“As the Moon Rises” • by Isabelle D’Amato

I hasten through the dark and snowy woods, as quickly as the poor horse will carry me.Dusk is falling fast and an icy wind is rising, piercing through my coarse peasant robe as if it’s barely there. Storm clouds scud across the sky, low and fast. In the distance, but not distant enough, a wolf howls, then another, and then yet another. Their voices stir the tiny hairs on the...

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Writing 101 • Sidebar: Visualization Techniques

Sometimes, when I’m having trouble writing a scene, I’ll take a step back from trying to express it in words and just try to see the moment in my mind’s eye. Where is this taking place? Who’s in the picture? What are they doing? What important things are in the picture? What’s about to happen to those people or those things?Sometimes an image comes readily to mind. Sometimes...

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“Outpost” • by Gordon Pinckheard

“Mother,” Isaac called out to the Colony’s management system, “I’d like to talk to someone Earthside.” Isaac was bored. He had finished lessons for the day and had seen quite enough of his classmates. He wanted a break from teenagers, some adult company, a face he hadn’t seen in a while. “Certainly, Isaac. Who would you like to speak to?” “Julie, if she’s available. Don’t...

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Writing 101 • No Session Today

Class cancelled. Last-minute schedule conflict. See you on Thursd...

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“Catgut Variations (on a G string)” • by M. David Blake

I once owned a violin, covered with green silk, wrapped in gold and gauze, bound with iron chains and hidden in a teak-wood cask. It was an odd way to keep a violin, I’ll admit.The violin was beautiful, almost iridescently grained, but as useless to me as an ostrich plume on a seal-clubbing expedition. No blow I could strike had any impact, and no stroke of my bow brought...

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Ask Dr. Cyberpunk • with your host, Bruce Bethke

And now, as <s>threatened</s> promised last week:INVASION of the DISCODROIDS!I’ve been taking some deep dives into the archives lately, to find the answer to the question that keeps coming back up: what inspired me to write “Cyberpunk?” The good news is that at the time, I kept detailed journals. The surprising discovery was that, while I’d always thought I’d...

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Writing 101 • Day 4 of 24: Why do you want to write?

Why do you write?You’ve probably noticed that thus far, I’ve scrupulously avoided talking about the special considerations involved in writing science fiction and/or fantasy, the mechanics of story construction and plot, my six can’t-miss secrets for getting an editor to buy your story, or any of the many other things people usually promise to deliver in a writing workshop,...

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