The Weight of the World These days, it feels like the world’s challenges are mounting. From economic uncertainty and environmental crises to the polarization of beliefs and values, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. We’re bombarded daily by grim news, leaving many of us searching for a reprieve—a way to escape the harsh realities of life […]
Space Opera: The Genre Dreamers Need Right Now Read More »
Science fiction as we know it owes much to Amazing Stories, the genre’s pioneering magazine. Founded in 1926, it was the first magazine solely dedicated to speculative fiction, helping launch countless authors and igniting imaginations across generations. Now, after decades without active publication, Amazing Stories is gearing up for a triumphant return. The team behind
Amazing Stories: Help Revive a Science Fiction Legacy Read More »
In a recent conversation with Bill Gates, filmmaker James Cameron revealed a growing challenge for science fiction creators: staying ahead of real-world technological advancements. He noted that rapid innovation, particularly in artificial intelligence, is outpacing the speculative futures traditionally envisioned by writers. For creators of speculative fiction, this raises a profound question: How do you imagine a future that hasn’t already arrived?
The Future Outpacing Fiction: Can Sci-Fi Writers Keep Up? Read More »
I feel a bit self-conscious, writing this post, but it seems to be a perfectly normal practice among Science Fiction and Fantasy writers, magazines, and any other individual or organization who is eligible for this pair of well-known and highly regard industry awards. The nomination periods for both the Hugo Awards and the Nebula Awards
Award Season Begins… Read More »
K-Lytics, a service that researches trends and rankings of all the categories on Amazon, put out their most recent Science Fiction & Fantasy report in July this year. I tend to take notice of K-lytic reports, even though they’re focused exclusively on Amazon, for the trends and comparisons tend to hold true across most of
Add a Bit of Crime & Mystery to Your Science Fiction Read More »
As part of being a finalist in Hugh Howey’s SPSF Contest, I was asked to guest post on Shaggy Shepherd’s blog — she is one of the reviewers for the contest. You can find the post here: https://theshaggyshepherd.wordpress.com/2023/06/15/spsfc-finalist-guest-post-cameron-cooper/ Cam
Guest Post on Shaggy Shepherd Read More »
I remember the first time I noticed the Megapacks popping up on the bookstore pages among the science fiction and fantasy, because the Megapack covers are…cute, at best. At first I thought it was some fly-by-night shonky operator trying for a quick buck or two, using stories that were now in the public domain, or
New Megapacks from Wild Side Press Read More »
This just in… 🙂 Literally, the graphic just popped up on the SPSFC site a few minutes ago. Hammer and Crucible is one of seven books out of the original 300 to make it through the finals of the contest. The grand winner of the contest, one of the 7 finalists, will be announced on July 15th.
Hot news: Hammer and Crucible is a Finalist in Hugh Howey’s SPSF Contest! Read More »
It’s not the most reassuring news out there, lately. The Doomsday Clock was reset this year to 90 seconds to midnight, the closest the world has ever been to global disaster. Most of the reset was prompted by the Russia/Ukraine war, but the growing environmental emergency has also weighed in. For a history of the
Doomsday Clock reset to 90 Seconds to Midnight, and free books from Baen Read More »
For many years now, indie publishing fantasy authors have had an amazing annual contest; the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off., run by Mark Lawrence. It’s hugely popular — the latest contest reached it’s maximum number of entries (300) in only 9 hours! But straight SF isn’t allowed in the contest, so Hugh Howey, a couple of years
I’m a semi-finalist in the SPSFC!! Read More »