Member News

SASS Secretary Lou Antonelli was a finalist for this year's Sidewise Award for alternate history. The award presentation was done at noon Saturday, Aug. 31, at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio at Lone Star Con 3, the 71st annual world science fiction convention. Sidewise winner Rick Wilber is shown with his award, flanked by Antonelli and fellow finalist Cat Valente.

Member news

Issued this spring in its Kindle edition, the Song Stories anthology is now available as a paperback.

It features a short story by Lou Antonelli, "Hearts Made of Stone", set in the Freedom Rider Era of the Civil Rights movement in East Texas.

These Song Stories are stories from across the globe, from across the genre spectrum, unified by the inspiration of song. A lyricist has the immense challenge of capturing an entire story in a handful of verses Some melodies convey a story without a single word. What stories might have arisen if the lyricists and composers chose to share their stories in a different medium? Sit back, relax, and spend some time with an old friend, or find a new one.

Member news

SASS Vice President Brad Torgerson has his first collection coming out soon. Here is the table of contents:

“Outbound” (Analog, Nov 2010)
“Gemini 17″ (Jim Baen Memorial Contest anthology, Baen Books, 2015)
“Influences: Allan Cole & Chris Bunch”
“The Bullfrog Radio Astronomy Project” (Analog, Oct 2011)
“Exiles of Eden” (Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show, Issue #22)
“Writer Dad: Mike Resnick”
“Footprints” (Licton Springs Review, 2002)
“The Exchange Officers” (Analog, Feb/Mar 2013)
“Essay: On the Growth of Fantasy and the Waning of Science Fiction” (Writers of the Future web site)
“The Chaplain’s Assistant” (Analog, Sept 2011)
“The Chaplain’s Legacy” (Analog, Jul/Aug 2013)
“The Hero’s Tongue: Larry Niven”
“Exanastasis” (L. Ron Hubbard presents Writers and Illustrators of the Future, XXVI)
“Ray of Light” (Analog, Dec 2011)
“Denouement”

The book contains also contains introductions by Stanley Schmidt, Mike Resnick and Allan Cole.

About the collection, Brad says: "Included in the book are a lot of personal comments on each of the stories, as well as thoughts and musings about writing, my friends and mentors in the business, and so forth. This book should be rolling of the press in time for SLC ComiCon 2013, in September."

The artwork is by Hugo winner Bob Eggleton\.

Statement on the expulsion of a member by another writers' organization

In response to requests for comments regarding the decision of another writers' group to formally expel a lifetime member, SASS Secretary and spokesman Lou Antonelli makes the following statement:

"Although the subject in question was exercising his free speech rights under the First Amendment to the US Constitution, that has nothing to do with the standards of conduct and behavior within a private organization

"Like any private club, the organization in question is allowed to police its membership according to its regulations and bylaws. This is an internal discipline issue and not a matter of concern to the Society for the Advancement of Speculative Storytelling.

"The by-laws of the Society for the Advancement of Speculative Storytelling clearly state that members should not discuss religion or politics within its auspices, and its members are expected to treat each other with respect. Those are our bylaws, and each group operates according to its own bylaws and policies.

"It might be useful to note - especially for non US citizens - that because of the First Amendment to the US Constitution, and its free speech guarantees, there is no professional licensing or certification of any communication media in this country. There is no such thing as a licensed journalist, there is no certifying group for authors or writers. SASS, as well as similar groups, are private and voluntary by nature, regardless of reputation and/or behavior. This is not the same in all countries.

"Like many authors, I belong to more than one writer's organization. Which group you join or belong to is a personal decision, and how any group takes care of its own is a private matter."

(The Society for the Advancement of Speculative Storytelling, Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging and mentoring aspiring and new writers of speculative fiction. SASS was incorporated as a non-profit group in the State of Texas on July 30, 2012. Members of SASS have been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, Campbell, Sidewise, Prometheus, British Science Fiction Association, and Rhysling Awards, and won the Writers of the Future and the Philip K. Dick Award.)

Interview with Park Cooper

From the web site Nerd Titan, and interview by Steve Saunders:

"We caught up with writer Park Cooper, recently, about his latest offering coming up from Angry Viking Press, the rollicking, rockerboy-murdering, zombietech cyberpunk thrill-ride SWIPE.

"Do you like Heavy Metal? The comics magazine, I mean– but the music helps, too. Are you like me , wishing that there was more cyberpunk, Blade-Runnery fiction out there… while you watch a bunch of drunken medieval twits assassinate and have sex with one another? (Not that I mind, mind… I love that stuff.)

"Anyhow, I shot Park a few questions. Here’s what went down."
To read the interview, click here:

Member news

SASS member Bruce Bethke is the subject of the latest installment on the blog "Six Questions For... Where editors and publishers discuss writing flash fiction, short stories, poetry, and novels."

To read Bruce's interview, click here:

Recommended venue

Voluted Tales magazine features a mixture of scifi, fantasy, steampunk, horror, and some nice artwork. News items or non-fiction articles, such as reports from cons, awards and other events related to the field are welcomed, as areinterviews and reviews. They have scheduled to feature an article about SASS in their September edition.

Member News

Lou Antonelli has signed and sent off contract to Every Day Publishing Ltd. for “The Silver Dollar Saucer" to be reprinted in the anthology "Raygun Chronicles: Space Opera for a New Age".

"Raygun Chronicles: Space Opera for a New Age" is the first-ever crowdfunded project for Every Day Publishing, an ambitious anthology of space opera stories from some of the finest voices in science fiction writing today; 23 contemporary stories capturing the classic golden age feel of space opera past.

Editor Bryan Thomas Schmidt secured commitments from some amazing authors: Mike Resnick, A.C. Crispin, Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Sarah A. Hoyt, Robin Wayne Bailey, Brenda Cooper, Allen Steele, Seanan McGuire, Peter J. Wacks, Keanan Brand, Milo James Fowler, Michael S. Roberts, Michael Merriam, T.M. Hunter, Robert Mancebo, Alice M. Roelke, Lou Antonelli, Paula R. Stiles, Jenny Schwartz, A.M. Stickel, Shaun Farrell, Jennifer Campbell-Hicks.

"The Silver Dollar Saucer" was originally published in Ray Gun Revival in 2009.

There will be three editions of "Raygun Chronicles" -a clothbound hardcover gift edition with glossy full-colo
r dust jacket for book lovers and collectors, a trade paperback edition with glossy full-color perfect bound cover for those who prefer something more economical and lighter in hand, and of course an e-book edition for e-readers and mobile devices.

Member News

The Sidewise Award judges are pleased to announce this year's nominees for the Sidewise Award for Alternate History.  The winners will be announced at LoneStarCon 3, this year's Worldcon, in San Antonio, Texas during the weekend of August 29.  The Sidewise Awards have been presented annually since 1995 to recognize excellence in alternate historical fiction. This year's panel of judges was made up of Stephen Baxter, Evelyn Leeper, Jim Rittenhouse, Stu Shiffman, Kurt Sidaway, and Steven H Silver.

Short Form

* Lou Antonelli, “Great White Ship” (DailySF, 5/11/12)
* Sean McMullen, “Steamgothic” (Interzone 241, 7-8/12)
 * Ian Sales, “Adrift on the Sea of Rains” (Whippleshield Books)
* Catherynne Valente, “Fade to White” (Clarkesworld Magazine #71, 8/12)
* Rick Wilber, “Something Real” (Asimov’s, 4/12)

Long Form

* Thomas Brennan, Doktor Glass (Ace)
* Mark Hodder, Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon (Pyr, Snowbooks)
* Jack McDevitt & Mike Resnick, The Cassandra Project (Ace)
* Matt Ruff, The Mirage (Harper)
* C. J. Sansom, Dominion (Mantle, Pan McMillan)

The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were conceived in late 1995 to honor the best allohistorical genre publications of the year. The first awards were announced in summer 1996 and honored works from 1995. The award takes its name from Murray Leinster's 1934 short story "Sidewise in Time," in which a strange storm causes portions of Earth to swap places with their analogs from other timelines.

Lou Antonelli is a founding member of SASS and currently secretary of the organization.

Recommended Venue: Stupefying Stories

The incredible SECOND issue of STUPEFYING STORIES SHOWCASE is out of the gates and already up and running on it's new permanent home, http://www.StupefyingStoriesSHOWCASE.com. Featuring four new stories by Robert Lowell Russell, Franziska Louise, Robert Bagnall, and Joy Bernardo, it's tested, ready (mostly), and best of all, FREE!