The Speculative Fiction Foundation is one of the writer organizations that I admire for facilitating careers.  One of their grants is currently open for applications:

The deadline for the Speculative Literature Foundation’s Older Writers’ Grant is fast approaching! The grant of $750 is available to any writer of speculative literature of 50 years or older at the time of application who is just beginning to work professionally in the field. There are no restrictions on the use of the grant money.

Applicants are asked to submit a brief autobiographical statement, a writing sample, and a bibliography. For full details on how to apply for the grant, please see the SLF web site or email olderwriters@speclit.org. Applications must be received by March 31st, 2010. The successful applicant will be announced on June 1st, 2010.

If you fit the qualifications for this grant, by all means apply!  If not, maybe you know someone else who could use this tip.

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If you enjoy superhero comic books, then you will probably like this week’s excerpt. Wonder City Stories is a satiral take on the superhero genre, following several viewpoint characters as they attempt to live their ordinary, extraordinary lives.

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You can read my poem “The Cost of Tears“ which is a Torn World poem that came out of the February Muse Fusion.  It is written in a repeating/interlocking form that I designed for Torn World.

Duty is important, and when you let people down, the cost is high.

Do you like this poem and want to see more such?  If you’re a registered Torn World member (which is free) then you can leave comments and/or Karma.  If you’re a supporter then you can leave Credits.  Any of this stuff can be directed at the author and/or patron of a story using Torn World’s crowdfunding features.  If you’re not a Torn World member but still want to pitch in, I have a PayPal button on my LiveJournal profile page.

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Stephanie Rose Bird is promoting her book, The Big Book of Soul: The Ultimate Guide to the African American Spirit, with a blog tour. Read the rest of this entry »

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Black Lawrence Press recently announced the re-release of this book:

Neither Here Nor There by Marcel Jolley

We at Black Lawrence Press are proud to announce the second printing of Neither Here Nor There by Marcel Jolley. This short story collection, winner of the 2004 St. Lawrence Book Award, is deeply rooted in the Pacific Northwest. Eight deceptively simple stories introduce the reader to drifters, lovers, and Outsiders – people searching for a future both elusive and frightening. From barrooms to lonely highways to city busses ridden by enemies who have never learned each other’s name, Neither Here Nor There seeks out every character’s rough edges, deftly exposing the extraordinary ways that ordinary people dream.

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I am pleased to announce the winners of the 2010 Rose and Bay Awards.  These awards honor excellence in cyberfunded creativity.  Congratulations to all the winners! Read the rest of this entry »

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This week we have an excerpt “The Intimate History of the Greater Kingdom,” which has completed its first draft and is now being polished for book publication.  This crowdfunded project is currently supported by subscription, donation and book one pre-sales, as well as advertising.  When Book One is re-released, both the crowdfunding model and the website will be updated.  Details are still developing, but there will be some exclusive content for subscribers.

Now that he’s of age, Prince Temmin must leave his childhood home behind for a new life with his father in the capital. King Harsin plans to educate his son in the ways of all the kings who have come before. But the family’s immortal advisor, Teacher, has other plans: to bring Temmin closer to the people he will rule, to bind him to a Temple devoted to eroticism, and to set him on a path that will lead to unimaginable glory for the House of Tremont–or to its end. Read the rest of this entry »

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Holly Lisle’s two classes “How to Think Sideways” and “How to Revise Your Novel” are currently open for new students who seek to improve their novel-writing skills.  There will be another round of classes planned in June, with added material.  (Previous students will also get the new material for free.)  Click on the Holly Lisle boxes at the bottom of the left sidebar, or you can visit Holly’s site and tell her I sent you.

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You can read my poem “Blink birds” which is a Torn World poem that came out of the February Muse Fusion.  Blinkbirds are weird avians that seem to vanish and reappear.

Do you like this story and want to see more such?  If you’re a registered Torn World member (which is free) then you can leave comments and/or Karma.  If you’re a supporter then you can leave Credits.  Any of this stuff can be directed at the author and/or patron of a story using Torn World’s crowdfunding features.  If you’re not a Torn World member but still want to pitch in, I have a PayPal button on my LiveJournal profile page.

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• Book Release: “Neither Here Nor There”

The March 2010 issue of Ideomancer, on our new upgraded website, is live!

Our poets this month — Nebula nominee Rachel Swirsky with “Mundane”, Chris Flowers with “Voyager 2, Upon Arrival”, Liz Bourke with ”Autocannibalism: Not A Love Poem”, and Shef Reynolds with “Lunar Parable” – explore the questions of loss and regret.

March’s fiction also explores loss and regrets across time, space, and genre, and in some unexpected ways. LaShawn M. Wanak returns for a second appearance in our pages with “Future Perfect,” a decidedly different take on the question of doing it over again; Nicole J. LeBoeuf’s “The Day the Sidewalks Melted” offers a vivid look at personal apocalypses;

and Autumn Christian’s “Sunshine, Sunshine” explores the edges of the things we never even admit are missing in lush, Gothic prose.

I’m also pleased to announce that as of right now, we have reopened to both poetry and fiction submissions. There have been a few changes to the poetry guidelines, so be sure to visit our submissions page.

That’s not all! We’ve been busy. It’s been a long time coming and a lot of sweat, but we’ve rebuilt, redesigned, and relaunched the website: as well as the usual fiction, poetry, and non-fiction offerings, there’s now easy access to our Twitter feed and Facebook page, a shoutbox and comments function to let you, the reader, talk back, and a tidier, modernized build. The design credit goes to Erin Hoffman, Associate Editor and our new webmaster, who donated her considerable skill to build us something beautiful. Heap some well deserved praise on Erin.

We’re also launching a new feature on the Livejournal Community: Associate Editor Alena McNamara will curate the Ideomancer Atlas of Imagination, a collection of links, bobs, flotsam, and cool stuff we’ve found washed up on the Internet that illumines the

geography of the imagination. The Atlas of Imagination will turn a page every Monday and Saturday.

Enjoy!

Jaime Lee Moyer

Poetry Editor

http://www.Ideomancer.com/wp/

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My dark SF flash fiction ”The Negotiator” is up today on  Everyday Weirdness March 5.

Ann K. Schwader

http://ankh_hpl.livejournal.com/

http://home.earthlink.net/~schwader/

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Check out the new Lambda Literary website for the best in queer fiction and news.  The site offers reviews, interviews, features, and more.

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This week we have another art excerpt for our tour of cyberfunded creativity.  Nyela is a painter who explores different media, often with Afro-Caribbean, surreal, mythic, and female imagery.  You can find her on LiveJournal as flutterbychild, and her Facebook page is As I Am, Reborn.

The Rebirth of Me by Nyela

The main artistic activity is on the LiveJournal community The Rebirth of Me.  Below is a recent painting, “The Secrets of Growing Things.”  There is a donation button on that page and on some other pages.

Read the rest of this entry »

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You can now read my story “Odds and Ends” on Torn World, which came out of the February Muse Fusion.  It was inspired by a prompt from padparadscha and sponsored by tonithegreat.  In this story, Karavai prepares a knitting project with help from his age-mate Ularki.  Karavai is one of my core characters, along with Fala and Rai.  He is a storyteller who also enjoys hunting.

Do you like this story and want to see more such?  If you’re a registered Torn World member (which is free) then you can leave comments and/or Karma.  If you’re a supporter then you can leave Credits.  Any of this stuff can be directed at the author and/or patron of a story using Torn World’s crowdfunding features.  If you’re not a Torn World member but still want to pitch in, I have a PayPal button on my LiveJournal profile page.

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My new book of 48 flash stories; half of them are published here for the first time.

At least follow the link & see the cool cover! You can read an excerpt, too.

David C. Kopaska-Merkel

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This opportunity is open to young poets.  Good luck, folks!

Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowships

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Joanne Merriam shares this news about an upcoming convention:

David Kopaska-Merkel and I and a few other writers including Lou Anders and Jack McDevitt are doing the U of Alabama mini-convention that David mentioned below. It’s Saturday, March 6 in Shelby Hall on the University of Alabama campus, and there’s no fee for attendance. There’ll be a Q&A on submission etiquette, a panel on character and story development, a bunch of readings, and science panels on engineering and the future, black holes, microscopic black holes and the LHC, neutrino detection at the South Pole, and robotic programming with demonstrations. Details at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/2010-A-Space-Oddity/182194367285

I’ll also be selling my new chapbook Edgewise there. In the interim I’m taking pre-orders. Details at:

http://www.joannemerriam.com/2010/01/31/edgewise/

I hope some of you can make it!

Joanne Merriam

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I’ve decided to diversify my samples of cyberfunded creativity by presenting some art. Tod Wills is a talented illustrator who runs a variety of crowdfunded art projects.  On LiveJournal you can find him as Djinni.  He explains …

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Another of my stories has been published on Torn World.  This one features my character Fala, all grown up now.  It was inspired by the events in Deirdre M. Murphy’s story, “Beads and Memories.”  I got to wondering what Fala’s role in those events would be, so I wrote “The Song of the Wind, the Sigh of the Willows.”  It shows a ranger’s duties in caring for the dead.

One of the cool things about a shared world is that you quickly wind up with a web of stories that leads you from one to another, and you can follow it in any direction you wish.  (If you haven’t already read “Fala the Leader,” my first story about this character, you might backtrack to that.)  There is time to explore favorite people, or places, or tidbits of cultural lore.  Stories can be about different things with different tones.  You can pick up a loose end that someone else left for you to follow, and answer the questions it raises, if they lead to interesting places.  This is very satisfying if you enjoy milieu fiction, because you can wander around to your heart’s content.  Want plot?  We have plot-heavy stories in the works too.

Do you like this story and want to see more such?  If you’re a registered Torn World member (which is free) then you can leave comments and/orKarma.  If you’re a supporter then you can leave Credits.  Any of this stuff can be directed at the author and/or patron of a story using Torn World’s crowdfunding features.  If you’re not a Torn World member but still want to pitch in, I have a PayPal button on my profile page.

Thanks to the folks who have been leaving Karma, Credits, and comments for “Pickled” and some of my other work!  I have noted that humor is popular, and will watch for more such ideas.

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The Science Fiction Foundation (SFF) will be holding the fourth annual Masterclass in SF criticism in 2010.

Dates: 11th June to 13th June 2010

Location: Middlesex University, London (the Hendon Campus, nearest underground, Hendon).

Delegate costs will be £180 per person, excluding accommodation.

Accommodation: students are asked to find their own accommodation, but help

is available from the administrator, Farah Mendlesohn.

Applicants should write to Farah Mendlesohn at farah.sf@gmail.com.

Applicants will be asked to provide a CV and writing sample.

Completed applications must be received by 28th February 2010.

Class Leaders: Istvan Csicsery-Ronay, Roz Kaveney, Justina Robson

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