For any of the writer-types out there, Tim Powers–one of our Writers of the Future workshop instructors and a contest judge–did a chat session last week on the Writers of the Future website.

He discusses not only what he feels makes a good WOTF submission (i.e.: a story in contention for the prize) but offers more general advice on character, plotting, and insights into his own writing process–all really valuable stuff that we gleaned from him during the workshop in Pasadena.

You can find the transcript here.

– S.

So a newswire service in China has apparently picked up the press release about me that Galaxy Press sent out yesterday.

Not sure why the interest from China (though they do have a burgeoning space program of their own) but it could be a very good thing if the Chinese SF community gets wind of my work. As Rob Sawyer pointed out to me recently, China has probably the largest SF fan base in the world (might have something to do with them having more people than just about anywhere else, too) and the main Chinese SF magazine has a subscriber base on the order of 400 000, while the Big Three F/SF magazines in North America have subscribers measured in the 10s of thousands (and falling).

See the site (and read the press release) here.

– S.

Hi all –

This press release was circulated today by Galaxy Press to coincide with some new space audio released last week by NASA from the Cassini-Hyguens mission. It was the findings of the Cassini probe that originally inspired my story “Saturn in G Minor.”

– S.

Concerto in Space? Writers of the Future Grand Prize Winner Gets
Close to How “Music” of Saturn Hums Along Thanks to Cassini Probe

Los Angeles – The notes may not be in G-minor but NASA’s most recent release of audio from Saturn (available here) sounds a lot like composed music, says award-winning science fiction author Stephen Kotowych.

The sounds also seem a lot closer to those that Kotowych describes in his newly-published short story, “Saturn in G Minor,” the grand prize winning entry in the best-selling science fiction anthology, L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume XXIII (Galaxy Press, 2007).

“Saturn in G Minor” is a story that involves a composer who plays a symphony on Saturn’s rings, inspired by earlier reports of the Cassini-Hyguens mission. “The real sounds are eerily close to how I imagined them,” he added.

Excerpted sounds from Saturn are like a cross between a Phillip Glass piece and Arnold Shoenberg, Kotowych claims. “They certainly sound wilder than I ever would have expected.”

The Writers of the Future writing contest was established in 1983 by world-recognized, multiple best-selling author L. Ron Hubbard and has become the top merit-based competition of its kind for new or little-published writers worldwide. Entries are received throughout the year and are judged by leading literary professionals. The L. Ron Hubbard Presents Illustrators of the Future, begun in 1988, similarly honors artists who illustrate the winning short stories. Since inception, the Writers and Illustrators of the Future contests have recognized and published 500-plus authors and illustrators, produced 23 anthology volumes, and awarded a cumulative $500,000 in cash prizes.

For more information regarding Writers of the Future Volume XXIII, go to www.writersofthefuture.com. Also available in audio format thru Audible.com

On the occasion of my 29th birthday (and the final year before I’m quantifiably REALLY OLD) I have much to be proud of and thankful for looking back on the last year.

28 was very good to me.

Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book?
It took me years to write, will you take a look?
It’s based on a novel by a man named Lear
And I need a job, so I want to be a paperback writer,
Paperback writer.

My good fortune started two weeks early, in fact, as it was on Oct. 31, 2006 that Joni from the Writers of the Future contest called to inform me that not only was I a winner in the WOTF but that I’d placed first in my quarter, which meant a nice cheque up front (with which I bought two turntables and a microphone), and left me in the running for the Grand Prize the following summer…

February saw my first publication, in the DAW anthology Under Cover of Darkness, and my first reviews (most of which were very nice, as you can see here, here, and here).

There was also my first book signing (at the Merrill Collection) and book launch (at Ad Astra), as well as my first-ever participation on panels at a con (also at Ad Astra)

It’s a thousand pages, give or take a few,
I’ll be writing more in a week or two.
I can make it longer if you like the style,
I can change it round and I want to be a paperback writer,
Paperback writer.

At Easter came a nice surprise when I received word that Tesseracts Eleven was buying my story “Citius, Altius, Fortius” and that the anthology would be out by year’s end.

But, of course, the real highlight of the year has to be the Writers of the Future workshop in Pasadena in August, and winning the Grand Prize. I met some fantastic people, learned a tremendous amount about writing, and there have been press releases, podcasts, tv interviews, reviews, book signings… A more amazing experience I could not have asked for.

If you really like it you can have the rights,
It could make a million for you overnight.
If you must return it, you can send it here
But I need a break and I want to be a paperback writer,
Paperback writer.

So here’s hoping that 2008–and my 29th year–hold more good things in store.

– S.

Well, since I’ve seen Tesseracts Eleven at both the World’s Biggest Bookstore and at the Fitzhenry & Whiteside table at World Fantasy, I’m officially going to declare Tesseracts Eleven (which includes my new story “Citius, Altius, Fortius”) available, even though Amazon says it’s not out until November 19.

So go get your copy now!

I’m pleased with “Citius, Altius, Fortius” for a number of reasons, not least of all because it sees print in advance of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The upcoming Olympics are the first at which, some believe, gene doping (a theme of the story) will be employed in athletes’ quest to be faster, higher, stronger.

It’s also a kick because several corporations that appear in the story–pharmaceutical and biotech company Santamondo, the Swedish conglomerate Spärra, and the Chinese aerospace giant Shenzhou Corp–are all companies which have appeared in unpublished stories of mine (including the very first story I ever submitted to the Fledglings back in 2003). I find myself strangely attached to these imaginary companies, which is why I guess I keep reusing them, so it’s nice to have them take on some aspect of the real by finding their way into print. I have no doubt that they’ll feature again in my fiction, and hopefully as my publication credits mount these corporations will help my work take on a kind of verisimilitude.

Any way, enjoy the story! I’ll be posting later this month about the details for the launch at Bakka.

– S.

I’m back from a fabulous weekend at the World Fantasy Convention and a fun television interview yesterday morning in Kitchener. But no rest for the wicked–I’m off to do a signing at the World’s Biggest Bookstore in a couple of hours.

It’s fun to feel a bit like a rock star 🙂

Wanted to let you all know that while I was gone LOCUS, which is THE trade magazine of the SF publishing industry, came out with its review of Writers of the Future XXIII in the November issue. The reviewer, Rich Horton, mentioned a number of stories as “highlights”, including tales by Andrea Kail, Jeff Carlson, my fellow Toronto winner (and evil twin) Tony Pi, and yours truly.

Of my story, Horton said:

Another gloriously wild idea is at the center of Stephen Kotowych’s “Saturn in G Minor”: a great composer wants his final piece to be played using Saturn’s rings as the instrument…I was pleased by the audacity of the whole thing.

Glorious? Audacious?

Yeah, I’m pretty pleased 🙂

Coming up this week I plan to make a big push and finally finish my Writers of the Future diary (Friday and Saturday/Sunday still to come). It’s taken me a lot longer than I’d hoped it would, but I want to do it right. I found the diaries of previous winners really helpful when trying to figure out what to expect of the week and my hope is that some future winner–perhaps YOU–will find mine similarly helpful. So thanks for your patience as I blog for posterity 🙂

Also, I’ll blog more about my TV interview, the World’s Biggest Bookstore signing, and World Fantasy. Then I should be all caught up.

Stay tuned!

– S.

PS: I was tempted to entitle this post “Horton Hears a WOTF” but wasn’t sure what the search engines would make of it if I did…

I just wanted to send around a quick reminder before I head off for World Fantasy this weekend that Tony Pi and I will be doing a reading and signing copies of Writers of the Future XXIII this coming Tuesday, November 6 at the World’s Biggest Bookstore (20 Edward Street in Toronto). Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo and Nebula Award winner, and one of the WOTF contest judges will also be in attendance to talk a little about the contest and sign copies of his own work. We’ll be signing from 6-9pm, but the readings will happen toward the beginning, so be sure to get there early to hear us!

A bookstore so big it blots out the sun…

I popped down to the World’s Biggest Bookstore yesterday at lunch to scout the locale and took some photos. I think this signing will be realy fun! (And just so you know: while it may once have been the world’s actual biggest bookstore by square footage, I believe that title is now held by one of the big American box bookstores. However, I’m assured that Toronto’s WBBS is, by number of titles carried, still the biggest and I guess that’s what matters. They have, after all, about a hectare and a half of sci-fi and fantasy…so they’re doing something right, anyway 😉

Clearly the buzz has already begun. This guy is camping out on
the sidewalk to be the first one in line for the event Tuesday.

Front window display. They’ve wisely gone for the bigger
draw of Robert J. Sawyer rather than the Steve and Tony Show.

A very impressive full rack of books as soon as you walk in the door.

Here we are on the top shelf of the ‘Staff Picks’ in the expansive SF section.
We’re right above the ‘New & Hot Science Fiction’ which we are also, no doubt…

And here’s the on-shelf display. Very nice. Does anyone else think
that look like Tony’s handwriting on the flyer to the right?

One really unexpected (but nice) surprise was seeing the first copies of Tesseracts Eleven on the shelf! I was told it wouldn’t be available until mid-November but it sure was cool to see it now.

Ah hah!

Yup–that’s my story. I guess I wasn’t imagining things.

They even still have copies of Under Cover of Darkness which
has my first published story. I love this store!

Okay. Gotta go pack for World Fantasy.

I’ll be back in four days with the Truth!

– S.

I just finished speaking with John Goodwin from Galaxy Press and doing a bit of pre-interview prep.

On Monday, Nov. 5 I’m going to be interviewed on Kitchener’s Rogers TV Cable 20 morning show ‘Daytime‘ about my Grand Prize win and story in this year’s Writers of the Future. So any of you in the K-W can tune in and see my five minutes of interview glory.

While I don’t get the channel here in Toronto, John tells me that he’ll be ordering a copy of the interview from the station and will send it to me later on.

– S.

So I know it’s been a while since I last posted, but things have been pretty hectic in my life the last little while, and what free time I have had I’ve been spending getting to know the love of my life a bit better.

In any case, I at last have my internet connection at home so should be able to keep on top of things here at my digital frontier a bit better.

And as a series of posts today will detail, I have a lot coming up in the next little while…

– S.

Well, with the possible exception of Christopher Pike, the principle cast of the new JJ Abrams-helmed Star Trek film appears to be set. Your new crew is:

Chris Pine as Kirk

Karl Urban as McCoy

Anton Yelchin as Chekov

Simon Pegg as Scotty

Zachary Quinto as Spock

John Cho as Sulu

Zoë Saldana as Uhura

Hmmm…

While I remain dubious of the whole endeavour, I’ll reserve judgment until I see the finished product.

There’s some talent amongst the new cast, that’s clear. Though I think only the new Spock, Uhura and Chekov look anything like the original actors (you have to admit–the guy playing Chekov already has the weird Monkees hairdo down…)

– S.