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Angel’s Bits – Pubbing beyond the ‘Zon

(Inspired by part of a conversation with Scott yesterday…) There are as many reasons to take publishing into your own hands as there are writers. Tired of rejections. A work that just doesn’t fit a specific catalog. The desire for control. An ingrained mistrust of publishers. Point to someone who has taken that publishing plunge, and they may have several dozen reasons. Up until fairly recently, self-publishing could be an expensive proposition. You had to purchase ISBN’s if you wanted to be listed anywhere. You had to purchase cover art. You’d best have a professional editor or folks like me … Read more

Angel’s Bits: You Own a Yacht, Right?

And other myths harmful to the new author… I was having a discussion with a friend yesterday about a friend of hers who would like to be published. Oh, yes? says I. Cool. What does he write? Turns out said friend writes LGBT Fantasy and was interested in learning about finding a publisher vs. self publishing. And here’s where the tearing of hair and sprinkling of ashes begins. Now, to be fair, Mr. Friend of Friend is new to this game. We were all new at one point, and many of us were led astray by bad information. Many of … Read more

Angel’s Bits: Podcasting with Special Guest Janet Gershen-Siegel

For today’s edition of Angel’s Bits, we have a special guest, Janet Gershen-Siegel, to talk to us about: Podcasting It’s a means of getting to a wider audience. It’s a different medium from what you might be used to. And it offers practice and the opportunity to polish some skills that you, the writer, might not have realized you needed, such as thinking on your feet and being an interview subject. Getting Started What do you need for podcasting? This image is a pretty good summary of what you need – The good news is that you have most of … Read more

Announcement: Dragons, Diamonds And Discord, by Angel Martinez

Dragons, Diamonds and Discord

QSFer Angel Martinez has a new fantasy book out (Brandywine Investigations 3): The most valuable pieces of jewelry are vanishing from the god Hermes’ Manhattan stores and the security feeds pick up only clouds of smoke. While the god of thieves, messengers, and commerce doesn’t appreciate someone stealing from him, he’s intrigued by this thief’s ingenuity and skill. When Hermes enlists his family to trap his burglar, he gets the surprise of his immortal life. Fafnir just wants to be left alone. Doomed over the centuries to a never-ending cycle of violent death and painful rebirth, he had hoped to … Read more

Announcement: Quinn’s Gambit, Bellora Quinn and Angel Martinez

Quinn's Gambit

QSFer Angel Martinez and Bellora Quinn have a new fantasy book out: AURA – the Agency for Unnatural Resettlement and Assimilation It’s a weird job, but somebody’s got to do it. A magical catastrophe tears the fabric of reality, causing unpredictable holes between worlds through which anything might fall—elves, centaurs, trolls, yeti. The brave officers and employees of AURA struggle daily to help the lost and injured, and contain the irretrievably violent while their research staff scramble to find a way to reverse the effect. Anything can and does pop through into the human world, sometimes with disastrous and deadly … Read more

Announcement: Quinn’s Gambit, Bellora Quinn and Angel Martinez

QSFer Angel Martinez and Bellora Quinn have a new fantasy book coming out: AURA – the Agency for Unnatural Resettlement and Assimilation It’s a weird job, but somebody’s got to do it. A magical catastrophe tears the fabric of reality, causing unpredictable holes between worlds through which anything might fall—elves, centaurs, trolls, yeti. The brave officers and employees of AURA struggle daily to help the lost and injured, and contain the irretrievably violent while their research staff scramble to find a way to reverse the effect. Anything can and does pop through into the human world, sometimes with disastrous and … Read more

Announcement: A Christmas Cactus for the General, by Angel Martinez

Today’s announcement is from QSFer Angel Martinez: Exiled to Earth for perhaps the worst failure in Irasolan history, General Teer must assimilate or die. Earth is too warm, too wet, too foreign, but he does the best he can even though human males are loud, childish louts whom he can’t imitate successfully. When a grieving seaplane pilot strikes up a strange and uneasy friendship with him, he finds he may have been too quick to judge human males. They are strange to look at, but perhaps not as unbearable as he thought. Excerpt Chapter One: Exile So much water. General … Read more

Hey! Where’s the Funny Stuff?

Most people (especially non-SF fans) think of science fiction as deadly serious. Because of the often deadly serious topics SF tackles–oppression, climate destruction, discovery vs. ethics–they believe the stories don’t easily lean toward the humorous. However, comedy is the oldest form of social commentary and science fiction has a long, legitimate history with it. From Keith Laumer’s Retief books to the Stainless Steel Rat, from Red Dwarf to the Hitchhiker stories, science fiction humor may not always get the attention it deserves, but it’s always been with us. As a long time science fiction reader, (don’t ask how long, that’s … Read more