Caring Over the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers and Fans!

Why Do I Care About the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Who Deeply Dislike Christianity?

Why not just ignore them?

Several reasons, but let's back up a little bit and look at WHO I'm talking about.

I've been writing science fiction since I was 13. I started reading it when I was 12. After a couple of kids' books, I graduated to The Big Folks, reading writers like Robert A Heinlein, Andre Norton (who was "a WOMAN in a man's genre" and I didn't find out until I was an adult), Asimov, Clarke, Nourse, MZ Bradley (who wrote as a woman)...

There were lots of others. The stories were absolutely written to take me off Earth! But they also exposed me to the philosophy of the men and women who had no interest in Christianity -- and sometimes other religions as well. Norton had telepathic cats, Heinlein thought organized religion was a waste of time and we should create a true "religion of Humanity", One science fiction writer named L. Ron Hubbard invented a religion entirely from scratch -- which has a huge following today: [Wikipedia: "Scientology claims over 8 million members worldwide, but independent estimates range from tens of thousands to potentially a few hundred thousand, with some studies suggesting around 25,000 in the US.]

My own faith upbringing was...lax at best, though nominally Christian. I was baptized Lutheran and remain Lutheran in much of my theology. That being said, at a young age, I started watching STAR TREK and have now watched it in every one of its versions -- and except for the Bajorans on Deep Space Nine, there's never been a serious effort to illustrate the religious side of aliens -- or Humanity for that matter. The religion in that universe is intentionally and clearly that of Gene Roddenberry, who invented the STAR TREK universe: "Gene Roddenberry was a humanist and an atheist. He rejected organized religion and believed in the power of human reason and cooperation to solve problems. He was also influenced by various philosophies, including humanism, rationalism, and socialism.

So, from a young age, I grew into the science fiction world. Iwatched movies, and continued to write SF (I prefer for people NOT to use "SciFi", "skiffy", or even -- from "Sing", "sky-fi"). I have absorbed literally tens of thousands of religiously neutral actively anti-Christian philosophies and beliefs. In my personal library, I have about 2500 books. Much of it is science fiction, and 10% of that is fantasy; a HUGE chunk is SCIENCE, as I spent 41 years teaching science from Astronomy to Zoology. I still read science magazines, articles, and talk to atheistic science people.

I'll move to the "now": Minnesota Science Fiction/Fantasy/Speculative Convention, aka as MiniCon. It's happened here in Minnesota for the past 58 years (along with two OTHER SF conventions, MarsCon (26 years) and Diversicon (33 years)). While it DID start off being on Easter Weekend, it missed a couple of Easters due to scheduling issues. But they picked Easter weekend for a particular purpose. A few years ago, at my second MiniCon, I overheard a couple of people talking about how they loved having it over Easter because, "it really limits how many of those Christians come to this!". That was the year I FIRST appeared on a panel with the incredibly famous science fiction writer, Harlan Ellison. He wrote what may be one of the best-known episodes of the Original STAR TREK series (and one of my favorites) -- "The City on the Edge of Forever", in which the life or death of one woman determined whether or not Hitler WON World War II or lost it. (Not quite THAT simple, but that's the basic outline).

Back to MiniCon last Easter. Many of the evangelical Christians I know would have been VERY uncomfortable at MiniCon. If you want the gruesome details, talk to me one-on-one. I even found myself a bit creeped out a couple times, but then, I knew what I was getting into, so I was girded in personal prayer, and I'd contacted my prayer network -- including some men in this group -- to hold me up and protect me from spiritual danger. (Thank y'all, you know who you are!)

What does THAT mean? Does it mean that there are NO evangelical Christians writing S/F/and SpecFic (Horror is sometimes included, though they have a separate convention). There are plenty:

• CS Lewis wrote THE LION THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, and while some of you may say, "Well that's OBVIOUSLY Christian!" if you DON'T have a Christian upbringing, it isn't obvious.
• JRR Tolkien wrote LORD OF THE RINGS
• Kathy Tyers has written several novels with a Christian world view published by a regular publisher.
• Gene Wolfe of whom Neil Gaiman said, "He's the finest living male American writer of SF and F...possibly the finest living American writer."
• John C Wright writes galaxy-spanning war novels and a very conservative blog.
• Connie Willis writes marvelous science fiction HUMOR that plays with serious ideas.

There are others, but my point today is that the science fiction/fantasy community, like all of us, is looking for answers to their life. Most of them HAVE tried religions -- not just Christianity but Humanism, Hinduism, totally alien religions, the Force, David Brin raises chance to the level of a "capricious goddess" in Ifni.

I feel called to be a missionary to these people -- not to ALL of them! I'm sure there are Christians in the field, believers like me. I look forward to meeting them and maybe even reaching out to the lost in this specific community.

That's who I am called to reach. That's who I finally feel that I am EQUIPPED to reach! And you, and my old friends, and my family are the ones who will hold me up in their prayers.

I don’t know how most of you view “prophecy”, especially when it’s spoken over an individual. I certainly know what I think of prophecy most of the time…I won’t elaborate, ‘cause that’s not what this Slice of PIE is about. Let it suffice to say that I’m unsure of how real contemporary prophecies are.

That’s why I hesitate to broach this subject, but feel a strong inclination to do it anyway.

So, ^deep breath^ and I’ll begin with a quote from a blog by an online friend of mine, Mike Duran: “As much as I remain conflicted, there are three ways I’ve come to believe a person can determine whether or not they’re called to write: 1) Do you have the raw talent to write? 2) ‘…only…those who say, “I’m not going to do anything else.” Do you have that kind of drive? 3) Do you have evidence from peers and professionals that you are ‘called’ to write?”

Determining that “call” on my life has taken a sizeable chunk of my “wondering about it” mental energy. I wonder if I’m just wasting my time. I wonder if I’ve been wasting the family’s money. I wonder if I’m inflating my ego beyond the “maniac” level. I wonder why God doesn’t bless me with more sales or an agent or a contract or a book or a series. I wonder, I wonder, I wonder…

So I went back to a series of prophecies that have been spoken over me during the past few years. I’m going to type them out verbatim then look at them individually, then look at them collectively.

First clear prophecy about my writing: a guest speaker at our youth retreat, well-known for her prophetic words (whatever that means), came to me on the night of February 15, 2004 and spoke two words: “longings fulfilled”.

The second time was on February 12, 2005, I spoke with the same woman (because OBVIOUSLY nothing had come of her two words!) and she had these words for me, “You are a wonderful teacher and God has you where you are because He wants you there now. You fear is that you have missed or will miss the opportunity to become a full-time writer. My ministry didn’t start until I was 54. Your writing will start later, but it will start in God’s time.”

The third incident/word was on March 11, 2005. Liz said to me that she felt right then and had always believed that we would earn our living by my writing someday.

The fourth and last prophecy came about on May 10, 2006. After sharing with the congregation that I had taken the word of Christ to the mission field of speculative fiction fans at 2006 MiniCon. That leading came about as a result of prayer and fasting during our church’s Lenten discipline of prayer, sermons and groups performing public service projects. Afterwards, Todd Wallace called the congregation forward to pray over me. Sixty people stepped up, prayed over my success, believed that my witness would be as Jabez, “‘…Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from evil that it not be to my sorrow!’ God granted him that which he requested.” 1 Chronicles 4:9-10

Todd prayed and asked that my witness would not only be blessed, but “ASTOUNDING”. It’s unclear if Todd knew exactly how that word is significant to me – but ASTOUNDING was the name of my favorite science fiction magazine, ANALOG.

So what does that mean here in 2025? I don’t know for sure, but according to my records, my average sales percentage from when I began to keep records in 1990 through 2005, was 3.35%. Since the prayers, my average sales percentage from 2006-2010, was 11.974%.

References: https://christianscholars.com/towards-a-robust-and-scholarly-christian-engagement-with-science-fiction/
Image: https://www.nplusonemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/cosplay0005-1.jpg

I HAVE A NEW STORY IN THE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2022 ISSUE OF ANALOG!

Illustration from my newest story in the November/December issue ANALOG Science Fiction & Fact!

It's my SEVENTH story in the magazine, and the second one with the characters Javier Quinn Xiong Zaman DVM and Staff Sergeant Thatcher (the first was "Road Veterinarian" in the September/October 2019 issue).

The really fabulous art is by Eldar Zakirov. His website is here:

https://eldarzakirov.com/

Slice of PIE: Captain America Was NOT THE FIRST AVENGER (and Neither Was Phoenix)!!!

NOT using the Programme Guide of the 2020 World Science Fiction Convention, ConZEALAND (The First Virtual World Science Fiction Convention; to which I be unable to go (until I retire from education – which I now have!)), I WOULD jump off, jump on, rail against, and shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf copy of the Program Guide. But not today. This explanation is reserved for when I dash “off topic”, sometimes reviewing movies, sometimes reviewing books, and other times taking up the spirit of a blog an old friend of mine used to keep called THE RANTING ROOM…

This essay started out as an investigation into why it seems Humans need “superheroes”.

I’d reserved several books about it, including DOES THIS CAME MAKE ME LOOK FAT? and SUPERGODS. There are others on Amazon.com like WHAT IS A SUPERHERO, THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SUPERHEROES, and OUR SUPERHEROES, OURSELVES.

Then, during a book study (NOT one of these!), I happened across a Bible verse that actually doesn’t have to be bent in order for it to fit the paradigm I’m looking at. In fact, in light of the NEW fact that Phoenix is actually the first Avenger, leading the Marvel Universe’s Stone Age Avengers (https://screenrant.com/first-avenger-was-not-captain-america-phoenix-marvel/), it STILL makes sense.

I Thessalonians 4:6 reads, “That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.” (King James version)

Despite the archaic language, the definition of the First Avenger actually holds across translations: New American Standard (the version I like) “…and that no one violate the rights and take advantage of his brother or sister in the matter, because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you previously and solemnly warned you.”

The Amplified is where I turn when I want to examine the deeper meaning of a verse: “…and that [in this matter of sexual misconduct] no man shall transgress and defraud his brother because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we have told you before and solemnly warned you.” (Lest you think it not apply, sit down and watch the nightly news (local, national, or international…your choice…EVERYTHING is about sex/gender today…)

Lastly, we turn to the original Greek that the New Testament was written in:

The first Avenger was the Lord, the Christ of humanity sent to protect those who are defrauded by others – and unlike the Amplified Bible, the Greek makes it clear that it’s NOT only about sex!

The First Avenger is NOT Phoenix, either. The First Avenger goes farther back than a million years, the First Avenger stepped up for duty right after Cain killed Abel with a rock to the skull. Then Ekdikos Ha Kurios (literally, “Avenger the Master”) had to be the avenger of Abel’s murderer.

Note, He didn’t kill Abel, he CURSED him, but Abel was still alive; though it makes you wonder which one got the better deal – Abel or Red Skull… So, while lots of people note that while God is supposed to be a God of Love, He’s constantly killing people, it’s interesting to note that the Marvel Avengers have a startlingly high body count for the Superheroes.

As Nathan Miranda points out in “Which Avenger Has Killed The Most Characters In The MCU”, “Thor and Iron Man are in a league of their own, with the remaining four Avengers far behind. Cap's service in the deadliest conflict in human history during Captain America: The First Avenger certainly means he has a higher kill count than might be initially expected, but this no doubt pales to the Hulk - especially counting the green giant's time in Sakaar. Hawkeye and Black Widow round out the list at number five and six, respectively, as while Black Widow’s troubled history and Hawkeye’s Ronin escapades could account for many deaths, their assassin roles were better suited to taking out individual targets, which means the volume of them is arguably far less.” (https://screenrant.com/avengers-mcu-thor-most-kills-deaths/)

So, the true First Avenger, while Their body count is high, also appears to have some stiff competition from Tony Stark (who did, if you recall, do away with ALL of Thanos’ army of who-knows-how-many sentient and sapient beings) and that other plucky god, Thor.

So, what do the Avengers do? What is their high moral purpose? According to Wikipedia: “…S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury…envisions a group of heroes working together in response to planetary threats, following the appearance of superhumans such as Carol Danvers, who is imbued with the power of the Tesseract. He names his plan after her U.S. Air Force callsign, ‘Avenger’. Years later, Fury assesses various individuals for the initiative, including Tony Stark and Steve Rogers. Stark's membership is declined after a negative report on his suitability by Natasha Romanoff. The World Security Council expresses a desire for Emil Blonsky to join the initiative, although they abandon their wish after Stark deters Thaddeus Ross from the idea.”

So, the purpose of God, in the form of Jesus the Christ is to “…reverse the effects of Adams sin.” (Gen 3:15).

Here’s the rub then, first you have to believe that Humanity sinned.

The other rub then, is that you have to believe that Earth has extra-planetary threats.

Jesus, the Son of God would take care of the first, the Avengers would take care of the second.

Hmmm…in range of importance, salvation from eternity in Hell would seem to rank higher than alien abduction. Of course in the grand scheme of things, a few billion deaths by alien invasion don’t even come close to the number who might die outside of the saving grace of the Christ.

And we’d say, “The Avengers and their whole series of movies are fake!”

Perhaps we’d say, “But God and whole Islam/Judaism/Christianity thing is a fake!”

Be that as it may, given both are fake, then my claim that God in the form of Jesus Christ was the First Avenger, is just as legitimate as anyone else’s claim that Phoenix was the First Avenger.

And I would argue that the saving the eternal soul is a bit more important than saving Humanity from an alien invasion is slightly more important…

Resource: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-do-we-need-super-heroes-piyush-patel-super-hero-next-door/
Image: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTlHRYw2xOjO72Yz386phRw0nI6f0U6txXlFBx4v9AXv06A4JU8YuEu8oLGuzSej3X17INbfUjzuBfrGQ&usqp=CAU

POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY: “It’s a Mistake To Write About People of Different Ethnicities…”

Using the Programme Guide of the 2020 World Science Fiction Convention, ConZEALAND (The First Virtual World Science Fiction Convention), I will jump off, jump on, rail against, and shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf copy of the Program Guide. I will be using the events to drive me to distraction or revelation – as the case may be. The link is provided below where this appeared on Wednesday, July 29, 2020 at 1500 hours (aka 3:00 pm).

Indigenous authors come together to discuss the craft of writing, how they build futures and alternate worlds through an indigenous lens, their creative process and current projects.

Toni Wi: writer; editor; prospective PhD student

Sloane Leong: cartoonist, artist, writer (Hawaiian, Chinese, Italian, Mexican, Native American and European ancestry)

Sascha Stronach: writer

Darcie Little Badger: writer, PhD in oceanography

Rebecca Roanhorse: writer, Campbell, Nebula, and Hugo Award-winning (LOVED Trail of Lightning)

This would have been the first event on my list were I going!

However, I’m adding another pair of guests here – my Mind Guests: Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward, authors and workshop leaders. After following various leads, articles, and commentaries by other writers, I reached their “workshop book” WRITING THE OTHER, A Practical Approach.

In 1992, at the Clarion West Writers Workshop, “One of our classmates opined that it was a mistake to write about people of different ethnicities: you might get it wrong. Horribly, offensively wrong. Better not to even try.”(WRITING THE OTHER: A Practical Approach, Aqueduct Press, 2005; p 6)

It seemed to Ms. Shawl “to be taking the easy way out.” This led her to write the essay, “Beautiful Strangers: Transracial Writing for the Sincere” (Speculations, October 1999; retrieved from:  https://www.sfwa.org/2009/12/04/transracial-writing-for-the-sincere/)

“Amy closed her mouth, and mine dropped open. Luckily, I was seated when my friend made this statement, but the lawn chair must have sagged visibly with the weight of my disbelief. My own classmate, excluding all other ethnic types from her creative universe! I think this sort of misguided caution is the source of a lot of sf’s monochrome futures.” (It can certainly be said of Children's Literature at this moment...)

It was certainly mine – though I occasionally tried to slip in a name that was not typically given to Caucasian newborns, like “Candace”, “Dejario”, and “Ozaawindib” – and as much of a cultural referent as I could in a short story.

After writing my novel, OUT OF THE DEBTOR STARS, and sending it in eventually to be evaluated at BAEN BOOKS, it has been sitting in my computer, awaiting a rewrite for a couple of years now. In it, my main character is white and Ojibwe. Where I live, the Ojibwe are the predominant indigenous people, though there are Dakota as well. The Dakota lost the war with the Ojibwe a long time ago, so, I wanted to create a character who was not me – I wanted to attempt to be a transracial writer.

The first roadblock I slammed into was an objection to Noah’s bi-cultural name. His first was a popular American name (though actually, Wiki (with infallible accuracy, and interested solely in passing correct, factual, and totally and completely bias-free information) points out that “in view of the Sumerian/Babylonian source of the flood story”, it was Hebrew only secondarily after being stolen from Sumer and Babylon…)

At any rate, Noah’s last name is Bemisemagak and the editor commented that it was too long and he’d just skipped over it...

Really? I get irritated when people refuse to believe that my name is Guy! (I have been subjected to a quick query of “more likely” alternatives: “Greg? Gary? Grant? (any my personal favorite) God?”

So, let’s trample on an indigenous name by noting that it’s too long and we’ll just skip over it...

Admittedly, I was weak on the history when I wrote it. Since then, however, I’ve read THE ASSASSINATION OF HOLE-IN-THE-DAY and a poetry collection by Ojibwe author and poet, Richard Wagamese, (resided in British Columbia, Canada), EMBERS: One Ojibwe’s Meditations.

I absolutely do not claim familiarity with the Ojibwe people, though I have passed through the skeletal remnants of their vast lands; I’ve secretly rejoiced at their prosperity and the white community’s vast irritation when, “Minnesota tribes were the first in the nation to negotiate and sign gaming compacts with a state government.” (https://mnindiangamingassoc.com/about-miga/history-of-indian-gaming/. My home also holds a far darker record – not only the largest execution of Dakota in the state’s microscopic history, but “The mass hanging of 38 Dakota men was conducted on December 26, 1862, in Mankato, Minnesota; it was the largest mass execution in United States history.”

I have a profound motivation to include “the other” in my writing. I’m trying to sell a short story that also takes place at this time, with Director Bemisemagak, but I haven’t had any luck yet. I wrote a contemporary YA novel, VICTORY OF FISTS in which Langston Hughes Jones is a biracial teen who is a genius, has anger issues, and works to deal with them by writing poetry. My agent tried 17 markets, all of them rejected it for reasons other than “a big, old, fat, white guy can’t possibly [be allowed] to write about a biracial teenager!!!!!” But, it was clear that I was flying into the gathering hurricane that's roaring through YA, childrens, and speculative fiction publishing as people who are leaders attempt to do IMMEDIATELY (and with fanfare) what should have been done wholesale decades ago.

While I hesitate to speculate, I wonder if the REST of the publishing community holds Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward’s enthusiasm for bofwhigs like myself trying to include POC in my narratives? I think it’s important that POCs begin to appear in stories in the proportion in which they are in a society. While there may or may not be enough writers who are POC to cover that need, I’ll continue to include characters who are POC in my writing – whether people notice it or not. Larry Henry, the main character in my story, “Kamsahamnida, America”, was supposed to be black, based on Robert Henry Lawrence (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Henry_Lawrence_Jr.), First African-American astronaut, died before ever going into space. Robert Henry Lawrence? The Henry’s obvious; Larry is short for Lawrence…nah? *sigh*

I don't want to appropriate culture, I’m want to be part of the effort to ensure that hidden people who made the world are drawn forward to take their real place in history, in today’s world, and in the future worlds. For context, I've worked in a multicultural, average high school as a counselor for the past ten years; if you went there and asked around, others would speak for my behavior and character -- otherwise, you have no idea if I'm writing fiction or fact.

Shawl & Ward conclude with the following, “Tom Wolfe spoke at a Press Club lunch on the subject of ‘writing what you know.’ His point was that this is great advice, but that as writers it’s our job to continually know more…So welcome the Beautiful Strangers. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes with them. Do your best, and you’ll avoid the biggest mistake of all: exclusion.”

In my writing, I'm working hard to do this. I'm working to become transracial and antiracist. I am a work in progress.

Programme Book: https://sites.grenadine.co/sites/conzealand/en/conzealand/schedule

Image: https://scontent.ffcm1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/93711499_2974237795969833_8163210792070545408_o.jpg?_nc_cat=111&_nc_sid=6e5ad9&_nc_ohc=dAOzDSzD2WUAX9kIXBK&_nc_ht=scontent.ffcm1-1.fna&oh=14320e7b26efd9663e3994e5da14a839&oe=5F417949

POSSIBLY (REALLY) IRRITATING ESSAY: STUPEFYING STORIES – WHAT Are They Trying To Do?

NOT using the panel discussions of the most recent World Science Fiction Convention in Dublin, Ireland in August 2019 (to which I be unable to go (until I retire from education)), I would jump off, jump on, rail against, and shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf copy of the Program Guide. But not today. This explanation is reserved for when I dash “off topic”, sometimes reviewing movies, sometimes reviewing books, and other times taking up the spirit of a blog an old friend of mine used to keep called THE RANTING ROOM…

What brand is Stupefying Stories? Why have I come repeatedly to Stupefying Stories? Why do I write for Stupefying Stories? Why do I read (some REALLY AWFUL!) slush for Stupefying Stories?

A teensy bit of background.

I met Bruce Bethke, who is the owner, operator, and inventor of the website, some three decades ago because he’d run an ad looking for members to join a writing group that, at the time, was made up of himself, Phillip C. Jennings, and Gerri Balter. I joined and learned a lot; but ultimately I got married and focused, with my bride on building a relationship and a family. My writing fell to the wayside. Several years later, I saw Bruce in 2005 at the Minnesota Science Fiction Convention (MiniCon 40, I think; Terry Pratchett was the GOH (AMAZING speaker!), and Bruce and I reconnected. He was parenting a blog called The Ranting Room and I started following it and eventually writing for it. We corresponded more and rekindled the friendship we’d started in the 80’s; both of us had changed and in the early 2010’s our lives intersected in moments of terror…first Bruce’s wife, and around a year later, my wife received breast cancer diagnoses. Since then, I’ve been involved with Stupefying Stories pretty much since its inception in 2012. I still write for it occasionally, I’ve proofed some of the issues of the magazine, and was in the first one and then “collected” in FIVE STARS (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1938834356/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i9) I continue to work with Bruce’s publishing company, RAMPANT LOON PRESS (https://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Store-Rampant-Loon-Press/s?i=digital-text&rh=n%3A133140011%2Cp_30%3ARampant+Loon+Press&qid=1592661624&ref=sr_pg_2) in the hope that they will publish my Young Adult SF series beginning with HEIRS OF THE SHATTERED SPHERES: Emerald of Earth…

At any rate, in an email, Bruce let me know he’d posted this: http://stupefyingstories.blogspot.com/2020/06/status-update-19-june-2020.html

It’s a loaded essay and guaranteed to draw ire and fire from people who don’t believe he’s correct enough, (though not in the way a LONG DISTANT PAST co-writer Bruce shared a project with ended up doing and sometimes still does). I’d have other comments on his essay, too, but my hide is far too thin to weather such I-n-F…

I wanted to touch on this: “…sharply defining the Stupefying Stories brand, making it clear what we hope to deliver to readers and what exactly our vision of science fiction is. I’ve always been too much of a literary omnivore to do that, but it’s finally time I did.”

I responded to him privately first, and I’m posting this now as an adaptation of my email:

While the stories in Stupefying Stories may deal with serious subjects and dark lives and even have grim endings (the story I know best leaps to mind: “Teaching Women To Fly” (If you’re interested, you can find it in FIVE STARS), and those who critiqued it consistently expected everything to come out “sweet” in the end. I didn't want it to come out sweet because LIFE ain’t sweet. Reflecting though, I realized that while it didn't come out all roses for Celia, her son would be integrated into a subjugated culture of indigenous people and that same culture got a bit of revenge by feeding off the hopes of the “superior” culture...hmmm...) -- it has NEVER taken itself too seriously.

Stupefying Stories and Bruce himself use humor to touch on difficult subjects. HEADCRASH is actually pretty dark. So is his novelization of the movie script of WILD, WILD WEST. I mentioned long ago that the novelization was funnier than the movie, but the theme of the movie (and the original) seemed to be looking at the impact of merging of the life of the old (Civil War) by the new (wildly...um...speculative technology. It was startling for me to realize then that the devices I use in my everyday life might be – nah, WOULD HAVE BEEN considered impossibly speculative (read WITCHCRAFT) in 1920).

In WILD, WILD WEST, the consequences inherent in that merger of stolid, dark past and wild, wild future should have precipitated clear conflict in the movie. But, because it was the result of a six writers independently creating (adding up the Story by/Screenplay by people who are all listed separately) mongrel of a script, it ended up not saying ANYTHING. I seem to recall Bruce saying he wrote the novel based on one of the original scripts…(but I’m retired now, so I’m not sure that’s true…)

The Stupefying Stories brand has appeared to me to intentionally look at serious solutions to serious problems – without taking itself too seriously.

While that is EXTREMELY too subtle for many, I think the people who read Stupefying Stories both as short story collections, in novel form, and on the webpage are looking for that kind of mental issue breaker.

The problem thus far, has been a perceived inconsistency of publication (of course the average consumer and writer is completely uninterested in the people behind the product. For them, life is “gimme, gimme, gimme, NOW!” When instant gratification of every whim isn’t granted, they CAN get all huffy and obnoxious and stomp off to find something “better”...which they won't...because most of what I see in the SF/F takes itself far too seriously.)

Just one example is SFWA. While the paucity of POC has existed oh, since Hugo Gernsback and Isaac Asimov and all the rest, the hue and cry to bring in writers of color has only reached a feverish pitch in the past two years. Prior to that, WOMEN had only barely been accepted into the hallowed halls of science fiction (they made better inroads in fantasy, but still…). Now that being friends and publishers of POC/GLBTQ/GQ is popular and our culture is attempting to make it NOT a crime to be associated with “them” by offering sweeping protection so everyone feels safe talking (some sincerely, some not-sincerely)...

The abrupt shift honestly, makes me feel ill. (Before you judge me, go to my FaceBook page and skim through my Friends…then pack your PNOC pre-judgement back up again). Don’t get me wrong, there were pioneer publishers and editors who, rather than jumping on the current band-surfboard, were trying to swim against the riptide of racist policy, and they cut the current for the rest who are now swimming in their wake. But the surfboard is crowded now with less-than-earnest-trend-followers. My biggest fear is that it will be a "thing" and once it's not trendy anymore, US and state congressfolk, various Departments, and society as a whole will ignore making real change -- the way they ignored the Emancipation Proclamation 157 years ago, the Civil Rights Act 56 years ago, and why nothing changed in Minneapolis, where I live, 53 years ago, and oddly enough, five years ago ago (https://www.startribune.com/north-minneapolis-echoes-of-the-unrest-in-1967/351540861/) -- back when a DFL controlled country and state -- cried out for change and that change STILL didn't happen...

Stupefying Stories has always been about making readers think – not with easy, obvious, symbolism, but really THINK about what a story means…and all the while, Stupefying Stories has never ONCE taken itself too seriously.

Try it out, sit back and mull, and I think you’ll see what I do.           

Resource: http://stupefyingstories.blogspot.com/

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WRITING ADVICE: Leaving My Mark On the World #1 – What Mark Do I Want To Leave On the World?

In September of 2007, I started this blog with a bit of writing advice. A little over a year later, I discovered how little I knew about writing after hearing children’s writer, Lin Oliver speak at a convention hosted by the Minnesota Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Since then, I have shared (with their permission) and applied the writing wisdom of Lin Oliver, Jack McDevitt, Nathan Bransford, Mike Duran, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, SL Veihl, Bruce Bethke, and Julie Czerneda. Together they write in genres broad and deep, and have acted as agents, editors, publishers, columnists, and teachers. Since then, I figured I’ve got enough publications now that I can share some of the things I did “right”.

While I don’t write full-time, nor do I make enough money with my writing to live off of it...neither do all of the professional writers above...someone pays for and publishes ten percent of what I write. When I started this blog, that was NOT true, so I may have reached a point where my own advice is reasonably good. We shall see! Hemingway’s quote above will now remain unchanged as I work to increase my writing output and sales! As always, your comments are welcome!

I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to write on this morning. I had a bunch of scattered thoughts, but then found myself drawn to my own advice – the posts I’ve made that I kind of clumped together into the “What Went Right With…” essays.

The published pieces cover decades of writing – the earliest published piece (that wasn’t a sort of shot-in-the-dark like a piece I wrote for a local student magazine called LITTLE BIT when I was seventeen) is from the June 2000 issue of ANALOG Science Fiction and Fact.

Then there was “bit” of a lull that included an acceptance from a magazine called ANTITHESIS that folded before they were able to publish it…the story was called “Dogie” and while I still have a typewritten copy, it’s far from publishable in any sort of pro market.

As for the others, if you look left and scroll down to Professional Publishing Credits, you’ll find a list of those stories that have found homes. Under that you can find stories that are still available online or that I’ve posted on an adjunct to my regular blog called The Work and Worksheets of Guy Stewart (http://theworkandworksheetsofguystewart.blogspot.com/).

So, as illustrated over there, I’ve had forty-one stories published; I’ve commented on eighteen of them, poring over what I thought made them successful sales. Some have garnered positive reviews online; one got a “review” in the form of a fan letter! I’ve even thought about collecting and self-publishing all of my YA/children’s science fiction in one place; and I’d probably do both published and unpublished work. Of the stuff over there, most of them are stories with adults as main characters.

What I’d like to do is begin to distill my own “wisdom”; at least distill my own experiences and reflections as I try to not only duplicate what I did to get published, but to figure out if there are themes in my writing. I’ll start with what I seem to have done right in my published stories.

The first thing I notice is that every story has something of me in it. That seems obvious as I’m the one who wrote it; but what I MEAN is that every story has something I’ve wrestled with as a person – either a young person or an adult.

For example, my most recent story, “Kamsahamnida, America” deals with aging, self-image, and self-confidence. Larry Henry (besides my envisioning him as a black man, but that’s beside the point) is a “…bitter, sarcastic, old man with no descendants whatsoever…” While I have descendants (two NextGen; three grand) I have been known to be bitter and sarcastic. And I’m competitive. Maybe not as much as Larry, but I absolutely worry about the legacy I’ll leave when I die. Larry goes to the Moon in a new space race sparked by the South Koreans landing a human on the Far Side of the Moon, hoping to create a legacy…

Let’s go back farther: “Fairy Bones”. A bitter, sarcastic old woman wonders about the legacy she’ll leave behind after she dies. When she – with the help of a deeply sarcastic teenage grandson – discovers fairy bones in owl pellets…

“Mystery on Space Station Courage” in which a young girl (the artist envisioned her as black and while startled, I was delighted!) struggles with the death of a friend and how to move forward without becoming (from the viewpoint of an adult, so she doesn’t THINK of this) sarcastic and bitter…

In “A Woman’s Place”, a sarcastic and bitter ex-husband goes into danger, forcing his ex-wife, whom he must work with, to rescue him – and become a mythic figure in a series of stories and a novels I’m writing.

Are you sensing a pattern here?

Better still, are you seeing what I’m seeing? My characters struggle with the kind of legacy they’ll leave behind once they are gone. The fact is that, I not only struggle with that myself, I intentionally direct my students to the same issue. Dozens, maybe even hundreds of times, I point to a small “handprint” I have pinned to a bulletin board in my office with an image similar to the new icon above, but simpler. (I may take a picture of the one in my office, so we'll see!) and I ask the student, “What kind of mark do YOU want to leave on the world?”

I ask this of myself, I ask it of the rest of the world. Because the issue is relevant to me, it leaks into my stories; because it’s an important issue, its importance lends import to the story. Others wonder the same thing, and so, (perhaps) that’s why my stories started to sell when I finally figured out what drove me.

References: (my catalogued stories at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database) http://https://i.pinimg.com/originals/80/1b/a1/801ba1454f3169e80e12557791df7125.jpgwww.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?12973

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