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Collaboration

by Daniel Brotzel

Finishing a book sounds like hard enough work when there’s just one of you. Can working with someone else really help? Yes! says Dan Brotzel, who’s recently launched a novel he wrote with two pals. Here’s the why and the how…

Sketching a Story

by Paul Jessup

Novels are hard, yo. I mean, books in general, maybe writing overall? But for me making that leap from short stories to novels was a difficult transition. I had to completely change my writerly habits, completely reinvent the ways I was doing things altogether.

Transportation

by Daniel M. Bensen

So I have to get to work with my conscious mind. I have to soothe my limbic system as if it’s a spooked horse. I rub my fingers, I wiggle my toes, I take valerian pills. I imagine my body is being filled with glowing liquid, I compose haikus.

In Memoriam: Katherine MacLean

Katherine MacLean (b.1925) died on September 1st. MacLean began publishing science fiction in 1949 when her short story “Defense Mechanism” appeared in the October issue of Astounding.  Her first novel, Cosmic Checkmate, was co-written with Charles V. De Vet, and appeared in 1962 with her first solo novel, The Man in the Bird Cage, appearing in 1971. Although […]

In Memoriam: Melisa C. Michaels

Melisa C. Michaels (b.1946) died on August 30. Michaels began publishing with the 1979 short story “In the Country of the Blood, No One Can See,” which appeared in the January issue of Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine.  She followed up with a handful of short stories and the first two novels of her five volume Skyrider […]

In Memoriam: Brad Linaweaver

Brad Linaweaver (b.1952) died after a lengthy battle with cancer on August 29.  Linaweaver began publishing science fiction in 1980 with the short story “The Competitor.”  His second published story, the novella “Moon of Ice” was nominated for the Nebula Award in 1983 and Linaweaver later expanded it to novel length, for which he won his first […]

SFWA Minimum Pro Rate Now in Effect

The SFWA minimum payment rate for professional short fiction markets is now eight cents  per word. In accordance with our mission to support and empower science fiction and fantasy writers, SFWA periodically reviews and adjusts the minimum payment rate for professional short fiction markets (known colloquially as the SFWA pro rate). On January 16, 2019, […]

The Jargon and Slang of the Fantastic

by Ken Pelham

World-building is more than misty mountains, crumbling castles, dripping neon cityscapes, and talking rats. It’s also about psychology and language, and the language equation includes the everyday corruptions of jargon and slang.