Letter from the editor – The Queen Exposed by Jean Asselin We live in “interesting” times, as the ancient Chinese curse goes, including the newfound interest in chess sparked by “The Queen’s Gambit” miniseries—which you should watch if you haven’t yet. The last time the game attracted such intense focus was during the [...]
Photos by Joanna Malinowska and Neven Krcmarek - remix by Carola Cox Letter from the editor – What Halloween Means to Me by Jean Asselin Sometimes the stars align. When we accepted a story with the word Halloween in the title—now the cover story for our 13th issue, no less!—we just knew that life, the universe, [...]
by Jalyn Fiske, Kristen Koopman, and Jean Asselin As writers ourselves, we understand the energy and passion that goes into writing stories, and we want you to succeed. Paramount to success is reading a market’s guidelines because they let you know: Who we are as a market; What we want for stories; When we [...]
Why does Science Fiction feel more satisfying in literature than in television series? In a word: Closure. [WARNING: Multiple spoilers ahead] Take Max Headroom, about a reporter taking on the corrupt TV media, or Brimstone, its strict sinners-go-to-hell universe in contrast with the shades-of-gray moral dilemmas faced by the protagonist. Both shows were cancelled [...]
Welcome to Ed Asteroid’s First Annual Flabbergasting SF! I am Daniel Manly, your intrepid, square-jawed, and very handsome guest editor. When I agreed to do this, I didn’t realize that April 1 comes every year. Who knew? So, we might do this again. Or we might not. I am a very busy, busy [...]
I want to discuss how SF does music, and music does SF. Music can be a critical component of the story. In Vance’s classic “The Moon Moth,” aliens confer social status according to an individual’s virtuosity on multiple musical instruments, without which they won’t give you the time of day. (For a more recent example [...]
Our namesake James Gunn, author, scholar, teacher, mentor, friend, and gentleman, passed away two days before Christmas 2020. At 97, he was the dean—easily by a dozen years— of living science fiction writers. To celebrate his accomplishments, I want to share some of his wisdom with you.
By fiction editor Jalyn Fiske Writing is such a slithery thing these days (or, perhaps it has been since days began). Markets want this kind of story, editors want that, and instructors teach something else entirely. I’ll give my two cents as Fiction Editor on what we’re looking for specifically at James Gunn’s Ad [...]
By Jean Asselin Over time, we learn the value of stressing the positive: what we’d do differently rather than what doesn’t work, what to strive for instead of what to avoid. Still, there is efficiency in prescribing “Don’t do ‘X’ in the fiction you submit.” Let ‘X’ be: “On its way to another star [...]
by Jean Asselin, Editor - Our namesake, James Gunn, says that fantasy and science fiction (SF) are literatures of discontinuity—the world of the story differs from the one we live in—with one essential difference.