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Lance, You're probably not going to like what I have to say, but I am trying to help. There is a huge difference between writing a story . . . and writing commercial fiction. To have a chance in this contest, you have to write the kind of stories that would sell to professional-level science fiction...

Is it Irish...? ... Basically, needed to make a cover that let potential readers know it's a fantasy novel ... It's probably just me . . . But that cover said to me: historical fiction, set in Ireland during the Middle Ages or early Renaissance (can't get a better feel for the era without seeing th...

Is it immoral to bring up the novel i just published? TARNISH is a 128,000 word fantasy novel about a 16-year old venturing out into the real world with his head full of the legends of his father and mentor. Most of the story is about Wil, the young hero, though the old retired heroes (who don't qu...

And when I read words, I can't not hear them. Which is why I kind of don't understand how one speed reads. I read at marginally faster than I speak, because that's the most practical, enjoyable rate for me to hear the words at. Well, it appears that a critical factor is 'eyespan'. This is how many ...

Of the two, I think the one for "Contact Made" fits better.

However, I like the illustration in the Gazette more than I like either of those two.

Sam

I should have posted this earlier in the month . . . but I just thought of posting it here. Baen Books is currently having an "Exploding Spaceships" contest, for anyone who wants to try developing a 3 - 5 second spectacular 'sploding spaceship scene. Details: http://baen.com/contests-july2...

Ugh. Forget I said anything. I thought this was a RANT thread. Guess not. There's nothing wrong with your rant. In fact, it's a pretty common sentiment. It's just that people who've been at this longer than you have are trying to share the benefits of their experiences. Thomas K Carpenter, a new an...

{ snipped by SH } My only complaint is always getting a form rejection. I'd like to become a better writer through failure. Oh, and I don't want to hear the excuse "I get hundreds of stories each month, I can't give personal feedback on all of them." Bullshit. I have 40 students, each of ...

... After years of hesitating about writing hard SF (people said it doesn't sell and I felt I couldn't do it because I'm no specialist in anything relating to space), there were two things that made me change my mind ... I think the notion that hard SF doesn't sell is incorrect. It's not that hard ...

I cut out the plot summary in my quote box. He actually said what his story was specifically about in his post above, which I see is still there, and I think that's a lot of info to be making public, and on the contest's own forum, no less. It's supposed to be judged blindly; they can't do that if ...

I think the current Nebular award-winning novel, The Windup Girl by Bacigalupi should stir up a storm. Much as I've loved the author's short stories, and agreed with the accolages they received, his first novel is no masterpiece. Many untied threads, wandering focus, breaks in believability, slight...