This weekend links post is more of a "Sunday Links" post as I completely missed my usual Friday posting date, but that's what happens sometimes.
Here we go with this round of interesting and fun links:
So says Jason Stoddard when he talks about The Burden of the Modern Science Fiction Writer. He makes an interesting point. If science fiction is all about science, then only a thorough understanding of science, or at least the particular science around which the story revolves, will result in a believable story. Otherwise, he says, you get the kind of technical explanations that hearken back to the days of Golden Age SF.
It’s no coincidence that many of the people who wrote science fiction in the “Golden Age” were engineers, technicians, or scientists. Back then, if you knew something about electronics, mechanics, or propulsion, you were fully enabled to imagine the wondrous future that was coming: rockets to take us into space, helicopters to replace cars, household robots to mix your martini.
Last week, we told you about an unusual stargazing experience created by Venus and Jupiter coming into close proximity to the Moon. Here's what it looked like over Mumbai, India.
To those unaware, a new award for fantasy literature has been created, the David Gemmell Legend Award. The award is named in honor of deceased author David Gemmell’s first published novel, Legend. The award is meant to be given to a written work that is in the spirit of David Gemmell’s work.
…when you search on Google Book Search, you'll be searching across the full text of both books and an ever-growing number of magazines…
Whenever I teach I'm asked by newbies how to write that boring middle section of the book, the part between the electrifying opening and the dramatic conclusion. "You mean the plot?" I always reply.