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Salt Lake Comic Con 2017

Galaxy Press Rocked the Salt (Salt Lake City that is…)

September 28, 2017

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We attended the Salt Lake City Comic Con which took place at the Salt Palace in downtown Salt Lake City with over 100,000 attendees over the 3-day event.

Thumbs up

A Guide to Critiquing a Story: Seven Vital Elements Every Story Must Have

September 27, 2017

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Frequently authors ask if I have a “form” that I used to help me critique a story. Given the large number of things that I look at in a story, any form that I had would simply be too long to be workable. Yet it makes sense to try to codify the critiquing process.

Vida Cruz, WotF 2nd Quarter 2017 winner

Meet the Winners – Vida Cruz – 2nd Q 2017

September 20, 2017

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When it comes to writing advice, many writers will tell you not to stop writing. I’m going to be contradictory for a bit and tell you that yes, you should stop—at the right time, for the right reasons.

Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle at a book signing

Building Plausible Futures by Jerry Pournelle

September 13, 2017

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This article by Dr. Jerry Pournelle was originally published in Writers of the Future Volume III. Timeless advice then and now.

Writers of the Future Contest – 3rd Quarter 2017 Winners

September 13, 2017

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The judging results are in! And here are the 3rd Quarter 2017 Writers of the Future Contest winners.

Roberta and Jerry Pournelle

Jerry Pournelle Leaves a Legacy of Helping New Writers (1933-2017)

September 12, 2017

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L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest Pays Tribute to Jerry Pournelle (1933 - 2017). Jerry leaves a legacy of helping new writers.

Now, back to the story.

Back to the Story

September 9, 2017

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What defines "good" writing when it comes to a story? That's a question I have to ask time and again as I'm judging contest entries.

Emily Goodwin, Pat Henry and John Goodwin

Dragon Con 2017 – Day 4

September 7, 2017

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And here's the final wrap up from Dragon Con 2017.

Illustrators of the Future panel with Ciruelo, Echo Chernik, Stephan Martiniere and Larry Elmore

Dragon Con 2017 – Day 3

September 4, 2017

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We are now over the halfway mark for the Atlanta Dragon Con and things are still going at high speed.

Battlefield Earth characters in the Dragon Con 2017 parade

Dragon Con 2017 – Day 2

September 4, 2017

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Another great day at the Atlanta Dragon Con! It all started with the Dragon Con Parade and our entry featuring Battlefield Earth.

Galaxy booth at Dragon Con 2017

Dragon Con 2017 – Day 1

September 2, 2017

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Today was the first day of Dragon Con in Atlanta, GA and it was…

Girl at typewriter

Avoiding Cliché Openings

August 29, 2017

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Many years ago, Damon Knight, a fine writer and editor, wrote a book on how to write short fiction. Damon talked a bit about avoiding clichés.

Will Eisner

The Illustrators of the Future by Will Eisner

August 29, 2017

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While my own career has been spent in the practice of sequential art, a form that arranges images and text in an intelligent sequence to tell a story, I have nonetheless always been professionally involved in the fundamentals of illustration. I, therefore, feel I have accumulated enough experience with which to endow my advice with some credibility.

Jake Marley being interviewed at LA Festival of Book

Persevere

August 28, 2017

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It's been nearly a year since I found out I was a finalist for L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future contest, and very nearly five months since I was announced as the 2017 Golden Pen Award winner. To say my life has changed feels like an understatement.

Ken Liu, photo by Lisa Tang Liu

Ken Liu on Writing a Star Wars Book

August 24, 2017

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So, the news is out: I’m writing a Star Wars book as part of the Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi project. Working with the team at Lucasfilm Publishing has been such a pleasure — they’re the best.

Frank Kelly Freas and Ray Bradbury at the inauguration of Illustrators of the Future

Pictures That Tell Stories

August 23, 2017

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This article was originally published in L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume XI. Mankind has used pictures to tell stories from the beginning of time. Recently, ancient cave paintings were discovered in France, and while cave paintings aren’t new discoveries, these are unlike anything seen before.

Anker Grossvater painting

The Problem of the “Told” Story

August 22, 2017

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I have talked about some of the most frequent problems that I see when judging for the Writers of the Future Contest, and today I’m going to tackle one of the biggest: the problem with “told” stories.

Lazarus with artist Mike Michera

How to create an award-winning illustration

August 17, 2017

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How does one actually create an award-winning illustration? Illustrators of the Future judges include some of the most famous illustrators of the 20 and 21st centuries—and are not easy to impress.

Agent man

Your First Five Pages

August 16, 2017

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A writer pointed out today that when you send a novel to an agent or publisher, they normally ask for the first five or ten pages, just so that they can gauge your writing skill. If those pages don’t grab the reader, it won’t sell. So, he wondered, what do I look for in those first five pages?

Jeremy TeG

Meet the Winners – Jeremy TeGrotenhuis – 1st Q 2017

August 16, 2017

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A couple of years ago I decided to stop blogging in order to focus on improving my fiction, and, well, I just won Writers of the Future, so that seems to have worked.

Frank Kelly Freas and Ray Bradbury at the inauguration of Illustrators of the Future

SF Illustration as Art by Frank Kelly Freas

August 10, 2017

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Frank Kelly Freas was the first coordinating judge of the Illustrators of the Future Contest. Already a well established commercial artist and having known L. Ron Hubbard and having observed first hand Ron lending a helping hand to aspiring writers