Amazon is now monetizing fan-fiction. I mean, I guess? The press release (with scads more detail) is right here. I am of two minds on this. Maybe three minds. MAYBE… Read The Rest
(Source: maskedbrute)
3 days ago -
106
“And so it behooves us as authors of all shapes and designations and genital configurations (oh and I’m talking to you, too, publishers, if you’ll listen) to look deep into the hearts of our stories and to see if we’re leaning on lazy archetypes, stereotypes, conventions, historical myths or outright buckets of bullshit. I’m not saying that every book has to be some lectern-pounding exercise in social justice but damn, a little bit of social justice can’t hurt. Why can’t we talk to those we don’t normally talk to? Why can’t we serve the underserved and challenge the expectations of what has come before us? Ask questions instead of assuming answers. Why can’t we write books where we have complex and atypical female characters? Gay characters? Does your gay character have a keen fashion sense? Is your female character a mother figure or a rape victim? Is your African-American character a gangbanger? Is that Muslim character a cleric or worse, a terrorist? That’s not to say you can’t have these characters be complex and interesting — but take a long look and you might start to see some lazy, damaging, damning patterns.”
3 days ago -
28
“Half the world is full of women, but it’s rare to hear a narrative that doesn’t speak of women as the people who have things done to them instead of the people who do things. More often, women are talked about as a man’s daughter. A man’s wife.”
A must-read for any writer of fiction. And for anyone, y’know, existing in this world. Kameron Hurley wrote an incredible piece here.
4 days ago -
94
UNDER THE EMPYREAN SKY
Final cover!
Preorder (7/30): Amazon / B&N / Indiebound
Corn is king in the Heartland, and Cael McAvoy has had enough of it. It’s the only crop the Empyrean government allows the people of the Heartland to grow—and the genetically modified strain is so aggressive that it takes everything the Heartlanders have just to control it. As captain of the Big Sky Scavengers, Cael and his crew sail their rickety ship over the corn day after day, scavenging for valuables. But Cael’s tired of surviving life on the ground while the Empyrean elite drift by above in their extravagant sky flotillas. He’s sick of the mayor’s son besting Cael’s crew in the scavenging game. And he’s worried about losing Gwennie—his first mate and the love of his life—forever when their government-chosen spouses are revealed. But most of all, Cael is angry—angry that their lot in life will never get better and that his father doesn’t seem upset about any of it.
“Under the Empyrean Sky is an imaginative, page-turning adventure that will delight science-fiction fans and have them impatiently waiting for the next installment.” – Joelle Charbonneau, author of The Testing
“A lunatic, gene-spliced, biofueled thriller, Wendig’s story flies faster and slicker than his teen crews’ hover racers. Fear the corn.” – Tom Pollock, author of The City’s Son.
“Under the Empyrean Sky is like a super-charged, genetically-modified hybrid of The Grapes of Wrath and Star Wars. Wendig delivers a thrilling, fast-paced adventure set in a future agri-dystopia. Fascinating world-building, engaging and deep characters, smooth, electric prose.” – John Hornor Jacobs, author of The Twelve-Fingered Boy.
