used to be taught. Not so often any longer, but when you correspond with a publisher, how you present yourself can make the difference between having your submission considered and having it tossed … Read more