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Quick Updates for 2011-01-09
Member News for David Levine and Laura Anne Gilman.
Key Conditions for Reader Suspense:
Part 4 – Uncertainty
Surprise is one of the vital elements in story making precisely because it makes things unpredictable. It makes hope, fear, worry, and curiosity possible.
The Importance of Context (Part 1)
I’m not saying you shouldn’t self-publish if you want to (though I would urge you to do so on the basis of knowledge rather than hype), or that self-publishers can’t become successful (clearly, they can–something that has always been true,…
Guest Post: Advice for Teen Writers
There’s nothing like writing during adolescence. The intensity, focus, and emotional strength that such a writer brings to her/his work is, like a map frozen in time, sharply delineated and can’t be captured except as a memory of once walking…
Quick Updates for 2011-01-06
Industry News and Member News for Lia Keyes, Mari Ness, Jim Hines, David Levine, Jennifer Brozek, Michael Chabon, Yasmine Galenorn, and Stephanie Dray.
Tanglewood Press is SFWA’s newest qualifying market
The board of directors of SFWA unanimously voted to add Tanglewood Press to the list of SFWA qualifying markets. This independent publishing house focuses on Young Adult novels and books for children. Speculative fiction sales to Tanglewood Press may be used toward membership…
Audio interview of Ursula K. Le Guin
Dmae Roberts, an award-winning radio artist and writer, recently profiled acclaimed author Ursula K. Le Guin for Stage and Studio, a radio show that focus on performing, literary, and media arts with a connection to Oregon.
Quick Updates for 2011-01-04
Member News for Kelly Swails, KJ Kabza, and Keffy R. M. Kehrli.
Guest Post: 10 Books for Writers Focusing on Craft
When I’m teaching, I do bring some books to class in order to point students toward them. I don’t think books are a substitute for the act of writing, but they can help focus and direct your practice and give…
Key Conditions for Reader Suspense:
Part 3 – It’s gotta be difficult
It’s one thing to say that something bad is going to happen. It’s quite another to know that kidnappers are going to cut your finger off with a pair of wire cutters. It’s one thing to have someone say something…
Hugo Award Nomination Period is Open
Renovation, the 69th World Science Fiction Convention, is delighted to announce that the 2011 Hugo Award nomination period is now open.
Guest Post: Blowing Up Planets
Doomsday scenarios are a dime a dozen. When a villain claims to be on the verge of ‘destroying the Earth’ he/she usually means killing everyone/everything on it. But sometimes simply killing all humans isn’t good enough. Unfortunately even the vast…
Quick Updates for 2010-12-30
Industry News and Member News for Will McIntosh, Joanne Merriam, Maureen K. Power, and Anne M. Pillsworth.
Highlights for Children is SFWA’s Newest Qualifying Market
Today the board of directors of SFWA unanimously voted to add Highlights for Children to the list of SFWA qualifying markets. This venerable magazine began publishing in 1946 publishes short fiction for children. It has served as an early gateway to reading…
Nebula Awards Guest Post: Sex, Skin and Secret Messages
What is it that makes us entertain fantasies about mating outside our own species? Surely this can’t be in our DNA; the mule, sterile offspring of a horse and donkey’s mating, is an example of the evolutionary dead end that…
Guest Post: Experiments with E-books
Earlier this year, I was studying my royalty statement from DAW, comparing my print and electronic sales. I’ve been hearing for years that print is dying and e-books are the future, so I was rather surprised to find that electronic…
Key Conditions for Reader Suspense:
Part 2 – The Three Problem Types
With this post we begin looking at the key conditions that build reader suspense. Stories are made up of four main ingredients: character, setting, problem, and plot. All of these are important, but problem is the engine that makes suspense…
Holiday Hiatus
Because even watchdogs have to rest sometimes, the Writer Beware blog will be taking a break over the holiday season. Unless there’s a really juicy publishing story, this blog will be on hiatus until the new year.
Guest Post: Steampunk/Alt History Week
Living in Color
Picture this–it’s the 1870’s. An African American pharmacist in knee-breeches and a frock coat has just made a startling invention–a refrigeration device. Okay, it’s an improved model designed for corpses, which makes me wonder what other mad scientist stuff was…
Quick Updates for 2010-12-23
Member News for Jennifer Jackson, Scott Dalrymple, Kameron Hurley, Michael Sullivan, Vonda N. McIntyre, and Cat Rambo.
Some Tips on Evaluating Literary Contests
Since I so often get questions about the legitimacy of literary contests (see, for instance, my posts of December 16 and December 7), I thought it would be helpful to post some suggestions for evaluating any contests you may be…
Nebula Awards Interview: Catherynne M. Valente
I had no idea what that book was actually about, or any notion of characters beyond September and the Green Wind. But the book as it exists in the world of Palimpsest presented certain rules, and I always find it…
Key Conditions for Reader Suspense:
Part 1 – It’s All About the Reader
Sometimes it feels like there are a thousand things to remember when writing a story. New writers who make lists of these things soon begin to drown in them. But I’ve come to realize that many of these “rules” don’t…
Quick Updates for 2010-12-18
Industry News and Member News for Jennifer Brozek, Matthew Johnson, David Levine, and Paul S. Kemp.