Blog
Ahoy, Critterfolk!
New entry Dec 07
Critter Notices
Critters is 22!
Yes, 22 years ago Critters was born. Wow! Thanks so much to all of you, who've made it such a resounding success!
Books from Critters!
Check out Books by Critters for books by your fellow Critterfolk, as well as my list of recommended books for writers.
New Book from a Critter Member
**NOW IN
PRINT EDITION
TOO!** Awesome new book,
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SPECULATIVE FICTION OPENINGS,
from a Critter member whose unearthed a shard of The Secret
to becoming a pro writer. Really good piece of work.
"...if you're at all concerned about story openings, you'd be nuts not to read what Qualkinbush has to say." —Wil McCarthy, author of BLOOM and THE COLLAPSIUM
The Sigil Trilogy
If you're looking for an amazing, WOW! science fiction story, check out THE SIGIL TRILOGY. This is — literally — one of the best science fiction novels I've ever read.
P&E Has a New Caretaker!
I'm very happy to announce that P&E has been handed off to a new caretaker! Check out the site for news and such. Hurrah!
Interviewed!
I'm being interviewed live on public radio for Critters 20th birthday. For those who want to listen, it's on the 10am (Mountain time) show on Thursday, 11/19/16, on Colorado Public Radio - www.cpr.org has streaming on the site or it's 90.1 FM in the Denver area. [Interview is done, you can listen on the site]
Free Web Sites
Free web sites for authors (and others) are available at www.nyx.net.
ReAnimus Acquires Advent!
ReAnimus Press is pleased to announce the acquisition of the legendary Advent Publishers! Advent is now a subsidiary of ReAnimus Press, and we will continue to publish Advent's titles under the Advent name. Advent was founded in 1956 by Earl Kemp and others, and has published the likes of James Blish, Hal Clement, Robert Heinlein, Damon Knight, E.E. "Doc" Smith, and many others. Advent's high quality titles have won and been finalists for several Hugo Awards, such as The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy and Heinlein's Children. Watch this space for ebook and print editions of all of Advent's current titles!
Network speeding up
I'm switching the connection over to a new, shiny 10X faster network because of all the load. There might be bits of downtime as your boxes learn new addresses and things. Should be brief. Let me know of any prolonged outages you see.
Preditors & Editors Changeover
With the very sad passing of Dave Kuzminski, who ran P&E, I've taken over the P&E duties. Lots of what I hope are improvements; check it out at pred-ed.com.
Critters Server is Dying has been Replaced
See important details here in my blog. Let me know if you find anything that isn't working right. (Manuscripts are now available for this week, FYI.)
Book Recommendation
THE SIGIL TRILOGY:
The universe is dying from within...
"Great stuff... Really enjoyed it." — SFWA Grandmaster Michael Moorcock
Announcing ReAnimus Press
If you need help making ebooks from manuscripts or print copies—or finding great stuff to read—look no further! An ebook publisher started by your very own Critter Captain. (And with a 12% Affiliate program.) [More]
~~~
FEATURED BOOK
~~~
Weekly Notes
Notes for 18-Apr-2018...
Dave Truesdale at the eminent review site, Tangent Online, writes that
he needs more reviewers... Many Critterfolk have helped him out in the
past, so it's a good gig to get some visibility in the field.
Qualifications are as listed...
The usual disclaimers and requirements apply: As a fanzine *Tangent Online*
offers no pay; we do this for the love of genre and short fiction.
Prospective reviewers must have a working knowledge of the SF/F field and
be able to express themselves well in English (if not their first
language). Reviewers will be expected to review one item a month (or more
if they have the time and want to), at their choosing.
For those possibly interested, here is *Tangent Online*'s website:
https://www.tangentonline.com/
Prospects should email the editor at: tangent.dt1@gmail.com
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Helping the Critters Fund Drive this week are sales of the (Critter member and Hugo-finalist)
WALLS AND WONDERS by S. R. Algernon - $3.99
ReAnimus Press Store: www.ReAnimus.com/1583
Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B078GQ39KV/?tag=critters3a-20
(available in both ebook and paperback [$14.99, 323 pages])
If Hemingway wrote science fiction short stories... Including the Hugo award finalist "Asymmetrical Warfare." S. R. Algernon's science fiction evokes Hemingway's spare style and Philip K. Dick's plots, with stories collected from SF's top markets.
-+-
Thanks for the donations, folks! We are 94% of the way to the fund drive goal with contributions from 109 donors, leaving about $200 to go.
Thanks especially to
David Hughes
Mariam Melikadze
Esther Rosenow
Bill Leonard
Terrance Crow
for their recent donations to help keep Critters going. Much appreciated!
[See http://www.critters.org/donate.php for more information, including one-time and monthly Patreon-like donation options.]
-+-
This week's Most Productive Critter award, for 10 critiques (at time
of judging), averaging almost 500 words each, goes to...
Brian Blodgett
To redeem an MPC, visit: www.critters.org/usempc.ht
Congratulations! To everyone else -- Crit early and often!
(For an explanation of the MPC award, see the www.critters.org/award.ht page.)
-+-
Recommended Reading...
One of the best writing books - Secrets from the 6-time Best Editor
Hugo Award Master, Ben Bova: THE CRAFT OF WRITING SCIENCE FICTION THAT SELLS
http://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1144
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Critters Workshop
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This week we have... [get from http://www.critters.org/private/mss.php ]...
Title Author
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Week of 18-Apr-2018 (Crits due 25-Apr-2018):
F Comatose Darla Jackson -#27603
F The Wizards of Llandwellyn, Chapters 22-24 Eric Wilson -#27604
SF Fire Elementals Pete Koziar -#27605
SF Upon the Stair Amy Hammack Turner -#27606
F The Star of Asterion Kaitlyn Whipple -#27607
F Would You Bet On Sand or Stars? Renan Bernardo -#27608
F Flora and the Lost Child: A Glengarry Tale Matthew Rettino -#27609
F Grayland: When Dreams Come True Terry Volkirch -#27610
SF An Interested God, Chapter 3 Janet LayPort -#27611
F Marc Thyme P1 Bernard Davis -#27612
SF Miscalculation Alex Villepique -#27613
SF Gaia Crossing Mariam Melikadze -#27614
H Elijah and the Abyss Dave Riser -#27615
SF You Can't Even Call It A Rainbow Jefferson Retallack -#27616
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Recommended books on writing:
THE CRAFT OF WRITING AND SELLING SCIENCE FICTION by Ben Bova
ReAnimus Press Store: http://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1144
Amazon: http://Amazon.com/dp/B006MAZPEI
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SPECULATIVE FICTION OPENINGS By (Critter member) Robert Qualkinbush
http://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1184 | http://Amazon.com/dp/B007O272ZI
STAYIN' ALIVE - A WRITER'S GUIDE by three-time SFWA President Norman Spinrad
How things really work in the art and commerce of publishing
http://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1179 | http://Amazon.com/dp/B007SIC4I8
EXPERIMENT PERILOUS: THE 'BUG JACK BARRON' PAPERS by Norman Spinrad
(A 99cent essay on SF and writing)
http://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1180 | http://Amazon.com/dp/B007MF3MS8
Because you might enjoy it... THE WORLD AND THORINN by DAMON KNIGHT
Thorinn is thrown into a well by his father to appease the rumbling gods... and down he goes!
http://reanimus.com/store/?item=1496
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Pieces up for critique in other workshops...
In the lit workshop - http://critique.org/lit :
L My Outlaw Name Dave Schultz -#27573
L Celebrity crush cruising Seth A Hampton -#27574
In the mystery workshop - http://critique.org/mystery :
T The Man Next Door, Chapters 3 and half of 4 Michelle Godard-Richer -#27492
In the nonfiction workshop - http://critique.org/nonfiction :
NT The Significance of the Fronting of the Prepositional Phrase in the Text of Genesis 01 01 Rebecca Miller -#26818
In the script workshop - http://critique.org/script :
SC The Happiness of Chez Feliz Jerry Sexton -#27163
In the kids workshop - http://critique.org/kids :
YP The useless shrew diana aleksandrova -#27554
In the comics workshop - http://critique.org/comics :
CG Metropolise, Chapter 1 Carina Mchardy -#26473
In the western workshop - http://critique.org/western :
W A Message to Santa Fe, Chap 1-3 Frank Coombs -#25375
In the romance workshop - http://critique.org/romance :
R Blurred Lines Part Two Michelle Richer -#27476
In the video workshop - http://critique.org/video :
VS The Gallery of Henri Beauchamp Jay DeTalente -#21424
In the music workshop - http://critique.org/music :
MP The Shade Riders and Nocturnal Ned song Beth Zurkowski -#21675
In the photo workshop - http://critique.org/photo :
PH Dry Mud and Cinder Cone Bill Wight -#19627
In the art workshop - http://critique.org/art :
AI The Dark Jester in an Archway Joy Landa -#25620
In the website workshop - http://critique.org/website :
WW Ax-yZ The Creative Projects Platform Charles Gull -#27088
In the critters workshop - http://critique.org/critters :
F Comatose Darla Jackson -#27603
F The Wizards of Llandwellyn, Chapters 22-24 Eric Wilson -#27604
SF Fire Elementals Pete Koziar -#27605
SF Upon the Stair Amy Hammack Turner -#27606
F The Star of Asterion Kaitlyn Whipple -#27607
F Would You Bet On Sand or Stars? Renan Bernardo -#27608
F Flora and the Lost Child: A Glengarry Tale Matthew Rettino -#27609
F Grayland: When Dreams Come True Terry Volkirch -#27610
SF An Interested God, Chapter 3 Janet LayPort -#27611
F Marc Thyme P1 Bernard Davis -#27612
SF Miscalculation Alex Villepique -#27613
SF Gaia Crossing Mariam Melikadze -#27614
H Elijah and the Abyss Dave Riser -#27615
SF You Can't Even Call It A Rainbow Jefferson Retallack -#27616
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You might also like... ORION IN THE DYING TIME by BEN BOVA
Orion squares off against the dinosaurs to save the very fabric of spacetime
http://reanimus.com/store/?item=1417
Standard notes:
HELP:
If you need help with anything, see http://www.critters.org/help -- there
are FAQs and a form to ask questions.
HELPING CRITTERS:
Critters is donation funded & volunteer run, so if you'd like to
help out with our current fund drive or otherwise, please visit
http://www.critters.org/donate.php -- Thanks!!
HOW TO SEND CRITIQUES:
Remember to send the critiques directly to me, critters@critique.org, so
I can forward them to the authors _and_ give you credit for your effort.
Please send only one critique per mail message (makes it easier to
archive). Please make sure the "#" symbol and manuscript number are in
the email Subject: line, like Subject: #1234. (Conversely, if you want
ol' Aburt to personally read the message, i.e., it's _not_ a critique,
don't put a "#" in the subject or I won't see it. Also -- put my current
anti-spam code word in there: see http://www.critters.org/antispam.ht .)
You may also send your critiques via http://www.critters.org/webcrit.ht .
Note that all critiques will be available to everyone to read the next Saturday.
DIPLOMACY:
Remember, authors and critiquers, we're all friends here. Be polite. Be
considerate. Be tactful. You can say you thought a story was drivel in a
courteous way. Try to point out the good and the bad; offer alternatives
if you can. Never, ever, attack the author -- only the story. Authors:
Remember that some reviewers may lack tact. Try to be understanding,
but if you get any that you feel are just plain mean-spirited, too short
to be of any use, or too "feel good," let me know and I'll withhold the
reviewer's "credit" for that story and/or cajole them into something
more insightful. See http://www.critters.org/diplomacy.ht for more...
CRITIQUE LENGTH:
If you want to send a short critique that you know is too short for
credit (200 words or less of your own meaningful content) please put
"NC#" in the Subject (NC=No Credit, like Subject: NC#1234) -and- say
something like "not for credit" inside your critique. (Remember also that
for MPC purposes, a critique must be 300 words or more.)
CHATTING:
Comments -other- than critiques (such as discussion of the critiques,
or Woohoo! announcements, or chit chat) should be posted to one of the
official Critters discussion forums (See the http://www.critters.org/newsgroups.ht
web page for full info, guidelines, etc.) Don't post stories or critiques
(mail those to critters@critique.org).
QUOTING:
Please pare the ms. down if critiquing in-line (don't quote the whole ms.!).
Other format rules are at http://www.critters.org/format.ht .
EVERYTHING'S ON THE WEB:
Past reviews are on the web page. The current week's manuscripts are
also there, as are prior mss. and even some rewrites. There's a Master
Page Index (site map) with tons of links to common items.
AUTHORS:
Authors for this week -- if you aren't getting email'd critiques from
me (as they come in) within a couple days -- ask me and we can verify
I'm sending them to the correct address. (Send me a phone# in case I
can't get email to you.) Check the format of your story ASAP to make sure
it's all there and readable.
EMAIL ISSUES:
If you want to change your email address or preferences (# mss. emailed,
SF/F/H type, or whether you get the huge critique batches at week's end),
point your browser to http://www.critters.org/admin.ht . Please don't
ask me to do this by hand, it's quite a chore! (E.g., if you're going
on vacation and want to suspend mail from me -- do this before/after
your trip.)
BACKUP SITE:
If you're unable to reach www.critters.org to get manuscripts, I've set up
an emergency backup site at http://backup.critters.org where you can get the
week's manuscripts (but not much of anything else :-). Speaking of backups --
don't forget to back up your own manuscripts so you don't lose them!
QUITTING:
If you want to quit or go inactive, drop by http://www.critters.org/admin.ht .
DONATIONS:
Critters is funded by donations, so visit http://www.critters.org/donate.php
if you'd like to help out.
Because you might enjoy it... MAXWELL'S DEMONS by BEN BOVA
http://reanimus.com/store/?item=1331
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