Point of View

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Point of View: Running a Successful Contest

by
Scott

Hey all, We’re closing out the Queer Sci Fi Flash Fiction contest, and we’re about to get to the fun part – reading all the great entries that were submitted by y’all. We have 166 in all, from a great variety of writers and covering the LGBTIQA spectrum and the full gamut of speculative fiction themes. Well, I assume they do. You see, I haven’t actually read any of them yet. I am very careful not to do so before we start the judging, as I am compiling the file. We judge these stories blind – without knowing the author … Read more

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Point of View: The Balance

by
Scott sword

You can write whatever you want. No, seriously. You are a writer. If you want to write about the fine mesh of belly button lint, or wax eloquent in a poem about how sunlight glints off the dewdrops on a dandelion in the early morning, or even share your deepest, darkest sexual fantasy, you can do it. That doesn’t mean it’s going to sell. I’m preparing to write another novella – yes, I know, but I swear I have a couple novels in the pipeline too! This one is for a particular anthology I have my eye on for a … Read more

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Point of View: Writing Who You Know

by
reflection - Scott

There’s an age-old adage in the writing biz: “Write what you know.” This advice is suspect for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it’s difficult to apply as a science fiction/fantasy author. Tolkien didn’t “know” Middle Earth, not in the personal sense. And Anne McCaffrey probably never actually made it to Pern (though it would be really cool if she had). But the core sentiment of this adage is good – you need to do the research and get your details right. What about our characters, though? As an author, I draw on people I know … Read more

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Point of View: Here We Go Again

by
Scott

I am riding the crazy train again. In just two more days, I have not one but two new stories coming out – “Through the Veil” in the anthology “Myths Untold – Faery” and my story “Repetition” in the spring “MCB Quarterly”. So I am no longer an author – I am now J. Scott Coatsworth, master promoter of the works of the obscure author of the same name. Promotion is a totally different skill set from writing. As an author, we can hide away in our writer caves and forget to shower, burrowing down the rabbit hole after our … Read more

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Point of View: A Down Day

by
Scott Down Day

Sometimes you wake up feeling fresh and alive, newly attuned to the vibrations of the glorious universe, and ready to tackle the day and accomplish great things. This is not one of those days. Work is slow this month. I was harassed on Facebook by someone who took offense when I told them not to call me at 3 in the morning, at a phone number I had never given them. And life in general just seems a bit off the rails at the moment. I’ll get through it – I have a stubbornly optimistic personality. Throw me in a … Read more

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Point of View: Facing Down a Deadline

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Deadline - Scott

I’m an author. I know that comes with a certain amount of built-in idiosyncrasy: I carry a notebook to jot down ideas “on the fly” The radio has become a font of story ideas for me, and I am are often caught with a thoughtful expression on my face and my tongue between my teeth, contemplating the lyrics I have created a safe writers cave where I can retreat and shut the door on the outside world I may go for days without a shower I am writer – hear me roar. But there is one thing that has the … Read more

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Point of View: When it All Comes Together

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Today’s a momentous day for me. This morning, the Campfire Podcast launched the first chapter of my story “The Autumn Lands” – for the next two weeks, the story will unfold, day by day, on Vance’s fantastic chapter-a-day podcast: campfirepodcast.com It almost didn’t happen. Back in the late summer, my friends at Mischief Corner Books asked if I’d like to submit a story for their planned Fall-themed anthology. I was in the middle of a couple other projects at the time, and wasn’t sure I would have time to do it. But I looked through my stable of old stories … Read more

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Point of View: Banana Surprise, Alligator Feedings and Platypus Horns

by
Angel and Scott

Hey all… I just got back from Dreamspinner’s annual retreat. I had a fantastic time there with a bunch of QSFers, including but not limited to Angel Martinez, Jon Keys, Jamie Fessenden, Lloyd Meeker, Andrew Q. Gordon, Brandon Witt, Elizabeth Noble, Z. Allora, Shira Anthony, Skylar M. Cates, Wade Kelly, Gus Li, Clare London, Pearl Love, and Erika Orrick. If I left you out, I apologize in advance – it was a whirlwind! There were so many of us there, and I also met a bunch of fantastic non-QSFers at the retreat (or maybe future ones?) 🙂 Anyhow, I thought … Read more

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Point of View: Recognition

by
Vancy

We all want to make a little money in this business. Yes, most writers write because they can’t NOT write. Because there’s something inside each of us that drives us to express ourselves through the written word, putting out into the world the stories we see in our heads. But we also want to make a living at this grand creative act, so we can afford to keep doing it. And yet, there’s something else that most writers crave as much or more than financial compensation. We dream of that person at a con coming up to us and fangirling … Read more

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Point of View: Dreaming of Making the Leap

by
Scott

I want to be a full-time writer. I mean, yeah, it absolutely scares the shit out of me. But right now, I barely have the time to shave once a week (as you can see), let alone write all the things I want to write. And yet, when I think about it, I realize that there are so many things that could go wrong: 1) I Could Run Out of Ideas: It’s true. There are a limited number of ideas in my writer brain. Last time I checked, it was hovering around 13,276. If I had enough time, I could … Read more