Other Worlds

Category: Talking about fiction

  • All in a Day’s Work

    Here’s an entertaining article about Margaret Hamilton (who played the Wicked Witch of the West), post-Wizard of Oz: Margaret Hamilton When I was a kid, the yearly airing of The Wizard of Oz was a big deal for me. At Halloween I always dressed as the Wicked Witch of the West. And with a minimum…

  • Apocalyptic Musing by Adam-Troy Castro

    What would people do if they had advance notice of the world ending? “The End of the World Measured in Values of N,” an SF story by Adam-Troy Castro in the July issue of Lightspeed, answers that question. It’s perhaps more of an artfully told essay than fiction. But no matter how you see it,…

  • Progress Report!

    I am doing the Clarion West Write-a-thon again this year, so far with greater success than last year. I’ll talk more about “success” in another post. For now, I’ll just say I’m going for less emphasis on writing thousands of words and more on writing every day at consistent times. If I get at least…

  • Fantastic Defenders

    I have recently served as co-editor of a short story anthology, Fantastic Defenders, with my fellow writer, David Keener. The official release was during Balticon. I had fun writing the introduction, and here it is, to give you an idea of what the book’s aim is: One place to begin, in talking about fantastic defenders,…

  • Balticon: The Social Side of Writing

    Just got back from Balticon on Monday, and I was thinking about the wonderfully various array of activities and people, and what a great experience it is for a writer to get out and mingle. And that led me to think that there’s a missing part to the standard exhortation “To be a writer, you…

  • Let the Coast Guard Handle This

    I don’t do reviews of short fiction anymore, for a number of reasons. For one, see Neil Clarke’s column from last year, i.e., lack of impact. However, just for fun, why not give a little nod toward recent stories, such as last week’s “A Spell to Retrieve Your Lover from the Bottom of the Sea”…

  • Clarion

    I’m taking part in Clarion West’s Write-a-thon starting today, and it goes for 6 weeks. My goal: I’ll be working on a YA novel, and trying to improve my skills in story development. You can see my profile here. I also want to increase my daily word count, but I can only do that by…

  • Clarion Write-a-thon 2013: Begin

    I am setting aside other topics for a while, to participate in the Clarion Write-a-thon. Starting today, I’ll post installments of a story. Please follow, and if you are minded to do so, make a donation to Clarion West and sponsor me at http://clarionwest.org/writeathon Thanks!

  • “We would be living in a different world” (WWII alternate history)

    When you read the historical accounts of HItler’s stunning military triumphs of 1939-1940, when you watch the old newsreel clips and look at the maps showing Nazi Germany’s rapid conquests, it is easy for your attention to be riveted solely on this aspect of the war. The shock, even from today’s perspective, is such that…

  • Alternate History: World War II

    A grim 80th anniversary approaches: on January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany. The photo above shows a celebratory torchlight parade in Berlin on the evening of Jan. 30. President Hindenburg, who appointed Hitler chancellor, looks out the window. It was the beginning of an unimaginable inferno. With the Enabling Act in March…