Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America

Archive for July, 2011

Guest Post: Finding Your Voice

Saturday, July 30th, 2011

by Leo Babauta

Creators of any kind must find their voice.

We are writers, musicians, designers, programmers, parents, builders of anything. But we are not truly expressing ourselves, and speaking the truth, until we’ve found our voice: the tone, style, tenor, pitch, personality we use to express ourselves.

Our voice is our essence, writ plain for the world to see.

A reader and fellow writer asked me how I found my voice. And I have no easy answer — I’m not even sure I can say I’ve fully found my voice yet. It’s a quest that doesn’t seem to end — not a Grail quest, really, but a constant retuning as the essence of who I am neverendingly changes.

But I feel I’ve found something that has the texture of truth, even if only a tactile approximation. I’ll share some of my thoughts, but keep in mind I don’t hold the answers firmly at all.
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Tags: Leo Babauta
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Quick Updates for 2011-07-30

Saturday, July 30th, 2011

• SFWA member @jenniferbrozek has been promoted to managing editor of Black Room Publications. http://bit.ly/o6TdcH #

Tags: twitter
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Quick Updates for 2011-07-29

Friday, July 29th, 2011

• New anthology End of an Aeon includes stories by SFWA members @stillsostrange @eugiefoster @daviddlevine and more! http://bit.ly/l19FyR #

Tags: twitter
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Gulliver Travel Grant

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

The Speculative Literature Foundation (SLF) has announced that proposals for the Gulliver Travel Research Grant are being accepted from July 1st 2011 until September 30th 2011.

SLF travel grants are awarded to assist writers of speculative fiction (poetry, drama, creative nonfiction) in their research. They are not currently available for academic research. One $800 travel grant is awarded annually, to be used to cover airfare, lodging, and/or other travel expenses.
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Tags: Gulliver Travel Research Grant, Speculative Literature Foundation
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The Cruelest Hoax

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware

There's been some Internet buzz over the past few days about an apparent scam in which an unknown individual, posing as agent Jodi Reamer of uber-agency Writers House, targeted an unsuspecting author with a fake representation offer, followed by a fake high-advance contract offer from a major publishing house, all in the space of a few hours. As quickly as the hoax evolved, it collapsed--just one day after announcing what she believed was her good fortune, the author, self-published YA writer Aaronni Miller, revealed on her blog that she'd been punk'd.

A statement by Writers House appeared to confirm the hoaxer's existence.

Writers House has learned that a series of fake emails claiming to be from WH agent Jodi Reamer have been circulating to self-published authors this week. "These emails, which contain a number of false statements, have not in fact come from Jodi Reamer and should thus be disregarded." One easy "tell": they advise that any e-mail from a non-Writers House address "expressing interest in representation is counterfeit.

Still, some people were skeptical. Could the whole improbable story have been a lie, or some kind of spectacularly ill-advised publicity stunt, with Aaronni inventing the hoaxer as a way of saving face when an actual client of Ms. Reamer confirmed on Twitter that there'd been no representation offer?
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Tags: Writer Beware
Posted in SFWA Blog, Writer Beware | 3 Comments »

Video Pick of the Week: End of an Era

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

In celebration of what was, and in hopes of what will be… the Video Pick of the Week.

In all the history of mankind there will be only one generation which will be the first to explore the solar system, one generation for which, in childhood the planets are distant and indistinct discs moving through the night, and for which in old age the planets are places, diverse new worlds in the course of exploration. There will be a time in our future history when the solar system will be explored and inhabited by men who will be looking outward toward the first trip to the stars. To them and to all who come after us, the present moment will be a pivotal instant in the history of mankind.

— Carl Sagan, London lecture at Eugene, Oregon, 1970.

Tags: carl sagan, video pick of the week
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Quick Updates for 2011-07-26

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

• @wnwagner It counts as a half-credit for each author. #

Tags: twitter
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Guest Post: The Death of Fiction as Mind Movie

Sunday, July 24th, 2011

by Paul Jessup

Some things I’m influenced by currently:

• Barth’s Literature of Exhaustion essay
• Book: The Pleasures of Japanese Literature
• Julio Cortázar’s  Hopscotch
  
• The idea of scenes floating in amber, connected but not connected, distant yet apart
• Ideas on what novels can be, what experiences it can talk about
• Can something wear the face of a novel, yet underneath be something else? Can it be a madman wearing a novel mask, stretched with letters on a novel Halloween costume, but if you get too close he bites you and barks at you and you see if for the truth it is?
• Books are like memory: subjective lies that define us symbolically
• I’m tired of OMG KEWL STUFF. This detritus of internet mental garbage that barrages us every day like a pop culture stew of sigils, drowning us in their signs
• What is experimental literature Vol 1
• and
• What is experimental literature Vol 2

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Tags: Paul Jessup
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Quick Updates for 2011-07-23

Saturday, July 23rd, 2011

• SFWA member @eugiefoster sold a short story (reprint) "Biba Jibun" to the Pseudopod podcast. #

Tags: twitter
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How to Have a Writers’ Hangout in Google+

Friday, July 22nd, 2011

by Mary Robinette Kowal

So… You’ve wondered what this new social network is good for. Fair question. Google+ offers one thing that I think is amazing for writers and other creative types. The hangout. This is basically a video group chat but a little fancier.

I’ve been using it to have writing sessions with other writers and Edward Champion asked me for instructions on how to do it.

Truly, this will work for any form of creative work in which one usually is locked into solitary confinement. The goal with these hangouts is to have a little bit of socializing to break up the process of creation. At the same time, having folks around makes it easier to not get distracted by my sudden pressing need to vacuum the cat.

I’ve played with this for the past several days and it’s kind of like hanging out at a coffee shop but I get to bring my own cats and don’t have to worry about what part of the world the other writers are in.
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Tags: Mary Robinette Kowal
Posted in SFWA Blog | 3 Comments »

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