What is that elusive concept in writing known as voice? Plot, character, setting, world building, theme: all of these aspects of fiction, while complicated in their own right, are at least fairly simple to explain as basic concepts. But for me, voice has always been trickier to talk about in an intelligent way. I know [...]
Archive for the ‘Science fiction and fantasy’ Category
YA or Adult? How to Tell Them Apart
Posted in Science fiction and fantasy, Writing, tagged Amy Sundberg, boy book, dystopia, girl book, narrative voice, POV, writing, YA on January 26, 2012 | 8 Comments »
I was talking to a new friend at Epic ConFusion about YA and the difficulties that many newcomers to the genre (especially those writers who started in adult markets) have in identifying it. This may be the reason why we keep getting these awful panels at sf/f cons that devolve into an hour-long discussion trying [...]
Enough with the Dead Dogs!
Posted in Writing, Science fiction and fantasy, tagged Amy Sundberg, dead dogs, emotional manipulation, I love dogs, Nala, tropes, writers, writing on January 19, 2012 | 20 Comments »
My husband often reads out loud to me before we go to sleep. We most often read children’s classics and more recent middle grade novels because I want something interesting but not so exciting that I can’t go to sleep. We’d just finished a few books by Bruce Coville (if you’re interested in MG fiction [...]
Symbol of the Year…not to mention Award Season
Posted in Life, Science fiction and fantasy, tagged Scythe, symbol, awards, Campbell Award, Hugo Award, Nebula Award on January 5, 2012 | 9 Comments »
Yesterday, I received my symbol of the year in the mail. Yes, it is the Scythe from Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 7. Full geek points to you if you recognized it. For those of you not familiar with the show, the Scythe is a mystical weapon forged for the Slayer (into every generation [...]
My Top 10 Reads of 2011
Posted in Science fiction and fantasy, tagged Among Others, Amy Sundberg, Anna and the French Kiss, book love, books, Kingdom of the Gods, Red Glove, The Broken Kingdoms, The GIrl of Fire and Thorns, The Lions of al-Rassan, The Map of Time, Under Heaven, Where She Went, Zoo City on December 13, 2011 | 9 Comments »
As the year draws to a close, my attention turns to the list of books I have read this year. I’ve been keeping track for the last three years, and I’m surprised at how much pleasure this small habit gives me. I only write down the books I have finished, which eliminates many books every [...]
Science Fiction: Have We Gotten Too Depressing?
Posted in Science fiction and fantasy, Writing, tagged ambiguity, Ender's Game, nihilism, optimisim, positivity, sad endings, science fiction, Song of Ice and Fire on November 15, 2011 | 11 Comments »
I’ve recently stumbled over a conversation in SF circles about the dearth of positive written science fiction, in spite of the demand for such stories from readers. Not that this is a brand new conversation in the genre; while attending my first Worldcon in Montreal back in 2009, I met Jetse de Vries, who was [...]
Where are my New Comfort Books?
Posted in Science fiction and fantasy, Writing, tagged A Civil Campaign, Agatha Christie, Amy Sundberg, Anne of Green Gables, book love, character-driven novel, comfort books, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, reading, To Say Nothing of the Dog on October 27, 2011 | 7 Comments »
Some of my favorite novels are ones in which nothing much happens. That’s not to say that nothing at all happens, or that the stakes aren’t sometimes raised, but the story unfolds in a leisurely, unrushed sort of way, allowing me to feel like I’m really getting to know the characters and being allowed to [...]
To Infinity and Beyond
Posted in Science fiction and fantasy, tagged Amy Sundberg, optimism, science fiction, space, space opera, space race, space travel on September 6, 2011 | 11 Comments »
Sometime in the last few months, I read someone’s Tweet about space travel. I don’t remember who it was, but they said something to the effect of how science fiction set in space felt irrelevant or dated to them. Like it was nostalgia and nothing more. Of course, this was right around NASA’s final space [...]
Forever Sixteen: Perpetual Adolescence
Posted in Arts, Science fiction and fantasy, Writing, tagged aging, Amy Sundberg, change, Daily Science Fiction, Forever Sixteen, sale on August 2, 2011 | 18 Comments »
I have the pleasure of announcing that my story “Forever Sixteen” is now up on Daily Science Fiction’s website. I’ve been very excited ever since I sold the story back in March, and I’m thrilled that it’s now available for everyone to read. The main character is a girl whose aging and development has [...]
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