Just how did we get this wasteland?

I love a good post-apocalyptic story, living by your wits, outracing death, and searching for survival. Many stories set in these fallen worlds are focused on restoring what came before. The idea is that before the 'fall' everybody was much better off. Well is that true? Or is it a mistaken assumption by the survivors or author? What if the reality is that the world that came before is the one the precipitated the fall?

There is a fascinating article over at COSMOS Magazine entitled Civilisations: why they fail». What is interesting about the article is the examination of the role of self-deception in the failure of civilizations. The ability for a group of people to ignore an obvious problem, even one that will threaten their survival.

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Somewhere in the middle of the Pacific is a small island with big heads. It's arguably one of the most famous islands in the world but the people responsible for that fame are gone. Their civilization long since failed.

As the COSMOS Article asks:
What did Easter Islanders say as they were cutting down the last palm tree? Were they saying, "Think of our jobs as loggers, not these trees?" Were they saying, "Respect my private property rights?" Surely Easter Islanders must have realised the consequences of destroying their forest. One wonders whether people of the next century – if there are still people alive – will be equally astonished about our blindness today.

I ask, do we look back on the Easter Islanders as a great civilization, one that we would aspire to recreate? How about the Mayans? The Vikings on Iceland? *Maybe* the survivors looked back on those civilizations as something to recreate? If that was the case than they were themselves practising the same self-deception that led to their respective falls to begin with.

Are your post apocalyptic characters deceiving themselves? Do they perceive the world that came before as the paradise they must regain? Civilizations fail for reasons, those reasons don't just disappear after the fall. If your computer crashes and you reboot it, is the problem *really* fixed? Are your characters wise enough to recognize this? What does that recognition do to your story?




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Mind Meld of the Gods

I'm doing it again, I'm linking to another Mind Meld over at SF Signal. This one is about Gods in Speculative Fiction».

If you are unfamiliar with a SF Signal Mind Meld let me give you a heads up: This is not an experience for the unprepared. Brew some coffee, find a comfortable seat and settle in for an intimate look into the minds of some of the greatest SF writers out there. People like Elizabeth Bear, Gregory Frost, and L.E. Modesitt Jr.

I have some thoughts of my own as to the nature of religion in stories.

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Religion in real life (there's a mindbender) is something that comes easy for some, hard for others and not at all for the rest. In Fantasy it seems to generally be an expected and active component of the world and in Science Fiction an invisible or non-existent force. I'm not saying that those are the rules for all, in fact there are some fantastic stories that defy my above statement. And how do you really classify A Canticle for Leibowitz or The Algebraist?

In world building and writing I struggle to find the difference between a god and superhuman. What makes one divine and the other merely impressive? I don't believe there is a hard line, no simple criteria or checklist. On a bell curve I would place normal man at one end, and the monotheistic omniscient god at the other end. Then on the hump I would look for my stories. To me that space is where men can achieve greatness and where the gods can falter.

Ultimately given the role faith and religion has in the real world, and the influence it has on the lives of so many, it is a mistake not to give it some thought when world building. You don't need gods with winged horses and lightening powers, just a conscious knowledge of the role religion plays in your characters lives. Some of the most powerful stories written never show the gods, or their motives, but without the characters faith there would have been no story.


For more on the religions in the two books I mentioned check out this review of A Canticle for Leibowitz from SF Reviews.net and this article on The Algebraist from Gordon's Notes





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13 Things that Do Not Make Sense

I'm sure there's more than 13 things that do not make sense », but New Scientist had to end the article somewhere.
(I'm trying something new: the '»' symbol is a link that will open the preceding link a new window.)

The 13 things they list are:

1 The placebo effect
2 The horizon problem
3 Ultra-energetic cosmic rays
4 Belfast homeopathy results
5 Dark matter
6 Viking's methane
7 Tetraneutrons
8 The Pioneer anomaly
9 Dark energy
10 The Kuiper cliff
11 The Wow signal
12 Not-so-constant constants
13 Cold fusion


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The article gives an explanation for each item on the list, briefly explaining some of the questions that surround them. It's a pretty good look at some of the mysteries that are still unexplained by science. Personally I wouldn't advise attempting the experiment they describe to demonstrate the placebo effect. In most jurisdictions that would be considered torture and in others (cue the rim shot) marriage. Hiiyooo!!, I'm here all week folks.

No seriously now, there are legitimate questions in science and, unlike the article I reviewed yesterday, this article does a little bit better at approaching the subject. And these articles are about the same subject, bad science, fringe science, wacky science, it all is the same thing. The unexplained and unexplored.

In my readings I've encountered many of the items on the list and have my own conclusions. To preface: I'm not a scientist, nor am I accredited by any institution that would give me any credibility. (heh) However I can read and follow many arguments in physics and chemistry thanks to a decent education. Yay Canada

Most of the items on the list are acknowledged mysteries of astrophysics and particle physics. Things ranging from Dark Matter to Tetraneutrons. And Most have little impact on life. Impact or not though, the Pioneer Anomaly is pretty cool. It just feeds the imagination to wonder why the probes are moving faster than they should as they exit the solar system.

Also on the list were a couple of the items dealing with health and biology. A subject I only know really through, well, being a biological sometimes healthy being.

The first, #1 (Placebo Effect), is a psychological/physiological mystery, and fascinating to behold. How it works is still unquantified, but the fact it works is well documented and accepted.

The other, #4 (Homoeopathy), I had always thought of as bad science. I'm sure that others disagree, and this is one of those subjects I railed about yesterday as something that needs to be treated seriously. So Seriously, it may make for good medicine, but the chemistry doesn't make sense so it's bad science.

For all the Homoeopaths and their followers out there if you are healthy, or improving then ignore my opinion. I wish you all the best in health and happiness. And really the only problem I have with Homoeopathy is the dilution theory. The idea that you can start with a mixture of water and a substance (ie:nightshade, or charcoal) and dilute it enough that there is nothing left of the substance. Essentially just water is left but that water still has the healing powers of the substance diluted out of it. Crazy enough for me, and a challenge to my preconceptions is the Belfast Study. Here is a controlled scientific study that seems to indicate some basis of truth to the dilution theory.

Two final items on the list that caught my eye were #6 (Viking's Methane) and #11 (the Wow signal). Both offer little in evidence, but they inspire hope in me that there really may be life out there. This is my own little bastion of bad science. I know that there is no evidence in support, and many logical arguments against, but I still believe, even if the only aliens I meet exist in the pages of my library.





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Advice fail? Me? Never.

So I open my mouth and make a silly statement.
I find Worldbuilding for short stories effortless.
And I get called on it (twice).

Hee hee.
And here I thought nobody paid any attention.
I think that my statement (which was meant as a joke on my laziness when worldbuilding) also illustrates one view of writing fiction. Write first, fix later and only if it needs fixing. I'm not saying that it is a superior view over others, just that it exists.

A few weeks ago I read an interesting Mind Meld Discussion over at SFSignal (seems all I do is read their Mind Melds) where they asked authors for the best advice they've received on writing.

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I've actually linked to this Mind Meld before. Proving just how full of info those Mind Melds are.

One of the answers came from Author John C. Wright and he discussed advice given by Robert Heinlein. I really want to include John C. Wright's answer in full but I don't think that's fair to SFSignal - so go there and read the whole Mind Meld. In the meantime here's a couple of the important bits from Wright:

Heinlein's rules for writing were professional and simple. "1) You must write. 2) You must finish what you write. 3) You must not rewrite unless to editorial demand. 4) You must mail your story to an editor who will pay you money. 5) You must keep it in the mail until someone buys it."

Rule number 1 and 2 are paramount and cannot be over-praised. The Dean of SF is exactly right. Rule 4 and 5 are paramount and cannot be over-emphasized. The Dean of SF speaks words of wisdom more precious than gold, more to be treasured than refined gold.

Rule 3 is just bad advice.

--snip--

Now, on the other hand, Heinlein not only sold these books, but won plaudits and awards for them, so take my caution with a grain of salt. On the gripping hand, A.E. van Vogt wrote tightly-plotting thrillers of cosmic wonder without a wasted scene and barely a wasted word; J.R.R. Tolkien rewrote and rewrote until magic shines from his pages.

Obey Heinlein's rule number 3 if and only if you have Heinlein's knack at charming characterization and if and only if you find a market for meandering, plotless, charm-driven stories.

Don't fall into the trap of rewriting if it means you cannot finish your work. That is a fine rule.

I like John C. Wrights reinterpretation of the Heinlein Rule 3. I edited out a chunk of his answer and again I encourage you to read the complete answer and see his justification for disagreeing with Heinlein. (Wright's is the 8th down the page)

The reality is that Heinlein was writing in a different time and what worked for him doesn't work in a more mature Speculative Fiction Market. I say more mature because our expectations are higher, we've been raised on a solid foundation of character and plot driven stories that make sense (worldbuilding!) and push the boundaries of literature even. Do I need to make a list ? (Simmons' "Hyperion", Atwood's "Handmaids Tale", Brin's "Earth", to start)

My personal opinion of Heinlein (formed when I was a judgemental youth) was that his early work was fantastic and he went crazy later when he was writing the big stuff ("Number of the Beast", "Cat Who Walks Through Walls"). Now I know that he just didn't edit.

Lesson learnt - bad editing and world building can make people think you are crazy. (Perhaps that explains the failure of my writing group to meet last week. ;)




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Coffee and Cigarettes

I'm a hedonist at heart. If it wasn't for the adverse effect alcohol has on my health I imagine I would be comfortable in France. Probably not real France, real France is likely full of normal people, but Hedonist France. Where it's like a Roman Orgy with better food and clothing. Perhaps Pre-Katrina New Orleans fits the bill (maybe even post, I certainly hope so).

Cigarettes. There's something for a hedonist to enjoy. I don't smoke them, I did once, but again that whole health thing. A few years ago I was in New Orleans, or 'NuhOrLens' as I was taught to say it, during Mardi Gras. I remember drinking coffee in the streets of the French Quarter, looking at the aftermath of the night's festivities and nursing a hangover. The air was so thick with moisture that with each exhale I had to push the smoke away from me. Long thick ropes of smoke that I directed toward objects of interest, watching as the smoke curled around another victim. I was no Gandolf, but I did managed to spear a ring or two even.

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I got a number of free meals in New Orleans. Not because the food was bad, but because it was fantastic! And I told the wonderful people that were serving me how much I enjoyed their food, city and atmosphere. I also made a point of bringing my friends back to those places and dropping some coin, repaying their generosity in multiples. That's the beauty of the Hedonist Life, share and share alike. There is nothing more satisfying than introducing someone to a new pleasure for a hedonist.

That's part of what makes New Orleans tick I think. The people I met there were warm and welcoming. They wanted to share their culture and history with visitors. I would have happily stayed forever in the warm fragrant embrace of that city had it been possible. What a contrast from where I lived at a time. The almost sterile mix of steel, water, and mountains that makes up Vancouver. A city where women in business suits and Nikes powerwalk the Stanley Park Seawall during their lunch hour. Holding a Starbucks latte with one hand, and a bottle of water with the other.

What does this have to do with Speculative Fiction? Very little other than colour, but colour is what gives a story texture and depth. Where do your characters come from? What is the nature of the place that they are? Do they have cravings? or passions? These details, perhaps never fully explained in an infodump, will influence your story in every area. Each interaction your characters have beyond their brain will be based in the details of the world around them. Being able to visualize that world, to understand what motivates the characters in that world, will lead to more believable fiction.



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Writing Group Wrap Up

So last night was the second organized meeting of the writing group, and as before everyone had something to share. This week our stories had immortal body snatchers, the melusine and alien fairies by firelight. So a pretty wide collection of stories all falling within the speculative fiction definition. One thing that was surprising to me was the similar darkness to all of our stories. Nobody seemed depressed, so I'm gonna chalk it up to a reflection of the winter, or the current economic climate.

On that note, over at SFNovelists S.C. Butler has posted an article entitled The Happy Place. The article (and associated comments) explores the recent trend of what he calls the Pessimistic Fantasies garnering greater attention over Optimistic Fantasies. Pessimistic Fantasies are stories that start in a dark place, a cruel world so to speak, where characters struggle to bring positive change. Whereas Optimistic Fantasies start in a idealized place, and typically characters attempt to protect this world.

If I were to evaluate the stories presented in the meeting last night I would characterize them as pessimistic, however this is not meant as an insult. Our choices of dark worlds for our stories gave us the freedom to explore the ramifications of our characters decisions, and in a sense let them define Good or Evil, instead of their world defining it. This is one of the strengths of a short story where world building, must by necessity, be a distant second or third to the character development. There simply isn't time to waste filling in all the details of a world when an actual story must unfold. Ultimately it's easier and faster to describe Dystopia over Utopia, because the former doesn't require you to have all the answers.

Next month, new meeting, new stories. Tick Tock goes the clock, time to get writing.


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The Future is ?

Yesterday I talked about the future of the writing industry. So today it seems appropriate to talk about the future described by the writing industry. Over at Locus Online is an interesting piece titled: Pitfalls of Prophecy: Why Science Fiction So Often Fails to Predict the Future by Gary Westfahl. It's an interesting read that looks at some of the basic fallacies often made when predicting the future. I would like to note that it's not only Science Fiction authors that fall into these traps, plenty others predict the future and get it wrong. We just seem to expect the SciFi doods to get it right, perhaps unfairly.

Seriously, Science Fiction is about story telling, and while science has a role in shaping a plausible scenario, few stories can stand alone with just science. It's in the human interactions that Science Fiction excels. In the relationships and decisions that are shaped and forced by the backdrop of the (science) fictional reality. This is why I use the term Speculative Fiction. It frees me from having to defend the science (real or imaginary) in my stories.

The reality is that most of the best science fiction ever written has zero chance of ever being plausible. Hyperdrive? Alien Warfare? Robots using Humans as Batteries? If you look at the science behind those ideas it doesn't make sense. I don't know if there are aliens out there, but it really doesn't matter because the science is pretty clear on extra solar travel. It's SLOW. Lightspeed is a great speed limit, but it's also irrelevant. The energy requirements alone to bring a manned vessel to a fraction of the speed of light (1 or 2 percent) are high enough as to render it effectively impossible. So science tells us that we aren't going anywhere, and it's unlikely we're going to meet others along the way. The human battery thing just falls because it's a dumb idea, you don't really need to understand science to get that one. But Hyperdrive and Aliens and Human Batteries all make great backdrops to compelling stories.

Here is a great Mind Meld from SF Signal that looks at the predictions from Science Fiction and what has occurred and what has not. As with all Mind Melds a lot of the value is in the discussion by the participating authors as they present their own take on the question. James Gunn, Adam Roberts, and others being some of the participants.


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Fiction Fridays: Vampires and Nymphos?

For a brief period of time, until Feb. 24th 2009, Mario Acevedo's 2006 novel The Nymphos Of Rocky Flats will be available as a free online ebook. You can read it off of the publishers website here.

Mario Acevedo has combined humour, the supernatural and the classic hard boiled PI into a compelling story. The protagonist Felix Gomez is a Private Investigator, a veteran of the Iraq conflict where he became a vampire. He has come to the Denver area at the request of an old friend to investigate a serious of troubling events at an Dept. of Energy research facility. Throw in some nymphos, and aliens and you get a real page turner.
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Most novels couldn't pull it off. The subject matter seems too ridiculous, but Mario Acevedo succeeds in a way that even leaves you wanting more at the end. Things that worked in this story include the restraint on the sex, the fast pacing of the action sequences and the well constructed characterizations and plot.

Things that didn't work? Well it is what it is, a light afternoon's read. The author touches somewhat on the impact of current and past events on the character's lives, but very quickly moves us into another action sequence before any real character development is achieved. Only at the end of the novel, in a slightly predictable way, does a character show real change and growth, though it has more to do with advancing the next action sequence than enlightenment.

I don't mean to be harsh, for I enjoyed this story because of it's humour and lightness. A dark brooding vampire lamenting the torment of his eternal years for page after page is a tired cliché right now. A little action and getting on with your life (or undead) is a pleasant and refreshing change.

The main reason I'm mentioning this story, and linking to it, is because Mario Acevedo demonstrates very well the Scene-Sequel Pattern approach to creating a novel. That alone makes it worthwhile reading if you are interested in understanding and using this technique.

*Disclaimer some of the stuff on the above linked site is for pay - I link only for information, I am not suggesting you spend money.
*and yes Fiction Fridays can be posted on a Thursday, a calendar is just another cage man. ;)





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Secret Agent Contest: What's the Hook?

An interesting contest just wrapped up over at Miss Snark's First Victim. The contest was simple, write a first page to a story and have it evaluated by an agent, with feedback given to you. The best first pages 'win'.

I don't think there was a physical prize but the value of the commentary from an agent is worth more than a free book or cute trophy. Even for those who didn't 'win'. There were 60 entries ranging from way out there speculative fiction to more contemporary settings.

The 'Secret Agent' for this contest was Kristen from Pub Rants. On her blog she discusses the experience and the value to be gained, not just from her comments, but from those of the entrants. That's because in order to participate in the contest each entrant was required to comment on the at least 5 other entrants. In a sense this created an online flash mob/critique group. The comments are insightful and the discussion is a great look at writing the first page and developing a hook.

And speaking of resources, Jeffrey A. Carver, has created a detailed online resource of references and lessons to help develop your skills as a Speculative Fiction writer. Many common concepts and terms specific to the writing industry, like the above mentioned "Hook", are explained and explored there.


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Market Mondays: Who's Looking?

So LAST WEEK I mentioned that the Writing World is facing Market Troubles. In other words everybody is going out of business. Well, before you panic and give up writing entirely, I've got good news.

There's a new Magazine starting up this year, honestly I hope more than one starts this year, but I'll take what I can get. Warren Lapine, of DNA Infamy is back, and hoping to make good with a new Magazine: Fantastic Stories of the Imagination. Follow the link to see what they are looking for.
Here are some others also looking for new Speculative Fiction:
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* 3 Lobed Burning Eye
Online Speculative Fiction Magazine - "Stories that Monsters like to Read"

* Analog SF
Widely considered the magazine where "Science Fiction Grew Up"

* Asimov's Science Fiction
Stories from Asimov's have won 44 Hugos and 24 Nebula Awards, and their editors have received 18 Hugo Awards for Best Editor.

* Electric Spec
An e-zine featuring science fiction, fantasy, and macabre short stories

* Escape Velocity
Hard science fiction stories with a slant toward the future human condition

* Interzone
This speculative fiction magazine often publishes issues based on different themes.

* On Spec This Quarterly Magazine showcases quality works by predominantly Canadian writers and artists, in the genre they call "Fantastic" literature

* Quantum Kiss
A journal of Romantic Speculative fiction (equal weight to both)

* Shiny Magazine
A Young Adult magazine mostly interested in stories with speculative elements - science fiction, fantasy and horror

I wish the list was bigger, but many magazines are still closed to submissions, in the next quarter some more should open up. As always, check Ralan's Market Listings for information.



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Market Mondays: Wednesday Worries

This post would have been up on Monday, but due too some, hmmm, "Database" issues, my domain was down for the first half of this week. So Today we get back on track.

The industry is in trouble. Well maybe not, some argue that it's actually in a down cycle but will rebound.

What's going on? A whole lotta changes, some driven by technology, some by consumers. But the end result is that a number of traditional publishers of speculative fiction are either cutting back or worse, getting out of the business.

Realms of Fantasy Magazine is closing. This year would have seen their 100th issue. Other magazines may not be closing their doors, but changing market conditions, lower sales, higher postal cost, etc, are leading them to modify their businesses.
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So who else is in trouble?

Fantasy and Science Fiction (F&FS) Magazine is changing from a monthly publication to a bi-monthly one.

Susurrus Magazine went on an indefinite hiatus starting January 2009

Southern Fried Weirdness closed to submissions January 2009

Æon Speculative Fiction, the quarterly electronic magazine published by Quintamid Publishing Inc., suspended publication November 2008

That's 4 examples from the past few months, but many more are in trouble and the closures in the industry will likely continue throughout this year.

What can be done? Subscribe. I'm renewing my subscription this month to my favourite Speculative Fiction Magazine: Neo-Opsis. If you don't currently subscribe to any magazines go to Ralans to see the active and dead magazines out there. Find something to your taste and get a subscription.



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Fiction Fridays: Tower in the Crooked Wood

Johanson, Paula : Tower in the Crooked Wood
(Bundoran Press, $11.95, November 2008, cover art Erich Schreiner)

I very recently got a chance to read Paula Johanson's YA Novel 'Tower in the Crooked Wood'. Why am I reading Young Adult Fiction?
Why not?!

I'm not young, sure, but I enjoy quality speculative fiction no matter who it's targeted toward. Recently my wife and I have been on a YA novel kick, though I'm unsure if everything in the Twilight Series is really 'Young Adult'. YA fiction has a lot to recommend it, one thing being a lack of pretentiousness. By it's very nature it's accessible to the reader and there are a lot of good authors writing young adult work. Paula Johanson being one of them.

At it's core 'Tower in the Crooked Wood' is a fantasy novel about a young woman trying to bring an end to an evil that is inflicting suffering and death on many people, including her own family. My one sentence outline makes it sound similar to many fantasy novels, and that's a failing on my part. This story is not some tired rehash of an orphan hero who saves the world, though that is what does kindof happen. Instead it is the story of a young woman struggling with emotions like loyalty, vengeance, & love, all the while discovering her own inner confidence and sense of self.
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Jenia, the hero, is an orphan, raised in a small village of mud huts. She's more comfortable trimming fruit trees, than she is in the environment that she now finds herself in. At the beginning of the story we realize that Jenia is running from man and beast, in an unfamiliar land and seeking a "..cursed mountain that she'd left bloody footprints on..".

Very shortly into the tale Jenia finds not what she was seeking (a great evil), but the exact opposite. After her long journey full of danger and fear, and after many sacrifices in pursuit of her goal, the greatest challenge she faces is the one offered by the warmth, respect, and even love of the villagers of Tlakwa.

Paula Johanson's solid writing paints a picture of the life of these villagers as Jenia assimilates into their world. They are a good people, full of love and laughter who's worldview is at times shockingly at odds with Jenia's. There is quite the subtext on the nature of war and the reasons behind fighting.

There are scenes in this story that are very familiar to someone, like me, who's lived on the west coast of Canada for a number of years. At one point Jenia, shortly after enjoying a meal of clams, is walking across the beach and realizes that just as she's discarded the shells from her meal on this beach, so have others. In fact so many others that the beach was almost entirely made of up shells or shell fragments. At that moment Jenia sees the vastness of time stretching behind her, and, with her small pile of shells, ahead of her.

It is scenes like the one above that differentiate this story. Paula Johanson has created a believable world for the village of Tlakwa. The people have a culture and a history. This should be expected from someone who is also a successful science fact writer, but the way those details are used shows Paula Johanson's strength as a storyteller. The Tlakwa have traditions and beliefs that challenge Jenia to examine her own values and morals. Here Paula Johanson gives us a wonderful view into the thoughts and emotions that drive Jenia. At the end we are able empathize with her, because we understand her. We share in her conflict, her triumphs and sorrows.

This a great coming of age story with a strong female lead that any reader of speculative fiction will enjoy. In a time when young adult fiction seems to be getting more and more graphically dark in content, this story was refreshing. 'Tower in the Crooked Wood' is available from the publishers website (first 2 chapters free!), if it's not in your local bookstore or library.



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Best writing advice EVER?

Not from me, however there are a few established authors willing to give that question a spin. Over at SF Signal are the collected answers of a number of authors, Ben Bova through to Robert Silverburg, in a little thing SF Signal calls a 'Mind Meld'. I suspect they borrowed the term from somewhere. ;)

The best advice I personally received came during a writing course conducted by Paula Johanson.
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She asked each of us if we wanted to become writers. Then, after a number of affirmative responses, she produced her magic wand (it was invisible!) and waved it over our heads, pronouncing the magic words "Yew Err Wryters". (Only it sounded more like "You are writers"). Then she said "Ok, that's done. Now there's nothing stopping you. Time to get started."

The point is: There really is nothing stopping you, or anyone from being a writer. Even Stephen Hawking writes and he arguably faces challenges most of us can't conceive of. Much of the advice in the SF Signal article is similar. Just write, don't fret or worry too much about it, just get the words on the paper. Once they are down then you can go nuts on the editing or submitting, but get the story out first.

Yesterday morning I found myself unable to finish my story for my writing group. It was due in the evening and I was stalled only a couple of thousand words in. I had already revised the beginning twice and changed the whole story in my head a dozen times.

In the end I had to produce something and felt like I'd made a mess of this story. So I put that story aside and sat down to start writing something new, something fresh. For the rest of the day I wrote and by the evening I had a story. It was a complete simple piece that didn't even need much editing to make it ready to send to the group. The key was I stopped questioning myself, my ideas or my story and instead just wrote.



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Market Mondays: Contests - Free Ones

Continuing on a little bit of a contest theme from last week, I've compiled a short list of some of the better Speculative Fiction Contests to enter. Ones with a name that are reasonably trustworthy.
* though I will note the Hubbard one does send a lot of emails, if you sign up for the newsletter
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FREE Short Fiction Contests: (no entry fee)

The L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Short Fiction Contest. Each year the winners of the contest wind up published in the Writers of the Future Anthology. Good books, and many good Authors have been winners in the past. This is a contest judged by some of the biggest names in the industry : Kevin J. Anderson, Gregory Benford, Orson Scott Card, Anne McCaffrey, Larry Niven, Frederik Pohl, Jerry Pournelle, Robert Silverberg and more.
Quarterly Entries.

The Jim Baen Memorial Short Fiction Contest sponsored by The National Space Society and Baen Books . This is a great contest meant to really encourage new writers. There are no guarantees of being published but the opportunity to have your writing evaluated by Baen Books senior editor Hank Davis and Authors Eric Flint and Mike Resnick is pretty valuable.
Deadline: April 1, 2009.

PARSEC Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Story Contest. This is the 14th iteration of this annual contest. This year the judges are Tor Books Author Walter Hunt, Young Adult Author Sarah Beth Durst, and Author S.C.Butler. The winner will be published in the program book for the Confluence 2009, the annual literary Sci-Fi convention in Pittsburgh.
Deadline: April 15, 2009

The First Annual Spectra Pulse Short Fiction Contest. This one actually closes in a few days, but I'm mentioning it because it meets the criteria of a good contest and with luck will be run again next year. This contest is sponsored by Bantam Spectra, which ultimately traces back to Random House Publishing. This contest will feature the winners story in the summer issue of Spectra.
Deadline: January 31, 2009

Good luck. If you are looking for more contests, below are some of the sites I use.

The Canadian Authors Association website lists a number of markets, and contests.

Ralan's Webstravaganza contains both Market listings and contest listings.

Good information can also be found at Young Adult Author David Barr Kirtley's Resources for Teen Authors (not all the contests there are restricted to teens).

* remember to evaluate the contests before committing your work or money to anything



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Fiction Fridays: Vanity List

In this case the Vanity part is marking off all of the titles I've read on the list of 149 SF&F Novels Everyone must read. This started with a series of articles at The Guardian covering the 1000 Novels Everyone Must read. My copy of the list was taken from the SF Signal article where this little meme began.

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The Bolded Titles are ones that I have read. I counted 44, but my eyes went blurry near the end. This is also just from memory, however what looks clear is that most of what I've read is old. I blame that on inheriting a good chunk of my Sci-Fi Collection. Though my Dad doesn't seem to think I've inherited anything yet, something about him still being alive and wanting his books back.

A couple of books or authors that I would add: The Listeners by James Gunn or anything by Gregory Benford

Feel free to copy the list and do the same in the comments or on your own blog. *Thanks to SF Signal and other bloggers for compiling it in an easy to use format.

1. Douglas Adams: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979)
2. Brian W Aldiss: Non-Stop (1958)
3. Isaac Asimov: Foundation (1951)
4. Margaret Atwood: The Blind Assassin (2000)
5. Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid's Tale (1985)
6. Paul Auster: In the Country of Last Things (1987)
7. J.G. Ballard: The Drowned World (1962)
8. J.G. Ballard: Crash (1973)
9. J.G. Ballard: Millennium People (2003)
10. Iain Banks: The Wasp Factory (1984)
11. Iain M Banks: Consider Phlebas (1987)
12. Clive Barker: Weaveworld (1987)
13. Nicola Barker: Darkmans (2007)
14. Stephen Baxter: The Time Ships (1995)
15. Greg Bear: Darwin's Radio (1999)
16. William Beckford: Vathek (1786)
17. Alfred Bester: The Stars My Destination (1956)
18. Ray Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451 (1953)
19. Poppy Z Brite: Lost Souls (1992)
20. Charles Brockden Brown: Wieland (1798)
21. Algis Budrys: Rogue Moon (1960)
22. Mikhail Bulgakov: The Master and Margarita (1966)
23. Edward Bulwer-Lytton: The Coming Race (1871)
24. Anthony Burgess: A Clockwork Orange (1960)
25. Anthony Burgess: The End of the World News (1982)
26. Edgar Rice Burroughs: A Princess of Mars (1912)
27. William Burroughs: Naked Lunch (1959)
28. Octavia Butler: Kindred (1979)
29. Samuel Butler: Erewhon (1872)
30. Italo Calvino: The Baron in the Trees (1957)
31. Ramsey Campbell: The Influence (1988)
32. Lewis Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865)
33. Lewis Carroll: Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871)
34. Angela Carter: Nights at the Circus (1984)
35. Angela Carter: The Passion of New Eve (1977)
36. Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (2000)
37. Arthur C Clarke: Childhood's End (1953)
38. GK Chesterton: The Man Who Was Thursday (1908)
39. Susanna Clarke: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (2004)
40. Michael G Coney: Hello Summer, Goodbye (1975)
41. Douglas Coupland: Girlfriend in a Coma (1998)
42. Mark Danielewski: House of Leaves (2000)
43. Marie Darrieussecq: Pig Tales (1996)
44. Samuel R Delaney: The Einstein Intersection (1967)
45. Philip K Dick: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968)
46. Philip K Dick: The Man in the High Castle (1962)
47. Thomas M Disch: Camp Concentration (1968)
48. Umberto Eco: Foucault's Pendulum (1988)
49. Michel Faber: Under the Skin (2000)
50. John Fowles: The Magus (1966)
51. Neil Gaiman: American Gods (2001)
52. Alan Garner: Red Shift (1973)
53. William Gibson: Neuromancer (1984)
54. Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Herland (1915)
55. William Golding: Lord of the Flies (1954)
56. Joe Haldeman: The Forever War (1974)
57. M John Harrison: Light (2002)
58. Nathaniel Hawthorne: The House of the Seven Gables (1851)
59. Robert A Heinlein: Stranger in a Strange Land (1961)
60. Frank Herbert: Dune (1965)
61. Hermann Hesse: The Glass Bead Game (1943)
62. Russell Hoban: Riddley Walker (1980)
63. James Hogg: The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824)
64. Michel Houellebecq: Atomised (1998)
65. Aldous Huxley: Brave New World (1932)
66. Kazuo Ishiguro: The Unconsoled (1995)
67. Shirley Jackson: The Haunting of Hill House (1959)
68. Henry James: The Turn of the Screw (1898)
69. PD James: The Children of Men (1992)
70. Richard Jefferies: After London; Or, Wild England (1885)
71. Gwyneth Jones: Bold as Love (2001)
72. Franz Kafka: The Trial (1925)
73. Daniel Keyes: Flowers for Algernon (1966)
74. Stephen King: The Shining (1977)
75. Marghanita Laski: The Victorian Chaise-longue (1953)
76. CS Lewis: The Chronicles of Narnia (1950-56)
77. Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu: Uncle Silas (1864)
78. Stanislaw Lem: Solaris (1961)
79. Ursula K Le Guin: The Earthsea series (1968-1990)
80. Ursula K Le Guin: The Left Hand of Darkness (1969)
81. Doris Lessing: Memoirs of a Survivor (1974)
82. MG Lewis: The Monk (1796)
83. David Lindsay: A Voyage to Arcturus (1920)
84. Ken MacLeod: The Night Sessions (2008)
85. Hilary Mantel: Beyond Black (2005)
86. Michael Marshall Smith: Only Forward (1994)
87. Richard Matheson: I Am Legend (1954)
88. Charles Maturin: Melmoth the Wanderer (1820)
89. Patrick McCabe: The Butcher Boy (1992)
90. Cormac McCarthy: The Road (2006)
91. Jed Mercurio: Ascent (2007)
92. China Miéville: The Scar (2002)
93. Andrew Miller: Ingenious Pain (1997)
94. Walter M Miller Jr: A Canticle for Leibowitz (1960)
95. David Mitchell: Cloud Atlas (2004)
96. Michael Moorcock: Mother London (1988)
97. William Morris: News From Nowhere (1890)
98. Toni Morrison: Beloved (1987)
99. Haruki Murakami: The Wind-up Bird Chronicle (1995)
100. Vladimir Nabokov: Ada or Ardor (1969)
101. Audrey Niffenegger: The Time Traveler's Wife (2003)
102. Larry Niven: Ringworld (1970)
103. Jeff Noon: Vurt (1993)
104. Flann O'Brien: The Third Policeman (1967)
105. Ben Okri: The Famished Road (1991)
106. George Orwell: Nineteen Eighty-four (1949)
107. Chuck Palahniuk: Fight Club (1996)
108. Thomas Love Peacock: Nightmare Abbey (1818)
109. Mervyn Peake: Titus Groan (1946)
110. Frederik Pohl & CM Kornbluth: The Space Merchants (1953)
111. John Cowper Powys: A Glastonbury Romance (1932)
112. Terry Pratchett: The Discworld series (1983- )
113. Christopher Priest: The Prestige (1995)
114. Philip Pullman: His Dark Materials (1995-2000)
115. François Rabelais: Gargantua and Pantagruel (1532-34)
116. Ann Radcliffe: The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794)
117. Alastair Reynolds: Revelation Space (2000)
118. Kim Stanley Robinson: The Years of Rice and Salt (2002)
119. JK Rowling: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997)
120. Geoff Ryman: Air (2005)
121. Salman Rushdie: The Satanic Verses (1988)
122. Joanna Russ: The Female Man (1975)
123. Antoine de Sainte-Exupéry: The Little Prince (1943)
124. José Saramago: Blindness (1995)
125. Will Self: How the Dead Live (2000)
126. Mary Shelley: Frankenstein (1818)
127. Dan Simmons: Hyperion (1989)
128. Olaf Stapledon: Star Maker (1937)
129. Neal Stephenson: Snow Crash (1992)
130. Robert Louis Stevenson: The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886)
131. Bram Stoker: Dracula (1897)
132. Rupert Thomson: The Insult (1996)
133. JRR Tolkien: The Hobbit (1937)
134. JRR Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings (1954-55)
135. Mark Twain: A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's Court (1889)
136. Kurt Vonnegut: Sirens of Titan (1959)
137. Horace Walpole: The Castle of Otranto (1764)
138. Robert Walser: Institute Benjamenta (1909)
139. Sylvia Townsend Warner: Lolly Willowes (1926)
140. Sarah Waters: Affinity (1999)
141. HG Wells: The Time Machine (1895)
142. HG Wells: The War of the Worlds (1898)
143. TH White: The Sword in the Stone (1938)
144. Angus Wilson: The Old Men at the Zoo (1961)
145. Gene Wolfe: The Book of the New Sun (1980-83)
146. Virginia Woolf: Orlando (1928)
147. John Wyndham: Day of the Triffids (1951)
148. John Wyndham: The Midwich Cuckoos (1957)
149. Yevgeny Zamyatin: We (1924)



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Contest Writing

There's a post over at The Rejecter today about Contests and Contracts. The Rejecter responds to a question about a subject rarely looked at, the obligations and restrictions upon you when you enter your work into a contest. One interesting restriction that sometimes happens is being unable to submit your work elsewhere while waiting for the contest judging to finish.

Let's be honest Speculative Fiction is a hard field to make money in, much less achieve recognition. This is really true of all artistic endeavours and while being unfortunate it does make what recognition there is all the more valuable. I have looked at many contests as routes to getting my work published. I haven't entered most though for a few reasons. The main one being cost.

Many contests require an entry fee, I understand that these fees are many times the only reason for the contest existing. The monies collected pay for prizes/andor/publication for the winners. This can be a good thing or a bad thing, especially in the age of the internet. There is very little accountability and trust possible with just email as a communication method. So, before sending out that work and the check with it, (or just your credit card info on a web form) how do you assess the validity of the contest?
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Google to the rescue?
A quick search for 'scam writing contest' turns up this page: Warnings About Literary Fraud and Other Schemes, Scams, and Pitfalls That Target Writers, from Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. I already had it bookmarked, but that's because I read the Writer Beware Blog.

The Key points to assessing a contest from the above sites and similar (Canauthors.org) sites (Writing-World.com) come down to some common sense questions:
*this is just a quick summary, I suggest looking to the linked sites for a more comprehensive approach to identifying scam contests and markets.

* Who's conducting the contest?
This is where the trust relationship comes in, if you are unsure of the contest sponsors or judges motives, then stay away. Some contests are run just to gather money, others are run to get your information and possible future business through marketing efforts after the contest.

* What's the Prize?
Some prizes are too good to be true - enormous cash prizes that when you read the small print are actually subject to a number of conditions and restrictions where in the end what a winner receives may be a fraction of what was promised. Or is the prize the reward of being charged to work with their agency or publisher?


* Is the contest Free? or for Fee?
Cost to enter doesn't have to be a barrier to entry, however I ask you this: If it's free to submit your work to any number of publishing houses and Speculative Fiction Magazines, why would you pay someone to judge the quality of your work. Winning contests is nice, but the measures of success in this industry have more to do with successful publication. Pay to enter a contest that you trust and see value in, but remember the fees should never be excessive, less than 25$ for a manuscript is appropriate.


And finally the most obvious one:

* Have you read the fine print?
I actually advise you to save a copy of the fine print to a file on your machine, or print it out. The 'Catch' is never in the big bold letters at the top of the page, the Devil lies in the details.

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44th President of those United States

I say 'those' because I'm not American. However I have nothing but good feelings for my neighbours to the South nearly 99.999% of the time. With this new President will come a great number of changes in Science, Technology and Environmental policies.

Some of the changes that I await with Excitement:
The creation of the CTO (Chief Technology Officer) position, this is an important step to bring the American Government's Policies and Technology into the 21st Century.
The replacement of the current FCC Chairperson, with someone who is able to understand and work with the desires of consumers and business.
Finally the Changes in Energy Policy driven by people like Steven Chu as the Energy Secretary, while still having someone running the EPA who actually understands the environments needs/limits.

Ultimately though I wish them (the Americans) more satisfaction with this administration than they had with the last one.

Watching the inauguration of Obama some things resonated with me. This is an office that has passed non-violently between it's holders 44 times now in history. This is a remarkable achievement for any country when you look at the longer history for Humans. When I read Speculative Fiction I typically find Democracies to be in the minority. Many times it's the dream of a protagonist, but just as many times I've seen it reviled by characters. The sad thing is that rarely a different alternative to Democracy is presented in these stories other than the various forms of Tyranny that we've known throughout history.

Why is it that a world with spaceships, massive power generation ability, and advanced biomedical treatments has a King? Technology both changes and enables change within the societies that spawns it. It is illogical to expect modern soldiers to carry swords on the battlefield, not when Guns exist. It should be equally illogical to expect future societies to govern themselves in limited traditional manners when new technology will exist.

I don't buy a King with a spaceship, but I would buy something like Realtime Democracy, a constant monitoring of opinions and beliefs of the existent society. If you watch 24 hour news you might believe we are already there.


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The Age of the Cyborg impacts Warranty Coverage

There's a posting at robots.net that has collected a together couple of recent news stories on Cyborgs. Sadly they aren't the death ray wielding type, but still pretty interesting stuff.

The Second of the two stories (which I'll mention first), is a pretty standard piece that fits with traditional image of a cyborg. It's about Ginny Ong, 21, a student who can hear thanks to a cochlear implant.

It isn't exactly super hearing, but it's super that she can hear. Bionic augmentation/replacement of hearing or other senses is straight out of the pages of many books. In this case though it's just a part of her life, and someday the lives of many others who have hearing problems as the technology (40,000 US$) comes down in price.

The First story however is an essay entitled The Age of the Cyborg from some local (University of British Columbia) professors. They haven't juiced up local law enforcement yet, instead they are developing materials for nanoscale medical implants. These implants can be used as support structures inside the body, releasing medicine and aiding in the regeneration of damaged tissues. An example being skin on a burn victim, another being a damaged heart valve.

This is an interesting story because it shows an extension of the definition of cyborg, taking it beyond biomechanical wonders. Here is where Science starts to surpass and redefine Fiction. The Cyborgs these professors predict are invisible, subtle, in fact in many ways elegant. No noisy hydraulics or metal exo-skeletons, just normal people with a few artificial structures supplanting and boosting their biological body.

The Cyborg of the Future isn't the Hulking Silver Dood with the resonate voice, instead it's the seventy year old with a new hip, or it's a seventeen year old girl who enjoys the sound of the birds in the morning.


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Coming up with Short Story Ideas

The first submission for my writing group is due on the last Tuesday of the month. The first meeting is the following Tuesday. This is going to be the pattern going forward with the group. That way everybody has a week to read all the submissions and prepare their comments. This is an important part of the writing group. In a previous writing group I was a part of there was one member who would not read the submissions before the meeting. This led to a lot of awkward moments where he expected us to simultaneously accept his excuses for not reading our work and provide comments on his material. This kind of thing can act as a poison to the writing group. People resent the member for not doing the same 'work' as the rest of them. This is why the deadline is set a week before the meeting for this group. There should be few excuses with a week and weekend to read the submissions. That's all that is really needed too. Read the submissions and comment on what feelings the story inspired in you, and what you liked or disliked.

Of course all of the above on being a good group member is useless if you don't have a submission to begin with. This month and most months my group will be working on short stories. When writing a short story the first step is coming up with the idea. The idea doesn't have to be a completely plotted ready to write story, it can just be a scene you wish to write, or a vision of some new technology, or magical wonder. The point of the idea is that it gives you a place to start (or finish) and the other stuff is just words on paper that will eventually be a story. I find many times that as I begin to write I really don't know what my story will be about or how it will end, but as long as I keep exploring the idea the story will reveal itself.

Where to get ideas? I have a few places I like to go for inspiration.
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First off by just paying attention to the news, any news, provides all sorts of fuel for the idea machine. I tend to mix my reading between technology news, political and legal news, and oddball stories - 'Man bites dog' sorta thing. Beyond the news there are some tried and true places for inspiration. One I particularly like, more so because it helps me refine ideas, rather than generate them is The Grand List of Overused Science Fiction Cliches.


Some of my inspirational links:


Biology in Science Fiction


Daily Space


NewsNow Science


MIT Technology Review

*added May 15th 09
I also suggest browsing the articles on this blog tagged Story Ideas», they don't always explicitly spell out ideas, but can be great for inspiration.

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The Initiation of a Writing Group

From humble beginnings as an ad in Craigslist my Speculative Fiction writing group begins. What is Speculative Fiction you ask? Well, it covers the range of Science Fiction & Fantasy writing. Now you know.

A lot of learning and development has already happened for me and the group hasn't even begun. For example I learnt that putting an ad on Craigslist will draw a lot of emails - and giving out a non-anonymous email just fuels the fire. However that's the nature of the beast and I can always kill and create email addresses. One of the core components of the writing group has to be trust, we are going to be sharing our stories - good,bad and ugly - being able to trust the other group members not to wound you is important. That's why I used a 'real email address', one that clearly came from the local service provider.

Some of the highlights from the emails that I received responding to my writing group ad:
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'The Dood' with the obvious pseudonym who is a wiccan sorcerer. He had recently published his first novel (all 14 pages!) and the second would be published soon (at the same online website).

The very nice 'Retired Lady' who argued that the things described in bodice rippers are fantasy in nature and thus would qualify for Speculative Fiction. I was genuinely interested to see what she would write, just not in the context of *this* writing group.

'The Soldier' who wrote humorous stories about, well...being a soldier. Very interesting subject material, but again without aliens, time travel, psionics or Fairies it doesn't really fall into Speculative Fiction.

After a couple of months of the above and similar I did receive a response from a someone who actually wrote speculative fiction. She has travelled the world teaching English with her husband, and now lives here in the city. We've met in person, verified that we are not crazed axe wielding psychos and set a date for the first meeting. So with two (myself and Her) we have a writing group.

Humble beginnings still, but I did receive an email the other day from a self described pack rat of people. Seems she writes journals of her travel experiences, but now wants to explore fiction and fantasy....

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