#SFF
Paying markets seeking submissions from speculative fiction writers this month. https://publishedtodeath.blogspot.com/2023/05/87-calls-for-submissions-in-june-2023.html #CallsForSubmissions #CallForSubmissions #Writers #SpecFic #SpeculativeFiction #SFF #Horror #SciFi #ScienceFiction #Fantasy #WritingCommunity
Time for the all-new #VisualWritingPrompt for June 4th, 2023
Write a single toot reply #SciFi story about this AI generated image.
#WritingCommunity #WritingPrompt #SFF #freewrite #dreamAI #MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStory #SmallStories #FlashFiction
Streets of Destiny (Kindle Vella)
Taken from the Tales of Baromir trilogy, Famir goes on his own quest amidst the power players of the Great Land Council.
https://amzn.to/3oCp6uo (1st three episodes are FREE)
#Kindlevella #SFF #kindlevellareaders
#bookstodon #selfpromo #fantasy #fantasybook
"Mr. Fifteen was a hand-me-down Camera from Aunt Lucy when she died. She used to dress him up in a little suit and call him Herbie. When the Cameras were invented, so were many excuses to think of them as people."
Read "Mr Fifteen" by Tom Pike in Issue 6 🤖
#SFF #ShortSFF #ShortStory #ScienceFiction #SciFi #SpeculativeFiction
A nice bundle of 37(!) of Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books in a nice bundle at Humble for $18, nb these do require a Kobo account to redeem, once redeemed you can download them from Kobo as Adobe DRM ebooks also but if you're exclusively a Kindle user it might be tricky- charity donation to National Coalition Against Censorship, remember you can Adjust Donation just below the pay button so more goes to charity! #SFF https://www.humblebundle.com/books/mercedes-lackey-valdemar-and-beyond-daw-books
#WritingWonders 6.4 — "When was the last time you traveled?"
Title: Sharp Tool a'Traveling
I looked down at the rucksack I'd thrown on the silver satin bedspread, then the few flimsy pieces of under-clothing I'd pulled from a drawer. Anyone could see how worn the travel bag was, especially where the sleeping pad had rubbed against the canvas. Bolt was into her chains, piercings, and hardware, and for what it was worth, lots of complimentary (read: punk) clothing, not to mention cosmetics.
Unlike me.
I wore clothing only to the extent it was functional. I was a minimalist. Minimalism made it easier to run away. It took me a moment to interpret the day angel's expression.
I said, "Yeah, below my station. I don't give a flapping—"
"That's your luggage? Where did you go?"
I shoved in some light green shorts and a form-fitting top, made of technical fabric that could handle the humidity of our destination: Her home town, where the masquerade would take place. [The Masquerade Invitation: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110250683189485013] Of course, everyone knew my past and I'd been pardoned of my crimes. Still...
"Well," I started, "I decided I wanted to see more of the country. When I discussed it with a guy, he gave me a map through the costal forests to the southern route to Home City. [Wild Encounter: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/109842477740039509] I had quit my job in Harbor City, and wanted to take some time off."
Bolt lifted the rucksack, eying it suspiciously, then drew her face back after sniffing it. "You walked all that way?"
"Yeah, I did."
"That had to take, what, two months?"
"Four; should've taken six." I answered. Bolt spotted something, then held the bag and looked ready to scratch it off with a fingernail. "Don't," I added, and she jerked her hand back.
"That looks like blood."
"It is. Citron's."
She dropped the rucksack. "Strange souvenir. Begs a question. Why? Why the trip? Why such a long one?"
I drew a few worn magic books from my bookshelf, and my notebook, and shoved them in with a quill. I shrugged. "I wanted to disappear long enough that people would assume somebody had killed me: gave me cement shoes and thrown me in the bay."
Bolt looked at the blood stain. "You assumed wrong?"
"People don't think you could accidentally go from a nobody to a championship prizefighter to running a crime syndicate in barely three years. You have to be competent. Worse, they don't think someone obviously so competent would suddenly disappear after running the organization for a few weeks. I had. All that. Accidentally.
"I don't think the boss thought I'd really let her die.
"I ghosted the organization—after fixing it so it wouldn't implode after the gang war. Running it was a complete, stupid-headed, diversion from my goal of learning magic. I was totally incompetent to run it. I wasn't bloody-minded enough. I knew factions didn't like the changes I made, and would soon try to kill me, unless I did something about it. What I did was choose to leave." [The Wanted Poster: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110136451462609798]
"They went after you?"
"Dunno. Maybe? Probably? Maybe the boss' plans within plans followed after her death? Turns out that Director Rainy Days had been watching me all along. She had thought of my misadventures as training. Of course something happened. Why not? My luck. Who's fault? Them? Her Highness? I dunno. I got tangled up in one of their schemes, and, well, um... I resolved it in the Director's favor. Afterward, she had the temerity to criticize me for wimping out with the syndicate! For not following my vision of wanting to make the organization more legit!"
"Wait? She wanted you to kill— to let people die..." Bolt swallowed visibly. "To fix things?"
"That's Rainy Days for you. That's why you should never trust an absolute ruler."
"And she made you her heir?"
I pulled my ivory-handled jackknife from my messenger bag; popped it open with a click. The razor flashed and gleamed as if it were alive, preening for us. I was being used, by the Director, pretty much as I'd used this very blade, sticking it into someone's chest—oddly enough, to save them. I closed it with the palm of my hand, and dropped the sharp tool into my rucksack.
A sharp tool had to be used improperly to be made evil. Would I use it on this trip? Was I being used? Misused?
I already knew I was evil.
I said, "Yeah. Go figure. She's immortal. You wonder why I don't trust her?"
#BoostingIsSharing
#CommentingIsCool
#fiction #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction #writing #writer #writers #author #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #microfiction #suddenfiction
The other episode was about "Emily Wilde's encyclopedia of fairies" by Heather Fawcett, an epistolary novel set in Edwardian England but in an AU where the existence of fairies has long been established. The scientist protag and her frenemy (inspired by Howl 👀) (-> grumpy romance) set out to investigate a mysterious type of fairies and become embroiled in dangerous shenanigans.
https://www.breakingtheglassslipper.com/2023/04/20/away-with-the-fairies-with-heather-fawcett/
I listened to 2 episodes of the #feminist #sff #podcast "Breaking the glass slipper" today and both books sounded so exciting!
"The surviving sky" by Kritika H. Rao is a science #fantasy inspired by Hindu #mythology where humanity lives in plant-based cities high up that are sculpted by magical architects. The protags who have to save the world are a married couple with an interesting dynamic, and apparently the wife is full of rage 👀
Prompt: Red
No one dared comment on the color of her hair. They knew its wet sheen would eventually darken and crust her scalp. They knew the consequences of that inevitability. It was safer to pretend it had always been that deep crimson—and that her complexion had always been so youthful.
#50WordFriday #50WordFiction #MicroFiction #SFF #Horror #WritingCommunity
Apparently my book THE VOICE OF THE BURNING HOUSE has been nominated by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association for an Elgin Award for best book of poetry.
https://www.jackanapespress.com/product/the-voice-of-the-burning-house
OUT NOW! Kevin Brandon discusses his fictional true-crime podcast Diana's Monster, working on Batman: Stained Heir, his mother's social invisibility, getting specific about a fictional place, and the petty cruelty of small towns. Listen on your favorite Pod App, or from:
https://redcircle.com/shows/79493627-5893-4fb2-9efa-1d67ce982735
#audiodrama #audiodramasunday #audiofiction #interview #creative #sff #monster #supernatural #writing #indie #mystery #truecrime #batman #podcast
'The Eye of Argon' by Jim Theis is a classic of #SFF fan literature. But not in a good way.
It's so bad that back in the day we used second and third generation photocopies for drinking games: you would read aloud in the most dramatic manner possible and, if you broke into laughter or even cracked a smile you had to down a drink and pass it on.
You could get really wasted playing that game. And now you can play at home without needed to know someone with a copy:
The Trials of Baromir
In this fantasy story, Baromir spends two weeks out of his farming life visiting the continent he lives on.
Books2Read: https://books2read.com/u/bzKRRL
Pre-order link: https://amzn.to/3Z0qDWU
More formats available after June 30
#bookstodon #selfpromo #SFF #booklover #fantasy
#Books #Ebook #Readers #readercommunity #Ebooks #fantasybook
#readersofmastodon #SFFBooks
Pat Murphy. 1999. There and Back Again.
An extremely thinly veiled pastiche of The Hobbit. Amusing, well executed, but not worth seeking out unless you're a completionist of one sort or another.
We've got a new episode up today, long-form, as we used a tournament bracket method to decide upon the greatest protagonist of SFF literature. It was a fun debate. Come see what you agree with, and where you think us bonkers. #SFF #fantasy #Scifi https://youtube.com/live/5L-c3hT3sVg
Love this reviewer’s excitement for HELIOPAUSE! #sff #scifi #spaceopera #Heliopause #books
I awake in a back-alley dumpster and drag myself home. Sitting on the toilet, my regenerating flesh pushes the bullets out one by one.
In my pocket, I find they left my phone. I text my former best friend.
“You’ve made a terrible mistake. See you later.”
#WritingWonders 6.3 — Share art [...] of your WIP world.
The art I do is photography and the world I set my stories in doesn't exist. I had to think about this one a lot, what I might share and not mislead, which is why I'm posting this so late. I have commissioned some artwork, covers. They don't reflect the #sff I'm writing now so I'll not show this one entirely, but I do hope this day angel with ruby in his wings will make beyond the first chapter I've written. The full-sized image is inspiring me to ensure that. Sorry to be so circuitous and evasive.
Below: Cartoon detail image of ruby-tipped feathers and blood dripping by Syrupyyy.
#BoostingIsSharing
#CommentingIsCool
#fiction #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction #writing #writer #writers #author #writingcommunity #cover #coverart #writersOfMastodon
The Trials of Baromir
In this fantasy story, Baromir spends two weeks out of his farming life visiting the continent he lives on.
Books2Read: https://books2read.com/u/bzKRRL
Pre-order link: https://amzn.to/3Z0qDWU
More formats available after June 30
#bookstodon #selfpromo #SFF #booklover #fantasy
#Books #Ebook #Readers #readercommunity #Ebooks #fantasybook
#readersofmastodon #SFFBooks
Hello, updated #introduction!
I'm a #poet, #professor, literary #translator, new media #artist, and #SFF writer.
I work in #experimental #poetics, speculative fiction, digital-visual collage, and hybrid works that blend the textual with the digital (including experimental film, #videogames, glitched imagery, and AI generated artwork).
I'm also an avid D&D player and Dungeon Master.
#DigitalLiterature #eLit #Erasure #Collage #SciFi #Fantasy #Horror #AIArt #VideoGames #DnD #TTRPG
Time for the all-new #VisualWritingPrompt for June 3rd, 2023
Write a single toot reply #SciFi story about this AI generated image.
I was trying to make it do an ice volcano, after an article I read recently, but this is what it did instead. Definitely a mind of its own, this AI.
#WritingCommunity #WritingPrompt #SFF #freewrite #dreamAI #MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStory #SmallStories #FlashFiction
#bookstodon and all those looking for a great #book to #read: I finished Another Life and highly recommend it! @sarenaulibarri creates a wonderful #solarpunk society that lifts various parameters of regenerative futures. And the tactics for getting there are realistic.
Another great book from @StelliformPress #Climate #CliFi #SFF
I added it to the "Great Reads" section of my website today. http://brightflame.com/books-i-recommend/
Following right up today with my spoiler-lite Book Blast reactions to Silo Bk 2: Shift. This has SPOILERS of Bk 1, Wool, but is safe if you haven't read Shift. Proceed at your own risk! #Shift #Silo #SFF #SciFi #ScienceFiction https://youtu.be/D7WdGxn6IsI
May have just impulse-bought some used #books; Second Sale is running 4 for 3 again. Trying to convince myself it's OK because 3 of them have been on my list for years. Got Memory, Piranesi, Doomsday Book, Redemptor. (Oh! Hey! That's four women authors! Although one of them can't write women and one I think has very strange views on gender/feminism). #SFF #reading
Uh oh...I need at least one more of you to follow me. 😵 #writing #amwriting #sff #scifi #666
I've volunteered to help with the set-up process for this year's ReaderCon (happening July 13--16 at the Quincy Marriott). Specifically, I'll be helping set stuff up on Thursday & staying at the hotel so I can be there as late as they need me. Then, starting Friday, my plan is to enjoy the awesomeness. I'm so glad the Con is back and in-person.
Anyone else going this year?
#ReaderCon #ReaderCon32 #Volunteer #SFF #WritingCommunity #Writers #Readers #Authors
I don't remember ordering them exactly, but I keep finding myself immersed in the most gentle of books lately
WITNESS FOR THE DEAD by Katherine Addison (set in the world of THE GOBLIN EMPEROR). I just really enjoyed spending time with the main character. The story itself was a satisfying trio of interwoven murder mysteries, but it's truly about the characters. The story could be about his gardens and it would be just as enjoyable
The Trials of Baromir
In this fantasy story, Baromir spends two weeks out of his farming life visiting the continent he lives on.
Books2Read: https://books2read.com/u/bzKRRL
Pre-order link: https://amzn.to/3Z0qDWU
More formats available after June 30
#bookstodon #selfpromo #SFF #booklover #fantasy
#Books #Ebook #Readers #readercommunity #Ebooks #fantasybook
#readersofmastodon #SFFBooks
It literally took an act of Congress to finance them, and T.R. waving the big stick possibility of a second invasion to get the votes needed.
But seeing the steel fists of American battle walkers stave in Martian tripods when they did return?
Priceless.
Happy belated #TowelDay. Hier ein besonderer Neuzugang: Nr. 342/750 (42 hat leider jemand anderes) der limitierten Ausgabe der @foliosociety von The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy von Douglas Adams. Mit Handtuch!
#bookstagram #books #sff #sciencefiction #hitchhikersguidetothegalaxy
It’s been five years since HELIOPAUSE published, kicking off the four-book epic space opera, THE QUESTRISON SAGA®️. Flashes of light. An unseen menace. Messages from the void…and the beginning of a grand adventure across the stars. #sff #scifi #scifibooks https://jdiannedotson.com/book1 #bookstadon #sciencefiction #books
Our recent poll revealed STRONG demand we cover The Silo Trilogy next. You ask, we supply. Here's Jim's Book Blast, spoiler-lite, on Wool, Bk 1 of Hugh Howey's superb trilogy. Good to view if you've read it, & safe if you haven't. #SFF #Silo #SciFi https://youtu.be/Un-sFhxGIZc
Pre-order is cheaper and there's still time for it before this book comes out next week. So if you like near-future science fiction with plenty of action here's my technothriller, SUBORBITAL 7. In both paper book and ebook format. #scifi #bookstodon #novel #sff
https://bookshop.org/p/books/suborbital-7/18871631?ean=9781803363820
New World a-Coming, Ch. 28
1939: The Ballyizget Underground
https://open.substack.com/pub/smithscribe/p/new-world-a-coming-ch27
#SFF #serialnovel #adventure #timetravel #alternatehistory #fiction #bassanda
Find it at www.smithscribe.substack.com
#WritingWonders 6.2 — Were any of your fictional settings inspired by real world locations?
I am going to interpret this question so it is yes. (And sneak in some #writingadvice.)
When I wrote the original story, my main character related that she was being blackmailed for having been in a gang. It allowed her to be good at fighting while coming across a nihilist. I got glimpses of a gang war and a city block on fire, and what she had to put up with (and submit to) to rise in the ranks of male lieutenants. The darkness evoked a sooty heartless cityscape, which fit in with detective noir images of the gritty cities of the northeastern US in the mid 1900s. You could call that inspiration, right?
Then I decided to write a prequel to the original story that related that edgy backstory.
I ended up choosing a set of cities: Baltimore, Princeton, and Brooklyn, with secondary roles for the Jersey coast opposite Brooklyn across the bay, Philadelphia, and little towns and parks in between. While I didn't actually set the story in these places, because this story doesn't take place in modern times or a recognizable world, I employed maps of the region.
Using actual geography is helpful for numerous reasons. It limits the movement of characters and suggests obstacles in their adventures. Having to deal with how bus lines are laid out, and posted bus and light rail schedules, can add worsening to a story. It makes the story feel real.
I use Google Maps to find interesting associated businesses and government buildings consistent with the story. I often use street view to suggest what the characters might see, hear, or smell. That filters into the description. Sometimes I use actual street- and place names, as I did in Fight for Real (https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110317141401752671). The 17 Restaurant in the story exists in Baltimore, as does the intersection. Find it in street view and see what I based the descriptions upon!
Street maps are helpful for laying out a believable marathon route.
Maps with building layouts are good for find a building to duck into to loose a tail that has doors on the opposite street.
Rental maps are good for finding a place for the MC to rent an apartment where there might be a close restaurant for important scenes to take place.
Finding a suitable apartment might lead to determining how far a character might realistically have to run—through an Ivy League university—to reach a train station while being chased by assassins. In that same neighborhood you might need a coffee house to meet a magic tutor, or need to find a suitable a cul-de-sac to be ambushed by goons.
I could randomly layout towns and cities. Sometimes I do. However, city planning, whether it was done via zoning or stupid urban sprawl, has a consistency that adds a layer of realism. The composition of the neighborhoods and the distances between places keep me from making things appear unnaturally hard or easy for the characters. Also, why invent the wheel? Drafting cities is another way to procrastinate. (As is scrolling around online street views, admittedly.)
#BoostingIsSharing
#CommentingIsCool
#writingAdvice #fiction #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction #writing #writer #writers #author #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #urbanplanning #map #googlemaps
Time for the all-new #VisualWritingPrompt for June 2nd, 2023
Write a single toot reply #SciFi story about this AI generated image.
Here are some free hashtags for those of you who like such things:
#WritingCommunity #WritingPrompt #SFF #freewrite #dreamAI #MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStory #SmallStories #FlashFiction
> Meet the Folks Lining Up for Elon Musk’s Brain Implant. Neuralink Corp. has been cleared by the FDA to start human trials for its medical technology — and there's no shortage of potential volunteers. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/elon-musk-brain-implant-volunteers-1234746198/
Back in the 90's I was on a lot of #SFF con panels about #Transhumanism. My joke at the time was I had three rules for #BrainImplants:
1. Not made by Microsoft
2. Open Source only
3. I won't Beta-test
Nowadays? One rule: No fucking way and you can't make me!
😅Oh my gosh! In my Excitement yesterday, I forgot to say THERE ARE PRE-ORDER BONUSES!
https://cmaudiobook.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders
💜 Short stories "Runtime" and "Always Be You"
🔥Narrated short story "Un-Dead" MP3
🎵"What You Remember" and "Dream Sweet" MP3s
🎨 6 character portrait wallpapers
#IndieAuthor #LGBTQ #PrideMonth #SelfPromo #SFF #Audiobook #ChameleonMoon
The Trials of Baromir
In this fantasy story, Baromir spends two weeks out of his farming life visiting the continent he lives on.
Books2Read: https://books2read.com/u/bzKRRL
Pre-order link: https://amzn.to/3Z0qDWU
More formats available after June 30
#bookstodon #selfpromo #SFF #booklover #fantasy
#Books #Ebook #Readers #readercommunity #Ebooks #fantasybook
#readersofmastodon #SFFBooks
And for the curious, here's a great set of queer books for Pride. Some of them center queer relationships, others have queer characters as a natural part of the world.
What a beautiful, optimistic piece of speculative fiction.
I don’t hate dark SF, but sometimes it’s nice to read about the hopes and dreams that we still have for the tech we build.
Thanks for this, @naomikritzer. It was just what I needed today.
New email just out - are you signed up for our list at atthisarts.com? We don't spam; Emily is a vegan! (And thinks that joke is funny.) #Pride #IndiePublishing #SFF #Trans #LGBTQIAP+ https://mailchi.mp/9ded15c8e1b4/lgbtq_reads_reveal?e=c21cbc44d6
@tomclearwood @ami @gutenberg_org
Gutenberg also has a large library of pulp science fiction from the 20's to the 50's. A surprising amount of stuff published in the monthlys is public domain. Leigh Brackett, Ray Bradbury, Phillip K. Dick, etc. #SFF
Virgil Finlay interior illustration for "...As Others See Us" by Raymond F. Jones published in Fantastic Adventures, May 1951. Jones is best known for his 1952 novel "This Island Earth" which was adapted into the 1955 film. #FinlayFriday
#VirgilFinlay #RaymondFJones #ThisIslandEarth #FantasticAdventures #Pulps #WeirdTales #ScienceFiction #Fantasy #SF #SFF #Illustration #PenandInk @sciencefiction @fantasy
Huge 🙌🏼 THANK YOU 🙌🏼 to Lydia Fletcher of Library Journal for the rave review of our forthcoming #SFF #SciFi novel A SECOND CHANCE FOR YESTERDAY. We are honored.
Review (paywalled):
https://www.libraryjournal.com/review/a-second-chance-for-yesterday-1797589
Via Arlington Public Library (free):
https://libcat.arlingtonva.us/Record/318818
Hey, @bookstodon, did you really, really want to like Gormengast, but just found everything about it too disagreeable?
Have a gander at Mordew, by Alex Pheby. All the Gormengast vibes, but none of the disagreeableness.
Topic: Contrarian Barbarian's Book Club (Of greatness!)
@bookstodon I'm popping this up once more, just in case anyone else wants to join before our first meeting in late June.
Is anyone out there interested in being a part of a Contrarian Barbarian's Book Club where we read whatever the hell we want individually and meet up once a month on the newly formed Contrarian Barbarian Discord server to tell each other about it for a couple of minutes each and then discuss? (All genres/fiction/non-fiction on the table.)
The key focus would be sharing books we love with other people in a positive way. It'd have the diehard rule that if you freakin' love a thing, no one can be negative about it because that would be raining on your parade and your parade is spectacular dammit!
All time zones welcome to say hi!
LGBTQIA++, disability and neurodivergent friendly, with a structure with set rules of conduct--meaning that boorishness (repeatedly talking/typing over people and not respecting boundaries) or trollishness gets booted with the might of Gandalf warding off the Balrog.
If you like the sound of this, reply to this and tell me about the book you love most with the power of the sun.
We've already got a bunch of amazing people and the more the merrier! :blobsmilehappyeyes:
#books #bookstodon #sff #horror #scifi #crimefiction #nonfiction #reading #genrefiction #scifi #mystery #literature #history #botany #romance #science #reading
Last promo post of the day -this #PrideMonth on #itchio only, my ENTIRE collection of really #Queer #Ebooks and #IndieGames is half off! All month! :D
Enjoy, and celebrate our continued existence on this planet. I expect to see a lot more. <3
April & May 2023 Monthly Wrap-Up, merged again because of my persisting reading slump: 2 novels, 1 novella, 3 rereads, and 2 series watched.
#bookblogger #books #bookstodon #fantasy #horror #scifi #SFF #anime
https://otherworldsreviews.wordpress.com/2023/06/01/april-and-may-2023-monthly-wrap-up/
Happy #PrideMonth, y'all! (Or Wrath, or Sloth, or...) Rather than a company with a rainbow sticker, I'm an actual #Queer #IndieAuthor! 🌈
I can't think of any better day to announce that my first #Audiobook, CHAMELEON MOON, is complete at 16 glorious hours of enhanced narration and original music...
And pre-orders are open right now!! 💜
https://cmaudiobook.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders
#Author #SFF #SpeculativeFiction #Books #QueerBooks #Indie #ChameleonMoon #lgbtq
#KoboPlus
ALL YOU CAN READ! 😋
#IndieAuthors don't have to be exclusive to put our #books in Kobo's Subscription service!
Kobo Plus is newly available to US & UK and is less than #KindleUnlimited and #Audible
Here's an incredible sample of what's available! Pick your genre! 👀
https://books.bookfunnel.com/koboplus_0623/cxfzpublsh
#SFF #SciFi #HorrorBooks #Mystery #Suspense #HistoricalFiction #Romance #LGBTQ #Paranormal #Fantasy #EroticFantasy
@sffbookclub @horrorbooks @bookstodon @bookstadon @lgbtqbookstodon @sffbipoc
Introduction (#writingWonders 6.1 — Intro Day)
I am a feminist SF writer, more details on my profile. I'm planning on pinning this post to my profile, so it will change over time. Since I write a lot of #microfiction / #suddenfiction for #Mastodon, here is a pinned post of links to those stories: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110470537747067765
On Mastodon, I am building a network of other writers by being both entertaining and informative, sharing what I learned the hard way. My motto: There Shall Be Content! My community goal is to help people with writing and to help them get over what's keeping them from completing stories. I'm also learning self-publishing as a business. I hope to push back the loneliness that's part and parcel of a solitary profession.
I follow serious authors, which means people diligently writing or working at completing stories or articles or anything containing words with the intent to publish. Whether that's #fiction, #nonfiction, #scripts, #comics or #manga, or #games, that's probably you. I read everyone's profile before following, and generally require some posts to ensure I'm making the right choice. DM me if your posts didn't follow you when switching instances. My timeline is full, so please don't feel bad if I miss something.
I will follow an #artist based on seeing interesting work. This can be #photography or hand drawn/painted #art. I am partial to #charcoals and #pastel, appreciate #sketch art, but love #watercolor (because I can't do that!), or just really good visuals. I will discuss what's great in what you post if wowed, or #critique if you're really close and I think I can help. I occasionally commission cover and interstitial art. I do fine art photography and have done wedding and event photography (https://sfwrtr.zenfolio.com).
Last: *Did you entertain me? Did you make me think?" I may follow you. I have a weird sense of humor, which follows since many of my characters are snide and cynical.
That brings me favorites, that little star button. I do my very best never to click it to acknowledge I've simply read your post. My favorites generally mean something caught my attention, was particularly apropos to the idea, was entertaining, or somehow pithy. If I favorite replies in a conversation, that could be an acknowledgment. If I reply to your post, I've definitely noticed something!
I believe boosting is sharing, and I sometime wait a while to provide them better visibility. I appreciate when people boost my posts when they affect them in return.
#BoostingIsSharing
#CommentingIsCool
#fiction #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction #writing #writer #writers #author #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writingWonders 6.1 Intro
#Links to #Story Samples Written by R.S.
Over the past half-year, I've written very short fiction stories in my universe for #Mastodon under the #writingWonders hashtag. They're first citizen samples of my 1st person writing, my casual—made to be read aloud—writing style, and include my still evolving characters. None tally much more than 750 words, with a hard character limit set by my instance. I think they're an easy read. Some are based on my earlier works, some on works not yet written. With the exception of the excerpts, they represent the time off stage of the novel, between stories or scenes, or before future stories; or scenes rewritten from another POV that isn't in the story.
Most of what was written for Mastodon was written quickly, edited immediately, then posted. It could be better, but I've resisted more than revising typos or inappropriate words. Everything is experimental; nothing should be considered canon. So, each in roughly chronological order:
Stories:
The Wanted Poster: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110136451462609798
Wild Encounter: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/109842477740039509
Where Most Comfortable: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/109826357405137553
Friends Amongst Thieves: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110448415650126821
The Masquerade Invitation: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110250683189485013
Dream of Being Alive, of Laughter: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110340314616596061
Love Can't Wait: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110425766506783077
Trust Issues: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110385678774151219
She has a Birthday in Autumn: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110277659480504706
Excerpts with proposed titles:
I'm not the Thaumaturge You're Looking for...: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110064129027510807
Not Chattel: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110036114809701300
Dangerous Word Play: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/109943717912031929
Fight for Real: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110317141401752671
Daemon at the Door: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110362730587455597
Bling with Strings Attached: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110345919252932146
Interviews:
"What do you envy about your closest friend?": https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/109966079428055171
"Briefly describe your relationship with your parents.": https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110006348394099406*
"The three most important things in your life?": https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110016958897411843
An unusual question: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110091209716356788
"If you could teach one subject...": https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110142692823048417
"What do you never leave home without?": https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110165508077506058
"What annoys you the most?": https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110182258491654419
"What do you find attractive in him?": https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110198914541850851
"What is your idea of a perfect day?": https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110241319393777199
"What attracted you to her?": https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110217050633826912
"Who Am I?": https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110312478082661315
Other:
Vignettes asking whether she's attractive: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110391891938480784
[Author retains copyright to all posted words]
All my answers to #writingWonders can be found by clicking: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/tagged/WritingWonders
#BoostingIsSharing #CommentingIsCool
#fiction #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction #writing #writer #writers #author #writingcommunity #1stPerson #writersOfMastodon #story #storySamples #excerpt
#microfiction < 500 words
#suddenFiction ~750 words
The briefest of reminders that I published a new story at Nature and it’s only free to read for the first month! 🙂 #sff #writingcommunity #sciencefiction
"The Cauldron" is a campy high-heat audiobook about a sexy witch who stays forever young by seducing men, shrinking them, & swallowing them whole. If you like a story about mind control, magic, soft vore and group activities, you should love it. Plus the witch has one of my favorite voices! 💋
Get it now: https://geni.us/TheCauldron
#NSFW #Audiobook #Audiobooks #Erotica #Fantasy #SFF #AudioFiction #SizeFantasy #Macrophilia #SizeErotica @audiobooks @smutstodon @sizestodon @bookstodon @AudioFiction
#PrideSFF #Reads :BlobhajPrideHeart:
https://books.bookfunnel.com/pridesffreads/48s4108let
Browse 60 #LGBTQ #IndieAuthors!
For my listings, well, I couldn't get enough #Bisexual characters. 😂
#DarkElf #Drow #TTRPG #DnD @ttrpg
@lgbtqbookstodon @scifi @sffbipoc #BookToot #BookSale #SFF #LGBTQ #PrideMonth #Bookstodon #Bookstadon #ActionAdventure #SuperHero #EpicFantasy #Vampire #UrbanFantasy #MilitarySciFi #EpicFantasy #DarkFantasy #postapocalyptic #EroticFantasy #BookSale
Is a Tasty Nibble 🍪 the winning mood over a Huge Binge? 📚
#Sample for #Free
30 #IndieAuthors of #SciFi & #Fantasy 💫
#Novellas & #Anthologies Only!
https://books.bookfunnel.com/shortsandnovellasmay-june23/oz8sr79d1p
Kinda interested in "Carl Sagan's Hunt for Intelligent Life in the Universe" by C. Gockel 😁
Has a cute (and familiar) white ferret on the front! :blobcataww:
#ShortStory #Novella #SFF #Humor #Android #DarkFantasy #EpicFantasy #AlternateHistory #Dragons #Aliens @sffbookclub @scifi @sffbipoc
Vote for Ruby Finley vs the Interstellar Invasion in the IGNYTE Award category Best In Middle Grade! Anyone can vote.
Yes, anyone, in all the categories! Have you seen the nominees? The Finalist list is FIYAH 😉
Click below to see the list, then scroll to the bottom for the link to vote. Voting closes June 30!
https://ignyteawards.fiyahlitmag.com/2023/05/24/announcing-the-2023-ignyte-awards-shortlist/
#MiddleGrade #ScienceFiction #SFF #kidlit #Bookstodon #BlackFediverse #BlackFedi #BIPOC #books #reading @bookstodon @diversebooks #BlackMastodon
In my “Looking Back on Genre History" segment on Episode 647 of the #StarShipSofa #podcast, I talked about #TheHouseOfNight, #Watchmen, and how #SFF works have discussed and brought attention to the #TulsaRaceMassacre of 1921. #ScienceFiction #Fantasy #Greenwood #Tulsa
http://www.starshipsofa.com/blog/2020/11/18/starshipsofa-no-647-frederick-gero-heimbach/
LAST MINUTE CALL from our Poetry Editor @UtopiaScienceFiction for poetry on the theme of QUEER UTOPIAS for our June issue. Quick turnaround since June is coming up soon! See submission guidelines here:
There are seven books on Bakka Phoenix's "Preorder" page, and I've ordered four of them. #books #sff #bookstodon
Read my short story "Élan Vital" in ✊🏾 Black Sci-Fi Short Stories ✊🏾 edited by Tia Ross
It's a story of dealing with loss, of holding on, and of letting go. It's dedicated to my mom 💖
The anthology is available in hardback and is fabulous! Get it today:
https://ktempestbradford.com/bibliography/black-sci-fi-short-stories/
#SFFBookClub #books #reading #bookstadon #BlackMastodon #BlackFedi #SFF #ShortFiction
TJ Klune. 2019. The house in the cerulean sea.
Good, but I think that Under the Whispering Door is better. Slow burn gay modern day fantasy romance with found family and a struggle for acceptance.
The burn is so slow that all the other characters are getting annoyed with them for not recognizing it, which is always fun.
Ruby Finley vs the Interstellar Invasion is a finalist for the IGNYTE Award for Best Middle Grade! W00t!
Voting is open to all readers and lovers of SFF works. Click below to see all the (amazing omg) nominees, then scroll to the bottom for the link to vote.
https://ignyteawards.fiyahlitmag.com/2023/05/24/announcing-the-2023-ignyte-awards-shortlist/
#MiddleGrade #ScienceFiction #SFF #kidlit #Bookstodon #BlackFediverse #BlackFedi #BIPOC #books #reading @bookstodon @diversebooks #BlackMastodon
Time for the all-new #VisualWritingPrompt for May 29th, 2023
Write a single toot reply #SciFi story about this AI generated image.
#WritingCommunity #WritingPrompt #SFF #freewrite #dreamAI #MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStory #SmallStories #FlashFiction
New #podcast alert! The first episode of the #TeachingWithMagic podcast is now available.
Are you a teacher who enjoys teaching and using fantasy texts in the classroom? This podcast is meant for you.
#Teaching #Fantasy #ScienceFiction #SFF #Pedagogy #SpeculativeFiction #Tolkien #StarWars
Down to the LAST DAYS! 📆
20 Indie Authors!
20 Free Reads!
20 Flights of Fantasy!
Take a quick peek. 👁️🕯️ See anything you like?
https://books.bookfunnel.com/mayhemandmagic/6dk2p9p4yi
#SFF #SFFBookClub @sffbipoc @sffbookclub #BookToot #FreeBooks #Fantasy #Freebies #IndieAuthor @bookstadon @bookstodon #FreeReads #FreeBooks #ShortStories
5 page preview of THE HUNGER AND THE DUSK on IDW's instagram right now! #bookstodon #comics #sff
https://www.instagram.com/p/CszHdCBMCxy/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Since I'm trying to spread the joy everywhere: current Humble Bundle has 20 #sff audiobooks for $20 and it includes ALL SIX MURDERBOT AUDIOBOOKS!
Go, do yourself a favor and get them. Murderbot is a literary comfort food.
https://www.humblebundle.com/books/marthawells-agriddle-and-more-audiobooks-books
This is one of my only published pieces at the moment. It's a short story about a mage who feels personally obligated to let a cute little elf girl know that she's been catfished by an orc that his pegacorn killed in the woods. He found the orc's cell and was morose at what this orc had been doing to this poor elf for centuries.
I wrote under a pseudonym. The wife I dedicated this story to had her mom pay a man to kill me, though.
Happy #TowelDay friends. Here's a recording of me interviewing #DouglasAdams 25 years ago. We talk about the internet, video games, and the arbitrary nature of the Gregorian calendar. https://archive.org/details/ASDA042198 #scifi #sff
*straightens special writing pajamas, smooths down totally chaotic hair and puts on the glasses that make me look like my neurons zap alluringly...*
Hello lovely #book reviewing people. Or people who are intrigued at the idea of reviewing a book. Or people who love alt-history or comic fantasy.
If anyone is intrigued at the thought of reading a funny alt-Tudor history fantasy whodunnit, I have ebook review copies of my new novel, OverLondon available that are, even now, doing a dodgy digital dance, desperate to be prodigiously perused. (I couldn't help myself.)
OverLondon is sexy, it's orange, it features a world created by Anne Boleyn after she's gone on a rampage and it's even got crime solving pirates. (Pirates!)
It's got a cover quote from C.K. McDonnell which made me almost widdle my pants in happiness and... did I mention it has a crime solving pirate?
I can't promise that reading this book for review will imbue you with a confident pirate strut for the ages and gift you with the charisma of a thousand dashing swashbucklers, but it might.
So... just reply to let me know if you want a copy for review... and if you don't, that's totally cool!
Thank you very much for reading my post.
I am now going to make a cup of tea with two bikkies on the side while right-hand-turning-only dog snores at my feet. You're welcome to join me:)
#sff #comedy #crimefiction #terrypratchett #fantasy #review #bookreview #booklover #bookstodon #books #history #review #ebooks #reading
Fanatical is now offering one of these #ebook BUNDLES, this one for CYBERPUNK /DYSTOPIAN books; "tier one" which seems to cost *one dollar*(!) includes two of my cyberpunk novels, ECLIPSE and BLACK GLASS. And another novel by another fella. Or you can get the whole bundle, a buncha novels, cheap. I've never bought books this way, but it seems like a good deal to me (they contracted with me for this of course).
https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/cyberpunk-dystopia-novels-collective-bundle?v=4694
"Narratives that use robots and androids to represent the Other often don’t interrogate the assumptions about humanity at their core because they fail to answer one question:
Why are so many androids white?"
Read the rest of my essay "Androids and Allegory" at Twelfth Planet Press.
https://motherofinvention.twelfthplanetpress.com/2018/07/02/androids-and-allegory/
#SFF #ScienceFiction #SciFi #BlackMastodon #BlackFediverse #JanelleMonae #ChesyaBurke
Time for the all-new #VisualWritingPrompt for May 22nd, 2023
Write a single toot reply #SciFi story about this AI generated image.
#WritingCommunity #WritingPrompt #SFF #freewrite #dreamAI #MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStory #SmallStories #FlashFiction
Time for the all-new #VisualWritingPrompt for May 21st 2023
Write a single toot reply #SciFi story about this AI generated image.
#WritingCommunity #WritingPrompt #SFF #freewrite #dreamAI #MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStory #SmallStories #FlashFiction
For context about this month's #WritingWonders posts, they're from a new science fiction series I'm working on that will be published later this year.
https://www.ryansouthwickauthor.com/enigma
(I should have posted this in the beginning! 😊 )
#Enigma #LostColonies #SciFi #sff #AmWriting #WritingCommunity #AuthorLife
Meet the Vengeful Queen Anne Boleyn. Metal style! She's got Henry VIII's head in an arrow box and she isn't telling anyone where it is...
This is what happens when a metal head comic sff author is challenged to create a book trailer on their day off, after they've been listening to an extraordinary amount of Parkway Drive.
Right-Hand-Turning-Only house sitting dog here in Berlin has been looking at me funny. I suspect he is not a metal fan. He's more a Sade fan I think... maybe with a bit of Sting thrown in. "He's a smooth operator... right hand turning smooth operatorrrrr."
(Dog is not amused. I am greatly amused.)
#FinlayFriday meets #MerMay
Virgil Finlay preliminary cover design for the July, 1948 issue of Fantastic Novels, which the editor rejected in favor of this basic Lawrence Stevens woman in peril by blue meanie cover. Unbelievable.
#VirgilFinlay #LawrenceStevens #Mermaid #Fantastic #Pulps #WeirdTales #Illustration #ScienceFiction #Fantasy #SF #SFF @sciencefiction
The 🌠 Nebula Award Winning 🌠 middle grade novel Ruby Finley vs the Interstellar Invasion has...
🔬 A Black girl who loves science
🕵🏾♀️ Mystery & Adventure
🐝 BUGS
👵🏽 Loving family
👭🏽👭🏽 A ride or die friend group
💕🏘️ A tight-knit community
👇🏽 Join Ruby's adventure today 👇🏽
https://ktempestbradford.com/books/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_campaign=rubyfinley2023
#SFFBookClub #books #reading #bookstadon #MiddleGrade #SFF #ScienceFiction #SciFi
New graphic tee design - Black Wizard With His Blue Dragon Familiar A new graphic tee design: Black Wizard With His Blue Dragon Familiar:
Bit of a mini re- #introduction as I've lost all my mastodon.social follows/followers recently and am hoping to reconnect with those folks. I'm a #StreetPhotographer based in #Boston, and was formerly an academic philosopher writing about #AnimalLiberation.
I'm an #anarchist and #vegan. I enjoy #SciFi and #fantasy #SFF literature, as well as learning #languages. (Currently working on Spanish and Italian.)
I am a #football #soccer fan, and support #Barça, #ASRoma, #FCSP, and #celtic
A #SFF new release maybe of interest, Rachel Neumeier's No Foreign Sky is the author's first space opera (I've liked what I've read of her fantasy) and seems to center on a Cherryh-like human-alien cooperative society, looking forward to trying this one out https://www.amazon.com/No-Foreign-Sky-Rachel-Neumeier-ebook/dp/B0BY9LXJJY/
I need to do an updated #introduction post, since my pinned posts are now out of date. I'm an Assistant Fiction Editor at Utopia Science Fiction Magazine and we are interested in reading your work!
Send us your #sff & #scifi #fiction, #poetry and short nonfiction #science articles. Submission guidelines here: https://www.utopiasciencefiction.com/submit
Also, our current issue (see image!) is on sale now! Get a copy here: https://www.utopiasciencefiction.com/
Who wouldn't want a guide to the "Best Worst City on the Globe!"? Impress your friends and torment your enemies with intrepid feats of armchair travel!
All subscribers to our magnificent newsletter will receive their very own ebook copy of A Tourist's Guide to OverLondon, written in imaginary collaboration with the OverLondon Guild of Rat Catchers.
It's got pictures and diagrams and everything! If you like #terrypratchett #sff #montypython or just plain oddness, this may be for you!
(And if it's not your cup of tea, that's perfectly fine! You can always have a cuppa and ruminate on the daftness of authors making things that aren't their actual books for sale because they decided to procrastinate for an entire week last month. Why? No one knows!)
After the Singularity, managing humanity had not been an easy task for the Cybers. Certainly some humans were influenced by the radical fears of their popular fiction and resorted to violence, but they were a small fraction and...
Free flash fiction (a 5 minute read) available in eBook, PDF, and audio formats at https://books.alanlangford.com/open/ff-ats
As a follow on to my last post, I am happy to now share access to my first bit of flash fiction, "After the Singularity". I find the short story form to be difficult, but as it turns out flash might be a good way to sketch out a concept that might mature into a novel or three!
I wrote two cracking warm, heartfelt, smart SF novels that non SF readers also liked. Our Child of the Stars and Our Child of Two Worlds, about 60s US and a childless couple adopt a star child and kee[ him safe from the government.
My website has buying links, services I offer writers. and other interesting shizzle.
#writer #author #reader #books #bookchat #sff #authorservices #crossgenre #Codex
#London #UK #workinprogress #science #sciencecommunication #communicator