So you want to be a writer. That’s fantastic. I love writers. Writers are some of my favorite people. They’re brilliant and quirky and often tend to daydream (which is why they tend to thrive in their own internal worlds). You have the passion. You even have a manuscript you know will revolutionize the world. […]
I’ve been reading a lot of slush this past month. Mountains of it, really. So much slush that I have imprints of the little yes/no/maybe buttons burned indelibly into the inside of my eyelids so I can see them staring back at me even in my sleep. That’s a whole lot of slush. But the […]
To paraphrase an IO9 commentor, the dual Nebula/Hugo choice for Frederik Pohl’s SF novel, Gateway, was simply dreadful…in the sense of instilling deep dread in the reader, as any horror writer would wish to do. Pohl won three Hugos, in successive years. That says it all, doesn’t it? Oh, and another Hugo and three Nebulas, […]
I found the piece of the alien ship out back, right on the marsh edge. I was out fishing, or least I was supposed to be, but mostly I was “lollygagging and woolgathering,” Pa would say. Pa don’t approve of gathering wool, nor gagging no lollies, either. He says a girl my age ought to […]
by Sarah Grey The girl behind the counter is a waif with mottled cheeks, swaddled in a blue barista’s apron. Her nametag, scratched half-bare, tells me only that she is a trainee. She offers me a timid smile, thin sparkle-glossed lips closed tight. She wears augmentation lenses, red plastic frames that glitter, a cheap pair […]
Worlds Beyond (“News and reviews for the geek in all of us”) liked the current FFO issue’s subversive Zombie Walk, linking to it on their Flash Friday page. Sam Tomaino at SFRevu has reviewed Flash Fiction Online’s October 2012 issue, which has two original and one classic flash stories, including: Zombie March Tension by Brynn […]
In 1987, some science fiction writers of note made a time capsule of their expectations for 2012, as reported by the gizmag tech blog. So now the cork has been popped from the capsule. What did they think? Mutant avengers take over the world? Dead atmosphere? Elvis returns to finish what he had begun? The […]
The prima materia of many a science fiction story, and tweaker of not a few personal rights advocates and readers of the Bible, RFID chips implanted at birth would, for example, end personal identity predicaments and improve friend-or-foe determination on the battlefield, says Nebula Award winner Elizabeth Moon. Here is a short BBC article on […]
I presume that many writers like to see magazine editors and slush pile readers out there trying to publish, too. It’s both a humbling and educational experience. So here are recent publications of the FFO staffers I’ve heard from so far. I’ve got no problem putting mine at the top of the list: William Highsmith, […]
Sam Tomaino at SFRevu has reviewed Flash Fiction Online’s February 2012 issue. Thanks, Sam. The Feb. 2012 issue had three new flash stories, including: Surface Tension by KJ Kabza, Lovestruck by Zach Shephard, and Classic Flash: Man May Love by Robert Sharp Speaking of Surface Tension, Sam said, “A very good, subtly written tale.”. See […]