It’s traditional at this time of the year to take a look back – a review of the best bits if you like of 2013!
Highlights for me were getting 2 1/2 novels published – although Hell has its Demons still needs some work doing to it, plus getting a number of short stories sent off to professional magazines.
With regards to blogging, some of the most popular posts have been old ones – the one on Dante below has had over 1,000 hits and I wrote it a few years ago now. An oldie but a goodie!
Interesting to see that this is the fourth book in the series – usually Hobb does things in threes!
Years ago, the magnificent dragon queen Tintaglia forged a bargain with the inhabitants of the treacherous Rain Wilds. In exchange for her protection against enemy invaders, the humans promised to protect an unhatched brood of dragons. But when the dragons emerged as weak and misshapen hatchlings unable to fend for themselves, dragonkind seemed doomed to extinction. When even Tintaglia deserted the crippled young dragons, the Rain Wilders abandoned the burden of caring for the destructive and ravenous creatures. They were banished to a dangerous and grueling journey in search of their ancient dragon homeland, the lost city of Kelsingra, accompanied by a band of young and inexperienced human keepers, also deemed damaged and disposable.
Against all odds they have found the fabled city, yet myriad challenges remain.
For quite a while now the contributor pay rate for a professional Science Fiction and/or Fantasy Magazine has been 5 cents per word. So if you were to write a 5,000 word story you should be making $250. This rate has been pretty much the market standard and fixed as the sign of a professional sale as the SFWA only recognizes a magazine market as professional if it pays this rate or over.
Now it seems economic factors such as inflation have finally caught up with this figure. Asimov’s and Analog are both increasing their rates. SFScope reports that these two publications are actually increasing their rates from 6-8 cents per word to 7-9 cents per word. The other major market is Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine – their website reports that they are offering 6-9 cents per word.
How long I wonder until the SFWA increases the criteria for the qualifying markets it lists? I would imagine they might look at increasing it to at least 6 cents per word? Although it doesn’t sound like a lot, when you calculate the payment for a 5,000 word story then it does add up: $300 instead of $250. These magazines must be taking quite a hit at the moment to their costs. I hope they can cope, as we definitely need these publications to stay vibrant and profitable for the sake of the SFF writing and reading community.
One of my guises is as editor of a new publication called Fantasy Short Stories. The first issue of which is now available. Hope you enjoy it!
I think we’ve got an excellent selection of stories available for you here, so please do take a look. To get hold of a copy please see the links at the end of this post – at the moment just available from Smashwords and Amazon, but once the distribution channels kick-in it will be available for your Nook or iPad, iPhone, and via a variety of other eBook retailers.
The first issue of Fantasy Short Stories contains the following great new short stories:
‘The Dying Elf’ by Mike Pielaet-Strayer: Oberon the swordsman watches a young elf die on the battlefield and tries to come to grips with his own humanity.
‘The Empty Dark’ by C. L. Holland: Korix and Leveri are far from home, farther than either of them could have imagined. As they search for a way back they discover it’s not only children who should be afraid of the dark.
‘Demon Stone’ by Jake Scholl: when his kingdom and his wife are held ransom by an evil sorcerer, King Dagr goes on a quest to give the sorcerer what he wants. At what cost is Dagr willing to go to save his kingdom?
Noeleen Kavanagh’s ‘The Pivot’: two boys who are thrown together in a chance encounter that turns their world upside down.
‘Sparrows Falling’ by Gretchen Tessmer: a black sorcerer and a foreign enchantress practise their arts in a castle on the borderlands. But when the lady locks herself in her tower, even the servants know something’s amiss in Grendl Castle.
Fantasy Short Stories Issue 1 is available as an eBook either via Smashwords, or for Kindle via:
Soon Fantasy Short Stories Issue 1 also be available from a variety of other retailers such as Barnes & Noble and Apple – stay tuned for more information!
Books: An intelligent escape from mundane to fantasy Daily News & Analysis Once initiated into comics and illustrative books, one gradually delves into several genres of books – fiction, biographies, inspirational, science fiction, poetry, essays and the wide range of topics covered through millions of books in several …
Putting the 'science' back into 'science fiction': Professors and writers team … Mancunian Matters Haroon Musataq, manager of the Travelling Man comic shop in Manchester, agrees that despite his favourite books being works of fantasy, the accuracy of science in art is very important, as it can stimulate further discovery. “I do think that fiction is …
Family time trumped by a good book Hornell Evening Tribune The seven kingdoms of Westeros are fictional, that's correct, but their creation belongs to novelist George RR Martin. Martin's epic seven-book fantasy series, “A Song of Ice and Fire,” chronicles the struggle for the “Iron Throne” of Westeros amid …
THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE: A DARK TOWER NOVEL Express.co.uk However his longest work of fiction, The Dark Tower (seven volumes to date) is a curious combination of fantasy and Western, inspired equally by Robert Browning and Sergio Leone. Set primarily in an imaginary “Mid-World” populated by monsters and …
The vampire's allure Chicago Tribune So when she made an appearance at the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo, a gathering of comic, fantasy and science fiction aficionados earlier this month at McCormick Place, people had pressing questions. For example: What happens if a vampire bites …
Darth Vader, Batman and Captain Picard in the same room Halifax News Net Starting May 18, the museum will be hosting the Out of this World: Extraordinary Costumes from Film and Television exhibit featuring props and attire from some of the most popular science fiction and fantasy franchises including Star Trek, …
Best on the shelf Vancouver Sun 3 (3) 41 wks A Dance with Dragons George RR Martin The fifth instalment of fantasy epic, A Song of Ice and Fire. 4 (4) 3 wks Sacre Bleu: A Comedy D'art Christopher Moore A quirky novel of love, myth, metaphysics, outlaw biking and redemption.
100 Albums Every Science Fiction and Fantasy Fan Should Listen To: 11-30 io9 We're on the penultimate day of our countdown of the 100 albums every science fiction and fantasy fan must experience once in this lifetime. Or particular corner of the multiverse. Whatever! What tunes are lined up for this beautiful Friday?
Bromsgrove man becomes published author for first time Bromsgrove Advertiser James Brogden described seeing his first novel, The Narrows, being published as an “absolute joy”. The fantasy and horror tells the story of protagonist Andy Sumner, a man living a conventional life, who has a chance encounter with a wounded and …
I hope you enjoyed reading these fantasy fiction news stories.
Independent Science Fiction Series You Should Be Reading Huffington Post UK (blog) If you're a voracious science fiction reader you'll be well aware that the traditional print publishing houses aren't capable of keeping up with your demand for quality books. Even more so, you'll be aware that when it comes to science fiction series …
Is science fiction literature's first international language? The Guardian Language may be the most obvious barrier to cultural exchange, but it is also the easiest to hurdle: a good translator can capture much if not all of the character of a great novel. The real barrier to sharing between cultures is culture itself.
Joyce McMillan: Civic Scotland has gone to sleep Scotsman IT'S more than 30 years, now, since the great Glasgow man of letters Alasdair Gray inspired a generation of creative Scots with the quote he placed on the title page of Lanark, his soaring 1981 fantasy–fiction novel of a past and future Scotland.
100 Albums Every Science Fiction and Fantasy Fan Should Listen To: 31-50 io9 So it's no surprise the love affair between music and science fiction/fantasy has been a fruitful and tempestuous one, full of drama and strange creations. We're counting down the 100 CDs that every self-respecting genre lover should have on his/her …
100 Albums Every Science Fiction and Fantasy Fan Should Listen To: 31-50 io9 So it's no surprise the love affair between music and science fiction/fantasy has been a fruitful and tempestuous one, full of drama and strange creations. We're counting down the 100 CDs that every self-respecting genre lover should have on his/her …
The persistence of superstition in an irreligious Britain The Guardian (blog) I read fantasy and science fiction. I studied classics at university and some modern history." He was talking at a small conference on the study of non-religion and secularity last week. Sociologists and anthropologists have done a great deal of …
Rise of the Werewolves: 3 Very Different Stories About Lycanthropes Wired News The Pack is pulpy adult horror fiction; Wereworld is middle grade fantasy; The Last Werewolf is adult literary fiction. (I've saved the best for last.) The Pack is from Berkley UK, Penguin's new sci-fi/fantasy imprint. While I'm all for more sci-fi and …
Artist of the week 187: Alexandre Singh The Guardian This young, New York-based Englishman's slippery yarns seem the perfect medium for the Wiki age, weaving fact and fiction, textbook lore, mythologies and flights of fantasy. But Singh doesn't want us to forget that stories have always been shifty.
Seamlessly Crafted Fiction Spans Genres and Sweeps Readers Away PR Web (press release) Couched in a language purely written to entertain, this new deft creation from Vogt is part-thriller, part-fantasy and part-romance. Revolving around the story of Michelangelo Rotolo (Angelo), once a mortal but now a vampire, and forever a loyal Knight …
Author Charlene Harris Headed to West Ashley Patch.com By Jonathan Allen Vampires, werewolves, shape shifters, psychics, demons, fairies and sex, Charlene Harris' Sookie Stackhouse novels pack in everything a fantasy fiction fan could dream of, and next Friday she'll be in West Ashley to talk about the …
100 Albums Every Science Fiction and Fantasy Fan Should Listen To: 51-70 io9 CJA It's really hard to pick just one Coheed and Cambria album, since all of their albums are a linked science fiction saga, but this is the first. And by many accounts, still their greatest album. We meet Coheed Kilgannon and his wife Cambria, …
Read AF*cking Book: "Beyond Binary" Is Genderqueering Speculative Fiction Autostraddle Here is what it is: 17 stories of really excellent speculative (read: sci fi and fantasy, but also both/neither) fiction about people with all sorts of genders and sexual identities. As with any anthology, I loved some of the stories much harder than …
Ewan Morrison's top 10 books about shopping malls The Guardian There are, it turns out, few works of fiction set in shopping malls, or for that matter, about that subject in non-fiction. A disturbing omission in literary history given we live in a world that is being rapidly homogenised by these structures.
Book review: Call Me Drog and other spring sparklers from Usborne Children's Books Burnley Express By Pam Norfolk Most books fall neatly into genres – fantasy, horror, mystery, history, romance – but there are others which defy such simple categorisation. Take Sue Cowing's highly original and fascinatingly creepy novel Call Me Drog (paperback, …
Syfy Unveils Projects In Development Slate Science Fiction Of all the projects in development, one of the most exciting is the move to bring Stephen King's fantasy novel 'Eyes of the Dragon' to the small screen. Syfy execs are looking to bring this on as a movie or at the most, a mini-series.
100 Albums Every Science Fiction and Fantasy Fan Should Listen To: 71-100 io9 Science fiction and fantasy have colonized every corner of pop culture — especially the world of music. From awesome movie soundtracks to science fiction-inspired rock operas, genre stories have always gone along with sonic landscapes.
10 Most Unconvincing Romances in Science Fiction and Fantasy io9 Many of science fiction and fantasy's most epic stories are also great love stories. Love is the ultimate mystery, and a huge motivation for many of our favorite characters. But sometimes, even with warp drives and magic flying horses, the hardest part …
English National Opera's new season includes controversial Disney story The Guardian The novel, narrated by Wilhelm Dantine, a fictional Austrian cartoonist who worked for the animator in the 50s, mixes fact and fantasy, including meetings with Andy Warhol and Abraham Lincoln, to discover Disney's delusions of immortality and glimpse …
Reproduction In Science Fiction Is More Than Fantasy WBUR But as Annalee Newitz, executive editor of the science fiction blog io9.com points out in a recent article, reproduction, and the government's involvement in family planning issues have long been a subject for science fiction writers in both books and …
Credible science fiction needs arts and sciences collaboration, say authors The Guardian They say look at the science fact pages – they're so much more imaginative than science fiction," said Ryman, winner for his novels of a British Science Fiction Association award, a World Fantasy award and an Arthur C Clarke award, and a creative …
A day with authors: GenreCon 2012 Petrolia Topic Sarnia — GenreCon, a free literary convention featuring several mystery, science fiction, horror and fantasy authors, returns to Sarnia Library on Saturday, May 5. Providing fans and local writers with an opportunity to talk with other genre fans and …
First novel for former rugby scribe Wigan Today And neither is it entirely a work of fantasy. Peter said: “You may think from the cover that it is a book about cricket, but it's not – the sport is just the backdrop. It's half-based on a true story and set in 1981 when I went on a cricket tour myself …
Sci-fi enthusiasts planning for Atlanti-Con Western Star CORNER BROOK — Jeff Keeping has been interested in comic books and science fiction since the day he started to read. Con, a sci-fi/fantasy/comics/gaming and anime (animation) convention that will take place in Corner Brook in September.
Stephen King: 'The Wind Through the Keyhole,' a new Dark Tower novel Washington Post (blog) The result is an epic fantasy unlike anything else in its overcrowded field. This new book begins shortly after the fourth volume, “Wizard and Glass,” has ended. (Familiarity with the completed series is useful but not strictly necessary.) …
Taking an other-worldly view of fiction Melton Weekly Her latest novel, The Light Heart of Stone, explores the connections between "slow culture" and the indigenous population but twists the subject into an ethereal, fantasy world. "It is set in the world of the Stone Body, a continent on which plants and …
33 Science Fiction and Fantasy Movies that Could Rock Your Summer io9 Like Another Earth, this is a very character-focused, intimate story with a huge science fiction backdrop. There's a serial killer who's killing people according to the works of pioneering horror author Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack) — and only Poe can …
Tolkien Seminar 2012 – Tolkien's Influence on Fantasy openPR (press release) Tolkien and the Fantasy Fiction of Tad Williams The Tolkien Seminar is the interdisciplinary and international Tolkien conference of the German Tolkien Society, a registered charity. Starting in 2004 it has taken place at various universities …
I hope you enjoyed reading these fantasy fiction news stories.
It’s traditional at this time of the year to take a look back – a review of the best bits if you like of 2013!
