Neil Clarke, publisher and editor of Clarkesworld, is developing a Statement of Beliefs around the use of AI and LLMs in the world of writing. Here are his thoughts.
I’m sure it’s been at least a couple of weeks since I’ve published someone Best Of Something list, so here’s one; the 100 “best children’s books.”
Variety takes a moment to break down the costuming of Andor.
Karen Gillan “smuggled” her iPad into filming of GOTG3 and created an “unfiltered” behind-the-scenes video.
Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on the Nebula winners. Like me, she hasn’t read many of them. Unlike me, she’s probably going to.
The universe might be bigger on the inside.
There is a Dyson Sphere science fiction writing contest, hosted by the SciFiIdea Writing Center of Singapore. The deadline for submissions is August 31. The word count is 30,000 to 100,000. Yes, that’s what it says. Read the part about publication rights carefully. (Thanks to File770.)
Writer Beware shares another scam,
SFWA announced the 2023 Nebula winners on Sunday. R.F Kuang took home Best Novel for Babel; C.L. Polk’s Even Though I Knew the End won for Best Novella; Jon Chu won the Best Novelette award for “If You Find Yourself Speaking to God, Address God with the Informal You.” “Rabbit Test,” by Samantha Mills, won for Best Short Story.
I think I’ve posted about the origin of the word “blurb” before, but LitHub’s article is so engaging I’m including it here.
You know what I was not remotely interested in?
File 770 asked SFWA to expand on the qualifications for the Infinity Award, and Rebecca Gomez responded. It seems clear to me but there is still plenty of room for discussion apparently.
The MTV Movie Awards were not live this year because of the WGA strike, but several performances “of genre interest” were nominated.
The Hollywood Reporter has an article about the strike and the issue the writers face with the studios. (Thanks to File 770.)
Guardians of the Galaxy 3 introduces a new character,
How about eight speculative fiction works written in verse? Tor.com’s got you covered.
At the same site, Cole Rush argues that cats are basically dragons with fur. Does he make his case?
Patti Lupone does not boast an encyclopedic knowledge of the Marvel Universe(s) even though she is joining the MCU in a spin-off of WandaVision.
Amber Morrell discusses her new middle grade fantasy The Alchemy of Letting Go at Mary Robinette Kowal’s blog.
There is a large scrap metal megaphone mounted on a hill in the Mojave Desert,
Several months ago, John Scalzi reported the opening of the Scalzi Family Foundation. Here is one of their first philanthropic efforts.
Thanks to File 770 for this one! As part of a scholar’s Masters thesis in Communication, this database includes many (most? All?) fictional brand names. You can search by alpha, or by alpha within categories.
If you’re an eligible voter, you have about one more week to vote for the Hugos, and here is a post with some resources to help you decide who gets your vote.
Open Culture shows some early illustrations from H.G. Wells’s War of the Worlds.
This National Geographic story of cats in the British navy may be behind a paywall for some.
In the world of comics, the Eisner Committee has inducted fifteen more comic artists/writers into its Hall of Fame.
A sloth joined the festivities at the launch of JUICE, a spacecraft set to explore Jupiter’s ice moons, last Friday. The curious animal, nicknamed “Gerald,” was probably far enough away from the launch that is escaped injury when the craft lifted off.
Adri and Joe of Nerds of a Feather talk about the Nebula finalist list.
Writer Rachel Pollack passed away on April 7, 2023. Here is the Guardian’s obituary.
The Extractionist, by Kimberly Unger, won this year’s Philip K. Dick award. Tade Thompson’s book The Legacy of Molly Southbourne received a special citation.
Charles Payseur reviews for Locus now. In this month’s issue he looks at several magazine issues from December,
Nominations are open for the Ursula K. LeGuin prize.
The Tolkien Society Awards were announced on April 1, and apparently that isn’t a joke. These awards include visual arts.
Oh, no, I missed a scandal. I have failed you. Apparently, during the tallying of the SFWA Nebula Award nominees, an editor from Baen Books cast doubt on the counts, providing a screenshot of a list with a Baen book near the top. Strangely, the screenshot wasn’t from the nominating list at all, but a completely different SFWA list.
Nancy Jane Moore doesn’t want to sign up for your newsletter because she’s tired of setting up a million accounts. Read her blog post here.
A bomb threat disrupted a Detroit furry convention.
Genre books took prizes in the Waterstone’s Children’s Book contest.
This was over my head, I’ll tell you right now, but it still looked fascinating. A 13-side tile can cover a plane without ever repeating. I’m just repeating there, but still.
On Tor.dom,
One commenter selected at random will win a copy of Veronica Roth’s Arch-Conspirator.
Alexi Vandenberg appears to be the latest competitor in the George Santos Sweepstakes. Known at conventions for his large bookselling booth, often under the name of Bard’s Tower, Vandenberg presented himself as a publisher and as someone who once worked with President George W. Bush. It appears that, in the tradition of con artists everywhere, Vandenberg has, among other things, sold companies that didn’t exist. He also is alleged to have violated contracts and sexually harassed people.
Nerds of a Feather reports on the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) bookfair in Seattle last weekend.
A speculative fiction feature, Everything Everywhere All At Once, swept the Oscars on Sunday.
In Argentina, an immersive drama introduces participants to an eerie underground labyrinth and the woman architect who designed it.
Leigh Bardugo has signed a new contract with MacMillan that will see her producing works across the company’s imprints for many years, for many millions. (Is it appropriate to say she “pulled a Scalzi?”)
Derivative!
In honor of International Women’s Day, the image is of writer, teacher and activist Toni Morrison receiving the Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.
Nerds of a Feather announces editorial changes as Arturo Serrano, Roseanne Pendlebury and Paul Weimer join their editorial crew. Adri Joy and Joe Sherry move to Senior Editor staff.
On Whatever, John Scalzi discusses a positive use for AI—photography.
Publishers Weekly puts comic book sales under its business-themed microscope.
SWFA announced the 2023 Nebula Award finalists.
Single topic column this week. One commenter will get a hardcopy of The Secret Skin by Wendy N. Wagner.
The Eidolon is billed as Book One of the MAGNUS ACADEMY series, part of K.D. Edwards’s TAROT SEQUENCE world. It is a companion piece to the third book of his first trilogy, The Hourglass Throne. It you haven’t read The Hourglass Throne, it’s not likely you’ll understand what’s going on here.
Shortly after Neil Clarke, editor and publisher of Clarkesworld, posted this, the magazine closed its submission portal. Clarkesworld is one of the higher paying SFF short fiction markets; let’s hope this is temporary.
Nerds of a Feather reviews Malka Older’s latest book, The Mimicking of Known Successes.
This is from last year, but the book, The Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand, is due out soon, so I thought I’d share this interview.
Giveaway: One commenter chosen as random will get a hardcopy of C.L. Polk’s Even Though I Knew the End.
Here’s an inspiring if not very medical update on the condition of Jeremy Renner, who sustained many broken bones and other injuries in a snow plow accident earlier this winter.
Those objects in the sky we keep shooting down; could they be… ETs? Ars Technica thinks not and explains why. (Actually, this article discusses the history of the US government’s exploration of these and other airborne objects.) From a few days earlier,
The Chengdu WorldCon Committee announced that it can now take credit card payments for membership, but still has not opened the Hugo awards for nominations and voting. File770 notes that this means the period will open later than any WorldCon in the past 15 years.
The Horror Writers Association interviews Black horror writer Winifred Iker. I thought I would like Iker when I read the sentence saying she has “a robust collection of Tarot cards.” But the great-aunt who arrived each summer with a tote-bag full of books sealed the deal!
From last year, here is an article for the feline that may have been the inspiration for Grumpy Cat—the Pallas’s, or Pallas cat, indigenous to the Central Asian Steppes.
Malice Domestic announced the finalists for the Agatha Christie Awards this year. The award recognizes excellence in contemporary “traditional” mysteries, or what I might call, from their description, “cozies.” (I love that one of the finalists is titled The Finalist.)
The Library of America announces an April release of a collection of Ursula LeGuin’s poetry,
The Academy Awards nominees were announced on Sunday.
John Scalzi was awarded the Heinlein Award.
The finalists for the Bram Stoker Award have been announced. Oh, I just realized. Award Season has been declared Open.
The Roger Ebert website reviews AMC’s serialization of Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire. Jacob Anderson brings to undead life the brooding Louis. Here’s an interview with him. Eric Bogosian plays an older, wiser and more bitter Daniel Molloy,
If you wanted to start a fan-fund to help pay the way for low-income fans to attend a convention, how would you do it? File770 lays out the basics as part of their discussion of a new European Fan Fund.
Everything Everywhere All At Once swept the Critics’ Choice awards this week.
Florida struggles to address the advance of blue-green algae in its estuaries and coastal waters. Here is a FAQ page about blue-green algae and its risks. (Florida is not the only state fighting this battle.)
The book that wouldn't burn by Mark Lawrence and a reread of the murderbot diaries.
Have not read Turow's fiction but his book One-L, describing the entry level law school experience and featuring the prifessor…
Scott Turow's second book, "The Burden of Proof", is a semi-sequel to "Presumed Innocent". The psychological darkness of the situations…
I've been reading The Everything Learning Russian book to help with my novel set in Russia. The structure of the…
In the first part of the graphic novel series "Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise", we see that after…