Having slept on it: this was good #SpecFiction, and as a parable about what should not happen, it's pretty good.

I just felt like the choices start getting less and less coherent; that might be the authors' point, but it makes for an unsatisfying story in some ways. I feel like many of the arguments I want to formulate here can be countered with "but it's a warning!" and that feels kinda empty.

Should you read it: Do you enjoy military fiction? Is geopolitics your jam?

I enjoy the way reading this sort of thing challenges me to imagine the past in new ways and opens space to speculate about many different possible cultures accompanying these practical lifestyle decisions. (2/2)

#archaeology #Neolithic #Britain #history #SpecFiction

As a huge fan of Ted Chiang's science fiction stories, I'm very excited to see him do a residency at the Santa Fe Institute:

Just as SFI’s scientists can’t predict what fresh perspective they might glean from conversations with Chiang, Chiang can’t predict whether those conversations will spur him to write new stories. He writes only when inspired.

Fingers crossed (and optimism!) that he finds that inspiration. Moreover, I think this approach is visionary, and that we should include more #scifi & #specfiction writers at our #science meetings:

Last summer, the normally reclusive writer took a more personal approach to contemplating big ideas when he joined a conference at SFI. The meeting had been convened to consider what a theory on life’s origins needed. What were the physical limitations of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe? Could intelligent life be constructed with different sets of molecular building blocks or did carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen need to be present for life to conjure? Chiang had been invited to offer an artistic perspective on the interface between intelligence and life.

https://www.santafe.edu/news-center/news/ted-chiang-joins-sfi-miller-scholars

If you like my writing, short fiction i authored is part of this queer pride anthology, Decoded 3 (my story is “Suspension” by KT Roth from June 16). Color pdf available for purchase here:
https://t.co/h6tVefceol

#AmWriting #Writing #WritingCommunity #SpecFiction #SciFi #SFF #ScienceFiction

Accompanying artwork by Sara Century

Steam punk spec fic where Ada Lovelace and Babbage invent forwards contract pricing on London commodities, coffee and tea and wool (instead of betting on horses). Then immediately discover optionality, risk on ships getting sunk, and gold options on California and Ballarat strikes, starting the options pricing revolution in 1849. Not 1979.

London becomes Chicago and New York all at once in Victoria's reign. The jackpot happens in 1875. Onward.

#specfiction #adalovelace #options

Boy I am agreeing with everything here! Especially "... that language is the most underrated special effect."

#writing #fantasy #SpecFiction #HighFantasy #AmWriting #GiftLink

https://tinyurl.com/ykxx2kjk

@damonyoung @alexadsett @MichaelPryor Hello, hello! Great to see the Australian #specfiction community growing on Mastodon!

Award nominations are still open for the BSFA awards (among others), so I thought I’d make a post with all of my eligible stories published this year!

Please do nominate a story if you enjoy it. https://www.bsfa.co.uk/bsfa-awards

1. The Creature (365 Tomorrows, January 2022) - https://365tomorrows.com/2022/01/15/the-creature/

2. The Spaceship of Theseus (Full House Literary, January 2022) - https://www.fullhouseliterary.com/prose-script/the-spaceship-of-theseus-by-rachel-handley

3. Heat (Ellipsis Zine, February 2022) - https://www.ellipsiszine.com/heat-by-rachel-handley/

4. The Sound (Sonder Magazine, Runner Up, Panorama Flash Fiction Competition, April 2022) - https://sonderlit.com/2022/04/27/runner-up-the-sound-by-rachel-handley/

5. Light (Medusa Tales, Issue 1, May 2022) - https://medusatales.com/light/

6. The Man of the Sand (Bear Creek Gazette, Issue 9, May 2022) - Pushcart Nominated! https://www.welcometobearcreek.com/the-man-of-the-sand

7. Judgement (Tree and Stone Magazine, Queer as F* Issue, June 2022) - Opens as a PDF - https://www.tree-and-stone.com/s/Queer-As-F-Issue_June-2022.pdf

8. Prime (The Martian Magazine, September 2022) - (My first pro sale! https://themartianmagazine.com/2022/09/30/prime-by-rachel-handley/)

9. Dear Angelic Members (365 Tomorrows, December 2022) - https://365tomorrows.com/2022/12/11/dear-angelic-members/

#writingcommunity #writer #author #eligibilitypost #BSFA #shortstories #sciencefiction #specfiction

Award nominations are still open for the BSFA awards (among others), so I thought I’d make a post with all of my eligible stories published this year!

Please do nominate a story if you enjoy it. https://www.bsfa.co.uk/bsfa-awards

1. The Creature (365 Tomorrows, January 2022) - https://365tomorrows.com/2022/01/15/the-creature/

2. The Spaceship of Theseus (Full House Literary, January 2022) - https://www.fullhouseliterary.com/prose-script/the-spaceship-of-theseus-by-rachel-handley

3. Heat (Ellipsis Zine, February 2022) - https://rachelhandleywriting.wordpress.com/heat/

4. The Sound (Sonder Magazine, Runner Up, Panorama Flash Fiction Competition, April 2022) - https://sonderlit.com/2022/04/27/runner-up-the-sound-by-rachel-handley/

5. Light (Medusa Tales, Issue 1, May 2022) - https://medusatales.com/light/

6. The Man of the Sand (Bear Creek Gazette, Issue 9, May 2022) - Pushcart Nominated! https://www.welcometobearcreek.com/the-man-of-the-sand

7. Judgement (Tree and Stone Magazine, Queer as F* Issue, June 2022) - Opens as a PDF - https://www.tree-and-stone.com/s/Queer-As-F-Issue_June-2022.pdf

8. Prime (The Martian Magazine, September 2022) - (My first pro sale! https://themartianmagazine.com/2022/09/30/prime-by-rachel-handley/)

9. Dear Angelic Members (365 Tomorrows, December 2022) - https://365tomorrows.com/2022/12/11/dear-angelic-members/

#writingcommunity #writer #author #eligibilitypost #BSFA #shortstories #sciencefiction #specfiction

Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury) – This McCarthy-era classic presents a dystopia of #BannedBooks where Firemen are responsible for burning #books and the knowledge they contain as American gathers around the mindless chatter of TV instead.

I have been a little divided on this, feeling it a little reductive & with slightly frustrating prose. But also one of those novels, like 1984, that often gets trotted in facile indignation at particular criticism.

#Booktoot #Bookstodon #SFF #SciFi #SpecFiction

@begaydocrimes

Maybe some hashtags to help people find it, and you? :) #trans #robot #transrobot #lgbt #lgbtSF #SpecFic #specFiction #speculativeFiction #KiraLeigh #ConstelisVoss

Ooh, I did not love this one, which was a disappointment. Anyone else read this? #amreading #SpecFiction

The Poetry of Prose: A Conversation with Nisi Shawl by Arley Sorg
https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/shawl_interview/
#SpecFiction #AmReading

PART 2
Currently querying "Querida:" a #SpecFiction #novel.
Coming in 2023, "La Canción de Anacagüita," is a #PictureBook written in #decimas.
"Bellows: Fables from the Musical Underground," and other published collections, #ShortStories, #CNF, etc at the linktree - linktr.ee/rchopgood.  

I cherish the possibilities and embrace the contradictions of being human.
I'm an #AntiImperialist, and generally think many of the ails of our world are tied to the imperialist mindset of those in power. 2/3