If you look at the left column this morning, you’ll notice that we’ve cleaned out some old cruft, but more importantly, we’ve added the one new thing that a lot of writers have been asking to see:
The 2018 Stupefying Stories Submission Guidelines
Yes, we are open for submissions, but please, before you send us a story, read our guidelines. Better yet, read our guidelines, and then click on the SHOWCASE link in the left column and read a good sampling...
Monday, April 30, 2018
Sunday, April 29, 2018
Re: Assorted Reminders
Re: The Last Free eBook Friday
Just a quick reminder here that if you want to get the Kindle editions of Stupefying Stories issues #12, #13, or #14 free for the price of a click, you have 36 hours left in which to do so. As of midnight Monday, these books go out of print. If you want to sell a story to us, you really should read at least issue #13, and preferably all three....
Saturday, April 28, 2018
Introducing SHOWCASE SATURDAY!
Editor’s note: Today we’re [re]introducing a new/old feature on this web site; SHOWCASE, reincarnated as a weekly online fiction ‘zine. In the weeks to come you’ll be seeing new SF/F stories here every Saturday morning, and eventually even a serialized novel (we’re still working out the details), but today, to relaunch SHOWCASE, we’ve decided to go way back, to the place...
Friday, April 27, 2018
It’s the Last Free eBook Friday!
In preparation for the release of Stupefying Stories #21 next week, we’ve decided to give away the Kindle editions of issues 12, 13, and 14 absolutely free—but only until Monday. Tell your friends!
Stupefying Stories #12 features:
• ANACHRONIC ORDER, by Christopher Lee Kneram
• DRIED SKINS UNSHED, by
Julie Day
• A NUN’S TALE, Pete McArdle
• THEY FOLLOWED ME, by Carol...
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
Feeding the Muse
Recipe • 15-minute German Potato Salad • by Karen Bethke
I love the smell of charcoal in the early evening. It smells like... Hubby’s cooking dinner! Which means that my job is to park myself in a comfty chair, with a good book and a glass of wine, and provide the occasional encouraging word, until—
“Honey? What do we have for a carb?”
Sigh. Maeve will have to...
Sunday, April 22, 2018
SHOWCASE: “Earth Day,” by J.M. Perkins
For thousands of years, we did not understand our purpose.
Those were dark times, times when we poisoned the sky and soured the land against us. We flailed, searching, ever searching without knowing what we were searching for. We did not understand why we’d been given our gifts: our intellect and our too-cunning hands, the endless curiosity to tinker, and the hunger...
Friday, April 20, 2018
A Little Something for the Weekend
• "Waving Goodbye to The Librarians" By Eric Dontigney •
___________________________________________________________
The Librarians
Science fiction and fantasy are genres dominated by darkness. It’s inevitable. If you want to raise the stakes and create tension, you need a serious threat. If you’re writing a series, you must progressively double down on the threat...
Thursday, April 19, 2018
Talking Shop
Op-ed • “Blocked,” by Judith Field •
Time to over-share: I am what can only be described as verbally constipated. When it comes to writing, nothing will flow. All I manage to produce are those things that only a rabbit would be proud of…not for nothing do they call it writer’s block. But where is the Senokot, the cascara, even the vile castor oil, of the pen? Enough...
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
Notes Towards a Manifesto
Part 3 • “Where we’re going,” by Bruce Bethke •
This goes somewhere, but you have to read the entire thing. Trust me.
I’ve been trying on a lot of faces lately. Some are old. Some are new. Some come from deep in the catacombs of the ancient gallery.
After quite a few experiments, I’d settled on this one:
This is how I look now. Or at least, it’s close enough. This photo...
From the SHOWCASE archives...
• Fiction: “Sport of Kings” by Judith Field •
[Editor’s Note: In place of today’s scheduled “Feeding the Muse” column, Karen has asked that I re-run this story instead.]
Rick woke up, rolled over, and collided with something solid.
Stretching out a shaking hand, he opened his eyes. He was facing the
oak tree in the front garden. Rainwater dripped onto him from the...
Monday, April 16, 2018
Notes Towards a Manifesto
Part 2 • “Where we are,” by Bruce Bethke •
Funny how writing something out in detail and then letting it sit for a day before re-reading it can reveal a fundamental error in your thinking. When I wrote Part 1, I thought I had a solid grasp on the plan I was about to lay out in Part 2. I was going to spin a wonderful little analogy comparing Stupefying Stories to my garden,...
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Notes Toward a Manifesto
Part 1 • “How we got here,” by Bruce Bethke •
...and here we are, in the second week of April already. It’s 20-something degrees outside. There’s a fresh blanket of snow covering the yard, with more snow in the forecast. I’m standing at the deck door, sipping my coffee, looking out at the yard and the cow pasture beyond it, and thinking: looks like I’m not going to get...
Saturday, April 7, 2018
Just 15 hours left!
And already, we have our first 5-star review!
“I can’t make up my mind whether this or book 2 is my new favorite Vogel novel, but the Recognition trilogy is definitely my favorite Vogel series. It’s not only an excellent scifi adventure, but also has elements of a thriller, a mystery, and transformative fiction. It’s fun and geeky, but it also explores deeper questions about what’s really important in life, whether you’re a royal, a hacker, or...
Thursday, April 5, 2018
Just 60 Hours Left!
THE RECOGNITION REVELATION • by Henry Vogel
AMAZON COUNTDOWN DEAL! To celebrate the release of The Recognition Revelation, we’ve got special pricing on The Recognition Run and The Recognition Rejection, but for a limited time only. Buy ‘em now, because the clock is ticki...
Talking Shop
Op-ed • "Basic Rules for Plotting," By Eric Dontigney •
Plotting is one of those core elements that stress writers out. The underlying thought that drives that stress is this: “What if it I can’t resolve the novel?” It’s a fair concern. Most of us have read novels that were resolved only by the grace of a deus ex machina. Even though I don’t plot my novels in advance,...