(date: 2024-08-17 22:51:46)
date: 2024-08-16, from: Interesting, a blog on writing
Who gets to decide what normal is?
https://inneresting.substack.com/p/213-resisting-toxic-normalcy
date: 2024-08-16, from: Locus Magazine
The organizers of the Otherwise Award (formerly the Tiptree Awards) have announced updates and changes, including a streamlined process, and plans to move forward with the award for work published in 2024, after being “on pause” for 2022 and 2023 publications.
We will continue in the tradition of the award, honoring and promoting recent works that explore and expand our ideas of gender.
But we’re improving how we do that, …Read More
https://locusmag.com/2024/08/otherwise-award-updates/
date: 2024-08-16, from: John August blog
Weekend Read, our app for reading scripts on your phone, features a new curated collection of screenplays each week. This week, it’s back to school! We look at stories that articulate the excitement and ease the pain of starting another academic year. Our collection includes: 10 Things I Hate About You by Karen McCullah Lutz […] The post Featured Friday: Back to School first appeared on John August.
https://johnaugust.com/2024/featured-friday-back-to-school
date: 2024-08-16, from: Locus Magazine
The Clarion West Summer Workshop has announced its 2025 instructors: Maurice Broaddus, Malka Older, Diana Pho, and Martha Wells.
The six-week summer workshop will be held virtually from June 22- August 2, 2025 (they alternate virtual and in-person years).
The workshop is moving forward “with a new format designed to give students more time to write, additional lecture time with instructors, and more experimentation with workshopping models.” Their “sneak peek” …Read More
https://locusmag.com/2024/08/clarion-west-2025/
date: 2024-08-16, from: Locus Magazine
Remedial Magic, Melissa Marr (Bramble 978-1-250-88413-8, $17.99, tp, 336 pp) February 2024.
Melissa Marr’s Remedial Magic, first in a series, is a romance novel involving multiple characters engaged in tricky relationships. Ellie is a librarian in a small town who lives with her aunt and engages in the rather unusual self-described hobby of researching missing persons cases. These are not people who are murdered by spouses or involved …Read More
https://locusmag.com/2024/08/colleen-mondor-reviews-remedial-magic-by/
date: 2024-08-16, from: Locus Magazine
Following the recent resignation of SFWA president Jeffe Kennedy’s, her vice-president and subsequent interim president Chelsea Mueller has resigned as well.
It is with a heavy heart that I must resign my role on SFWA’s Board of Directors effective immediately. I love this organization, its mission, and most of all, its volunteers and members. My life has changed dramatically since I ran for the Vice President position earlier this year. …Read More
https://locusmag.com/2024/08/mueller-resigns-as-interim-sfwa-president/
date: 2024-08-16, from: Locus Magazine
The Sycamore Hill Writers Conference returned to the Wildacres Retreat in North Carolina from June 15-21, 2024.
While you are here, please take a moment to support Locus with a one-time or recurring donation. We rely on reader donations to keep the magazine and site going, and would like to keep the site paywall free, but WE NEED YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT to continue quality coverage of the science fiction and …Read More
https://locusmag.com/2024/08/photo-story-sycamore-hill-2/
date: 2024-08-15, from: Final Draft blog
Almost all the characters [in Fallout, the TV show] are brand new… We really took the world of Fallout that had been built up and iterated upon by other video game writers over the years and we wanted to do our own version of it rather than retell any version that someone else has already done. Our attitude was like, ‘Okay, let’s say this is a new Fallout game. What would it be?’ So, we took the world, the background, the themes of the games and the tone. It’s a new story. New people,” says Graham Wagner, co-creator and showrunner of Fallout on Amazon Prime.
https://blog.finaldraft.com/write-on-fallout-co-createor-showrunner-graham-wagner
date: 2024-08-15, from: Author’s Union blog
The booming AI industry has sparked heated debates over what AI developers are legally allowed to do. So far, we have learned from the US Copyright Office and courts that AI created works are not protectable, unless it is combined with human authorship. As we monitor two dozen ongoing lawsuits and regulatory efforts that address […]
date: 2024-08-15, from: Locus Magazine
The British Fantasy Society (BFS) has announced the shortlist for the 2024 British Fantasy Awards:
Best Fantasy Novel (the Robert Holdstock Award)
Best Horror Novel (the August Derleth Award)
https://locusmag.com/2024/08/2024-british-fantasy-awards-shortlist/
date: 2024-08-15, from: Locus Magazine
This Skin Was Once Mine and Other Disturbances, Eric LaRocca (Titan 978-1-80336-664-7, $22.99, 240pp, hc) April 2024.
Eric LaRocca has quickly established himself as one of strongest and most unique voices in contemporary horror fiction. This Skin Was Once Mine and Other Disturbances is emotionally charged and full of the kind of strange body horror LaRocca is known for. A collection of four novellas that aren’t afraid to explore humanity, …Read More
date: 2024-08-15, from: Locus Magazine
JOSEPH COELHO won the 2024 Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing for The Boy Lost in the Maze, illustrated by KATE MILNER (Otter-Barry). The award was presented by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals.
CLARE WINGER HARRIS (1891-1968) is the winner of the 2024 Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award, intended to bring attention to lesser-known SF and fantasy authors, announced at Readercon 33, held July 11-14, 2024, in …Read More
https://locusmag.com/2024/08/people-publishing-roundup-august-2024/
date: 2024-08-14, from: Final Draft blog
At the core of Lady in the Lake is a noir mystery about the death of a young black woman in 1960s Baltimore. But the seven-part AppleTV+ show is so much more than a straightforward whodunit. Inspired by the 2019 book of the same name by Laura Lippman, the TV show explores the stories of two seemingly opposite women whose lives (and one’s death) intersect in richly textured ways, first small then large.
https://blog.finaldraft.com/lady-in-the-lake-show-creator-alma-harel-goes-deep-into-character
date: 2024-08-14, from: Interesting, a blog on writing
So you’ve got a golden ticket. Now what?
https://inneresting.substack.com/p/what-job-should-i-beg-for
date: 2024-08-14, from: Locus Magazine
Author M.J. Engh, 91, died at home July 11, 2024 in Garfield WA.
Mary Jane Gholson was born January 26, 1933. She attended the University of Chicago, studying history, archaeology, and library science, and worked as an editor in the US and Japan. Upon returning to the US, she worked as a freelance editor and substitute teacher. In 1971 she attended the University of Oklahoma, earning a Master of Library …Read More
https://locusmag.com/2024/08/m-j-engh-1933-2024/
date: 2024-08-14, from: Locus Magazine
The Speculative Literature Foundation (SLF) announced that they have been awarded a $5,000 Capacity-Building Grant from the National Book Foundation.
The SLF is one of 49 nonprofit literary arts organizations across the United States awarded grants to support projects that build organizational capacity and ensure greater sustainability.
The Speculative Literature Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting literary quality in speculative fiction by encouraging promising new writers, assisting established …Read More
https://locusmag.com/2024/08/slf-receives-national-book-foundation-grant/
date: 2024-08-14, from: Locus Magazine
The Knife and the Serpent, Tim Pratt (Angry Robot 978-1-91520-280-2, $18.99, 400pp, tp) June 2024.
Tim Pratt’s latest novel, The Knife and the Serpent, has all of the hallmarks of a Tim Pratt story: The underlying voice is smart and engaging even when a character (or two) is neither; the plot is brisk but not so brisk that it is rushed; and the stakes are high, but not …Read More
https://locusmag.com/2024/08/adrienne-martini-reviews-the-knife-and-the-serpent-by-tim-pratt/
date: 2024-08-14, from: Literature & a Latte blog
<p>Science fiction goes back centuries, but started becoming popular in the 19th century with the rise of technology following the Industrial Revolution. However, the idea of science fiction as a genre began in the pulp era, with Hugo Gernsback’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazing_Stories" target="_blank">Amazing Stories</a>, the first magazine to focus on science fiction. More pulps followed, such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_Science_Fiction_and_Fact" target="_blank">Analog Science Fiction and Fact</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weird_Tales" target="_blank">Weird Tales</a>, the latter also featuring fantasy and horror. Popular on the radio, with serials such as Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon airing in the 1930s, the crowning moment for science fiction was Orson Welles’ infamous <em>War of the Worlds</em>, broadcast in 1938.</p>Fantasy as a genre goes back as far as storytelling, to early mythology. Some key eras of fantasy include the Arthurian legends of the Middle Ages and early 19th-century Gothic novels, with writers such as Edgar Allan Poe producing fiction that highlighted the supernatural later that century. Fantasy grew in popularity in the early 20th century and became a serious genre when J.R.R. Tolkien published The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1950), which are the templates for heroic fantasy, and which brought fantasy into the mainstream. These works became particularly popular around the world in the 1960s and led to the rise of the sword and sorcery genre of fantastic fiction.
Today, science fiction and fantasy are everywhere. From fiction to film and television, from comics to video games, the fantasy and science fiction genre is one of the staples of modern storytelling. And sales are growing regularly. While the two are separate genres, there can be a lot of overlap, and are generally grouped together in publishing.
The escapism of fantasy and science fiction
No genre offers more escapism than fantasy and science fiction. Traveling through strange lands or warping through space to visit new planets; encountering mythical creatures and people with extraordinary magical powers; these are the thrills of fantasy and science fiction novels. While this sort of fiction is influenced by other genres - adventure, mystery, westerns, etc. - the importance of setting is what sets science fiction and fantasy apart. Whether it’s the magical realms of Harry Potter or the otherworldly landscapes of Star Wars, these stories take us far beyond the world we know and give our imaginations free rein.
Science fiction and fantasy often examine complex and thought-provoking themes. They can be an engaging way to explore societal issues, philosophical questions, and futuristic possibilities. Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars Trilogy - Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars - combine hard science with an exploration of how colonists survive and interact in a new form of society. And George Orwell’s 1984 is the classic examination of how a society can control its citizens, and what happens when citizens try to rebel.
Science fiction and fantasy are perfect for film and TV
Science fiction and fantasy have always been popular on film and on TV, and in the past couple of decades, with the improvement of CGI (computer-generated imaging), this sort of story works perfectly on the screen. Whether it be planets with unique biomes, mythical creatures, or advanced technology, these genres are highly visual.
Science fiction and fantasy novels are often written in trilogies, and there are many long series, such as Robert Jordan’s 15-volume Wheel of Time, George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones, the Expanse novels by James S. A. Corey, and classic science fiction series such as Frank Herbert’s Dune and Isaac Asimov’s Foundation. It’s no surprise that all of these have been made into TV series or movies, along with many others.
Fantasy and science fiction have a plethora of sub-genres
Back in the golden age of science fiction, most stories involved space exploration. This expanded as authors discovered how versatile science fiction could be, exploring new or imagined technologies, and adding such sub-genres as post-apocalyptic fiction, military science fiction, and later steampunk and cyberpunk. Science fiction became a broad church, with some speculative fiction, such as that of J.G. Ballard, dealing with the near future instead of the distant future.
The same is true of fantasy. From high fantasy, such as The Lord of the Rings, to sword and sorcery, with authors like Robert E. Howard’s Conan series, fantasy branched out into many sub-genres. There is now urban fantasy, dark fantasy, historical fantasy, and even magic realism as a sub-genre of literary fiction: novels such as One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez feature fantastic elements.
These two genres cover such a wide range of sub-genres that readers have an embarrassment of riches when looking for new authors and novels. These are two of the most vibrant genres in popular fiction, and there is a lively cross-pollination between the two.
Literary fiction today sometimes flirts with fantasy and science fiction. Novels like The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, and Piranesi by Susanna Clarke blend these genres with literary fiction, providing a fertile ground to allow the ideas that make up science fiction and fantasy to infiltrate mainstream fiction.
As vehicles for escapism, allowing readers to explore different worlds and civilizations, science fiction and fantasy have become staples of literature. With their presence in film and TV, these genres expand their readership and offer a combination of literature and audio-visual entertainment that goes beyond the confines of most fiction. The popularity of these genres is increasing as the imagination of authors takes new leaps into the unknown.
<p>Kirk McElhearn is a <a href="https://kirkville.com" target="_blank">writer</a>, <a href="https://kirkville.com/podcasts/" target="_blank">podcaster</a>, and <a href="https://kirkville.com/kirks-photos-2/" target="_blank">photographer</a>. He is the author of <a href="https://www.literatureandlatte.com/store" target="_blank">Take Control of Scrivener</a>, and host of the podcast <a href="https://podcast.scrivenerapp.com" target="_blank">Write Now with Scrivener</a>.</p>
https://www.literatureandlatte.com/blog/why-are-science-fiction-and-fantasy-novels-are-so-popular
date: 2024-08-13, from: Margaret Atwoods Substack
Oh, wait a minute: shouldn’t that be the other way around?
https://margaretatwood.substack.com/p/the-french-revolution-brings-you
date: 2024-08-13, from: Locus Magazine
The Indiana Author Awards have announced the 2024 shortlist. The awards “celebrate the best books by Indiana authors written in eight different categories and published during the previous two years.” Works of genre interest follow.
Fiction
Genre
https://locusmag.com/2024/08/2024-indiana-authors-award-shortlist/
date: 2024-08-13, from: Locus Magazine
Barack Obama announced his 2024 Summer Reading List, saying, “I’ve read some great books over the last few months and wanted to share some of my favorites.” Works and authors of genre interest include The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (Avid Reader), James by Percival Everett (Doubleday), The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (Riverhead), and Beautiful Days by Zach Williams (Doubleday).
For the complete list, see his
https://locusmag.com/2024/08/barack-obamas-2024-summer-reading-list/
date: 2024-08-13, from: John August blog
John and Craig stand waist-deep in rotten tomatoes and ask, what can we learn from bad movies? Resisting the urge to walk out, they explore ways to evaluate a movie’s problems, interrogate your taste, and turn a real stinker into an opportunity to grow as a writer. We also follow up on Lifetime movies, colored […] The post How to Watch Bad Movies first appeared on John August.
https://johnaugust.com/2024/how-to-watch-bad-movies
date: 2024-08-13, from: Locus Magazine
The African Speculative Fiction Society (ASFS) announced the winners for the 2024 Nommo Awards, given to works “by Africans as defined by the ASFS and Nommo Awards Guidelines,” at Glasgow 2024, the 82nd World Science Fiction Convention.
Best Novel
https://locusmag.com/2024/08/2024-nommo-awards-winners/
date: 2024-08-13, from: Locus Magazine
Weird Black Girls, Elwin Cotman (Scribner 978-1-66801-885-9, 330pp, $17.99, tp) April 2024. Cover by Michael Morris.
There are plenty of speculative elements in Elwin Cotman’s newest collection, Weird Black Girls, but his skill at evoking people and situations makes even the nonfantastic entries utterly spellbinding. In “Owen”, for example, a father attempts to bond with his son through a ritual funeral for wrestler Owen Hart, with a kind of …Read More
https://locusmag.com/2024/08/jake-casella-brookins-reviews-weird-black-girls-by-elwin-cotman/
date: 2024-08-13, from: Locus Magazine
Ashby, Madeline: Glass Houses (Tor 9780765382924, $27.99, 272pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, 08/13/2024)
Near-future whodunit mystery novel. A group of employees and their CEO, celebrating the sale of their remarkable emotion-mapping-AI-algorithm, crash onto a not-quite-deserted tropical island. The survivors find a beautiful, fully-stocked private palace, with all the latest technological updates (though one without connection to the outside world). The house, however, has more secrets than anyone might have guessed, and …Read More
https://locusmag.com/2024/08/new-books-13-august-2024/
date: 2024-08-12, from: Locus Magazine
Though it slips in rankings, The Book of Elsewhere by Keanu Reeves & China Miéville remains on all four print lists compiled here.
Title Debut / #wks on any list NYT 08.18 LAT 08.11 USAT 08.04 PW 08.12 Amz (08.12) UK: Amz UK (08.12) Canada: Amz.ca (08.12)
Items on list -x- number of lists surveyed
10×3 10×2 150 15×3 100 100 100
Hardcovers
Aster, Nightbane 11.20.23 / 38 7 -2 …Read More
https://locusmag.com/2024/08/weekly-bestsellers-12-august-2024/
date: 2024-08-12, from: Locus Magazine
Winners for the 2023 Analog Analytical Laboratory (AnLab) Awards and the 38th Asimov’s Readers’ Awards, have been announced, with many finalists available to read online.
Analog Science Fiction and Fact Analytical Laboratory Award Winners
BEST NOVELLAS
https://locusmag.com/2024/08/2023-analog-anlab-and-asimovs-readers-awards-winners/
date: 2024-08-12, from: Locus Magazine
Tim Aldiss, son of late SFWA Grandmaster Brian Aldiss (1925-2017), has announced the launch of the Aldiss Award, “which celebrates excellence in world-building across speculative fiction & gaming.”
The Aldiss Award seeks to carve out a prestigious place within the science fiction, fantasy and gaming communities, celebrating the profound impact of world-building on culture and storytelling. By recognising and supporting those who excel in the art of world-building, the award
https://locusmag.com/2024/08/aldiss-awards-launch/
date: 2024-08-12, from: Locus Magazine
The 2024 Aurora Awards winners for the best SF and fantasy by Canadians have been announced.
Best Novel
Best YA Novel
https://locusmag.com/2024/08/2024-aurora-awards-winners/
date: 2024-08-12, from: Locus Magazine
The winners for the 2023 Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were announced August 12, 2024 at the World Fantasy Convention in Glasgow, Scotland.
Long Form
Short Form
https://locusmag.com/2024/08/2023-sidewise-award-winners/
date: 2024-08-12, from: Locus Magazine
The LA in 2026 Bid Committee won the right to host the 2026 Worldcon. LAcon V, the 84th World Science Fiction Convention, will be held August 27-31, 2025 in Anaheim CA.
Guests of Honor announced so far include Barbara Hambly, Ronald D. Moore, Colleen Doran, Anita Sengupta, Tim Kirk, Geri Sullivan, Stan Sakai, and Toastmaster Ursula Vernon.
Chair Joyce Lloyd said, “Thank you everyone who supported us and voted for …Read More
https://locusmag.com/2024/08/worldcon-2026-site-selection-los-angeles/
date: 2024-08-12, from: Locus Magazine
Asimov’s 5-6/24
The May/June 2024 issue of Asimov’s includes three novellas, making it perfect for readers wanting to sink their teeth into some longer short fiction. The first of the three, opening the issue, is “Barbarians” by Rich Larson. Yanna and his partner Hilly have been hired to take a pair of creepy rich twins on an expedition into a decaying deepswimmer. Hilly is essentially a head …Read More
https://locusmag.com/2024/08/a-c-wise-reviews-short-fiction-asimovs-3/
date: 2024-08-12, from: Locus Magazine
SARAH LANGAN was born in 1974 and grew up in Long Island NY. She attended Colby College in Waterville ME, earned an MFA from Columbia University in 2000, and an MS Environmental Health Science from NYU in 2012. She lived in Brooklyn NY before relocating to Los Angeles CA, where she resides with her husband J.T. Petty and their children.
Langan began publishing work of genre interest in 2000, with …Read More
https://locusmag.com/2024/08/sarah-langan-the-ultimate-gaslight/
date: 2024-08-11, from: Locus Magazine
The World Fantasy Awards ballot for works published in 2023 has been announced. The awards will be presented during the 2024 World Fantasy Convention, scheduled for October 17-20, 2024 in Niagara Falls, NY
The Life Achievement Awards, presented annually to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding service to the fantasy field, will go to Ginjer Buchanan and Jo Fletcher.
The World Fantasy Awards finalists are:
Best Novel
https://locusmag.com/2024/08/2024-world-fantasy-awards-finalists/
date: 2024-08-11, from: Locus Magazine
The winners of the Hugo Awards, the Astounding Award for Best New Writer, and the Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book were announced on August 11, 2024 by Glasgow 2024, the 82nd World Science Fiction Convention.
The winners are:
Best Novel
WINNER: Some Desperate Glory, Emily Tesh (Tordotcom; Orbit UK)
https://locusmag.com/2024/08/hugo-lodestar-and-astounding-awards-winners/
date: 2024-08-11, from: Locus Magazine
Lake of Darkness, Adam Roberts (Gollancz 978-1399617673, hardcover, 320pp, £22.00) July 2024
The newest novel from Adam Roberts—purveyor of endless unrepeating and unduplicatable narratives—is a utopian metaphysical suspense/thriller space opera—which also happens to be a commentary, I think, on progressive culture and progressive SF. Now, if you imagine that’s an ill-assorted congeries of tropes and styles and themes, you are underestimating the powers of Mr. Roberts. He weaves every …Read More
https://locusmag.com/2024/08/paul-di-filippo-reviews-lake-of-darkness-by-adam-roberts/
date: 2024-08-11, from: Locus Magazine
The Collapsing Frontier, Jonathan Lethem (PM Press 978-1-62963-488-3, $16.00, 160pp, tp) March 2024.
With all the much-deserved tributes to the late Terry Bisson and his work (which included a long-running and very funny column for this magazine), it’s easy to overlook the brilliant series of author chapbooks he edited for PM Press for the past 15 years. A virtual who’s who of our field, it has included authors such …Read More
https://locusmag.com/2024/08/gary-k-wolfe-reviews-the-collapsing-frontier-by-jonathan-lethem/