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Amalgam Fan Fiction

Posted by Night Manager on January 8, 2009 at 10:13am

AMALGAM UNIVERSE:from ACT IIPart two:THE 1ST ALLIANCES:MAYDAY!Her Viper was beginning to spin. Slowly now, but Starbuck knew soon she would be pinned to one side of her Viper as the centripetal forces rose. She slid her hand over the emergency eject lever, better to have it in hand now than when she may not have the strength to reach it. Be a shame to have the opportunity to bail only to be held back by her own body weight times ten. Spinning would do that and she had no way to stop the spin.Her port stabilizers were blown. Trying to stop the spin with just the remaining starboard jets would only send her spinning the other way even faster. Not to mention that with the damage her Viper had taken those stabilizers could blow as well. It had not been the enemy fire that had caused them to blow out; it had been the subsequent fuel line fire. At least they had blown out together, keeping her ship from going into a wild spin but they had blown out in two awfully jolting explosions that sent her Viper into the gravity well of planet RV1906, gas giant.RV1906 marked the rendezvous point of a meeting they had desperately needed with some supposed friendly intelligent beings. The gas giant had been described in a beacon that Dr. Baltar had been able to decode. The beacon promised friendly contact, intelligence on what had happened to make the universe go crazy, and most important of all; supplies. RV1906 looked good, it was still about the size of a dinner plate in her canopy now, but was growing larger.If she ejected now, most likely she would get caught in the gravity well and be pulled in anyway. Her only hope was that the mining ship that Galactica had sent would pick her up and be able to maneuver enough to get in range of the jets of her flight chair. Long shot… but what else did she have. Certainly she could not count on those “Friendly” beings.Kara twisted and looked out her starboard side window. The battle was still in full swing. Though too far to see any of the ships, she could mark their demise with each and every bright flaring explosion. A seasoned fighter pilot, Kara Thrace, call sign “Starbuck”, had seen enough of her fellow pilots fall to know that many of those flares, most in fact, were Vipers going down. It had been a fraking ambush.Like so many things Starbuck had seen since the strange event that had made the know universe become twisted and unrecognizable, the attackers ships had been totally alien to her. From their strange “H” shaped design to the fact that they had no discernable source of propulsion, the alien ships attacked in numbers that had overwhelmed them. Though the Vipers had superior maneuverability, the attackers speed was unheard of and their attack passes ripped them apart. They had been suckered in.The cockpit suddenly lights up and Kara twists again, turning to look port side only to find RV1906 had gone from a plate sized disc in the distance to a horizon spanning orange ball.Dammit! Quickly she flipped off the automated distress call and began relaying it live. No one was going to pay attention to just one distress call among what had to be at least thirty now. Thirty of those ships still intact enough to put out a distress call.But after a good ten minutes there was no answer. Ten minutes was not long enough to mean there was no one out there but it was long enough to mean that help was too far away to be able to help.The entire cockpit was awash in the bright orange glow of RV1906.Possibly the mining ship was using some other channel. With the battle still going on there just had to be some chatter going on. Kara set her radio to scan.Channel after channel slipped by, blowing only static at her, and after another ten minutes she knew that most of the channels would have been blocked by the planet itself. RV1906 was now so big that she could not see both poles at one time, each passed into her field of vision as the Viper was beginning to rotate. It was too late to bail, not that there had been an opportunity earlier.Orange, black, orange, black and Viper rolled the gas giant around her. Slowly her weight pulled her portside. For awhile she could hold herself in her seat but little by little she slid to her left. It was a bad spin, the kind she knew would pull the blood from her head and make her pass out. Though that might be a blessing.What the hell was she still holding onto the ejector level for?Popping out now was certain and instantaneous death.It was getting hard to breath. The flesh of her cheeks began to pull at her eyes with their increased weight.Nothing out there but hot acidic gases swirling at hurricane levels.“…opy? This is Sku… one to… craft. Do you…” what the?Kara looked down at her radio display, but the computer had lost the signal and had continued scanning the lower bands. It had to be a low band transmission, but Galactica’s forces never ran that low. One of the enemy?The canopy was all entry flames and orange planet glow, her Viper was burning up. Had she just imagined the transmission? It did not matter now; she was too far into the planets atmosphere to be recovered. Maybe had she ejected earlier…WHOA!A shadow flew past at what had to be MACH 3. Another Viper burning up on entry? Or maybe one of hers got one of theirs. Then the shadow zipped past again, and again, and again as whatever it was fell into a locked position while her Viper continued to spin.“…you copy? Is there anybody alive in there?” came the clear young voice. Kara wanted to scream out, but her chest was too compressed. She wanted to signal back but her hand was pinned to the Damned EJECT LEVER!“…old on. This is gonna be bum…”Insane. No rescue could be mounted now. Her ship was breaking up as his must be. Any attempt to snag her ship with tow cables would kill them both. She mouthed breathless orders for the unknown Viper pilot to leave her, to return to defending the Galactica. On the next rotation the shadow seemed to be closing on her Viper.CLANG!! All at once the Vipers spin was halted and Kara was thrown against her straps. They had collided. What the frak was wrong with that idiot?Her fall a bit more stabilized, Kara could see out the canopy to the planets horizon. Flames still engulfed the ship, now pluming around the nose and engines. Where was that other Viper? Did he survive the impact?Then pulling into her field of vision from just past her starboard wing was the nose of a ship she had never seen before. It was not like the strange alien craft that had ambushed them here, no this fighter was different. She had never seen it before but its design seemed oddly primitive. With wings that large and obvious air intakes it looked like an old time atmospheric fighter craft but it had to be a spacecraft to be here now. The craft maneuvered easily even as it plowed acid air in the middle of a gas giant’s tornado system. The fighter, yes it was clearly some kind of fighter craft, came even closer and Kara could see its pilot through the clear bubble canopy. His smile told her that he could see her as well. He was smiling as they both were starting to burn up… what the Frak?He was talking, no doubt trying to get his transmission through to her. With the centripetal forces relieved Kara reached and tuned her communications gear back down to the lower bands. But his voice was no where to be found.Apparently he decided to give up and sent her some kind of hand signal. What did it mean? He was pointing… ohFRAK!She had seen this on the prelim reports of RV1906, the big red disc; a localized tornado system, ten times bigger than her home Colony planet Caprica, that rolled across the planet at the midway point between its equator and its southern pole. That big red patch now sat just below them, pulling them down like suds running toward the drain. Once they were too close they would not be able to pull out.Once they were too close their ships would be ripped to shreds.Kara looked back to her would be rescuer and began to wave him off, to send him back for his own good. But he now seemed intently focused on his flying and dipped the strange craft even closer. Kara could see now that it was white, despite being bathed in the fiery orange glow, white with Black trim. It was carrying a huge drop missile beneath it and she could see the gun ports clearly now.The winds picked up and the glass canopy of Kara’s viper began to crack… it would not be too long now.Still she kept her eyes on the strange craft, thinking it was as good a thing as any to be the last thing she ever saw. A pretty strange craft yes, but at least he was trying to rescue her. At least he was trying to…Were those arms!?!From beneath the craft, two mechanized arms dropped down. These arms had not been set inside the craft, or attached to it. No, amazingly the arms seemed to have been a part of the planes structure. One of the massive arms was holding the drop missile like it was a rifle and the other was remarkably reaching out to her Viper.If this were not enough the two blazing rear engines were moving as well. Tilting down and under the craft they moved into position underneath the rest of the craft, looking much like a pair of legs.Impossible.The huge hand came down on the Viper around the bridge of its nose, and again Kara was thrown forward. This close she could see the scarred and pitted metal plating of the “hand”. This crazy flying machine had done this before. How many Vipers had this guy been saving?The two engines fired hard and the braking thrust jolted her. The two engines blazed beneath the aircraft on those two distended legs, giving the whole craft the look of an insane mechanized bird of prey.Not possible.Not possible she told herself. No one could maneuver a craft like that even if such a craft could be built. It was not possible to perform an action as complex as grabbing the nose of a viper while battling an alien tornados mach 2 winds. Not possible.The hand holding her Viper pulled her up underneath the strange craft, likely an attempt to reduce their wind profile. She could see the alien writing, the labeled intakes, and the skull and crossbones of what she instinctively knew was a fighter squadron.The G-forces pushed and then pulled at her body and she also now knew that the craft was pulling them up, away from the big red disc, away from the planets atmosphere. How was this possible?A word seemed to whisper itself into her ear, into her consciousness, though she could not have heard it before. It was the answer to her questions although in time she would learn that the word itself was a question.What had saved her life? What have made such a craft? What had made that craft able to do the impossible?Robotechnology.

Dark Scribe Magazine nominees

Posted by Carole McDonnell on January 5, 2009 at 8:22am

DARK SCRIBE MAGAZINE has announced the nominees for the 2nd Annual Black Quill Awards! Every vote makes a difference, so please follow the link below and cast yours now.Remember, voting closes at midnight EST on Sunday, January 25th, 2009. And please, tell your friends!http://www.darkscribemagazine.com/current-nominees/

SCI-FI Amalgam Universe: Fan Fiction

Posted by Night Manager on January 3, 2009 at 7:50pm

I'm not usually into fan fiction but a buddy of mine; a fellow writer and I got into some heated arguments about which SCI-FI series could kick the ass out of the which other SCI-FI series and stories. That sort of kicked off a bit of a running writing fight and then evolved into a pretty interesting series of short stories and "What ifs". The stories all follow a specific outline and had a definite plot but we write them from several different points along the story. A story where EVERY and all sci-fi universes have merged into one. We've knocked out a few short stories so far. So...AMALGAM UNIVERSEACT IPart one:THE GREAT MERGINGVoyagers Arrival.Janeway sat rigid and tight in the command chair. Her legs were crossed in what she hoped was a relaxed pose but her muscles were tense and her back was beginning to ache. Her eyes stared forward, unblinking, at Voyagers main view screen. They had been so close before, so very close and still had this snatched away; home. They were finally going home, but they would not be sure until the view screen cleared and their sensors could register again. So she sat, rigid and tight, staring at the forward view screen.The rest of the bridge crew took to their Captains example. All was quiet across the small bridge of the Intrepid class ship.Her X/O Commander Chakotay, found himself following her lead. Though he supported his Captain unconditionally, he had found that their opposing views had put them at odds for the most part in the past seven years. Not amazing considering that they had met only because she had chased him nearly halfway across the galaxy in order to arrest him. Instead circumstance forced the then rogue Starfleet Officer to join her crew as second in command. Now he sat next to her, as still as she, eye also transfixed on the distorted view screen, waiting and hoping.The helmsman, Tom Paris kept his eyes away from the screen and on his helm controls. He told himself he would not look up until his console told him something new. “A watched pot never boils” was an old Earth expression. It applied here. Paris was another Voyager Officer of circumstance. He had come aboard a prison parolee and now found himself at the helm. The “Ex-Convict” found himself wondering if the Voyagers seven year trek across the Galaxy would count as “Time served”.Security Officer Tuvak watched the screen impassively. A Vulcan, he lived his life as logically as any Vulcan ever had. Either they would find Earth after passing through this slipstream, or they would not. Either they would survive the trip while the entire ship was protected inside of the dying Borg shell or they would not. Emotion would not lend any help to their cause. Although another setback at this point would certainly be devastating emotionally to the non-Vulcans of the crew. Tuvak thought to offer a Vulcan prayer. It would have no bearing on the outcome he knew, but it might help prepare him to better assist his Captain and crew mates for what was to come, good or ill.The most agitated of the Bridge crew was Lieutenant Harry Kim. He was the youngest bridge officer, having come to Voyager fresh out of Starfleet Academy, though after their adventure he had certainly earned his stripes and his fellow crewmen’s respect. Never-the-less that did not stop him from looking back and forth from his Science station to the veiwscreen and back again. Again and again he called up the sensors trying to get them to read something… anything other than the rapidly deconstructing systems of the Borg sphere. His frustration mounted.A hand slid over his console and reset the sensors for him. Not just any hand, a bionically augmented hand. Harry looked up and saw that Seven of Nine, once a Borg drone, was looking at him. Another odd member of the crew, she had joined the ship just a few years ago. This homecoming could not mean as much to her Harry thought, she had very little memory of Earth as it was, having been “Assimilated” by the Borg Collective when she was just… What was that?The sensors reading the environment outside the Borg sphere came back on line lighting up his console like a Christmas tree. The Event Horizon of the Slipstream was breaking. Before he could even make a report He heard his Captain give the order to fire.In a blaze of fire the Borg sphere broke apart all around them.Janeway found herself standing as the most wonderful sight she had ever seen filled her eyes. She was not the only one. The huge bright blue and white ball called Earth sat dead center of their veiwscreen and a fleet of their fellow Starfleet ships was there to welcome them home.“Captain, we’re being hailed!” Kim reported.“Put it through…” Janeway had to choke back a few tears. It was not appropriate for a Starship Captain to cry she knew, but dammit… they had finally come home.The voice cut through loud and clear. Audible only, as Lieutenant Kim dared not take the beautiful Earth off the screen. There was a small flight of Starships in formation there to greet them.“Starship Voyager, this Admiral Paris. On behalf of Starfleet Command; Welcome…”Several warning lights flashed across Harry’s console. His face was painted in the warm red lights.“Captain…” he began to warn when Tuvak’s voice rang out clear.“I’m reading a massive power discharge… aft!” His face too, was bathed in warning light red.The ship began to shudder from a force powerful enough to overcome the inertial compensators. There was a bright green flash of light, distorting nearly half of the veiwscreen. Janeway blinked hard but kept her eyes locked and saw the pulsating green beam streak from somewhere behind Voyager. The beam must have been giving off some powerful waves because before their eyes the small fleet of ships in the welcoming committee was set rolling. The beam continued past in an instant and struck the Earth, somewhere in the North Eastern continent of Africa Janeway noted in that instant. It was the last sight of her home she would ever remember. In the next instant, the planet EARTH exploded before their eyes.The explosion sent a huge equatorial shockwave out, a giant band of superheated core matter. Voyager was buffeted by gravitational waves almost instantly.“Gravitational shockwaves!” reported Tuvok.“What just happened?” Chakotay screamed out. He had seen enough explosions to understand what he had just witnessed, still he needed confirmation… what he wanted was for someone to tell him that what he thought he saw was not what had actually happened.“It gone! The Earth… it’s been destroyed!” Paris stated it plainly.“Harry report!” Chakotay ordered.“I… it…” was all he could say. Quickly Seven of Nine stepped behind his console and scanned the readouts. Before she could answer Tuvok warned;“We are directly in the path of the shockwave!”“There is a massive object bearing on Earths… former position.” Seven reported. “From the power readings it is the object that discharged the energy beam that hit the Earth.”“Twenty seconds until the shockwave hits us!” Tuvok continued.“Captain?” Paris hands hung over the helm controls, torn between shock, acting, and waiting for orders.Janeway still stood from her command char, still rigid, hands in tight fists at her side. Her eyes were still locked on the view screen, watching as the bright red shockwave band grew, as it headed directly for them.“Captain?” Chakotay called out. He had never seen her freeze up before.“I’ve got calls coming in from a dozen vessels that were in orbit. They can’t escape the shockwave!” Harry Kim reported shakily.“Captain?!?” Paris began to plot a course.“Impact in ten seconds.” Reported Tuvok. “Orders Captain!?!”Finally Janeway responded. Her head snapped around her eyes were full of fire and tears.“RED ALERT! SHIELDS UP! All hands brace for impact! Tom get us moving!”Voyager was a smaller Starfleet vessel than most, and so a hell of lot more maneuverable, and Tom Paris was one of the best pilots to come out of the Academy. The few seconds they had left were too little for an ordinary pilot to get anything done; fortunately Tom Paris was better than that. Plus he had already started Voyager moving before he got the order.Even so the ship was going to take one hell of a beating and it did. Janeway grabbed her seat in time and was not dumped onto the deck as the first wave hit. She watched the screen and witnessed a few of the Starfleet welcoming ships that did not have crackerjack pilots get caught in the band and disappear. Those ships were swallowed by the shockwave and their warp cores blew. Those eruptions only added to the waves of devastation rolling over Voyager.“Tom, pitch us over the shockwave!” Chakotay ordered.“It’s not so easy!” Paris screamed back. Indeed the ship was attempting to ride over the “crest” of the wave. Paris would have applied more power to the impulse engines if he had not had the proverbial “pedal to the metal” as it was.“You see the power of this Station your Highness? It is… What is it?” Governor Tarkin saw the mad scrambling of personnel at the consoles of his control room. From the way the technicians were nervously tapping their keyboards he could tell that something was seriously wrong. He looked over his shoulder to tall figure in shiny black armor, Lord Darth Vader. Vader’s soulless eyes simply reflected back the bright burning fire of the now destroyed planet Alderaan. If he sensed what was wrong he was saying nothing yet. In Vader’s grasp was the young woman Tarkin had been talking to, Princess Leia Organa, a diplomat, now exposed as a spy. Alderaan had been her home world and she sank in Vader’s steel hold sobbing. It was the first time Tarkin had seen any vulnerability in the young woman. Everything was as it should be except those damn techs were not calming down, there were growing more excited.“REPORT!” he commanded.Behind him Vader spoke before any of the techs could answer. His deep resonate, electronic voice echoed throughout the room.“YOU’VE MISSED.”“Preposterous! You saw the planet destroyed the same as I.” Tarkin argued. But Vader fell silent. The prisoner in his arms was looking up; tear filled eyes wide as she looked past Tarkin for any hope that Vader was right.“A small fleet of ships has just appeared on our scopes!” finally something from his crew.“A fleet? Alderaan has no fleet. What make are the ships?”“We’ve got a large gravitational mass bearing on our position!” came a tech from another station.“What is it?” Tarkin demanded.“Navigation is down!” reported yet another.“What? Why?”“Ships are of unknown make or origin!”“Impossible. Identify them immediately!” Tarkin barked orders but could tell from the techs reactions that his commands were going to be hard to obey.“Have the systems been effected by the firing of the main gun?” He proposed.“Systems are operating nominally. The discharge has not affected them.”“The unknown ships are powered by small, localized fields… similar to gravitational fields. No known match in our library.”Tarkin turned to the Princess. “Alderaan has amassed a fleet built on new technology?” but her face held no answers.“THAT WAS NOT ALDERAAN.” Vader intoned.“What?”“Navigation has run a check; we are no longer in the Alderaan system.”Tarkin looked at the tech who gave the report. That tech might have cowered under the glare if it were not for the fact that he found himself staring at his own console read outs, amazed by what he saw there.“Where are we?” The decision to destroy Alderaan had not been made hastily. Despite the power of the Empire, and this station, control was still a precarious thing. Fear went a long way but too much and all the systems would revolt. If they had just destroyed a key system, or a planet that was already complying with the Emperor then other planets already submitting to his control would panic and revolt. Control would be impossible if the local systems thought that the Empire would destroy them all no matter what. This could be disastrous.“The large gravitational mass has been identified as a moon. It’s on a collision course!”“The unknown ships are moving to intercept!”“Move the station!” Tarkin ordered. “Power the gun again, and launch the Tie Squadrons! And someone find out where we are and what planet that was that we destroyed! Vader?”But the tall dark figure was already moving, dragging away Leia Organa. As he past his personal guard he commanded;“READY MY SHIP.”“As you command Lord Vader.”

Roundabout or How I Got Here...

Posted by GBC on January 3, 2009 at 2:00am

...Quite by accident. Or quiet design. Viable arguments for the genesis of many things, but tripping through the wires of the internet led me to this Place. A vibrant fantastical place in its own right, the Black Science Fiction Society feels like coming home or a family reunion. Multicolored, multifaceted, multicultural, is how I likes it. So thanks to all y'all for the uncharacteristically warm welcome!Right, so a little over a year ago, I was slogging through Amazon for something to read that might tickle my fancy. If you're like me, you felt like you've read every fantasy novel brimming with the standard tropes or tropes in disguise. Weened on mythology, teethed on Tolkien, with an adolescence in D&D, heaping helpings of Moorcock and liberal sprinklings of Le Guin, I've dabbled with Delany's Dhalgren and strode the deserts of Herberts Dune, I felt like I had read it all before, twice. At the moment, Neil Gaiman is, for me, like many others, a current champion. So what to read now that you can't pore over the Silmarillion one more time, you've slummed with Jim Butcher and you, a former genre head, find yourself squinting into the not-so-forbidding-anymore-wilds of Literary Fiction writers like Chabon for a ripping good yarn? Chalk it up to maturity, desperation, whatever! This is why I was on Amazon. Felt like the (Amazon) jungle, yeah.Didn't find jack until i went to the forums. Trolling those wilds I went from jack to jackpot. Most interesting to me was a post concerning a certain literary agency that puts out a monthly wishlist of books/manuscripts that it would like to see cross its desks. A muslim detective, a modern day huck finn, an African American Lord of the Rings. A WHAT?!? What the heck was that? I wondered. And it seemed I wasn't alone in that question... How would that work? Why would you even do it? What does that mean?? What? But it was late and I went to bed and forgot about it......for a while.In the wintry dead of night. some months later, I woke with a start and grabbed a pen and started scribbling down words in the blank black books I keep nearby the bed when nightborne fits of writing seize me. My subconscious, or WHATEVER had worked out how it WOULD work. Wow, I was on to something. Deeply personal, (YAY!) it consumed and continues to consume my waking (and sometime dreaming) thought. It's my "African American Lord of the Rings"! A world of my own devising this time that I can go to when I need to escape the humdrummery of light conversation, the daily commute or bill paying muzak. My eyes may glaze and I might miss what you said but I assure you worlds are being saved behind my vacant, placating smile. Hopefully when its finished you can share in these effects.There was/is the research.There are the many pages written and to come.There are the maps, the outlines.The f***ing words!My first major undertaking as a writer. The hubris! The sheer arrogance! The sheerogance! Might as well put that creative writing degree to use though, huh? So I have. Its a process I'm sure with which many of you dear readers are familiar. Me? I'm lazy, easily distracted, and infrequently dismayed by the task with which I've set before myself. Other than that, things are going swimmingly.Hey. This summer my own brother said a curious thing: "I don't think there's a market necessarily for African American Fantastic Fiction." My initial response was at least threefold:1. Anger at his own black ass for thinking the thing.2. Dismay at that same thought and3. The immense desire to prove him wrong.A little about my bro: he's biracial and grew up for all intents and purposes as white among whites (so did I to a certain extent) but I have seen some moments when the ways of society rudely awakened my brown brother from beyond the pale of his reverie. I thought said revelatory moments might have clued in his black ass more in to the diversity of perspective/possibility in the world. For the moment, I've let him off the hook. He's young yet... And wrong yet... Ugh. (There's more here, I know.)Back to the internet, and how it led me to you to me to you reading these words. Google is a phenomenal tool and googling "African American"+"Lord of the Rings" yields few results but via link after link I located the works of Charles Saunders. Well, what had we here? Devoured entire his webpage and actually reached into the recesses of memory and recalled that I had encountered his recently republished Imaro novel in Barnes & Noble. Cutting to the chase, he is an inspiration and living proof that I have the privilege (should I accept it) to stand on the shoulder of another giant. Mama the other giant.Through Saunders' webpage, I found THIS Place. With you. Happy Accident? Fate? HTML? I don't care, I do know that I've chanced upon a camaraderie only rarely experienced that speaks the words: "Boy, you fount yo folks!" So yeah, thanks for havin' me! I hope to contribute some as some of you have already contributed to me.

Penelope & Otto bid frewell to 2008! 9:30pm CST!

Posted by Penelope on December 31, 2008 at 9:27pm

Join Penelope and Otto during this Wicked Wednesday as we review the most memorable stories of 2008! It's Wednesday. Let's Get a little Wicked!Call in at 718/508-9683 and tell us your most memorable moments of 2008!!

Listen to In Like Flynn on internet talk radio

The Igbo plot

Posted by william landis on December 31, 2008 at 7:58pm

Chikaodili carried the bucket out of his compound to fetch water for his wife. He stood still in the doorway illuminated by the moonlight. His attention was directed to the hill to his right. On top of the hill stood a large structure with smoke from its chimney into the night sky. Chikaodili dropped the bucket where he stood and quickly walked back into his compound. He walked down the hallway not having time to see their occupants. He turned left into one of the rooms. He was startled when he saw his wife Chidinma sitting on a stool looking out the window.“They haven’t called for you in months” Chidinma said looking up at the hill. “Why do they call now?”“You seem to forget that you are not question me about what goes on up there” retorted Chikaodili picking up a bag. Chidinma looked in Chikaodili`s direction.“Please forgive me” she said seamlessly. Chikaodili walked out of the room without another word. He walked further down the hall and turned this time into a room on the right. In the room among the numerous vases and bowls stood a cabinet about the same height of Chikaodili. He approached the cabinet and opened it. Hanging in it was a mask and a stick. The mask was long black and grey. The mask did not have a mouth, but had wide open eyes. The stick reached his shoulders and had many designs carved into it. He put the mask on, and picked up the stick, and made his way back down the hall. He did not stop to say bye to Chidinma.He exited his compound into the dark muggy night. Throughout the village there were other men wearing mask coming out of their compounds walking toward the structure on the hill, some of them running. Chikaodili looked across the dirt path. Exiting the mud compound across from him was a man dressed similarly to him. He wore a mask identical to Chikaodili`s, with the same stick. All that covered him was a black cloth that left his chest exposed. The moonlight reflected of his black skin. The man and Chikaodili began to walk toward each other. They met in the middle of the dirt path.“The village has been at peace for months” said the man. “Why do they call for us now?”Chikaodili chuckled. “I am not sure what they want” said Chiakaodili beginning to walk towards the hill. “But you’re starting to sound a lot like my wife.”“Nri has been in harmony for a time now” said the man sounding worried. “Them calling us for a meeting can only mean something bad has happened, and I hate to see the harmony end.”“Perhaps it’s nothing much” said Chikaodili optimistically. “I need you to make me a new spear” he said attempting to change the subject. “I want one stronger than my old one.”“Sure” the man said. “I’ll forge one from bronze tomorrow. I heard you had quite the yam crop this year.”“It was better than usual this year” said Chikaodili watching more men began to run up the hill. “I think we should hurry or we will be late.” The two men began to run toward the smoking structure on top of the hill. They structure began to come into view. It was a shelter with huge stone pillars supporting it. Chikaodili and the man walked under it. There were many men dressed like them all around a fire in the middle. The men mumbled among themselves wondering what was the purpose of the gathering. A few more men came.A man stood in the middle of the circle next to the fire. “Welcome brothers of Okonko, sworn to protect Nri kingdom, and the Igbo way of life. Tonight we are hear to warn you of a threat to our way of life. The threat has been prophesized by one of our brothers. He says that he saw in his dreams men white as ghost conquering us and enslaving our wives and children. The ghost men will take our peace ,and harmony, and replace it with greed, and love of power. The ghost men will be driven by greed. They will stop at nothing until they have conquered our people and taken our wealth.”All the men began to mumble. “Quiet” the man in the middle shouted. “In light of the serious nature of this prophecy, we have called upon the Eze to join us in this meeting.” mumbles once again erupted in the meeting room. “Quiet” the man said once again. “We will keep with Nri tradition and not identify who among us is Eze Nri Omalo.” The men looked around, attempting to see if they could identify the Eze, but they were not successful. “The floor is know open for debate” the man said.“Can’t we just fight of the ghost men” said a younger man in the far corner. “I will not sit idly by as they take my family.”“The ghost men will be strong” said the man in the middle. “The dream said they will have great weapons, and they will not be the only ones against us. Our enemies will also be involved. Our people will be sold like cattle, and domesticated like them.”“So there is no hope for us” said a voice from the crowd.“We must take the dream serious” said the man solemnly. “There isn’t must hope.” The room was quiet. All that could be heard was the crackling of the fire.“All is not lost” said a voice coming from a corner. All the men looked to the corner to see a man coming out of the shadows into the light of the fire. “There is still hope” he continued.“How so” said the man in the circle.“The ghost men will take us throughout the world” said the new speaker. “We will be able to spread our empire, our way of life to all the world. We will be able to spread peace and harmony throughout the world. To the Eze, you will be able to rule the world. Our people will be dispersed to lands unknown. Eze Nri Omalo you will be able to rule it all. The Igbo people will rule it all.”“Who are you” interrupted the man in the middle.“Forgive me” the new speaker began again. “All you need to know is that I am a man with knowledge of spells”“Our people will be slaves” said another voice from the crowd. “They will forget the Igbo way, they will not spread our way.”“That’s where my knowledge comes into use” said the speaker again optimistically. “You see” he said smugly. “ I have developed a spell that we will put over all our children. The spell will spread to our children’s children, and so on. As long as there is at least on drop of Igbo blood the spell will work. The spell will take effect two thousand and ten years after the birth of the Jewish messiah. The spell will take affect and all those with at least one drop of Igbo blood will rise up and conquer their captors for the kingdom of Nri!” The men began to mumble once again.“The Igbo shall rule the world!” exclaimed one man in the congregation.“We shall” said the speaker. “We will bring peace to a world of greed and hate which will no doubt be the world of the ghost men. The ghost men think they can conquer us they have another thing coming.” The room erupted in cheers. “After tonight every child born after tonight shall have the spell placed upon them, and their children’s children shall conquer their oppressors. The Eze of two thousand and ten years after the death of the messiah of the Jews shall rule the world!” The room erupted in cheers again. The men jumped in celebration for the victory they would win in 2010.Chikaodili tapped his friend on the shoulder, and motioned for him to follow him. His friend followed. They began to walk down the hill away from the shelter. The noise of celebration was echoing from the shelter throughout the village.“The future does not sound to bright” said Chikaodili`s friend. “But it will lead to Nri ruling the world.”“That is a long time down the road though” Chikaodili said. “The prophecy says the Igbo will suffer much before then.”“But it will all be worth it” said Chikaodili`s friend. “The world will live by the way of the Igbo people”“ It was probably just a bad dream” said Chikaodili. “It is really hard to believe. Our people as slaves, men white as ghost, it is all just so hard to believe” Chikaodili said walking toward his compound. “Goodnight friend.”

WInter Ghost p7

Posted by Night Manager on December 29, 2008 at 11:00pm

WINTER GHOST P 7Oh no…The snow pulls at my legs, trying to keep us from escaping. I slog into the alley but I know that he’ll catch us long before we can reach the other end.What little light filtered through the trees and bushes into the alley from the street lights is suddenly blocked.My legs stop dead… I can’t help myself. I can feel his eyes boring into my back.I hear… it’s like a growl…… no, it’s a word… low, deep and rumbling. Oh God…Why can’t I run? Just run… just run…But I don’t. Instead I’m turning.The dark shadow fills the mouth of the alleyway, just about as wide as and taller than I dare to look up.I’m no longer shivering just from the cold.The growl stops and repeats. Now I hear it more clearly… now I understand.MINESomething inside me stirs and my arms tighten about her. Still I dare not look up. The shadow leans into the alley, blocking off all light and I cringe.*no*A wail sounds in the sky above growing louder, coming closer even as I turn to look up. For a moment it looks like the low hanging clouds have come loose from the sky and are falling down. Then I feel the pressure… almost hot… I see wisps of white leaving the snow piled all about… the wail becomes a tortured angry scream……the wind has returned.Just as the scream reaches its crescendo the descending wall of white slams us down. I twist and fall onto my back, holding her tight, holding her close. There’s no protection from the flying snow as it tears at our skin. Desperately I try and shield her face with my own. If we can only hold out through this gust...But still I hear it… even through the gale…MINEThe tiny splinters of snow stab into my face but I force an eye open. The sky is a dark, the snow races in a never ending streaming from one end of the alley to the other where… the shadow stands, resolute against its attack… and it’s reaching out!I roll us up and stand, leaning into the wind. It’s too strong!One step… we nearly fall.One step… but we slide backwards.MINEThe wind shifts again ever so much and I stumble forward. The far end of the alley is a dark blur but I continue on. The wind screams, the snow pelts our skin, her hair flutters against my face, the deep drifts grab at my feet but I continue on.The alley ends in darkness. I can tell that there’s a drop here… probably another snow covered set of steps but I can’t see anything else. I don’t want to fall… it’ll catch us. How do I…I turn and squint back down the alley. The shadow still looms at the other end, leaning into the wind. The snow is bouncing off of it and piling at its feet into a huge drift. Blurry and dark still I can tell… it’s looking right at us. With a sudden violence it kicks through the snow drift and starts after us. I step backward onto nothing and we fall.For one brief moment we fall as the snow does and I can see each clumpy, unique piece distinctly. How can so much snow…We land on a slope in an explosion of snow and pain. My head snaps back… my arms open and she slips from my stiff numb fingers.OH NO! I have no footing… the snow slides and crumbles beneath me and I tumble. In the spinning swirling snow I catch just a glimpse of the shear material she was wrapped in fluttering then disappearing into the storm.Oh God no…

Long Juju Man Sketches

Posted by Nnedi Okorafor on December 29, 2008 at 1:18pm

FYI:My illustrated book, Long Juju Man, is scheduled for release February 6th, 2009. It is the winner of the Macmillan Writer’s Prize for Africa. For order information, click here.Here is the preliminary cover:

Long Juju Man was inspired by one of my favorite cartoons of the 80s, Beetlejuice (not the film). It was also highly influenced by research I did on the Long Juju shrine of Arochukwu. Long Juju Man is about a girl who is harassed and schooled by an annoying, snickering, rotten fruit eating, sneaky, prank playing ghost named Long Juju Man.The book will be fully illustrated by South African artist Marjorie van Heerden.Here are a few rough sketches (they will be in color in the final book):

Happy Holidays!Nnedi

Bloodshot interview with Winston Blakely

Posted by Winston Blakely on December 28, 2008 at 6:55pm

Hello, Everybody. I recently did an interview for an website that featured one of the classic Valiant ComicCharacters, Bloodshot. I would like to share this with my fellow Black Sci-Fi fans.http://www.geocities.com/angelo_mortalli11/blakely/blakely.htmlcopy and paste the above link in a new tab in your browser.Since, I joined this site, I've met some interesting people that I hope I will be working with on futureprojects. All of us creative people need an outlet to promote and share our dreams and hopes.I see this site as a way of networking and being aware that we are not alone. We may not all worktogether collectively, but we are pushing to have images that look like us, be made aware of toour people, children and whoever else is interested in know that we can do things without seekingjobs in companies that don't see us as cash cows or tell us that would never sell.How do they know what sells... if They don't give it a chance.Regardless of that let us enjoy the camaraderie that is located here...And I hope that your Christmas was cool and have a safe and Happy New Year !!

HAPPY KWANZA

Posted by Administrator: Jarvis Sheffield on December 27, 2008 at 4:30pm

History and etymology An African-American scholar and social activist, Ron Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1966 as the first African-American holiday. Karenga said his goal was to "...give Blacks an alternative to the existing holiday and give Blacks an opportunity to celebrate themselves and history, rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society." The name Kwanzaa derives from the Swahili phrase "matunda ya kwanza", meaning "first fruits". The choice of Swahili, an East African language, reflects its status as a symbol of Pan-Africanism, especially in the 1960s.

Kwanzaa is a celebration that has its roots in the black nationalist movement of the 1960s, and was established as a means to help African Americans reconnect with their African cultural and historical heritage by uniting in meditation and study of "African traditions" and "common humanist principles." The first Kwanzaa stamp was issued by the United States Postal Service on October 22, 1997 at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles, California. In 2004 a second Kwanzaa stamp, created by artist Daniel Minter was issued which has seven figures in colorful robes symbolizing the seven principles.

The origins of Kwanzaa are not secret and are openly acknowledged by those promoting the holiday. Many Christian and Jewish African-Americans who celebrate Kwanzaa do so in addition to observing Christmas and Hanukkah.

Principles of Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa celebrates what its founder called "The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa," or Nguzo Saba (originally Nguzu Saba - "The Seven Principles of Blackness"), which Karenga said "is a communitarian African philosophy" consisting of what Karenga called "the best of African thought and practice in constant exchange with the world." These seven principles comprise Kawaida, a Swahili term for tradition and reason. Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the following principles, as follows:

* Umoja (Unity) To strive for and to maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.
* Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.
* Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers' and sisters' problems our problems and to solve them together.
* Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics) To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.
* Nia (Purpose) To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
* Kuumba (Creativity) To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
* Imani (Faith) To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

Observance

Families celebrating Kwanzaa decorate their households with objects of art, colorful African cloth, especially the wearing of the Uwole by women, and fresh fruits that represent African idealism. It is customary to include children in Kwanzaa ceremonies and to give respect and gratitude to ancestors. Libations are shared, generally with a common chalice, "Kikombe cha Umoja" passed around to all celebrants. Non-African Americans also celebrate Kwanzaa. The holiday greeting is "joyous Kwanzaa."

A Kwanzaa ceremony may include drumming and musical selections, libations, a reading of the "African Pledge" and the Principles of Blackness, reflection on the Pan-African colors, a discussion of the African principle of the day or a chapter in African history, a candle-lighting ritual, artistic performance, and, finally, a feast (Karamu). The greeting for each day of Kwanzaa is "Habari Gani,"which is Swahili for "What's the News?"

At first, observers of Kwanzaa eschewed the mixing of the holiday or its symbols, values and practice with other holidays. They felt that doing so would violate the principle of kujichagulia (self-determination) and thus violate the integrity of the holiday, which is partially intended as a reclamation of important African values. Today, many African-American families celebrate Kwanzaa along with Christmas and New Year's. Frequently, both Christmas trees and kinaras, the traditional candle holder symbolic of African-American roots, share space in kwanzaa celebrating households. To them, Kwanzaa is an opportunity to incorporate elements of their particular ethnic heritage into holiday observances and celebrations of Christmas.

Cultural exhibitions include "The Spirit of Kwanzaa," an annual celebration held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts featuring interpretive dance, African dance, song and poetry.
Evolution in Kwanzaa's observance

In 1977, in Kwanzaa: origin, concepts, practice, Karenga stated, that Kwanzaa "was chosen to give a Black alternative to the existing holiday and give Blacks an opportunity to celebrate themselves and history, rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society."

In 1997, Karenga and the community evolved, stating that while Kwanzaa is an African-American holiday, it can be celebrated by people of any race: "other people can and do celebrate it, just like other people participate in Cinco de Mayo besides Mexicans; Chinese New Year besides Chinese; Native American pow wows besides Native Americans."[

Currently, according to the Official Kwanzaa Website authored by Karenga and maintained by Organization US, which Karenga chairs, "Kwanzaa was not created to give people an alternative to their own religion or religious holiday. And it is not an alternative to people's religion or faith but a common ground of African culture...Kwanzaa is not a reaction or substitute for anything. In fact, it offers a clear and self-conscious option, opportunity and chance to make a proactive choice, a self-affirming and positive choice as distinct from a reactive one."

Karenga's most recent interpretation emphasizes that while every people has its own holiday traditions, all people can share in the celebration of our common humanity: "Any particular message that is good for a particular people, if it is human in its content and ethical in its grounding, speaks not just to that people, it speaks to the world."

Wow - The End of Another Year . . .

Posted by Diane on December 27, 2008 at 10:30am

And another new beginning. I'm not sure, but this may be the happiest time of my life (I say that every year and it's always true). I love what I do and I love the people who have come into my life because of it - you! It's been an interesting year and I look forward to another one.Like many of you, I've had my personal woes with illness, work, money and family, but it all just makes me appreciate my life all the more.

Besides, now I wonder how to write about everything that happens to me now. I'm still trying to find the humor in my visit to the emergency room not long after the BAS Holiday Book Fair - my Japanese Akita hit me in the face with his HUGE head and I thought I would loose my entire front grill! And not a dent in his big head!!!! Hmmm . . . gotta love 'em - I've been hopped up on Tylenol with Codeine ever since.No worries though - after 3 x-rays no fractures were found. So what I have to eat mush for the next month? It'll help me lose weight! I'm just grateful I get to keep my crooked front teeth another year. It's amazing what the prospect of an African American president can do for the psyche. This may be the most difficult financial time since the 30's, but it's even more difficult NOT to see the exciting promise of tomorrow. This is the best time ever to start something new -a story, an essay, a business, a book, education - now is the time to be open to new opportunities.Speaking of gratitude, I'd like to give a shout out to some of those online literary providers that have started and kept this business humming. Big ups to Tee C. Royal of Raw Sistas for an outstanding online literary conference - great job! Question to Sylvia Hubbard and Yasmin Coleman - how do you keep up the pace? You two are phenomenal and we owe so much to you - thanks for your hard work and ethics.Thank you to our many members who have linked from their sites and blogs and those that have written informative articles to share with the membership. Next year we will make it easier to navigate to your content and will create additional help features.

This morning 'The Cushite' (Vince of The First World Books & Specialty Shop) sent Kwanzaa greetings to many of us on this site reminding us of the meaning of the holiday. My favorite has always been Nia - Purpose, but I noticed today that the seven principles illustrate well what this website (BAS) is striving to achieve within the literary landscape.
How The Black Author Showcase Encompasses the Seven Principles:

We wish to promote unity among multicultural lovers of literature, writers and readers - anyone that brings a book to life.
We support the self-determination that is needed to create a personal work of art. To define ourselves and not be defined by others is all that we ask.
This literary community is an example of the beauty of collective work and responsibility. Do your best, give your best, and live up to your word. You are building your legacy.
Buying books and services from people that look like you is the cooperative economic concept that has helped every successful immigrant (Korean, Italian, Jewish - they all buy from "their own" first and others second) in America. It has taken us way too long to accomplish this, however it is never too late.
Our purpose has been the building and developing of this growing community to help others create better books, get the information needed to do so and to connect with others that can assist in the journey. When our brothers and sisters do well, we at the top of the world.
The creativity that has come forth and is exhibited amongst our membership has been overwhelming. We learn something from every new member interview or poetry show. We are just happy to be able to say "I knew them when . . ." because there are many simmering stars in this community.
We will always believe that we can achieve greatness by helping each other. We have faith in the real hearts of our people . . . the "crabs in the barrel" attitude cannot last forever. There is more than enough money and success to go around to everyone in the literary field. Competition is a good thing, it keeps you fresh. Never forget that our faith in you will never diminish.

Happy Holidays from all of us at the Black Author Showcase!

Visit the website The Black Candle to learn more about the new documentary by MK Asante, narrated by Maya Angelou and please don't forget to visit the original/official site .
The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa:Umoja (Unity): To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race. Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) To build and maintain our community together and make our brother's and sister's problems our problems and to solve them together.Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics)To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.Nia (Purpose) To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.Kuumba (Creativity) To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.Imani (Faith) To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

Race-and-Science-Fction

Posted by A J Harper on December 26, 2008 at 12:51pm

I found this article at Africa ResourceIt's also complicated. In his essay in "Dark Matter" titled "Racism and Science Fiction," Delany writes about how race constricts black writers. He describes being paired with Hopkinson during a book signing at Readercon in 1998, and how grouping blacks together can affect how they're perceived. "One of [racism's] strongest manifestations is as a socio-visual system in which people become used to always seeing blacks with other blacks and so -- because people are used to it -- being uncomfortable whenever they see blacks mixed in, at whatever proportion, with whites," he wrote.Race, the Final Frontier: Black Science-Fiction Writers Bring a Unique Perspective to the GenreBy Vanessa E. Jones (July 31, 2007)Earlier this month at Readercon, a convention for fans of fantasy/science fiction at the Burlington Marriott, Marlin May was one of perhaps two blacks in the room. But that didn't intimidate May. He had just made arrangements to meet a science-fiction writer for dinner, showing how much comfort this fan had found in this world."They're the most accepting group of folks I've ever been with," says May, 47, of Lowell.But Eon Harry, a black man who lives in Somerville, has had a different experience. "I don't feel particularly embraced," says Harry, 41. No sense of community enveloped him when he attended Readercon for the first time last year, though he's not sure whether race or some other factor is to blame."I find that readers are an insular lot," Harry says. "It may have had as much to do with the fact that I was a new face."The June release of "Acacia," the first of a planned trilogy of fantasy books by black historical-fiction writer David Anthony Durham, brought attention to the small number of black writers toiling in what is sometimes called speculative fiction, and the people who read their work. The media took note of Durham as one of only a handful of black authors in the genre. That small group includes veteran Samuel R. Delany and the late Octavia Butler, as well as younger voices such as Nalo Hopkinson, Steven Barnes, and Tananarive Due, and respected writers who have also dabbled in speculative fiction such as Walter Mosley and the late W.E.B. Du Bois.It's an area of fiction that has allowed writers to tackle sensitive issues of race and culture."It has always been the safe genre to talk about those issues," Harry says, "or it had been for years until there was a lot more tolerance for bringing those things up in the mainstream."But some in the speculative-fiction community complain that a number of their white contemporaries no longer tackle these subjects. Durham, a former Shutesbury resident, was inspired to move into fantasy writing because he saw potential there that others failed to tap into."In epic fantasy," says Durham, 38, whose novel is populated by a diverse crowd that includes blond warriors and olive-skinned beauties, "there is a lot of racism and sexism I don't think the good people who are writing it are aware of."In the last decade, sci-fi/fantasy fans of color have begun creating their own communities. These spaces are necessary in a world where they stand out as geeks among blacks, and as "the other" in the speculative-fiction world. There are conferences such as 2004's "Black to the Future: A Black Science Fiction Festival" in Seattle, and Web communities such as SciFiNoir (groups.yahoo.com/group/scifi noir2), the Carl Brandon Society (carlbrandon.org), and Afrofuturism (afrofuturism.net). The books "Dark Matter" and "Visions of the Third Millennium" show that the black contribution to science fiction goes beyond the well-known names of Delany and Butler. M. Asli Dukan is finishing a documentary about this unique community called "Invisible Universe: A History of Blackness in Speculative Fiction.""It's tiny," says Nalo Hopkinson, 46, from her Toronto home, of the black sci-fi community. "And it's happening in an environment in which, particularly in the US, to talk about race is to be seen as racist. You become the problem because you bring up the problem. So you find people who are hesitant to talk about it."It's also complicated. In his essay in "Dark Matter" titled "Racism and Science Fiction," Delany writes about how race constricts black writers. He describes being paired with Hopkinson during a book signing at Readercon in 1998, and how grouping blacks together can affect how they're perceived. "One of [racism's] strongest manifestations is as a socio-visual system in which people become used to always seeing blacks with other blacks and so -- because people are used to it -- being uncomfortable whenever they see blacks mixed in, at whatever proportion, with whites," he wrote.The tendency to lump all black speculative fiction writers together also fails to acknowledge that these authors don't always tackle racial issues in their work. Robert Devney, 55, a longtime fan who attended the Readercon convention, calls Delany's "Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand" one of his favorite novels. But Devney, who is white, says of Delany's approach to race, "It's occasionally a point he wants to make and many times it isn't a point he wants to make."But it's hard to ignore the impact that perspectives of color bring to the genre."There's not all that many writers yet who can write from the perspective of another race," says Lis Carey, vice president of the New England Science Fiction Association, "and really capture the different kinds of experiences and the different perspectives. If someone is using characters of a different race than themselves and it matters, there's a good chance of it feeling slightly off."Harry discovered the world of black sci-fi writers accidentally. Friends suggested that he read Butler and Delany, but he hadn't heard about Durham's "Acacia" or about the various websites catering to black sci-fi fans. Harry believes part of the problem is that bookstores often don't prominently display the works of non-white writers in the genre."I sort of felt like, 'Wow, I would actually read these people if, A, I knew they were black authors and, B, they were given some shelf space,'" says Harry."Black authors bring certain elements into their writing, be it a black protagonist or the situations they find themselves in or even their backgrounds [that] I find easy to relate to," says Harry. "It's not only the blackness of it . . . they often strike really familiar chords that the other authors, because those things aren't part of their own experience, don't hit for me when I'm reading them."He offers as an example Butler's "Parable of the Sower," whose strong black heroine, Lauren Olamina, battles the ills of society by creating a new faith. "When I read it," says Harry, "I remember thinking the way [Olamina] spoke and the way she held herself reminded me of my aunt and a lot of her opinions."That connection may not be felt when reading white writers in the genre. While Ursula Le Guin populates her books with diverse characters, writers such as Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert Heinlein have been castigated for depictions that some consider racist. "The main mythic story is going to a foreign culture and colonizing it," says Hopkinson. He adds that blacks are part of a growing speculative writing community that includes gays, women, the working class, and other people of color, all of whom offer new takes on the colonialist perspective.In fact, "Acacia" had been in the back of Durham's mind since the late 1990s. What spurred him to embark on the project was "The Lord of the Rings" films. Durham watched the three movies multiple times, and became increasingly irritated by the almost mono-racial cast of characters."I did not love it," Durham says, "that the only people of color who didn't have speaking lines were the minions imported for the dark lords."Originally appeared in New York Times.

Anthos and Contests 2009

Posted by Carole McDonnell on December 26, 2008 at 11:33am

1. The Nemonymous editor requires a story judged suitable by its author for inclusion in the projected Cern Zoo book, planned to be published in June 2009. Ideally, this story should be specially written for ‘Cern Zoo’. 'Cern Zoo' (alternatively 'Cerne Zoo') simply means what it means to you. The above image is not intended to guide the nature of submissions and your story can have any title.2. Between 500 and 14000 words for each story.3. Lump sum payment in UK pounds to author upon publication: £0.01 a word up to a maximum of £100 (by Paypal).4. Stories should be submitted as a Word Doc attachment. The editorial addresses to which your submission should be sent are bfitzworth@yahoo.co.uk ANDdflewis48@hotmail.com5. One story per author under consideration at any one time. The deadline is 31 March 2009.6. You may submit the story anonymously. If so, you will be asked to reveal your identity and/or by-line when and if the story is placed on the short list.7. The story must be original to the author and never published before in any form. No simultaneous submissions.8. It is possible that any story will be kept for the whole of the reading period and still not be accepted for publication.9. The stories will be published without a direct by-line but there will be a disordered list of authors’ names printed on the back cover. The by-lines will be correctly assigned on-line to the stories' titles when 8 months have elapsed after the publication of 'Cern Zoo'=C 2and also correctly assigned within the projected printed 'Nemonymous Ten' in 2010.10. The decision of the Nemonymous editor is final regarding all points above. By submitting a story, any author accepts these terms. Please put 'Cern Zoo: Story Title' as the subject of your email. Also, please show a word count at the top.To help you with 'styling' your story for NEMONYMOUS, please see all the independent reviews linked from: www.nemonym ous.com and also by reading previous editions of Nemonymous.http://weirdmonger.blog-city.com/cerne_zoo__guidelines.htm http://diversionpress.com/anthology_seriesCall for Entries as Prize for New Fiction goes AnnualDesmond Elliott Prize 2009Entry forms are downloadable at www.desmondelliottprize.com http://www.ellipsispress.com/submission-guidelines/Submission GuidelinesEllipsis Press is interested in novels that arestructurally innovative.We like: novels that look normal but aren’t (more than those that look weird but are actually quite normal); those that aresuccessful at bypassing or evolving the seemingly necessary but often tired elements of character and/orplot; and those that respond in some way to the history of the novel as genre and form.Writers who have studied the traditional elements of the novel and experimented with them to emotionally movingand/or extraordinary ends are invited to submit for publication.Send your whole manuscripts as a .rtf attachment by email only to editors [at] ellipsispress [dot] com.We are not interested in poetry, short story collections, or non-fiction at this time. Due to time constraints we can respondonly to those submissions we wish to pursue. These responses will be made within four months time.We are lookingfor well-crafted, original stories from 2000 to 5000 words which involve Dia delos Muertos in some way. Other than that, subject matter is fairly open. Thereis a lot of room for creativity here and we want stories which explore thistheme in a variety of ways. We like stories which are more literary in nature,but we welcome elements of fantasy and/or subtle horror, magical realism, etc.We are not looking for excessive blood and gore for this antho, although we arenot opposed to some blood if done properly and appropriate to the story.SHINE Anthology Guidelineses/>October 28, 2008 at 9:07 pm * Filed under GuidelinesSHINE is an anthology of optimistic near-future SF, edited by Jetse deVries, published by Solaris Books, and is planned for an early 2010release.Keywords:Convincing and optimistic: Imagine that we are the biggest skeptics onthe planet, then show us how things can change for the better, andpersuade us.Near-future: from now until 50 years later.SF: we're not going to define it. Write what you think is SF, andconvince us with the story.The Gritty:Length: up to 10k words (not hard, but anything longer than 10k shouldbe mind-blowingly superb).Payment: 5 cents a word, on publication (and probably a pro rata shareof the anthologist's earnings: I'm working on that)Genres: science fiction only. I greatly prefer original stories, but Iwill - like Baen's Universe - look at stories that have been publishedin markets that are not professional by SFWA standards, or markets witha relatively small reach. I also consider Interzone, Black Static,Postscripts, Futurismic, Apex Digest and Flurb to be either professionalmarkets or markets with a wide reach (or both), so don't want to seestories published by them, either.Rights: First World English Rights, non-exclusive world anthologyrights, non-exclusive audio anthology rights, and further subsidiaryrights specified in my boilerplate [author-anthologist contract], whichI'll put up after I return from World Fantasy. NOTE: obviously, foreventual reprints the first world rights will become anthology rights,first if possible.Reading Period: May and June 2009Response Time: Most rejections will be sent out quickly, while I willhold over stories that I like until July 31, when a final decision ismade. No multiple submissions, please: only one story per author, andonly submit a second one if I expressly ask for it. Simultaneoussubmissions: at your own discretion, but keep in mind that I will notfight over a story, that is, if it's with another publisher I will dropit like a ton of bricks.Submissions Instructions: send your story, preferably single-spaced andin rich text format (RTF) to [email to be added later]. Put Submission:"Title of your story" in the email's subject line.FAIRY TALE REVIEWPlease note that our next submission period is Feb 15, 2009 - September 15, 2009. We will be accepting submissions ONLINE duringthat time, via a Submission Manager, accessible at that time from our website.We look forward to reading your work! The Red Issuehttp://www.fairytalereview.blogspot.com/http://www.fairytalereview.com/Fairy Tale Review is an annual literary journal devoted to contemporary fairy tales. The journal hopes to provide anelegant and innovative venue for both established and emerging authors of poetryand prose. Fairy Tale Review is not devoted to any particular school ofwriting, but rather to fairy tales as an inspiring art form.Fairy Tale Review is a co-publication of The University of Alabama Press. For recentnews please visit www.fairytalereview.blogspot.com http://www.leeandlow.com/p/new_voices_award.mhtmlNEW VOICES AWARDSLEE & LOW BOOKS, award-winning publisher of children's books, is pleased to announce the ninth annual NEW VOICES AWARD. The Award will be given for a children's fiction or nonfiction picture book story by a writer of color. The Award winner will receive a cash grant of $1000 and our standard publication contract, including our basic advance and royalties for a first time author.An Honor Award winner will receive a cash grant of $500.1. Thecontest is open to writers of color who are residents of the U.S. andwho have not previously had a children's picture book published.2. Writers who have published in other venues, such as children's magazines,young adult, or adult fiction or nonfiction, are eligible. Only unagentedsubmissions will be accepted.3. Manuscripts previously submitted for this award or to LEE & LOW BOOKS arenot eligible.Submissions1. Manuscripts should address the needs of children of color by providingstories with which they can identify and relate, and which promote a greaterunderstanding of one another.2. Submissions may be FICTION or NONFICTION for children ages 5 to 12.Folklore and animal stories will not be considered.3. Manuscripts should be no more than 1500 words in length and accompanied bya cover letter that includes the author's name, address, phone number, e-mailaddress, a brief biographical note, relevant cultural and ethnic information,how the author heard about the award, and publication history, if any.4. Manuscripts should be typed double-spaced on 8-1/2" x 11" paper. Aself-addressed, stamped envelope with sufficient postage must be included for returnof the manuscript.5. Up to two submissions per entrant. Each submission should be submittedseparately.6. Submissions should be clearly addressed to:LEE & LOW BOOKS95 Madison AvenueNew York, NY 10016ATTN: NEW VOICES AWARD7. Manuscripts may not be submitted to other publishers or to LEE & LOW BOOKSgeneral submissions while under consideration for this Award. LEE & LOW BOOKSis not responsible for late, lost, or incorrectly addressed or delivered submissions.8. Dates for Submission: Manuscripts will be accepted from May 1, 2009,through October 31, 2009 and must be postmarked within that period.Announcement of the AwardThe Award and Honor Award winners will be selected no later than December 31,2009. All entrants who include an SASE will be notified in writing of our decision by January 31, 2009. The judges are the editors ofLEE & LOW BOOKS. The decision of the judges is final. At least one Honor Award will be given eachyear, but LEE & LOW BOOKS reserves the right not to choose an Award winner.2009 Essence Short Fiction Contest Official RulesDream of being the next Terry McMillan or E. Lynn Harris? It just might happen. Start by entering our 2009 Essence Short Fiction contest. The winner will be announced at next year's Essence Literary Awards. See rules below.Write On!2009 ESSENCE Short Fiction ContestOFFICIAL RULES1. ELIGIBILITY: This contest is open only to legal residents of the United States and Washington, DC 18 years or older at the time of entry that have never had a work of fiction published in a major commercial book, or in a magazine with a circulation of more than 25,000. Void where prohibited by law. Employees of Sponsor and its promotional partners and their respective parents, affiliates and subsidiaries, participating advertising and promotion agencies (and members of their immediate family and/or those living in the same of household of each such employee) are not eligible.2. HOW TO ENTER: All stories submitted must be works of original fiction featuring an adult female of African descent as the main character. All contest entries must be typed, double-spaced, with one‹inch margins, on one side of 8 1/2 -by-11 inch paper and not more than ten pages or 2,500 words. The author's name, mail, email address (if available) and daytime telephone number must appear in the top right-hand corner of the first manuscript page. All subsequent pages must be numbered in the top right-hand corner and include the author's last name. Submit your entries via postal mail only in care of 2009 ESSENCE SHORT FICTION CONTEST, Essence Magazine, 135 W. 50th Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10020. All entries must be postmarked no later than September 30, 2008 and received no later October 7, 2008. Limit one entry per person. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, illegible, incomplete, postage due mail or entries not received for any reason. Entries become sole property of Sponsor and none will be acknowledged or returned. By entering, Entrant warrants that his or her entry is original and does not infringe the intellectual property rights of any third party and has not previously won an award. ESSENCE WILL NOT ACCEPT SUBMISSIONS IN THE FORM OF FAXES OR ELECTRONIC ATTACHMENTS. Entries will not be returned, and the contestant will only be contacted if her or his entry is chosen. Telephone, postal mail, email or fax inquiries will not be accepted and could cause disqualification.3. JUDGING: All entries will be judged by the editorial staff of ESSENCE and a select panel of publishing experts appointed by ESSENCE based on the following criteria: Originality (25%); Creativity (25%); Use of language (25%); and Appropriateness to contest theme (25%). First, Second and Third place winners and Seven Honorable Mentions will be chosen by the judges. In the event of a tie, an additional tie-breaker judge will determine the Winners from among all such tied entries using the judging criteria above. Incomplete and/or inaccurate entries and entries not complying with all rules are subject to disqualification. Decisions of judges are final and binding. Winners will be notified by telephone or email on or about January 10, 2009.4. PRIZES: One First Prize Winner will receive a cash prize of $1,000 and publication of her or his contest entry in a winter 2009 issue of ESSENCE magazine. The submissions of the First, Second and Third Prize Winners as well as those of the Seven Honorable Mentions will be featured on ESSENCE.COM during the first quarter of 2009. ALL TAXES ARE THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WINNERS. The prize is nontransferable and is awarded without warranty, express or implied, of any kind. ALL WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED AT THE 2009 ESSENCE LITERARY AWARDS.5. CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION: No transfer, assignment, or substitution of a prize permitted, except Sponsor reserves the right to substitute prize (or prize component) for an item of equal or greater value at Sponsor's sole discretion. Nothing in these official contest rules shall obligate Sponsor to publish or otherwise use any entry submitted in connection with this Contest. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply. Entrants agree to be bound by the terms of these Official Rules and by the decisions of Sponsor, which are final and binding on all matters pertaining to this Contest. By entering, Entrant represents that any materials submitted as part of Entrant's Contest entry are original and will not constitute defamation or an invasion of privacy or otherwise infringe upon the rights of any third party, and that the Entrant owns or has the rights to convey any and all right and title in such entry. In addition, by entering, Entrant grants to Sponsor a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to edit, publish, promote, republish at any time in the future and otherwise use Entrant's submitted entry, along with Entrant's name, likeness, biographical information, and any other information provided by Entrant, in any and all media for possible editorial, promotional or advertising purposes, without further permission, notice or compensation (except where prohibited by law). Potential Winner, as a condition of receiving any prize, also may be required to sign and return an Affidavit of Eligibility, a Liability Release and where legally permissible a Publicity Release and confirmation of a license as set forth above within 7 days following the date of first attempted notification, certifying, among other things, the following: (a) entry does not defame or invade the privacy of any party; (b) entry does not infringe upon the rights of any third party; and (c) the entry submitted is original and has never won an award. Failure to comply with this deadline may result in forfeiture of the prize and selection of an alternate winner. Return of any prize/prize notification as undeliverable may result in disqualification and selection of an alternate winner. By entering and/or accepting prize, Entrants and Winners agree to hold Sponsor and its promotional partners, its directors, officers, employees and assigns harmless for liability, damages or claims for injury or loss to any person or property relating to, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, participation in this Contest, the acceptance and/or subsequent use or misuse, or condition of any of the prizes awarded, or claims based on publicity rights, defamation, or invasion or privacy. False or deceptive entries or acts will render the Entrant ineligible. Sponsor, in its sole discretion, reserves the immediate and unrestricted right to disqualify any entrant or prize winner, if either commits or has committed any act, or has been involved or becomes involved in any situation or occurrence which the Sponsor deems likely to subject the Sponsor, entrant or winner to ridicule, scandal or contempt or which reflects unfavorably upon the Sponsor in any way. If such information is discovered by Sponsor after a winner has received notice of his/her prize and before the prize is awarded, Sponsor may rescind the prize in its entirety. If a portion of his/her prize has already been awarded, Sponsor may withdraw the remainder of the prize that has been fulfilled. Decisions of the Sponsor are final and binding in all matters related to this paragraph. Sponsor is not responsible for any typographical or other error in the printing of the official rules, administration of the contest, or in the announcement of the prize.6. GOVERNING LAW: This Contest is governed by the internal laws of the state of New York without regard to principals of conflict of laws. All cases and claims pertaining to this Contest must be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction in the City of New York, without recourse to class action suits.7. SEVERABILITY: If any provision of these Rules is found to be invalid or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction or appointed arbitrator, such determination shall in no way affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision herein.8. WINNER'S LIST: For name of Winner(s), available after February 15, 2009, log onto www. Essence.com for a period of thirty days.9. SPONSOR: The Sponsor of this Contest is ESSENCE Magazine, 135 W. 50th Street, New York, NY 10020.RELATED ARTICLES:Find out what E. Lynn Harris's writing pet peeves are, in our exclusive interview »Read our preview and 30-second expert of Trading Dreams at Midnight »Check out the photo recap of the 2008 ESSENCE Literary Award »View the Nappily Faithful Book Club Guide »Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers ispleased to announceThe Twenty-Seventh Annual Delacorte Press Contestfor a First Young Adult NovelThe prize of a book contract (on the publisher's standard form) coveringworld rights for a hardcover and a paperback edition, including an advance androyalties, will be awarded annually to encourage the writing of contemporaryyoung adult fiction. The award consists of $1,500 in cash and a $7,500 advanceagainst royalties.All federal, state, and local taxes, if any, are the winner's soleresponsibility. Prizes are not transferrable and cannot be assigned. NO PURCHASENECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.ELIGIBILITY1. The contest is open to U.S. and Canadian writers who havenot previously published a young adult novel. Employees of Random House, Inc.and its subsidiaries and affiliates, and members of their families andhouseholds are not eligible.2. Foreign-language manuscripts and translations are not eligible.3. Manuscripts submitted to a previous Delacorte Press contest are not eligible.FORMAT FOR SUBMISSIONS1. Submissions should consist of a book-length manuscript with a contemporary setting that will be suitable for readers ages12 to 18.2. Manuscripts should be no shorter than 100 typewritten pages and no longer than224 typewritten pages. Include a brief plot summary with your covering letter.3. Each manuscript should have a cover page listing the title of the novel; the author's name, address, and telephone number.4. Manuscripts should be typed double-spaced on 8-1/2" x 11" good quality whitepaper, and pages should be numbered consecutively. The type should be at least10 point. The author should retain a copy of any manuscript submitted.5. Photocopies are acceptable if readily legible and printed on good quality white(not gray) paper.6. Do not submit manuscripts in boxes. A padded envelope will do. Please do not enclose checks for postage. The publisher is notresponsible for late, lost, misdelivered, or misplaced submissions.7. Please enclose a business-size stamped, self-addressed envelope for notification only. Please do notenclose checks for postage. Due to new postal regulations, the publisher cannot return any manuscripts. All submissions will be recycledby Random House after they are read.MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS1. Manuscripts sent to Delacorte Press may not be submitted to other publishers or literary agents while underconsideration for the prize.2. Authors may not submit more than two manuscripts to the Delacorte Press competition; each mustmeet all eligibility requirements.DATES FOR SUBMISSION1. Manuscripts must be postmarked after October 1, 2009, but no later than December 31, 2009.2. Send manuscripts to:Delacorte Press ContestRandom House, Inc.1745 Broadway, 9th FloorNew York, New York 10019FEDERATIONSEDITED BY JOHN JOSEPH ADAMSFrom Star Trek to Star Wars, from Dune toFoundation, science fiction has a rich history of exploring the idea ofvast intergalactic societies, and the challenges facing those living in ortrying to manage such societies. The stories in Federations will continuethat tradition.What are the social/religious/environmental/technological implications ofliving in such a vast society? What happens when expansionist tendencies on agalactic scale come into conflict with the indigenous peoples of other planets,of other races? And what of the issue of communicating across such distances, orthe problems caused by relativistic travel? These are just some of the questionsand issues that the stories in Federations will take on.Genres: Science Fiction only. Original fiction only, no reprints.Payment: 5 cents per word ($250 max), plus a pro-rata share of theanthology’s earnings and 1 contributor copy.Word limit: 5000 words. (Stories may exceed 5000 words, but $250 isthe maximum payment per story, and stories 5000 words or less are stronglypreferred.)Rights: First world English rights, non-exclusive world anthologyrights, and non-exclusive audio anthology rights. See my boilerplate author-anthologistcontract, which spells out the rights in detail.Reading Period: November 1-January 1, 2009Response Time: Most rejections will be sent out quickly, but storiesthat I like may be held until January 31 before a final decision is made.Publication date: May 2009Publisher: Prime BooksSubmission Instructions: Email your story in rich-text format (RTF) toJohn Joseph Adams at federations.anthology@gmail.com.Include the title of the story and your byline in the subject line of the email.ABOUT THE EDITORJohn Joseph Adams is the editor of the anthologies Wastelands: Stories ofthe Apocalypse, Seeds of Change, and The LivingDead. He is also the assistant editor at The Magazine of Fantasy &Science Fiction, and is the print news correspondent for SCI FI Wire(the news service of the SCI FI Channel). For more information, visit hiswebsite at www.johnjosephadams.com.http://www.johnjosephadams.com/?p=1630GUIDELINESHIGHLIGHTS 2009 FICTION CONTESTCATEGORY:Contemporary world-cultures stories.PRIZES:Three prizes of $1,000 or tuition for the Highlights Foundation Writers Workshop at Chautauqua.ENTRY DATES:All entries must be postmarked between January 1, 2009, and January 31, 2009.RULES:No entry form or fee is required.*Entrants must be at least 16 years old at the time of submission.We welcome work from both published and unpublished authors. All submissions must be previously unpublished.Stories may be any length up to 800 words. Stories for beginning readers should not exceed 500 words. Indicate the word count in the upper right-hand corner of the first page of your manuscript.No crime, violence, or derogatory humor.Entries not accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope will not be returned.Manuscripts or envelopes should be clearly marked FICTION CONTEST. Those not marked in this way will be considered as regular submissions to Highlights.SEND ENTRIES TO:FICTION CONTESTHighlights for Children803 Church StreetHonesdale, PA 18431WINNERS:The three winning entries will be announced on Highlights.com in June 2009. These stories will become the property of Highlights for Children and will be published by Highlights. All other submissions will be considered for purchase byHighlights.* We're sorry that we cannot consider contest entries from children under the age of 16. Young writers are welcome to submit their work for consideration elsewhere in the magazine. Guidelines are available on HighlightsKids.com.Highlights for Children will accept submissions to the publication's 30thannual fiction contest during the month of January 2009. The contest is open toanyone interested in writing for children and three winners will receive $1,000each.Every year Highlights seeks stories with different themes. Look on the internet to see what this year'srequirements are. Under contest rules, any unpublished story is eligible, whethersubmitted by a professional or a new author. Previous winners have included bothpublished and first-time authors.Contest guidelines state that all entries must be postmarked between January 1 and January 31, 2009.The stories should not exceed 800 words, and they may be considerably shorter for youngerchildren. Stories glorifying war or crime or containing violence or derogatoryhumor are not acceptable.The three contest winners will be announced on Highlights.com in June 2009. Winning manuscripts become the property ofHighlights and will appear in the periodical at a later date. All other contestsubmissions will be considered for purchase at regular rates and terms. A listof winners will be sent by mail if a self-addressed stamped envelope is includedwith submissions.Highlights also accepts the submission of articles, stories, and fillers throughout the year.For guidelines or additional information, go tohttp://www.highlights.com/custserv/customerservicecontent2main.jsp?iCategoryID=203&iContentID=1584&CCNavIDs=3,203Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers is proud to announce the Eighteenth AnnualDelacorte Dell Yearling Contest for a First Middle-Grade Novel*The prize of a book contract (on the Publisher's standard form) for ahardcover and a paperback edition, including an advance and royalties, will beawarded annually to encourage the writing of contemporary or historical fictionset in North America, for readers age 9–12. The award consists of $1,500 incash and a $7,500 advance against royalties.All federal, state and local taxes, if any, are the winners sole responsibility. Prizes are not transferrableand cannot be assigned. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO WIN.ELIGIBILITY1. The contest is open to U.S. and Canadian writers who have not previouslypublished a novel for middle-grade readers. Employees of Random House, Inc. andits subsidiaries and affiliates, and members of their families and householdsare not eligible.2. Foreign-language manuscripts and translations are not eligible.3. Manuscripts submitted to a previous Delacorte Press contest are not eligible.FORMAT FOR SUBMISSIONS1. Manuscripts should be no shorter than 96 typewritten pages and no longer than 160 typewrittenpages. Include a brief plot summary with your covering letter.2. Each manuscript should have a cover page listing the title of the work and theauthor's name, address, and telephone number. The title shouldalso appear on each manuscript page.3. Manuscripts should be typeddoublespaced on 8 1/2" by 11" good quality white paper, and pages should benumbered consecutively.The type should be easy to read, preferably 12 point.Theauthor should retain a copy of any manuscript submitted.4. Photocopies are acceptable if readily legible and printed on good quality white (not gray)paper. Partial or illegible entries will not be acceptable.5. Photocopies are acceptable if readily legible and printed on good quality white(not gray) paper.6. Do not submit manuscripts in boxes. A padded envelope will do. Please do not enclose checks for postage. The publisher is notresponsible for late, lost, misdelivered, or misplaced submissions.7. Please enclose a business-size stamped, self-addressed envelope for notification only. Please do notenclose checks for postage. Due to new postal regulations, the publisher cannot return any manuscripts. All submissions will be recycledby Random House after they are read.MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS1. Manuscripts sent to Delacorte Press may not be submitted to other publishers or literary agents while under consideration for theprize.2. Authors may not submit more than two manuscripts to the Delacorte Yearling competition; each must meet all eligibilityrequirements.DATES FOR SUBMISSION1. Manuscripts must be postmarked after April 1, 2009, but no later than June 30, 2009.2. Send manuscripts to:Delacorte Yearling ContestRandom House, Inc.1745 Broadway, 9th FloorNew York, NY 10019Presenting a new short fiction contest for unpublished writers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror.For its third edition of Spectra Pulse, Bantam Spectra is allowing unpublished writers to get their work featured alongside some of the most well-respected names in science fiction and fantasy.One lucky winner will receive $100 and have his/her story published in the Summer 2009 issue of Spectra Pulse, Bantam Spectra’s exclusive magazine distributed at Comic-Con San Diego and select conventions and bookstores (available July 2009).*Prize:The winning author will receive $100 and have his or her work published in the Summer 2009 issue of Spectra Pulse.To Enter:Submit a work of speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, horror, new weird, anything fantastic in nature) no longer than 2,000 words in length to spectrapulse@randomhouse.com by January 31, 2009. Be sure to include your name, e-mail address, and mailing address.One winning story will be selected by the Bantam Spectra editorial department. The Winner will be notified by March 18, 2009 and announced on April 28, 2009.Open to adults, ages 18 or older, who are residents of the United States and have never published a work of fiction nor entered into a publishing contract as of the time of entry. Entrants who subsequently enter into a publishing contract will be disqualified from winning if their contracted work is to be published before Fall 2009. Submissions that have been submitted to another publication or online site for publication will not be accepted.Scroll down to read the Official Rules for complete eligibility requirements and submission guidelines.If you have any questions, you may e-mail us at spectrapulse@randomhouse.com.OFFICIAL RULESOFFICIAL RULES 2009 SPECTRA PULSE SHORT FICTION CONTESTNO PURCHASE NECESSARY.1. This Contest runs from October 28, 2008 to January 31, 2009. To be eligible to win, entrants must email their name and complete mailing address along with their Spectra Pulse Short Fiction Contest submission (in English) to spectrapulse@randomhouse.com on or before the entry deadline: 11:59 P.M., Pacific Time, on January 31, 2009. Each story must be limited to no more than two thousand (2000) words and must be submitted as a .doc, .pdf or .rtf file. The e-mail must include the subject line "Spectra Pulse Short Fiction Contest Submission." Sponsor may use entrant's e-mail address for purposes of prize notification and to request a mailing address to be used for the sole purpose of delivering the prize. Any entries received after the deadline will be ineligible to win. LIMIT ONE ENTRY PER PERSON and ONE ENTRY PER EMAIL. Multiple entries from the same person are void. Sponsor is not responsible for entries that are late, misdirected, lost, garbled, or unintelligible, including those due to computer or network malfunction or congestion (including at Random House), and any such entries are ineligible.2. Prizes are as follows: One (1) Grand Prize: a $100 cash prize and inclusion of the Winner’s short fiction submission in the Summer 2009/Issue No. 3 edition of Spectra Pulse. No transfer or substitution of the prize will be permitted, except by The Bantam Dell Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. ("Sponsor") in its sole discretion, in which case a prize of equal or greater value will be awarded.3. On or about March 17, 2009 one (1) Grand Prize winning submission will be chosen by Sponsor's marketing and editorial departments from all eligible and completed submissions received by the entry deadline. Entries will be judged on the basis of originality, creativity and writing style. Winners will be notified by e-mail and their mailing address will be used by Sponsor solely for the purpose of delivering the cash portion of the Prize.4. This Contest is open only to residents of the United States (excluding Puerto Rico) who are 18 years of age or older, have not published a work of fiction (self-published books included), and do not have a publishing contract at the time of submission. Entrants who subsequently enter into a publishing contract will be disqualified from winning if their contracted work is to be published before Fall 2009. Submissions that have been submitted to another publication or online site for publication will not be accepted. Employees of Random House, Inc., its affiliates and subsidiaries, and their immediate family members and persons living in their households are not eligible to enter. This Contest is subject to all federal, state, and local regulations. Offer void in Puerto Rico and where otherwise restricted or prohibited. All federal and local taxes, if any, are the sole responsibility of the Winner.5. Sponsor assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft, destruction, or unauthorized access to the site. Sponsor is not responsible for injury or damage to entrants' or to any other person's computer, other equipment, or person relating to or resulting from participation in the sweepstakes, or from downloading materials or accessing the site.6. By entering the Contest, entrants represent and warrant that they are the sole owner of the copyright in their submitted work, that the work is original to them and that it does not infringe upon the proprietary rights of anyone, invade on anyone’s privacy or violate any other rights. By accepting the prize, Winner grants Sponsor the exclusive right to first publish his/her work in Spectra Pulse and online and the nonexclusive right after such first publication to publish, post online or otherwise reproduce the work and the name and likeness of the Winner in any and all forms and media throughout the world, and for any and all publicity or promotional purposes, without obligation or compensation, except where prohibited by law. Entries will not be returned or acknowledged.7. For the names of the Winner, available after October 28, 2009, send a stamped, self-addressed envelope, separate from your entry, to Spectra Pulse Short Story Contest, Bantam Internet Marketing, Dept. MW, 1745 Broadway, New York, New York, 10019 by December 31, 2009.8. Sponsor: The Bantam Dell Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., 1745 Broadway, New York, New York, 10019.http://www.randomhouse.com/bantamdell/spectra/spectrapulseshortfiction.htmlCATASTROPHIAEdited by Allen AshleyGuidelinesCatastrophia will be a collection of stories loosely themed around the theme of catastrophes, disasters and post-apocalyptic fiction. I will be looking for original, unpublished stories which deal in a modern manner with these classic SF- and Horror-based tropes.Rights and other technical detailsI’m looking only for original material - no reprints. I will be buying First British and First North American Rights for your story with a one-year moratorium subsequent to publication. I can offer 3p/6c a word up to a maximum payment of £100 / $200 per story. The book will be published byPS Publishing and the current expected pub date is summer 2010.SubmissionsThe submission period will open on 1st August 2008 and will last until 31stMay 2009 or whenever the book is full. Unless specified otherwise, all submissions should be sent as disposable hard copies to:Allen AshleyEditor: Catastrophia110d Marlborough RoadBounds GreenLondon, N22 8NNEnglandPlease include an email address for reply or a stamped and addressed envelope. Response time will be three months or less.Stories should ideally be in the range of 2000 to 6000 words although both longer and shorter tales will be considered.Catastrophe? What catastrophe?In short, some event that rapidly changes the world social order, threatens the survival of humankind or the Earth, reduces people to a state of mere hand-to-mouth existence, puts the clock of progress back a couple of thousand years almost overnight, takes our attention off the exploits of celebrities, footballers and politicians and instead focuses it on keeping ourselves and our loved ones alive until sundown . . . and so on. As I said in my own story ‘The Overwhelm’ (in which the world was engulfed by fog): “Truly it didn’t take much for the veneer of civilisation to be stripped away.”I will be taking a broad view of what constitutes a catastrophe/disaster / apocalypse but authors should note that I am not seeking gratuitous rape and violence fantasies.A brief history of catastrophesThese tales have a long and prominent history within the genre and are among the first titles that spring to mind when listing SF classics. Discounting Biblical, mythical and similar precedents, this sub-genre probably started with:The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells (invading Martians destroy Britain) and M. P. Shiel’s The Purple Cloud (Polar toxins kill everybody bar the protagonist).Brian Aldiss famously labelled many of these stories as “cosy catastrophes” but that certainly hasn’t got in the way of our enjoyment. Your editor grew up on these stories and with Catastrophia expects to reinvigorate the genre for the twenty-first century. Indeed, recent films such as The Day After Tomorrow (environmental disaster), Deep Impact (comet strikes Earth) and the re-make of The War of the Worlds suggests the desire is there to be faced with the apocalyptic all over again.Further readingBrian Aldiss - Greybeard (no children are born);Brian Aldiss - Barefoot in the Head (LSD contamination causes social breakdown);J. G. Ballard - The Drowned World, The Drought, The Crystal World, The Wind From Nowhere - early quartet of psychological /environmental disaster novels from the master;Edmund Cooper - All Fool’s Day and Richard Matheson - I Am Legend (benchmark post-apocalyptic last man on Earth tales);Edmund Cooper - Kronk and Charles Platt - The Gas (rampant venereal disease / sex plagues);John Christopher - The World in Winter (new ice age);John Christopher - Death of Grass (aka No Blade of Grass) (All grass / wheat / rice crops fail);Keith Roberts - The Furies (giant wasps);John Wyndham - The Day of the Triffids (blindness and killer plants);John Wyndham - The Kraken Wakes (marauding sea monsters);Roger Zelazny - Damnation Alley (Mad Max started here).For a really modern catastrophe story in the short form, I recommend that you track down ‘Approaching Zero’ by John Lucas (contemporary lifestyles as catastrophe!), most recently available in my anthology from Elastic Press, The Elastic Book Of Numbers (2005).Catastrophes for the new millenniumWith the current prominence of ‘Green’ issues, you may well decide to try your hand at environmental disaster, biological agents running amuck, responses to the future fuel and water shortages or similar themes . . .I’ve always quite liked the idea of the animal and plant kingdoms getting their own back on Humankind (See The Furies, Day of the Triffids, the filmThem, etc) - so I would be quite receptive to an idea along those lines. No zombies or vampires, though, which have been done to death.Similarly, I’m open to something based on our dependence on technology in the so-called Information Age. But no cyberspeak gobbledegook, please, and no rehash of Transformers.I’m sure there’s plenty of material to extrapolate from. Better still, come up with a fresh catastrophe idea, something that has not been explored before but is still close enough to the real world to convince as an extrapolation or a possibility.Good luck!http://anthologynewsandreviews.blogspot.com/2008/11/catastrophia.html

Reading Too Much Into Race

Posted by A J Harper on December 24, 2008 at 9:09pm

By Carleen Bricewww.washingtonpost.comSunday, December 21, 2008; Page B04What, you haven't heard of it?Wondering whether it's a joke?Well, it is and it isn't. I've got my tongue firmly lodged against my cheek, but I'm really hoping that this holiday season you'll buy a book by a black author and give it to somebody who isn't black.Because as a black author trying to reach a wider audience, I believe that this guerrilla marketing effort -- although sort of a stunt -- may be one of the only ways writers like me will be able to find white readers.The accepted wisdom of the publishing industry is that books by black authors should be marketed to black audiences; after that, hopefully, they will cross over to whites and others. This is what a writer friend of mine was told when she wrote her first book. Ten books later, she has yet to cross over, despite respectable sales and favorable reviews. Without that crossover success, she's having a hard time finding a publisher for her latest literary novel. One editor rejected her latest work with the comment that it was beautifully written, but since there hadn't been a new "breakout" African American author in years, she would have to pass on it.It's not that black readers aren't buying books. According to the research firm Target Market News, which tracks African American consumer spending, black households spent an estimated $270 million on books in 2007.But as my writer friend's situation and that of many others illustrates, it's extremely hard to have a viable career in publishing without support from a wider (read: not exclusively black) audience. And it's difficult for black authors, especially of literary fiction, to develop the buzz that sells books. White readers don't hear our books discussed generally (except, of course, the ones by heavy hitters such as Toni Morrison, Alice Walker and a few others). And without media exposure and water-cooler talk, they don't know which of our books they might like.Publishers themselves are spending their precious marketing dollars targeting black readers specifically. "As editors and publishers we have to acknowledge that the base audience for these books are African American readers," said Stacey Barney, an editor with the Penguin imprint G.P. Putnam's Sons. "Once you've secured that base readership, then you can go after other markets for the book."But securing that base readership is part of the problem. A trip to one of the major chain bookstores shows what Barney's talking about. Walk past the general fiction section, and you'll find the African American fiction section. The shelves there will be lined with all the same subjects you find in the rest of the bookstore. The one thing linking them is that the authors are black. It's very handy if all you read is fiction by black people. You can go right to your "special section." Someone like me, who enjoys a wider variety of reading, might look in both general fiction and the black fiction section. I'm black and would never feel out of place browsing in the black books section. A white reader, on the other hand, might not take that same look and might not know that the books exist at all.Borders developed its stand-alone African American fiction section more than a decade ago, according to buyer Ernesto Martinez. "The stand-alone section is a successful strategy," he said.After years of being against the idea, the Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver, my local independent bookstore, is considering launching an African American fiction section in its flagship location. Black customers asked for one after the store moved to a more diverse neighborhood.To me, it seems a bit ironic that, at a time when black authors are fighting not to be marginalized, some black readers are asking for African American fiction sections. But I can understand their reasons. Some blacks read only books by black authors out of loyalty or a desire to keep seeing stories about themselves in print. It makes sense that they'd like to find those books in one location, but it also speaks to the way readers have come to expect a dividing line, books clearly marked "us" and "them."Marketing black books only to black readers is frustrating in another way. Who says that all black readers are alike? That's a question Karen Hunter has struggled with. She's an author who also has her own imprint with Simon & Schuster's Pocket Books, primarily publishing works by black authors. "Black people are not monolithic -- we don't all like the same things," she said. "So why wouldn't a white person be interested in some of the same subjects that a black person would?"Of course, one best-selling black author of the moment happens to be our president-elect. Black writers are hopeful that Barack Obama's election will help publishers "get a clue about our stories," as Lori L. Tharps, author of the memoir "Kinky Gazpacho" put it recently in an article on the Root. "Obama has proved, after all, that readers of all races and backgrounds can take to non-mainstream literary portraits of the American experience," she wrote.The novelist Bernice McFadden wrote on her blog that Obama's popularity has the potential to change how black authors are published and marketed. She hopes that the interest in Obama -- as president and as an author -- might translate into a different approach to introducing black authors to a wide range of readers. "How many other industries practice this [segregated marketing] behavior?" McFadden asked. "I love me some Paul Simon and when I drive through the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn I see Jewish boys pushing Cadillac SUVs blasting 50 Cent and Jay-Z, so why is publishing operating as if this is the Dark Ages?"Sometimes it seems like the Dark Ages to me, too. But I remember an even darker age. After all, it wasn't too long ago that the publishing industry thought that black people didn't buy books. I own a how-to-get-published guide that's copyrighted 1985. "Your book may be of interest to minorities, the elderly, or the handicapped," it states, "but stressing these groups won't help sell your proposal because publishers do not perceive them as important book buyers."I purchased that guide in 1992, the same year that Terry McMillan's blockbuster "Waiting to Exhale" proved to publishers that black people do indeed buy books. I ignored the guide's advice and wrote a self-help book targeted specifically at blacks.More recently, I turned to fiction. That's when I found not only that minorities are "important book buyers," but that it's often impossible to predict the universal appeal of a specific story.My first novel, "Orange Mint and Honey," is about the adult child of an alcoholic and her now-sober mother. A few months after it was published this year, I got an e-mail from a reader. "I bet you never thought a middle-aged white guy would read your book and cry," he wrote.I guess I'm naïve, but yeah, I did kind of hope that I might get a few teary-eyed white-guy readers. While I was writing, I wasn't thinking about the characters being black, and I certainly never thought of their story as "a black story."So although it might not be in the best taste to recommend that particular title for your holiday gift-giving needs (at least, not only that particular title), it would help you mark the traditional season -- plus our new December holiday: Buy a Book by a Black Author and Give It to Somebody Not Black Month.carleen@carleenbrice.comCarleen Brice is a writer and blogger living in Denver.

Part X: She: Dasha (The Daybreaker: The Chronicles of Jhlen Seeradiant)

Posted by C'BS ALife Allah on December 24, 2008 at 1:55pm

She: Dasha

Please consider signing this petetion: One Percent for the Arts

Posted by Celeste Rita Baker on December 24, 2008 at 7:15am

Here is a link to a petition that requests that one percent of the proposed $600 billiion stimulus package be dedicated to the arts.http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/artsstimulus/index.html

8 Questions for Ta'Shia Asanti sci-fi/fantasy writer, poet,

Posted by A J Harper on December 22, 2008 at 10:00pm

To borrow from an insightful blog Obama is representative of the Black american we seldom see in publishing. Meaning, he is not a whore-monger, drug-dealer, drug user or absent baby-daddy. He is not a slave to designer labels and he does not wear bling. We have not seen him ducking into a bodega to buy a forty, he does not congregate on street corners, and no source has come forward to reveal that he smoked a blunt before his debates with John McCain. If he wears a "wife-beater" it's hidden beneath his shirt, exactly where it's supposed to be. He does not wear his pants down around his knees, nor does he throw up gang signs at the end of his wildly televised speeches.OK so after nearly a decade of the market being deluged with books focusing on the aforementioned stereotypes what happens now?Will publishers change gears and begin publishing works written by African American that speak to a multitude of people? Or will they remain stagnet and committed to a shattered belief system?

Publishers may remain committed to a shattered belief system, but its the Black writing community's job to expose our own talents, which is one of the many things that will happen on this blog starting with sci-fi/fantasy writer, poet, filmmaker, producer, and founder-your world tv Iya Ta'Shia Asanti who talks about her newest novel

the-seer2 The Seer Legacy of Stone & Spirit-

Correction officer by day, psychic by night, Violet Brown struggles to understand her medium abilities while her dreams lead her to a fourth world where ancient African dieties perform miracles in every day life. Violet's main spirit guide materializes to take her on a journey to rediscover her African roots and reconnect her with the last living descendent of her tribe. As she searches for Olokun, her ancestral sister, Violet finds herself in the middle of a deadly ring of human traffickers who have kidnapped Olokun. As she tries to make sense of the magic and mysticism that has become her reality, Violet meets the love of her life, a handsome attorney, named Darryl Collins who will one day be her saving grace. Will Violet find Olokun before she is sold off into human slavery? Will the Orisa's, the God's of West Africa, be strong enough to protect Violet from a regime more deadly than anything she could ever imagine? Is Darryl the man she thinks he is or is he a lying, cheating dog like her ex, David? There is only one person who knows the answers to these questions. And she is Violet Brown, the world's most gifted Seer....

Q. Where did you find the original impulse to write The Seer?

Ta'Shia. The Seer is based in theory on my own life experiences as a seer and medium, as well as my journey is exploring African history pre-slavery and becoming a Yoruba priestess.

Q. Who inspired the characters of your novel Ta'Shia. The characters in my book were inspired by the Orisa, dieties of the West African spiritual tradition, Ifa, as well as the ancesters who came to visit me in my dreams for nearly 20 years. Q. Looking at the book now, what surprises you?

Ta'Shia I thought mainstream America would really have a problem with this book but so far, it has touched all who've read it.

Q. Many writers describe themselves as "character" or "plot" writers.Ta'Shia. Which are you? What do you find to be the hardest part of writing?

I would classify myself as a Character writer though I love a strong and moving plot.

Q. Who has influenced you in your writing?

Ta'Shia. Eric Jerome Dickey, Octavia Butler are two of my greatest influences though I'm a fan of Robin Cook and a huge lover of all things Sidney Sheldon.

Q. What was the book that most influenced your life and why?

Ta'Shia. One of the books that really moved me was Robin Cook's Outbreak as well as Sydney Sheldon's If Tomorrow Comes.

Q. What are your 2 favorite books and why?

Ta'Shia. Two of my favorite books are The Other Woman by Eric Jerome Dickey and The Interruption of Everything by Terri McMillan. I also love EJD's newest hitman series, Sleeping With Strangers etc.

Q. What are you currently working on?

Ta'Shia. I am currently working on the sequel to The Seer. It’s called, The Bones Do Talk.

To order The Seer click here

Visit her at Black Science Fiction Society

or at http://www.tashiaasanti.com

Canaan's Labyrinth is Available in Stores!

Posted by Fumi Bankole on December 22, 2008 at 5:41pm

Finally! Canaan's Labyrinth is available in paper back for $14.95 at the following stores and websites:Esowon Books4331 Degnan Blvd.Los Angeles, CA 90008(323) 290-1048Small World Books1407 Ocean Front WalkVenice, CA 90291Amazon.com www.myspace.com/fumibankoleThanks everyone for your support and interest in Canaan's... If you have positive feedback upon finishing your reading adventure, please post it in cyberspace. :)

Great sites to add to your google reader or rss feed

Posted by Carole McDonnell on December 22, 2008 at 1:43pm

http://thedarksalon.blogspot.com/http://evileditor.blogspot.com/http://edittorrent.blogspot.com/http://www.writingexcuses.com/http://thewritingcast.com/blog/http://www.floggingthequill.com/flogging_the_quill/http://practicing-writing.blogspot.com/http://anthologynewsandreviews.blogspot.com/http://www.placesforwriters.com/http://hopeclark.blogspot.com/http://queryshark.blogspot.com/

In Like Flynn - 11:30pm CST - www.blogtalkradio.com/Penelope_Flynn

Posted by Penelope on December 20, 2008 at 10:38pm

Join Penelope and Otto as they discuss the best and worst of this week's TV news and entertainment. In the tradition of this great entertainment market, Penelope and Otto tell you what to buy, sell or hold and where you should spend your valuable TV minutes.

THIS WEEK: Who throws shoes?! Why you should know the name "Elizabeth Warren" and Why we shouldn't be asleep at the wheel as Obama announces his first round draft picks for his cabinet and other appointments!!Call in at 718/508-9683 and tell us about your week and your week's favorites! Click on the blogtalk icon, listen in and join us in the Chat room! We talk All Things Social and Sexual - and so should you!!

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Reading Too Much Into Race

Part X: She: Dasha (The Daybreaker: The Chronicles of Jhlen Seeradiant)

Please consider signing this petetion: One Percent for the Arts

8 Questions for Ta'Shia Asanti sci-fi/fantasy writer, poet,

Canaan's Labyrinth is Available in Stores!

Great sites to add to your google reader or rss feed

In Like Flynn - 11:30pm CST - www.blogtalkradio.com/Penelope_Flynn

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