Welcome Speculative Fiction Authors & Readers! > Likes and Comments
Hi, Here's my latest book and a link to my website. Abby believes the clickings she hears in the fillings of her teeth are messages from aliens. She's right? But where will it all lead. www.emandyves.com
Lunacy. Telling more would be spoilers, but the title should give it away that the moon is involved. ^_^
I write speculative fiction from a Christian viewpoint. My published works so far are a novel called The Land Beyond the Portal and a short story called Vapors, and my second novel, Rage's Echo, will be released at the end of 2013. You can find out more about me and my writing at www.jsbaileywrites.com and www.facebook.com/jsbaileywrites. Happy reading!
On my blogsite, INDIETRIBE, I will showcase your book for free. Effectively, you review it yourself, 'selling' it to potential readers and take advantage of what is actually a free advertorial.Check out the latest INDIETRIBE SHOWCASE http://theindietribe.wordpress.com/20...
My first work Hickies is a psychological novela about what things might be like when human clones are living among us. It is not sci-fi, but rather uses the futuristic theme to explore what it means to be human.In the same volume are 4 short stories which could also be classified a psychological.
I've written a couple other books as well, which can be ordered via a number of ways. See this web page for more info.
Hi. Some of you may have already read my novella, The Death Trip, which is FREE on Kindle and Smashwords. I'm here to announce a new novella, Schrodinger's Telephone. Schrodinger's Telephone was written more for fans of The Twilight Zone than of Twilight. It's only 99 cents on Kindle (free for borrowing to prime members). Reviews and ratings would be most welcome!
HiI'm just curious, but what is speculative fiction, and how is it different from science fiction? I've heard of it before, but I've never had anyone explain the difference to me.
Thanks!
Rachael wrote: "HiI'm just curious, but what is speculative fiction, and how is it different from science fiction? I've heard of it before, but I've never had anyone explain the difference to me.
Thanks!"
Hi Rachel,
I'm new to this thread, but I think I'll take this on. I think of speculative fiction as fiction that is less concerned with the "science" part of science fiction, and more concerned with how it impacts on human beings.(It isn't "different from" science fiction. It's more a sub-genre of science fiction). Maybe that's what all good sci-fi is about in any case. It's probably easier to think in terms of examples. If you go back to Harlan Ellison's brilliantly edited "Dangerous Visions" anthologies, you'll see it. In terms of some classic sci-fi, Arthur C. Clarke's story The Star would be a good example. It's almost anthropological in nature. How do you human beings adapt? How do they cope or evolve?
If I may way in. Marion it's interesting that I go in almost the opsite direction from you for meny of the same reasions. I see science fiction as a sub set of speculitive fiction. To me speculitive fiction embraces science fiction, fantasy, modren fantasy all the fiction forms with an eliment of the fantastic with the posible exception of horror depending on the story. I do agree with you that much of it is almost anthropological in nature. Funny how simular reasioning can lead in different directions. :-)
Stephen wrote: "If I may way in. Marion it's interesting that I go in almost the opsite direction from you for meny of the same reasions. I see science fiction as a sub set of speculitive fiction. To me speculitiv..."According to Wikipedia, you may be more technically correct on this than I am. It sounds like your meaning was the original intent and may have been coined by Heinlein. "My" interpretation seems to come from Harlon Ellison and is a relic from the 1970s.
Mine does have the advantage that SF cons can keep their names. :-) There is so much verity now it's hard to know whats what.
Thanks to Rachael, Marion and Stephen for the interesting debate about whether speculative fiction is a subset of sci-fi, or vice-versa. In either case, I am happy to see that I've chosen the correct forum for my work. (I wasn't sure at first). As noted a few comments above,My first work Hickies is a psychological novela about what things might be like when human clones are living among us. It is not sci-fi, but rather uses the futuristic theme to explore what it means to be human.This would then qualify as a work of speculative fiction, correct?
Actually from your discription I'd peg it as Socilogical Science Fiction that's Science Fiction where the "Science" mainly serves to facilitate the exploration of the social theams. By the By Jerry are you planing on promoting yourself through the cons at all? If you are we should chat I might be able to give you a couple of heads up.
Hello everyone.I'm Cameo MacPherson author of the light fantasy comedy/romance Dead in Bed. It's set in a modern day world where zombies are a part of everyday life. (Or afterlife, as the case may be.)
You can find it on Goodreads here http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17...
or Amazon here:http://www.amazon.com/Dead-in-Be...
Thank you.
Stephen wrote: "Actually from your discription I'd peg it as Socilogical Science Fiction that's Science Fiction where the "Science" mainly serves to facilitate the exploration of the social theams. By the By Jerry..."Thanks for the advice. Does GoodReads have a forum specifically for Sociological Science, or should I stick to Speculative Fiction?
I don't even know what 'the cons' are. Obviously, then, this means was not in my mind. But that is not to say I would not be interested. Please tell me more.
Con is short for Science Fiction Convention. Generally it's best to find them on the net and look at the list of Panels to determine if a particular con is right for you. The largest I’ve been involved with is Fan expo where I was an author guest in Toronto that had 85,000 attendees last year. Some cons specialize in a narrow focus such as animay others are more general and have literary streams that discuss the writing process and how to market yourself. Think of a face to face Good Reads with folk ranging from fans to big names in the various entertainment fields. Generally there is a vender’s room where you can rent a table and sell your books as well as opportunities to be on panels and get involved directly with the core science fiction fantasy horror audience. I’ll include a list of cons I have done. These are all in the general area of Southern Ontario but there are others dotted all over the world. Give the websites a gander and see if they are up your street.Ad Astra 2010, 2011, 2012: http://www.ad-astra.org/
Eerie Con 2011, 2012: http://www.eeriecon.org/
SFContario 2010, 2011, 2012: http://2012.sfcontario.ca/
Faery Fest 2012: http://www.faeryfest.com/
Fan Expo 2012: http://www.fanexpocanada.com/
World Fantasy 2012: http://www.wfc2012.org/membership01.html
Man Myth and Magic show 2012: http://manmythmagic.ca/
Generacon 2012 : http://www.genrecon.com/guests/stephe...
Con-G 2012: http://con-g.com/
I will mention that there is a full range of ages and I have sat on panels with a man that worked on the Mars Landers as well as award wining authors and a group of other individuals that would do any university faculty proud.
In general they are fun but also a really good way to become known to potential audience.
I'm not sure if Good Reads has a socological SF section or not but generally for sales it is best to be seen on all relaited threads.
Thanks for correcting my ignorance, and for the references. It will be some time before I act upon this information, since I'm currently living in Central America, and will not be attending any of these conventions in the foreseeable future. But I appreciate the heads up nonetheless, and will keep these references on hand.I do not see a sociological fiction or psychological fiction forum on GoodReads. You may see my presence soon in the Games forum, since i have a couple of Sudoku books that i would like to start promoting as well as my Psychological Fiction book.
I've seen speculative fiction used both ways: as an umbrella term for anything other than real world or as a sub-genre of scifi. My impression is that it's mostly used in an attempt to separate more thoughtful scifi from the space opera/alien/raygun/ tentacle variety. Speculative fiction creates a future or alternate world to provide a "what-if" setting where some aspect of human behavior can be explored. Good examples include Margeret Atwood's A Handmaid's tale, Ursula LeGuin's The Left Hand of Darkness or Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. These are all books that are clearly not real world, with complex themes and little or no reliance on sensationalism, violence or whizbang technology.
Based on David's description, I believe my novel Twin-Bred is a good fit for this category. I would humbly submit that it is, in fact, "thoughtful scifi." (It also has some thematic overlap with The Left Hand of Darkness.) Twin-Bred asks the question: can interspecies diplomacy begin in the womb? . . .
Jerry, glad I could help. Poke around a bit and you may find something local. I know the world cons move each year and are truely international. It must be nice to be in the tropicks. We had snow here again yesterday. Cheers.
Thanks, StephenI have just added my two Sudoku books as promised, and so have joined the Goodreads Games forum as well. My website's Books page shows all my books, along with links and discount codes for ordering them through the on-demand publisher CreateSpace.com.
After all the comments above, I think I'll add my book to this list. It's already in the Sci-fi one, but I think Spec Fic might be a better descriptor.
I've gone back and forth on calling my book sci-fi or speculative fiction. Both seem right and both seem wrong. I like quite a few of the descriptors that commenters have provided for both.Maybe I just need to learn to be happy with both labels.
My book is Five's Fate
Hey guys! :) My book is speculative fiction - dystopian/utopian mix, actually. Called The Burning of Cherry Hill. Thought I'd add it to the list. :)
Don't miss this major Kindle ebook promo.99¢/£0.77
Since Tomorrow is “...on a par with McCarthy's ‘The Road’… Nyberg’s tour de force”: Michael Johnson's review.
The regular ebook price has been $4.97. It can be downloaded it until May 12 from Kindle for 99¢/£0.77. I might extend the promo, based on demand.
Daimones is volume one of a speculative sci-fi, PA trilogy. 47 reviews on Amazon, 79 rankings and reviews on GR.The second volume is to hit the virtual and real shelves in a few weeks.
By the time you go through the 330 pages of Daimones, "Once Humans" might be there too ;)
Someday the Stars -- Book II in the saga of the Lunar Free State is now available, and I've just listed it for a Goodreads giveaway (5 author-signed copies). The Lunar Free State has grown and prospered in the ten years since Ian Stevens and his people established themselves on the Moon; but something is about to happen which will change our view of the universe, and once again involve the LFS in a struggle for survival. In the course of that struggle, they'll get their first hint of a galactic mystery surrounding the origin of the human species.
The giveaway only runs through June 2, so don't forget to sign up if you are interested. Here's the giveaway link:
http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...
And for those who haven't read it yet, The Moon and Beyond (Book I in the LFS series) is still available.
Here's my latest release. Why, when Emily doesn't believe in heaven, is she so sure there's something and someone "up there?"
Leonie wrote: "After all the comments above, I think I'll add my book to this list. It's already in the Sci-fi one, but I think Spec Fic might be a better descriptor."So I should probably post its title and a blurb, then!
"For Shanna, joining the Scout Corps had been a dream come true. The Scouts were charged with expanding their knowledge of Frontier, a hostile planet their ancestors had crashlanded on 300 years before. As the youngest in her class, Shanna struggles to find acceptance and respect amongst her older peers - a task made more difficult by the fact that she has not just one, but two of the colonists' huge feline companions, their starcats.
On a routine patrol, she and the other cadets are swept up in the greatest challenge yet to be faced by the settlers of Frontier. Now they find themselves on the very frontline of a war they knew nothing about, and possibly the Federation of Race's last chance against the hostile Garsal. Suddenly their world has changed, and in ways never dreamed of by Shanna and her fellow scouts."
Hey fellow SciFi/Speculative fans & authors,I just got unexpected news a few days ago: My debut SciFi novel was featured in the Examiner as one of the "top 5 indie books you haven't read, but should."
http://www.examiner.com/list/top-5-in...
At least through May, the ebook is $0.99 through Amazon/paperback is $8.99: http://amzn.com/B009EA9008
The Northern Star: The Beginning
Congratulations Mike! That's fantastic!
And I like the blurb. It's now on my to-read list!
Leonie wrote: "And I like the blurb. It's now on my to-read list!"Thanks Leonie! It was a very pleasant surprise. Hoping to have the follow-up out by July (about 75k into 105k of the 2nd draft).
Have a great weekend.
-Mike
I write fantasy and horror. My latest is a novelette from MuseItUp Publishing.
Here's the blurb:
On a lonely country highway, a young travelling salesman runs down a teenage girl. It was an accident. Why she was wandering around on a highway in a pink, formal dress, he can’t imagine. There’s no doubt she’s dead. Fear takes over and he flees the scene, absently taking one of her shoes with him. An old memory, something familiar about that shoe, struggles to surface. As he speeds away from the accident, he thinks his nightmare can’t get any worse, until he sees a pair of green eyes in his rear-view mirror. The shoe and those eyes lead him to a small town where he meets an all too knowing preacher and a sheriff obsessed with the girl’s tragic demise. As Paul digs deeper into the mystery of the girl and her shoe, he comes face-to-face with a dark secret from his father’s past.
Hi I think SALVATION JANE qualifies as speculative fiction, it's set in Australia just a few years in the future when the economy is in a mess and harsh new vagrancy laws have been enacted.
SALVATION JANE is a change of genre. I never thought I'd write a book about Australian politics. It was inspired by the emergence of Australia's working poor-
caught between the Rock of Inflation and the Hard Place of their pay-packets.
Since the 1970s, there has been a period of almost constant economic growth in Australia but only a small number of Australians have benefitted. According to a Salvation Army survey 90,000 West Australians sought help with basic essentials from the charity last year.
Traditionally the charity’s clients are on welfare benefits, last year their ranks were increased by the working poor who can’t make ends meet in Boom Town.
Now with the iron-ore train about to derail and the Government with no policies in place to help the poor, I decided the time was right to write a book to provoke discussion about the issue.
SALVATION JANE is a fast paced contemporary political novel woven in reality and based on the 1990s conspiracy to have political rival, Pauline Hanson jailed for electoral fraud. It confronts head-on one of the most current issues of the decade: Australia’s working poor.
Briefly, Jane Patterson, a Perth refuge owner turned politician starts a new political party, APP (Jane Patterson’s Anti-Poverty Party). APP galvanises the marginalised poor and a frightened government plots to destroy her.
Back on my soap box--I wrote the novel to draw attention to the erosion of egalitarianism and the emergence of a selfish mind set. As well I wanted to make the point that people do not have to meekly accept what is dished out; they can stand up and fight back.
Sounds heavy doesn't it? It isn't - I think Jane Patterson's romp down the corridors of power will produce a smile and a tear or too.
Read about my writings at http://www.AnnMassey.com
Hi, My story is based in Albany Western Australia at a place called Emu Point. It is a beautiful place that when you go there you do not want to leave. But the series of books which are written for children are about a little girl who with her Grandmother and a little troll named Poppy go on an adventure to save a ghost child from an evil witch. Lots of magic and magical creatures. Granny Ann and Poppy live on a farm cottage and Mary Sumeridge her grand daughter lives at Emu Point. I am hoping that children will love the first story and want the next. I am writing the third now but I must admit I think I need a little rest. I really love a lot of what I read above me and can not wait to read some of them. I will tell you more about my series closer to the release date. Mary Filmer Children's Author.
Hi - I'm here to introduce my book
- a speculative modern dystopian effort - I hope you enjoy it - Cheers Arun
Hi Everyone,I'm Wendy Joyce, author of The Anomaly. To learn about my novel, you can read an excerpt, enter the Giveaway, visit my Goodreads page, or peruse my website, www.wendyjoyce.com. To plug it further would be to deviate from my purpose in writing this post, which is...What Is Speculative Fiction?
Though the topic was addressed months ago, I want to add my two cents, however untimely it may be. (I just joined this group today.)
Speculative Fiction does not have a deep root nor a peaceful beginning. Fifty years ago, these novels of the "Weird" ilk were few. Though they lacked a premise in science and a theme of technology, they were often classed as Science Fiction. The Sci-Fi folks tolerated them at best, snubbed them at worst.
Then came the '60s, and with it, a growing popularity for Weird, which started with movies and television--Hitchcock, Thriller, Twilight Zone. Then novelists jumped on the trend, and whoosh, the Sci-Fi shelves in bookstores became laden with Weird, to the outrage of its fans. Their outrage, however, was well founded. Most fiction readers, myself included, dabble across genres; suspense today, mystery tomorrow, horror next week. We may prefer one genre over another, but we're not married to it. We're a fickle lot; we'll read whatever seems intriguing.
Conversely, Sci-Fi folks are a dedicated lot, less flexible than steel. Rarely, if ever, do they read outside their genre. They don't bend to trends, they're not swayed by promotions--Best Seller and Book of the Year--and they don't dabble outside their game. No other genre can boast such loyalty. But these qualities were both their strength and their undoing.
When Weird invaded their shelves, they roared to the publishing industry, "You're eroding the structure that defines our genre." The industry, comprised of agents, publicists, reviewers, advertisers, publishers, and promoters, spent billions of dollars annually to convince readers to buy their books, but neither their efforts nor their monies could effectively steer the Sci-Fi folks. Sci-Fi readers buy Sci-Fi and only Sci-Fi; they were immune to persuasions to do otherwise. That immunity hardly keeps an industry's dollar-wheel greased. So to Sci-Fi's outcry, the industry replied with an apathetic shrug. "Deal with it." That was predictable; Sci-Fi's response was not. They waged a war.
Sci-Fi fans wrote articles and published essays, they organized and appointed leadership. Conventions open to all writers became conventions without Sci-Fi; they started their own. As their numbers grew so did their outrage until finally a compromise was reached. Weird would be a subgenre, and Sci-Fi could define it. Unfortunately, their disdain for Weird kept leaking into the definition: "It's fiction that does not engage your brain nor advance any science. It's weird for the sake of being weird, mindless and self-serving." (Gee, let's rush to have that tag.) The titles they considered were equally unflattering. Weird Fiction, Bizarre Fiction, Slipstream. (Although Sterling gave Slipstream an atrocious definition, I wish the title had stuck. I personally liked it.)
This orphaned child of Sci-Fi became Speculative Fiction...and it does have identifiable characteristics. It crosses genres, usually three. It has either one or two personified objects or a mythic being. And it's platformed in reality.
A recent example is Lincoln the Vampire Hunter. Earth/Lincoln/History is the reality platform. Vampires are the mythic being. And it crosses horror with action/adventure.
My novel, The Anomaly, is also Speculative Fiction. Earth/History/Present Day is the reality platform. The afterlife is the mythic element. And it crosses mystery, suspense, and adventure. That said, had there been an alternative to Sci-Fi's subgenre of Speculative Fiction, I would have seized it. In a heartbeat, I would have seized it.
When Sci-Fi readers browse for books, they limit their search to Sci-Fi...and will ignore Speculative Fiction. Other book browsers will search mystery, general fiction, suspense, horror...places where Speculative Fiction might not show up because it's under the umbrella of Science Fiction.
Unless and until Speculative Fiction is recognized as a distinct genre, it will languish in the shadows, unlikely to gain a reader following.
Wendy JoyceThe Anomaly
Hm.For me Wendy--ALL fiction is speculative. "What if?" is the foundation of any piece of fiction. And the speculative aspects of the works you pointed out--is true of any mixture---Highlander heroes and contemporary reality-based fashionistas, Vampires living in Forks, WA a real town in Washington state.....I don't feel "Speculative Fiction" is an ugly step child muddying up reality and the paranormal, let's say. Its kind of a sub-genre label, like fantasy romance, time-travel, werewolves on motorcycles. All of these cross genres: romance and horror, romance and fantasy even science fiction has vampires...
I read just about anything: I'm omnivorous. And to me speculative fiction is less specific and more a generality, an umbrella that covers all my favorites: Science fiction, fantasy, paranormal, etc.
My first novel "The Elf Lord's Revenge" is sort of a red-headed stepchild---I have set it in 1843 Altadena, Alta California...with elves living in exile in the mountains above a rancho...so where does this go? I pick historical fantasy...but really it's pretty darn speculative too...Not too many novels with elves in old California out there....
It will find its niche and hopefully its readers and fans...
The Anomaly will find its fans too.
Keep writing!
True, Arabella, ALL fiction is speculative...but very little of it fits within Speculative Fiction. (The title does not define the subgenre; they could have, just as easily, settled on Weird Fiction, Strange Fiction, or Slipstream.) When I listed the characteristics of Spec Fiction, I should have included their sum; it gives the reader an odd feeling (or “weird feeling” as the Sci-Fi folks describe it).
Returning to my prior example, Lincoln Hunting Vampires, we’re reading about an historical figure, our 15th President, his habits, his family, his politics...and he’s killing vampires. (Is the author suggesting that President Lincoln believed in vampires? Or that vampires once existed? That's the odd-feeling, for however long it lasts. But to it, I answer, “Who cares? If it wasn’t about Lincoln, I wouldn’t have read the book.”) Similarly, The Anomaly takes the reader into the Alaskan Gold Rush and through an historical event—the Chilkoot Avalanche, 1898--all depicted as it actually occurred...except the narrator is in afterlife. (No, not like Lovely Bones, which had a dreamy, reflective voice pondering feelings and emotions. The Anomaly has a declarative voice, which is unchained to dogmas and to the morality lessons they tend to teach [preach].
Both Lincoln Hunting Vampires and The Anomaly glue historical facts with fiction.
Now I’ll go to the second post in this thread, Darlene’s post: Abby believes the clickings [sic] she hears in the fillings of her teeth are messages from aliens. When I read that, I made a note to check out her book...because I LOVE Speculative Fiction. (Just because I described the battering and criticism it received, doesn’t mean I think Spec Fiction deserved it. On the contrary, I LOVE Speculative Fiction—love to write it; love to read it—but it’s very difficult to find.) Let’s work Darlene’s premise through the genres. Horror: Aliens emerge from Abby’s fillings to lay its eggs within the cavity-cradles of her neighbors’ mouths. Adventure: Having deciphered the alien’s code, Abby drives into the desert where she is beamed aboard their ship to learn about their species. Paranormal: The aliens lead Abby to ancient stones that enable her to read minds. Fantasy: The code is a cry for help that pulls Abby into another world, a place of talking beasts, of wicked sorcery, and of dark magic. Romance: An alien has fallen in love with Abby and the clicking is its marriage proposal. [Pretty lame, huh? I just don’t read or write romance.] Now Speculative Fiction: Abby discovers that the amalgam alloy has been leaking mercury. [Everything on this point should be factually based, including the molecular components of fillings and the existing controversy over mercury leaks.] Abby later learns that NASA uses the same two metals, XX and XX, in their satellite stations to receive signals from space. [I made that up versus doing hours of research to provide a factual example.] However it plays out, it would give the reader a tiny, tiny pause, “Is my clicking coming my misaligned jaw...or does my amalgam also contain this transmitting metal?”
By your description of The Elf Lord’s Revenge, its placement in Fantasy seems a perfect fit...and I intend to read; the premise intrigues me. If we pushed it into Speculative Fiction, which is rarely wise to do, it would need more than a “real” location. It would need real circumstances, events, or characters to create that moment of pause over your mythic-element [the elves]. “...after the elves attacked the Governor’s office, Democrats and Republicans banded together to pass laws forbidding any adult under two feet in stature from working or residing within the State.” (In fact, I’d look up the old laws and pluck out whatever ones might fit with a battle between man and elves, and I’d use them in the story. “...and so he wrote Bill 427.” Consequently, some readers get pissy, "Is the author trying to say that Elves caused that law?") Of course my example is horribly flawed. A battle between man and elves can be made to sound believable. But Democrats and Republicans banding together? Pa-leease! Nobody would believe that.
Wendy Joyce
The Anomaly
Okay I think I get it...so Twilight wouldn't be speculativebecause the only "real " element is the town of Forks, Wa.
Ooh if you want to read something speculative. Read blasphemy by Douglas Preston...as a matter of fact I think a lot of his stuff is speculative...
I know very random of me...It's just I was trying to think of what I read that would fit your description...the current Sherlock Holmes films with Robert Downey Jr? ( steam punky for sure )
Anyway...verrrry interesting! (And by the way my elves are like Peter Jackson's, not like ones in Victorian fairy tales..:)
"...my elves are like Peter Jackson's, not like ones in Victorian fairy tales."COOL! Very Cool!
Wendy Joyce
Hi All,I am Max Avalon (aka Travis Grundy) the Publisher and Executive Editor with Zharmae. I publish work in the broad genre fiction categories and always interested in finding promising authors.
Right now, I'm seeking short work from 2,500 - 7,500 words in the broad speculative fiction arena for publication with Max Avalon Shorts www.maxavalon.com.
Max Avalon (aka Travis Grundy)
@maxavalonshorts
@tzppbooks
@traveo2343
I don't see anybody talking about speculative historical fiction. Here is something rather different.
Here's the trailer. I call it Dixie for Marimba.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMfKTr...
Although I consider myself a fantasy writer, the fantasy element in my debut novel is very subtle, making the work very different and, I've been told, quite unique. For this reason, I've put it into the speculative fiction category.
The Sleeping Warrior is a crime thriller with fantasy woven very gently into the narrative.
The story is set in London and Scotland.
Please take a look for yourselves:
www.spbain.wix.com/sarabain
www.ivymoonpress.wordpress.com
Hello, Sara! My books have similar settings. Nice to see you.
Hello James. Always a pleasure to meet another author who's not afraid to cross the lines of literary fiction genres ;)
Hi, Sara - I like the sound of your book immensely. Will be looking into it soon. Thanks for posting.
Welcome! Please post your work or leave a comment!