Speculative Fiction That Asks Big Questions
You’ve done all the research necessary to support the premise/science/politics/culture in your story and, in the process, discovered and/or created some damn interesting tidbits of knowledge or worldbuilding. Thereafter, you put your newfound knowledge in the buildup of your first chapter, in a dialogue between two characters, or perhaps in a lesson given by a…
By Jeannette Walls Scribner, ISBN: 978-1501171581 Paperback, 320 pages. ©2017 (Revised Edition) When she is three years old, Jeannette Walls catches fire. Standing on a chair in a tutu at the gas stove, cooking hot dogs, she feels the heat as flames kindle in her puffy pink skirt and rage up her side. She freezes…
One of the things I love most about writing speculative fiction is that I get to completely create whole new worlds. Some are not like our “reality” at all. Others are so close that at first glance they might seem the same—until you stumble across that one small detail that isn’t quite what you’d expect…
You’ve written a novel, a handful (or a boatload) of short stories, flash pieces or essays. You’ve queried, suffered rejection, and maybe been published. You’ve enlisted beta readers and participated in critique workshops. Others (not just your mom) have complimented your work. So why do you still sometimes feel like a fraud? Turns out Imposter…
Back in the early 80s I took a college class taught by award-winning writer Robert P. Arthur. I remember Bob as a big guy, not just in a physical sense with his tall, broad-shouldered self, but with his overall presence. He filled a room, that man. He expected—and inspired—a lot from his students, and to…
Looking for a critique group, but can’t find one in your area? Try Critters Workshop. I found them online several years ago and became enamored of the concept. Critters is an online critiquing community wherein writers submit their own works (mostly short stories or short segments of longer projects) for critique by other writers. Members…
By R.F. Kuang Harper Voyager, ISBN: 0062662562 Paperback, 549 pages. © 2018 Rather than be married off by her opium-dealing stepmother, war orphan Fang Runin (Rin) studies for—and passes—the Keju, an empire-wide exam known to identify the most promising youths, and secure her place at the prestigious Sinegard Academy, a military school filled with the…
Now that the Pitch Wars submission window has closed and the pressure is eased a bit, I’ve turned my attention to other projects. One of those, a short story entitled “29 Langwood Street,” has been lying around waiting to find a home. I admit I don’t like to write something and “trunk it” (put it…
By Lydia Netzer St. Martin’s Griffin; ISBN: 978-1250047465 Paperback, 368 pages. ©2015 Irene, a pragmatic astronomer who believes only in science, makes tiny black holes in a device of her own design. George, a dreamer and an astronomer, hallucinates goddesses and gods who reveal to him a marvel in the universe, one that will make…
If you read my post from last week, you’ll know (or at least suspect) that I’m a Pitch Wars hopeful this year. Since the submission window opens in SEVEN DAYS, I’m not doing anything else but shining up my work-in-progress. That means I don’t have a long, witty or educational post for you today. I…