A crumpled, typewritten page marked up with red pencil with strikethroughs and notes in the margins

Critiquing: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

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SpecFicWriters is primarily a critiquing group. It’s a skill like any other and must be learned. Developed. Practiced. We become better writers when we critique our fellow writers’ work and when they critique ours. It’s a great trade. At least, that’s the theory. Let’s look at The Good, The Bad, …

Silhouette of a man with outstretched arms standing in front a wall of monitors that make up a map of the Earth

Book Review: Where the Axe is Buried

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The Story In the future, an authoritarian regime named “The Federation” dominates its citizens through repressive technological surveillance and retribution. Their president, a man who maintains his grip on power by downloading his mind into successive bodies, faces a deteriorating body and a threat to his very existence. In Western …

Two stacks of books. One has fancy, glided hardcovers and the other generic paperbacks.

Good Books vs Good Stories

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Which would you rather read, a good book or a good story? The difference between the two has arisen a few times over the past couple of years as I’ve learned more about writing and publishing novels—and, of course, reading them. But which is more important? Which is better? A …

Four book covers from the series Adventures of a Jump Space Accountant by Andrew Moriarty

Book Series Review: Adventures of a Jump Space Accountant

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Wait! Did you say a Jump Space… Accountant? What is this? Something like, “Have actuarial table, will travel?” Well, not exactly. If you are into hard science fiction with a twist, check out this delightful series by Andrew Moriarty. Follow the adventures of Jake Stewart as he deftly slings data, …

Chronic Bilocation Syndrome

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One by one, the pieces fall away, dissolving faster the more I try to hold them. A house. It’s….  remember… gone. A game? Who was playing? And a… no. Think.

Something Eternal

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The viewing window curved inwards with a foreign planet beyond filling near to the edges. Teal waterways, too many to count, separated what must be thousands of islands along its surface, while white wispy clouds ever-so-casually drifted to an unseen current, giving the planet depth.

Woman's face hidden by lace veil and ornate eye mask

Pen Names: Veils and Masks

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How many writers use pen names, and why? Our Speculative Fiction Writers Association member directory shows about FORTY members who do, or about thirty-four percent! Member Examples One of our members (“Q2”) doesn’t want the readers of their fiction stories to stumble across the videos that Q2 produces in their …

Hollow Heaven

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Taking a courier package cross-sector? Dumb. Climbing an open comms tower in summer heat to shave an hour? Suicidal. But the bonus was 257 credits! That would pay my rent.

The Egg

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Gillian’s fame began as a kid, when she buried that egg.

She’s a great little sister, but you’ll see her craziness.  Like when she shredded fresh beets from our garden into the clothes washer

Two arms stretching across with fingers barely touching

Empathy & Character

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Empathy is not agreement. Empathy is “get”-ment. Empathy is a deep understanding of another person’s perspective and/or experience. But empathy does not start with understanding, it starts with a guess. Here, we’re gonna get into how to apply empathy to a character. On Empathy The essential question of empathy is: …