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Ahoy, Critterfolk!
New entry Jun 06
Critter Notices
Books from Critters!
Check out Books by Critters for books by your fellow Critterfolk, as well as my list of recommended books for writers.
How to Write SF
The Craft of Writing Science Fiction that Sells by Ben Bova, best-selling author and six-time Hugo Award winner for Best Editor. (This is one of the books your ol' Critter Captain learned from himself, and I highly recommend it.)
(Also via Amazon)
New Book from a Critter Member
**NOW IN
PRINT EDITION
TOO!** Awesome new book,
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SPECULATIVE FICTION OPENINGS,
from a Critter member who's unearthed a shard of The Secret
to becoming a pro writer. Really good piece of work.
"...if you're at all concerned about story openings, you'd be nuts not to read what Qualkinbush has to say." —Wil McCarthy, author of BLOOM and THE COLLAPSIUM
Interviewed!
I was interviewed live on public radio for Critters' birthday, for those who want to listen.
Free Web Sites
Free web sites for authors (and others) are available at www.nyx.net.
ReAnimus Acquires Advent!
ReAnimus Press is pleased to announce the acquisition of the legendary Advent Publishers! Advent is now a subsidiary of ReAnimus Press, and we will continue to publish Advent's titles under the Advent name. Advent was founded in 1956 by Earl Kemp and others, and has published the likes of James Blish, Hal Clement, Robert Heinlein, Damon Knight, E.E. "Doc" Smith, and many others. Advent's high quality titles have won and been finalists for several Hugo Awards, such as The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy and Heinlein's Children. Watch this space for ebook and print editions of all of Advent's current titles!
Book Recommendation
THE SIGIL TRILOGY:
The universe is dying from within...
"Great stuff... Really enjoyed it." — SFWA Grandmaster Michael Moorcock
Announcing ReAnimus Press
If you're looking for great stuff to read from bestselling and award-winning authors—look no further! ReAnimus Press was founded by your very own Critter Captain. (And with a 12% Affiliate program.) [More]
~~~
FEATURED BOOK
~~~
Weekly Notes
Notes for 22-Nov-2023...
It's Critters' 28th birthday! Literally to the day, Nov. 22 -- back in 1995 -- I was sitting in my office on campus the day before Thanksgiving, thinking about how I couldn't find any writers workshop on that new thing called the World Wide Web. I thought it would be a cool idea if people all over the world could participate in a workshop, so I whipped up some software, whipped up some HTML (which at the time was extrememly primitive; remember that the first iteration of HTML didn't even allow for centering text!), and I sent out an announcement via the primary forum platform of the day -- Usenet News, aka netnews. (Which IMHO was much better than the way we do forums today with a gazillion fragmented groups; ah, well.) I put up one of my stories to kick things off for the first week, and solicited for more, which started trickling in right away. (You can see the whole queue history on the web site.)
It's thanks to all of you that we've now had over 30,000 manuscripts critiqued, in around 500,000 critiques, and quite a few members have gone on to become pros, and been nominated for and won major awards. Congratulations to all of you! (All for free to members, on a shoe-string budget. It's heartwarming to me to see the durability of the "Nyx model" of free, volunteer/donor supported technology. FWIW, Nyx.net, which I founded in the late 80s as the first internet service provider allowing the public on the then-new internet, is also still kicking, 35 years later -- also still free to use and running smoothly on voluntary donations. [A similar thing having happened -- sitting in my campus office thinking the public really ought to be allowed onto the internet, and that it could be done for free to users, to boot. I _guess_ it was a good idea to let the public loose on the internet...?] :) I really never expected these to last this long!)
Thanks, everyone, for making Critters such a success!
And to all in the US, Happy Thanksgiving!
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And for those wondering where things could be by 28 years from now... there's my just-released novel, SF novel, TERMINATION OF SPECIES. :) I think it has some interesting SFnal ideas in it (particularly if you're interested in an AI guy's thoughts on where AI is headed), and of course a fun story. If you're curious, it's at:
ReAnimus Press Store: www.ReAnimus.com/1733
Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B0CHFYBF41/?tag=critters3a-20
(available in ebook + hardcover + paperback)
Since today is Critter's 28th birthday, as a Critters member bonus, you can get 28% off with coupon code "crittos" on the ReAnimus store for the ebook. (Put in the "coupon code" box then hit Apply BEFORE clicking "add to cart.")
David Brin and Vernor Vinge had some nice things to say about it, so I hope you enjoy it as well!
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Thanks for the donations, folks! We are 90.4% of the way to the fund drive goal with contributions from 156 donors, leaving about $500 to go.
Thanks especially to
Rachel Messinger
Philip Lindeman
for their recent donations to help keep Critters going. Much appreciated!
[See https://www.critters.org/donate.php for more information.]
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Woohoo! Congratulations to...
- Russell Adams, who sold his (Critter'd) short story,
"Pretending to Live" to Wicked Shadow Press: "Apocalyptales:
The End Is Nigh". {One of the things I like about Wicked Shadow
Press is that they offer personal acceptances: Mine read:
"Such a powerful and evocative piece. The depth of emotion
and the stark contrast between the characters' memories and
their current reality are greatly impactful. Your narrative
beautifully captures our resilience in the face of despair and
the desperate need to find meaning and connection even in the
bleakest of circumstances."}
- Viterbo Guedez (M.G. Viterbo), whose (Critter'd) short story,
"How to Spit in Microgravity" is now out in the current issue
of Savage Planets.
- Renan Bernardo, who sold his short story, "The Offer of Peace
Between Two Worlds" to Diabolical Plots.
Please report your Woohoo!s via the www.critters.org/telldaworld.ht web page.
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This week's Most Productive Critter award, for 3 critiques (at time
of judging), averaging almost 500 words each, goes to...
Robert Harpold
To redeem an MPC, visit: www.critters.org/usempc.ht
Congratulations! To everyone else -- Crit early and often!
(For an explanation of the MPC award, see the www.critters.org/award.ht page.)
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Recommended Reading...
One of the best writing books - Secrets from the 6-time Best Editor
Hugo Award Master, Ben Bova: THE CRAFT OF WRITING SCIENCE FICTION THAT SELLS
https://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1144
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Critters Workshop
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This week we have... [get from https://www.critters.org/private/mss.php ]...
Title Author
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Week of 22-Nov-2023 (Crits due 29-Nov-2023):
F Spelling Trouble, Chapter 3 [mpc] Brian Sellnow [?] -#31248
SF Scholar Saves the Amazing One-Plot Library Robert Harpold -#31249
F A Thousand Ships [@] Julia Nolan -#31250
H Unwelcome Guest Pete Koziar -#31251
F Perfect Person [@] Larry Hodges -#31252
H The Shadow on Pinocchio's Doorstep James Hyde -#31253
F Adelaide and the Historian Patrick Fye -#31254
F Gaunt Charlotte Kane -#31255
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended books on writing:
THE CRAFT OF WRITING AND SELLING SCIENCE FICTION by Ben Bova
ReAnimus Press Store: https://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1144
Amazon: https://Amazon.com/dp/B006MAZPEI
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SPECULATIVE FICTION OPENINGS By (Critter member) Robert Qualkinbush
https://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1184 | https://Amazon.com/dp/B007O272ZI
STAYIN' ALIVE - A WRITER'S GUIDE by three-time SFWA President Norman Spinrad
How things really work in the art and commerce of publishing
https://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1179 | https://Amazon.com/dp/B007SIC4I8
EXPERIMENT PERILOUS: THE 'BUG JACK BARRON' PAPERS by Norman Spinrad
(A 99cent essay on SF and writing)
https://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1180 | https://Amazon.com/dp/B007MF3MS8
Because you might enjoy it... FROM THE DEPTHS OF HELLAS by BRUCE TAYLOR
1000 stories written?! Bizarre! No, that's reality! Or is it?
https://reanimus.com/store/?item=1709
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Pieces up for critique in other workshops...
In the lit workshop - https://critique.org/lit :
L The Trick Meg Combs -#31232
In the nonfiction workshop - https://critique.org/nonfiction :
NP I *Experience*, Therefore I Am Robin niCathain -#30061
In the script workshop - https://critique.org/script :
SC Should I Stay Ellis Clay -#30600
In the comics workshop - https://critique.org/comics :
CG Magna. logline/ synopsis Brent Claridge -#28885
In the western workshop - https://critique.org/western :
W Currently Untitled Aleksandr Vincente Hoang -#30472
In the romance workshop - https://critique.org/romance :
R For Her Honor Chapters 1-5 Morgan Stevens -#31119
In the video workshop - https://critique.org/video :
VS The Gallery of Henri Beauchamp Jay DeTalente -#21424
In the music workshop - https://critique.org/music :
MP The Shade Riders and Nocturnal Ned song Beth Zurkowski -#21675
In the photo workshop - https://critique.org/photo :
PH Tea and Gossip Sandy Kulhavy -#30875
In the art workshop - https://critique.org/art :
AH Art Man, a portrait Robert J Cleary -#27847
In the website workshop - https://critique.org/website :
WW Franklin's Palindromedary Ray N. Franklin -#29498
In the critters workshop - https://critique.org/critters :
F Spelling Trouble, Chapter 3 [mpc] Brian Sellnow [?] -#31248
SF Scholar Saves the Amazing One-Plot Library Robert Harpold -#31249
F A Thousand Ships [@] Julia Nolan -#31250
H Unwelcome Guest Pete Koziar -#31251
F Perfect Person [@] Larry Hodges -#31252
H The Shadow on Pinocchio's Doorstep James Hyde -#31253
F Adelaide and the Historian Patrick Fye -#31254
F Gaunt Charlotte Kane -#31255
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You might also like... THREE NOVELS by DAMON KNIGHT
Three excellent short novels from a SFWA Grandmaster
https://reanimus.com/store/?item=1685
Standard notes:
HELP:
If you need help with anything, see https://www.critters.org/help -- there
are FAQs and a form to ask questions.
HELPING CRITTERS:
Critters is donation funded & volunteer run, so if you'd like to
help out with our current fund drive or otherwise, please visit
https://www.critters.org/donate.php -- Thanks!!
HOW TO SEND CRITIQUES:
Remember to send the critiques directly to me, critters@critique.org, so
I can forward them to the authors _and_ give you credit for your effort.
Please send only one critique per mail message (makes it easier to
archive). Please make sure the "#" symbol and manuscript number are in
the email Subject: line, like Subject: #1234. (Conversely, if you want
ol' Aburt to personally read the message, i.e., it's _not_ a critique,
don't put a "#" in the subject or I won't see it. Also -- put my current
anti-spam code word in there: see https://www.critters.org/antispam.ht .)
You may also send your critiques via https://www.critters.org/webcrit.ht .
Note that all critiques will be available to everyone to read the next Saturday.
DIPLOMACY:
Remember, authors and critiquers, we're all friends here. Be polite. Be
considerate. Be tactful. You can say you thought a story was drivel in a
courteous way. Try to point out the good and the bad; offer alternatives
if you can. Never, ever, attack the author -- only the story. Authors:
Remember that some reviewers may lack tact. Try to be understanding,
but if you get any that you feel are just plain mean-spirited, too short
to be of any use, or too "feel good," let me know and I'll withhold the
reviewer's "credit" for that story and/or cajole them into something
more insightful. See https://www.critters.org/diplomacy.ht for more...
CRITIQUE LENGTH:
If you want to send a short critique that you know is too short for
credit (200 words or less of your own meaningful content) please put
"NC#" in the Subject (NC=No Credit, like Subject: NC#1234) -and- say
something like "not for credit" inside your critique. (Remember also that
for MPC purposes, a critique must be 300 words or more.)
CHATTING:
Comments -other- than critiques (such as discussion of the critiques,
or Woohoo! announcements, or chit chat) should be posted to one of the
official Critters discussion forums (See the https://www.critters.org/newsgroups.ht
web page for full info, guidelines, etc.) Don't post stories or critiques
(mail those to critters@critique.org).
QUOTING:
Please pare the ms. down if critiquing in-line (don't quote the whole ms.!).
Other format rules are at https://www.critters.org/format.ht .
EVERYTHING'S ON THE WEB:
Past reviews are on the web page. The current week's manuscripts are
also there, as are prior mss. and even some rewrites. There's a Master
Page Index (site map) with tons of links to common items.
AUTHORS:
Authors for this week -- if you aren't getting email'd critiques from
me (as they come in) within a couple days -- ask me and we can verify
I'm sending them to the correct address. (Send me a phone# in case I
can't get email to you.) Check the format of your story ASAP to make sure
it's all there and readable.
EMAIL ISSUES:
If you want to change your email address or preferences (# mss. emailed,
SF/F/H type, or whether you get the huge critique batches at week's end),
point your browser to https://www.critters.org/admin.ht . Please don't
ask me to do this by hand, it's quite a chore! (E.g., if you're going
on vacation and want to suspend mail from me -- do this before/after
your trip.)
BACKUP SITE:
If you're unable to reach www.critters.org to get manuscripts, I've set up
an emergency backup site at https://backup.critters.org where you can get the
week's manuscripts (but not much of anything else :-). Speaking of backups --
don't forget to back up your own manuscripts so you don't lose them!
QUITTING:
If you want to quit or go inactive, drop by https://www.critters.org/admin.ht .
DONATIONS:
Critters is funded by donations, so visit https://www.critters.org/donate.php
if you'd like to help out.
Because you might enjoy it... THE MAN IN THE TREE by DAMON KNIGHT
Gene Anderson, poet, millionaire, circus freak - and can grab things from other universes
https://reanimus.com/store/?item=1678
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