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 The FSFS Newsletter is written by FSFS members covering everything Fantasy and Sci-Fi |
The "Fantasy and Science Fiction Society" welcomes you to  Welcome to the November edition of the "Fantasy and Science Fiction Society" Newsletter. Written by the FSFS for all of WdC. Contents 1. Month Summary 2. Preparing Your Nanowrimo Writing Kit 3. Lessons from a Con - Writers' Choices 4. Book Review: The Martian 5. Advertisements 6. Newsletter Challenges  Well, October was a busy month. With the Trick or Treat Raffle running throughout the month and a bust month for Three Prompts (sadly 2 entries had to be disqualified), there has been plenty to do. And now, of course, November brings NaNoWriMo where writers of all levels write 50,000 words in a month. I've never tried it myself, and I'm doing it properly this year, but I do plan on using the month to get a good start on my novel.  Every October I prepare for National Novel Writing Month. Nanowrimo promotes the act of writing 50K words toward the rough draft of a novel. People join together all over the world to support their fellow writers and to help all of us cross the finish line toward success. Most of the writers of Nanowrimo are beginners. The participation in Nanowrimo can be a submergence learning experience where new ideas, techniques, and tools are all explored at a rapid rate to get the beginner writer off in the right direction. Although I am now a published writer, I still look forward to Nanowrimo because it gives me that huge energy boost and camaraderie that keeps me going on a new project. One of the main things that I do to prepare for the event is to put together a writing kit. It allows me to participate in the local write-ins that take place at various hotel lobbies, coffeehouses, and libraries. Every writer has a unique kit that they assemble to aid them in the writing process. I start out my writing kit with a designated bag. I will keep this bag packed with all my writing gear at all times. It allows me to pick up the bag and go on a moment’s notice. I know that everything I will need will be available in the bag. I’ve used everything from a grocery sack to a cloth tote bag. My current writing kit bag is a Solo Laptop Tote. It looks like leather and is stylish, but not extremely expensive or heavy. It is large enough to hold all my gear and offers my electronic devices a bit of padded protection. Any laptop bag or backpack should work for this purpose. Next, I pack in my Alphasmart Neo. I prefer the Alphasmart to a laptop for drafting. An Alphasmart has been my go to device for Nanowrimo for the past four years. I started with a $30 Alphasmart 3000 for my first Nanowrimo write-ins because at the time I could not afford a laptop computer. The AS3K has a run time of 700 hours on 3 AA batteries. Basically, I pop in the batteries and I’m good to go for the year. The screen is LCD and easy on the eyes, unlike bright computer screens or tablets, and it has no Internet capability. Unless I deliberately turn on a device to access the Internet, such as my cell phone, I am not distracted by Facebook or other on-line time wasters. I credit the AS3K for helping me reach my 50K word goal for the first time. The following year, I upgraded to the Alphasmart Neo. The Neo has a more ergonomic keyboard, the 8 built in files can hold more data and the screen is somewhat bigger than the AS3K. I find that my typing speed is faster on the Neo. It makes a great keyboard for computers and tablets, needing only an USB connection to operate. The Neo is about the size of a small Mac Air laptop, but is much lighter in weight and far more durable. I store the Neo in the laptop portion of my bag and I bring along a few accessories to go with it. I keep my USB printer cable in the bag, it is the way that my Neo accesses my computer at home. I use it to upload my writing at the end of each coffeehouse session. I also have a Mighty Brite Duet light system that I clip to my Neo in dark situations or to write at night when I’m camping. The Mighty Brite has two LED lights that can light up my keyboard evenly. It was originally designed to be a music stand light for musicians, but many Neo owners equip their digital typewriters with this light because the clip is strong enough to grip the back of the Neo’s housing. Finally, I bring along a rubberized lap board. It provides a grippy place to perch my Neo if I’m writing on my lap or gives a more stable surface for my device when writing on a table. The Neo never gets hot, but the bottom is a little slick. The board keeps my Neo from sliding off my lap. The board I use is a Logitech Portable Lapdesk. I bring several paper bound books with me. First is a composition notebook with the outline, character sketches and other notes for my novel. With it I have a pouch with a fountain pen and a Coleto Mult-pen for color coding. Perhaps it is old-fashioned, but I find that when I’m brainstorming new ideas, I do it better on paper. I index the front of my notebook so that I can easily find the sections inside where my notes are and I always have blank pages available for writing down new ideas on the fly. The other two books I bring are a Pocket Webster’s Dictionary and a Pocket Thesaurus. I like having the means to look up words without having to rely on electricity or wifi access in a pinch. The final device I like to bring is my iPod Touch with earbuds. Usually, the general din of the coffeehouse is fine as background noise, but sometimes the PA system is not playing something that I find pleasing. When you put on earbuds or headphones, people also take this as a signal that you do not wish to chat and you can carve out more writing time for yourself that way. My iPod Touch is set up with several apps that I use for research, including a dictionary, thesaurus and an app called Lists for Writers. I also carry a cell phone, but I tend to not bring it out unless absolutely necessary because it is too easy to pull out a game or to read Facebook when I do so. All writers have unique items that they like to bring to write-ins during Nanowrimo. The key is to keep all the items in a single, portable, bag and only bring what is necessary to promote good writing habits while you are away from home. Do keep in mind that local write-ins are a great place to talk about writing and gain advice from your fellow writers. Do not close yourself up completely when you attend a write-in. Most of the habits that I have as a writer were learned as a Nanowrimo participant. Open yourself up to the information available during the November writing push and most of all, have fun!  I recently attended my local sci fi convention and attended a number of interesting sessions. One of the guests of honor was Gordon Van Gelder, publisher/long-time editor of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. I sat in on him being interviewed. Van Gelder, at an early point in his writing career, realized he had no desire to be a writer, but the business of publishing captured his imagination, leading to his becoming an editor at St. Martin's Press and to his taking over for Kristine Kathryn Rusch as editor of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. When the publisher of the magazine told him that he planned to sell the magazine, Van Gelder bought it -- which for a time left him with sleepless nights and panic attacks until he realized that the worse that could happen was he would have to start over in life. About a year ago, Van Gelder decided to "fire" himself as editor and hire C.J. Finlay, who he had first guest edit an issue. He explained he made the change because he felt things needed to be shaken up, allowing a new editorial hand to look at new authors and stories, when he might have focused more on sticking with stories from the authors he had been buying from for over a decade. I later attended a session on author James Tiptree, Jr., aka, Alice Sheldon, who would be 100 years old this year. Her life, her writing, her personae as James Tiptree, Jr. were discussed by the editor of 10 of her novels, David Hartnell; by author Scott Edelstein, who, while editor of a small magazine in the 1980s sought to cultivate a professional relationship and solicit her for a short story. The panel also included: Jim Freund, Julia Rios, and Sarah Pinsker, who moderated. Alice at first needed a pen name since she had write anonymously since she worked in the United States Intelligence community. That she took on the persona of a man, wrote from a man's perspective, and had authors like Robert Silverberg, hailing "him" as an exceptional new male sci fi author at a time when women authors were all being recognized as the new top tier of science fiction authors, made the fact that when it was revealed (outed) that she was "Alice" shocking. Over half the panelists were of an age to have lived through the reveal and be delighted by it. Julia Rios, who reading Tiptree stories always knew the truth asked the question "looking back would we consider Alice transgender rather than merely putting on a personae?" Hartnell stated it was definitely a writing personae that allowed her to write stories freely, while adding she had suicidal depression and according to the biography he had read on her later he was surprised she was taking the same drugs that Philip K. Dick did during the same period of time. The darkness she struggled with comes out in her stories, which all have a dark side. Jim Freund, who is a radio and podcast personality, pointed out, that her early work was almost comedic in nature, but agreed it all had a haunting edge. Personally, I'll never forget reading her short story, Screwfly Solution, which she wrote under her female pen name, but which I read in an Science Fiction Book Club anthology as authored by James Tiptree, Jr. The story is haunting -- and a classic. My take away from attending these two sessions? It was fascinating listening to Gordon Van Gelder's interview as the life as an editor/owner of a magazine I hope one day might publish one of my stories (I've been submitting to them for years). I also truly enjoyed learning more about Alice Sheldon/James Tiptree, Jr., particularly from what was shared by David Hartnell, the longtime editor of her novels. What's clear from both life experience is that the business of writing is not for the faint of heart. Writing can come from a dark place. It definitely all comes from the soul, one that is drawn to this field and marks lasting marks. "Lessons from a Con - Writers Choices" by Highmage - D.H. Aire   Book Name: The Martian Author: Andy Weir First Published: 2011 Author Andy Weir was born and raised in Southern California. His father is an accelerator physicist and his mother an electrical engineer. Weir grew up reading classic science fiction. His favorite authors were Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov. When he was 15, was hired by Sandia National Laboratories as a computer programmer. While Weir has studied computer science at UC San Diego in California, he has not obtained a graduate degree. Instead, he has been working as a programmer for software companies such as AOL, Palm, MobileIron, and Blizzard. Weir has been writing stories since his mid-twenties. His first short story, The Egg has been adapted into YouTube videos. His first novel The Martian began as a free series on his website in 2009. As the story progressed, his readers gave him pointers and helped him with the scientific aspects of the story. The Martian is based on real life science and the Ares missions are ones that have been proposed to NASA. As time went on, many of his readers asked if he would make the story available on kindle. He then offered it on Amazon for 99 cents. The novel ended up being on the Kindle bestseller list. Later, Weir was approached by a literary agent and sold the rights of the book to Crown Publishing Group. The print version debuted #12 on the New York Times Bestseller list. It has gone on to be made into a major motion picture by the same name and starring Matt Damon. The twentieth-first Century Fox film was released in October of 2015. Weir is reportedly at work on a second novel. He currently resides in Southern California. “Yes, of course duct tape works in a near-vacuum. Duct tape works anywhere. Duct tape is magic and should be worshiped.” ― Andy Weir, The Martian Ares 3 is the latest mission to Mars. The six-person crew is there to study for 31 days before flying home. During a freak wind storm, astronaut and botanist Mark Watney is left behind and believed dead when he is impaled by a flying antenna during the evacuation. Due to the way he fell and was covered by sand, his suit was able to retain its pressure. When Watney comes to, he is able to return to the “hab”, a tent-like habitat and care for his injuries. He has no way to contact the ship or earth to let them know that he has survived. It does not take Watney long to realize that even though he has survived his accident, it will be four long years before Ares 4 returns to Mars. While the Hab has enough air and water due to generating it, he does not have enough food to last that long. When going over the supplies, he discovered a package of real potatoes that was being saved for Thanksgiving dinner. Using his skill as a botanist, Watney creates compost from his own human waste and the martian soil and using the potatoes in the package as a seed crop. Soon, his hab is a mini-potato farm making him plenty of extra food. In order to contact NASA, Watney realizes that the pathfinder probe is not too far away and he travels to it. When it is uncovered from the sand, its solar panels give it enough power to turn on. Watney devises a way to communicate with NASA via this primitive system until they can reprogram a connection in his rover to type back and forth. Watney is no longer alone and learns that a mission to rescue him is being planned. Watney plans to drive his rover 2000 miles to Schiaparelli crater where the Ares 4 craft is waiting and making fuel for the next mission. He modifies one of the rovers for the mission, adding solar cells and an additional battery. During this time, a freak accident creates a tear in the Hab and an airlock breaches. Watney’s second harvest is destroyed along with his compost. He does not have supplies to start his farm anew. He is once again threatened with starvation. NASA attempts to send him a resupply ship, but due to their haste, the rocket is destroyed in liftoff. Thanks to the Chinese, a second rocket is made available, but NASA is unsure if this second attempt will work. A young astrodynamicist named Rich Purnell, discovers a “slingshot” trajectory that could get Hermes, the original spaceship that the crew is using to return to Earth, to whip around the Earth to gain speed and return to Mars faster than a second ship could. The chinese rocket could be used to send the supplies to Hermes so they and Watney would have enough air and food to survive, but this method would add an additional 500 days to their journey. The space director is unwilling to risk the lives of the entire crew, but Captain Lewis learns of Purnell’s plan and decides to force the issue after taking it up with her crew. They are all willing to take the additional risk and the extra time in space if it will save their crewmate and friend. Watney resumes his work on the rover and sets off on his long trek across the Martian surface to Ares 4. He faces many challenges along the way, each one of them coming close to killing him. The journey takes months of hard labor and loneliness. Meanwhile, Hermes is traveling back to Mars to get their man. Will martian Mark Watney be rescued? You will need to read the book to find out. ### I read The Martian last year on a whim. I had heard good reviews on the story, but Weir was an unknown author to me who started out by posting his novel on a blog! While I am a supporter of independent authors, I am one myself after all, I was not sure if I was ready for a hard science SF novel. Well, my socks were blown off by this book and I fell in love with it. While the characters were not particularly deep, the sheer force of the depiction of living on the planet Mars with present day technology was astonishing. The planet Mars is as much a main character as Mark Watney and it is a powerful antagonist. As the logical mishaps befallen our astronaut, you start to root for the geeky Watney and his quest to stay alive long enough for NASA to rescue him. I could not put the book down. The Martian is also a success story from an independent author point of view. This is Weir’s first novel and it was more a hobby to him than a career choice. By his own account he was not in writing to make a living. He hit the jackpot with his kindle book that snowballed into a traditional publishing deal and now a movie. It is every indy author’s dream and a one in a million circumstance. Kudos to Mr. Weir. I greatly look forward to his next novel. [Editor's Note] This book is perhaps one of all time favourites. It is packed full of proper science written in an engaging and exciting way. As a scientist I reveled in all the accurate little details, but non-scientists will appreciate the authenticity of the book. A must read!
This is the last time there will be a public vote for the Three Prompts contest. It is a little different to normal. You need to rate each entry out of 10. I will then add up the scores to decide first, second and third place. Also, please contact me if you are interested in becoming a regular judge for future rounds of Three Prompts.
The 8 week poetry workshop is back and is now on week 3. FSFS only.
The FSFS Review Board is open! All WdC members can view the list on the group homepage, "Fantasy and Science Fiction Society" . FSFS Members can view the list from the homepage, Review Board page and the Hub. To post on the board you need to review at least one other item on the list.
If you are not already a member and are interested in fantasy and science fiction writing, please read through the group homepage and apply using the application form. The only pre-requisite is that you have a fantasy or science fiction item in your portfolio. If you want to advertise in the FSFS Newsletter please contact me, Matt Bird MSci (Hons) AMRSC   .Newsletter Challenge  Each month I set a Newsletter Challenge. This challenge is open to the whole of writing.com, so you don't have to be an FSFS member to enter. Invalid Merit Badge #201075 In "October 2015" I asked you to write a piece of flash fiction in 10 words or less. Sadly, only 1 person entered this mini contest. However, I enjoyed the story so I will award the merit badge. I am pleased to announce the winner of the FSFS Merit Badge is.... writingbyjazzy with the flash: Finger over trigger. On the ground, lifeless, was the...fly. This month's challenge open to all of WdC is: Score the entries of Three Prompts using the "Invalid Item" . Everyone who fills out the voting slip will be entered into the draw. Thank you to all the members who submitted articles to the Newsletter. If you submitted an article that wasn't included, don't be offended. I can only fit so much in the Newsletter. Please submit it again when I send the call out for articles. Please comment on this Newsletter if you enjoyed it, or if you have any suggestions for future editions. |
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