Blog
Ahoy, Critterfolk!
New entry Dec 07
Critter Notices
Critters is 23!
Yes, 23 years ago Critters was born. Wow! Thanks so much to all of you, who've made it such a resounding success!
Critters no longer accepting European Union members :(
It's with a heavy heart that I have to announce Critters can no longer accept people in the European Union as members. This is a result of the "GDPR" privacy laws going into effect. I'm a big fan of privacy, and applaud the general idea behind the GDPR, but the way it's implemented forces me to close the door to EU writers. [read more why...]Books from Critters!
Check out Books by Critters for books by your fellow Critterfolk, as well as my list of recommended books for writers.
How to Write SF
The Craft of Writing Science Fiction that Sells by Ben Bova, best-selling author and six-time Hugo Award winner for Best Editor. (This is one of the books your ol' Critter Captain learned from himself, and I highly recommend it.)
(Also via Amazon)
Stayin' Alive
If you want to make a career of SF writing, STAYING ALIVE - A WRITER'S GUIDE by three-time SFWA President Norman Spinrad, published by your Critter Captain's ReAnimus Press, is an indispensable guide to the inside workings of the SF publishing industry by an expert.
P&E Has a New Caretaker!
I'm very happy to announce that P&E has been handed off to a new caretaker! Check out the site for news and such. Hurrah!
Interviewed!
I'm being interviewed live on public radio for Critters 20th birthday. For those who want to listen, it's on the 10am (Mountain time) show on Thursday, 11/19/16, on Colorado Public Radio - www.cpr.org has streaming on the site or it's 90.1 FM in the Denver area. [Interview is done, you can listen on the site]
Free Web Sites
Free web sites for authors (and others) are available at www.nyx.net.
ReAnimus Acquires Advent!
ReAnimus Press is pleased to announce the acquisition of the legendary Advent Publishers! Advent is now a subsidiary of ReAnimus Press, and we will continue to publish Advent's titles under the Advent name. Advent was founded in 1956 by Earl Kemp and others, and has published the likes of James Blish, Hal Clement, Robert Heinlein, Damon Knight, E.E. "Doc" Smith, and many others. Advent's high quality titles have won and been finalists for several Hugo Awards, such as The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy and Heinlein's Children. Watch this space for ebook and print editions of all of Advent's current titles!
Network speeding up
I'm switching the connection over to a new, shiny 10X faster network because of all the load. There might be bits of downtime as your boxes learn new addresses and things. Should be brief. Let me know of any prolonged outages you see.
Preditors & Editors Changeover
With the very sad passing of Dave Kuzminski, who ran P&E, I've taken over the P&E duties. Lots of what I hope are improvements; check it out at pred-ed.com.
Critters Server is Dying has been Replaced
See important details here in my blog. Let me know if you find anything that isn't working right. (Manuscripts are now available for this week, FYI.)
Book Recommendation
THE SIGIL TRILOGY:
The universe is dying from within...
"Great stuff... Really enjoyed it." — SFWA Grandmaster Michael Moorcock
Announcing ReAnimus Press
If you need help making ebooks from manuscripts or print copies—or finding great stuff to read—look no further! An ebook publisher started by your very own Critter Captain. (And with a 12% Affiliate program.) [More]
~~~
FEATURED BOOK
~~~
Weekly Notes
Notes for 12-Jun-2019...
FYI, I was out of town, back now, catching up on email...
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Thanks for the donations, folks! We are 41.0% of the way to the fund drive goal with contributions from 81 donors, leaving about $2400 to go.
(No donations this past week, sad minion face.) :[
[See http://www.critters.org/donate.php for more information.]
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Helping out the Critters Fund Drive this week are sales of -- the BRAND NEW, NEVER BEFORE RELEASED! novel by old SF Master Alfred Coppel! I'm tickled that ReAnimus Press gets to release this new novel! (Posthusmously, as he died a few years back.) It's more horror/thriller/political, even though he was primarily known as an SF writer. To wit:
PAST THE SLEEPING SONS OF GOD by Alfred Coppel - $9.99
ReAnimus Press Store: www.ReAnimus.com/1599
Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B07P1J2F9S/?tag=critters3a-20
(available in both ebook and paperback)
Newly discovered, never-before published novel from a master writer!
Flor Ortega has lived many lives. She has been the estranged daughter of an American former CIA agent, a secret sister, a poet, a lover, a passionate revolutionary.
She strikes passionate loyalty into the hearts of some, and hatred into the hearts of others, but one one thing is certain: No one who crosses her path is left unchanged.
Her ailing father orders two of his people to retrieve her from Mexico, archeology professor Thomas Bryan Avila and lawyer Caroline Warren--who find her missing, taken by a military squad calling themselves "La Noche Triste."
The two soon find themselves entangled in the complex political, religious, and geographic history of the region. For one it is home, the place of his birth and of his beloved archeological dig. For the other it is a land more foreign than she had imagined. Together they must find Flor Ortego before it's too late, but to do that they must answer an important question: Who is Flor Ortega? Or, perhaps more importantly, what is she?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alfred Coppel was born in Oakland, and served as a fighter pilot in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. After his discharge, he started his career as a writer. He became one of the most prolific pulp authors of the 1950s and 1960s, adopting the pseudonyms Robert Cham Gilman and A.C. Marin and writing for a variety of pulp magazines and later "slick" publishers. Though writing in a variety of genres, including action thrillers, he is known for his science fiction short stories and novels.
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Woohoo! Congratulations to...
- Richard Zwicker, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "On Call"
to Heroic Fantasy Quarterly.
Please report your Woohoo!s via the www.critters.org/telldaworld.ht web page.
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This week's Most Productive Critter award, for 2 critiques (at time
of judging), averaging almost 800 words each, goes to...
Cameron Bright
To redeem an MPC, visit: www.critters.org/usempc.ht
Congratulations! To everyone else -- Crit early and often!
(For an explanation of the MPC award, see the www.critters.org/award.ht page.)
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Recommended Reading...
One of the best writing books - Secrets from the 6-time Best Editor
Hugo Award Master, Ben Bova: THE CRAFT OF WRITING SCIENCE FICTION THAT SELLS
http://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1144
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Critters Workshop
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This week we have... [get from http://www.critters.org/private/mss.php ]...
Title Author
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Week of 12-Jun-2019 (Crits due 19-Jun-2019):
SF Special Breakfast, Chapters 1-2 [mpc] Cameron Bright -#28499
SF The Boy Who Wanted to Go to the Moon Steve Donnelly -#28500
SF Splash of Color Henry McFarland -#28501
F A Breaking of Magic, Chapter 3 Kerry Cathers -#28502
F Hidden Knight: A Novel of a Bear Leanna Zimmerman -#28503
F The Bykownik Rift, Chapter 1 Jessica Zebuhr -#28504
F The Rysing Dying Sun, Sydney Chapter 1 Anthony White -#28505
F The Sun of the North, Chapter 1 Tristan T. Chynoweth -#28506
H My Mother, In the Dark Kate Genellie -#28507
H Redcoats Russell Dorn -#28508
SF Barnstar's Day Off Ife J. Ibitayo -#28509
SF By the Will of the Gods Charles Q. Choi -#28510
SF The Nexus Effect Kyle Walker -#28511
SF The Universal Directory of Dangerous Places Elise Kim -#28512
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Recommended books on writing:
THE CRAFT OF WRITING AND SELLING SCIENCE FICTION by Ben Bova
ReAnimus Press Store: http://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1144
Amazon: http://Amazon.com/dp/B006MAZPEI
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SPECULATIVE FICTION OPENINGS By (Critter member) Robert Qualkinbush
http://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1184 | http://Amazon.com/dp/B007O272ZI
STAYIN' ALIVE - A WRITER'S GUIDE by three-time SFWA President Norman Spinrad
How things really work in the art and commerce of publishing
http://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1179 | http://Amazon.com/dp/B007SIC4I8
EXPERIMENT PERILOUS: THE 'BUG JACK BARRON' PAPERS by Norman Spinrad
(A 99cent essay on SF and writing)
http://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1180 | http://Amazon.com/dp/B007MF3MS8
Because you might enjoy it... SOULS AND HALLOWS by S. R. ALGERNON
A menagerie of souls in search of purpose in futuristic landscapes. Will they find it, and at what cost?
https://reanimus.com/store/?item=1595
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Pieces up for critique in other workshops...
In the lit workshop - http://critique.org/lit :
L In The State We Trust Danny Hollier Jr -#28383
In the mystery workshop - http://critique.org/mystery :
AC Lost in the Desert of Ziph Courtney Webb -#28433
In the nonfiction workshop - http://critique.org/nonfiction :
NO Chapter 1. A Great man Falls Jim Parry -#28486
In the script workshop - http://critique.org/script :
SC Johnny Lucid Gets a New Muse Jerry Sexton -#27889
In the kids workshop - http://critique.org/kids :
YA Suzanne Sterling and Fellow Company: The Catcher of Stars, Chapters 1-3 Shawn Turner -#28498
In the comics workshop - http://critique.org/comics :
CG Metropolise, Chapter 1 Carina Mchardy -#26473
In the western workshop - http://critique.org/western :
W A Message to Santa Fe, Chap 1-3 Frank Coombs -#25375
In the romance workshop - http://critique.org/romance :
R Pack Chapters 1-3 Anastasia Bromberg -#28384
In the video workshop - http://critique.org/video :
VS The Gallery of Henri Beauchamp Jay DeTalente -#21424
In the music workshop - http://critique.org/music :
MP The Shade Riders and Nocturnal Ned song Beth Zurkowski -#21675
In the photo workshop - http://critique.org/photo :
PH Dry Mud and Cinder Cone Bill Wight -#19627
In the art workshop - http://critique.org/art :
AH Art Man, a portrait Robert J Cleary -#27847
In the website workshop - http://critique.org/website :
WW Ax-yZ The Creative Projects Platform Charles Gull -#27088
In the critters workshop - http://critique.org/critters :
SF Special Breakfast, Chapters 1-2 [mpc] Cameron Bright -#28499
SF The Boy Who Wanted to Go to the Moon Steve Donnelly -#28500
SF Splash of Color Henry McFarland -#28501
F A Breaking of Magic, Chapter 3 Kerry Cathers -#28502
F Hidden Knight: A Novel of a Bear Leanna Zimmerman -#28503
F The Bykownik Rift, Chapter 1 Jessica Zebuhr -#28504
F The Rysing Dying Sun, Sydney Chapter 1 Anthony White -#28505
F The Sun of the North, Chapter 1 Tristan T. Chynoweth -#28506
H My Mother, In the Dark Kate Genellie -#28507
H Redcoats Russell Dorn -#28508
SF Barnstar's Day Off Ife J. Ibitayo -#28509
SF By the Will of the Gods Charles Q. Choi -#28510
SF The Nexus Effect Kyle Walker -#28511
SF The Universal Directory of Dangerous Places Elise Kim -#28512
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You might also like... AMONG THE DEAD AND OTHER EVENTS LEADING TO THE APOCALYPSE by EDWARD BRYANT
Two-time Nebula Award winner
https://reanimus.com/store/?item=1267
Standard notes:
HELP:
If you need help with anything, see http://www.critters.org/help -- there
are FAQs and a form to ask questions.
HELPING CRITTERS:
Critters is donation funded & volunteer run, so if you'd like to
help out with our current fund drive or otherwise, please visit
http://www.critters.org/donate.php -- Thanks!!
HOW TO SEND CRITIQUES:
Remember to send the critiques directly to me, critters@critique.org, so
I can forward them to the authors _and_ give you credit for your effort.
Please send only one critique per mail message (makes it easier to
archive). Please make sure the "#" symbol and manuscript number are in
the email Subject: line, like Subject: #1234. (Conversely, if you want
ol' Aburt to personally read the message, i.e., it's _not_ a critique,
don't put a "#" in the subject or I won't see it. Also -- put my current
anti-spam code word in there: see http://www.critters.org/antispam.ht .)
You may also send your critiques via http://www.critters.org/webcrit.ht .
Note that all critiques will be available to everyone to read the next Saturday.
DIPLOMACY:
Remember, authors and critiquers, we're all friends here. Be polite. Be
considerate. Be tactful. You can say you thought a story was drivel in a
courteous way. Try to point out the good and the bad; offer alternatives
if you can. Never, ever, attack the author -- only the story. Authors:
Remember that some reviewers may lack tact. Try to be understanding,
but if you get any that you feel are just plain mean-spirited, too short
to be of any use, or too "feel good," let me know and I'll withhold the
reviewer's "credit" for that story and/or cajole them into something
more insightful. See http://www.critters.org/diplomacy.ht for more...
CRITIQUE LENGTH:
If you want to send a short critique that you know is too short for
credit (200 words or less of your own meaningful content) please put
"NC#" in the Subject (NC=No Credit, like Subject: NC#1234) -and- say
something like "not for credit" inside your critique. (Remember also that
for MPC purposes, a critique must be 300 words or more.)
CHATTING:
Comments -other- than critiques (such as discussion of the critiques,
or Woohoo! announcements, or chit chat) should be posted to one of the
official Critters discussion forums (See the http://www.critters.org/newsgroups.ht
web page for full info, guidelines, etc.) Don't post stories or critiques
(mail those to critters@critique.org).
QUOTING:
Please pare the ms. down if critiquing in-line (don't quote the whole ms.!).
Other format rules are at http://www.critters.org/format.ht .
EVERYTHING'S ON THE WEB:
Past reviews are on the web page. The current week's manuscripts are
also there, as are prior mss. and even some rewrites. There's a Master
Page Index (site map) with tons of links to common items.
AUTHORS:
Authors for this week -- if you aren't getting email'd critiques from
me (as they come in) within a couple days -- ask me and we can verify
I'm sending them to the correct address. (Send me a phone# in case I
can't get email to you.) Check the format of your story ASAP to make sure
it's all there and readable.
EMAIL ISSUES:
If you want to change your email address or preferences (# mss. emailed,
SF/F/H type, or whether you get the huge critique batches at week's end),
point your browser to http://www.critters.org/admin.ht . Please don't
ask me to do this by hand, it's quite a chore! (E.g., if you're going
on vacation and want to suspend mail from me -- do this before/after
your trip.)
BACKUP SITE:
If you're unable to reach www.critters.org to get manuscripts, I've set up
an emergency backup site at http://backup.critters.org where you can get the
week's manuscripts (but not much of anything else :-). Speaking of backups --
don't forget to back up your own manuscripts so you don't lose them!
QUITTING:
If you want to quit or go inactive, drop by http://www.critters.org/admin.ht .
DONATIONS:
Critters is funded by donations, so visit http://www.critters.org/donate.php
if you'd like to help out.
Because you might enjoy it... THE LAST HURRAH OF THE GOLDEN HORDE by NORMAN SPINRAD
'One of the greatest collections of science fiction short stories ever' - Goodreads.com
https://reanimus.com/store/?item=1001
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