Tag Archives: science fiction
What’s in a Name?
Naming my last book Endurance was easy. I had been inspired by Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctic adventure (misadventure) aboard his own Endurance. I even made the story time match the length of time he and his crew were stranded. I decided, however, not to destroy the ship. Honestly, his real story was so improbable that I […]
“I’m Somebody Now!”
I’ve been sitting on some news. I haven’t posted in a long time because I’ve been busy. You see, last fall I finished the sequel to Endurance. I sent it off to my publisher—you might have heard their squeals of joy. I signed the contract before they’d finished reading it, which made me very nervous. […]
Endurance Is a Winner!
In my first draft I buried the “lede,” so I’ll get it right out there: Endurance won a very nice Science Fiction/Fantasy award from the Golden Crown Literary Society. It comes with a very nice cash prize, too. I am, of course, thrilled. Endurance was also a finalist for the Ann Bannon Popular Choice award, […]
Endurance Is a Finalist!
I found out last night that Endurance is a finalist for the Golden Crown Literary Society’s Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award. This may not be a “big” award, but it’s one of the few groups devoted to promoting sapphic and women-loving-women literature, especially by small presses and indie authors. The big outfits, like Lambda Literary, […]
Writing Prompt: Solstice
I haven’t posted in a while. I’ve been busy working on a novel. Go figure. But here’s a ditty I wrote with my group just yesterday. Very stream of consciousness—I had no idea where I was headed. But l like it and could see it fleshed out sometime in the future. But for now, enjoy… […]
Writing Prompt: Noise
“Clack, clack, clack.” The metallic sound woke her, as it had every night since she was left alone. She lay still, feeling the chug, chug, chug, of her new heart. She’d never noticed the clacking before. Was it new? Was it a sign of some malfunction? Maybe just the new quiet of her house. No […]
Writing Prompt: A Struggle
Back to some writing. A short piece for you. I’ll say more on the other side… Why couldn’t she have a simple problem? Lots of her friends’ parents were divorced. They shuttled between them like that little fake-feathered thing in badminton. Shuttlecock. That was it. Perfect. Back and forth. If it’s Tuesday, this must be […]
My First Solo Author Reading
Last week I gave my first solo reading. And it was in person. I hadn’t done any public reading since my short story collection came out, but that hardly mattered. There’s a huge difference between being given five to ten minutes with a bunch of other authors and having to fill an entire hour by […]
So, Back to Writing
I’m reading a very cool book, In Search of the Canary Tree, by Lauren E. Oakes. It’s early yet, and in it she’s just starting her Ph.D. research project analyzing yellow-cedar forests on an island in the Alexander Archipelago of southeast Alaska, near Sitka. What does this have to do with writing? I’m enthralled by […]
Is It Bad for a SF Writer To Be Unimpressed by the Webb Telescope?
The long-awaited first images from the James Webb* Space Telescope were revealed the other day. Would it be heresy for this writer of science fiction to be meh about them? After all, I just released a novel about, well, space exploration. But like much of what I like to read, it’s about more than that. […]
Elaine Burnes 