JUNE ARTICLES ONLINE IN WRITER'S WORKSHOP
Michael McCollum
June, 1999
We offer this report as a public service for our regular visitors and for
everyone who is interested in science fiction and writing. You can now reach
us by typing http://scifi-az.com , or the usual http://www.scifi-az.com .
1) DON DIXON ART GALLERY http://www.scifi-az.com/gallery.htm ART GALLERY
PICTURES UPGRADED!
Don Dixon's paintings of other worlds, both real and imagined, have made it
possible for many people to experience the beauty of the universe. His
spacescapes have graced over 60 book covers, scores of magazines, and are in
the collections of Ray Bradbury and Larry Niven. This past month, Don has
upgraded the prints in the Gallery. His artwork now comes in exquisite IRIS
prints that have a rich, glossy finish, high color fidelity, and are signed by
the artist. Two different sizes are available.
One of Don's paintings appeared on the cover of the November, 1997 "Scientific
American," and two more graced the cover and frontispiece of a special Cosmos
issue of the magazine in February, 1998.
2) WRITER'S WORKSHOP http://www.scifi-az.com/sfaz-05.htm
The June articles are now in the Writer's Workshop. To satisfy those who have
been asking for articles to be reprinted, we are continuing our program to
publish one new article and one reprint article each month. This month we
have a new article in the ART OF SCIENCE FICTION and the reprint article in
THE ART OF WRITING. Next month, we will reverse the order. For those who do
not have full collections of the articles, and who are patient, you will be
able to collect all of them in only 56 months. Hopefully, many of you will
become impatient with the pace at which articles are reprinted and will
actually BUY them! Either way, you will be able to complete your collections
of this information that many of you have told me is the best writer's
resource on the web!
a) The Art of Writing Series: Lights, Camera, Action! (NEW)
http://www.scifi-az.com/sfaz-05.htm
Time was when all you had to do to write an action scene was to kill someone
about every three pages. The problem with this is that VIOLENCE does not
equate to ACTION. Action scenes are aimed directly at the readers' pituitary
gland and the ability to stimulate that particular part of the body is an art
form. If your last action scene went off like a wet firecracker, you may want
to study up on the subject! 7500 words (77 Kb, 40 seconds download at 2
Kbytes/sec)
b) The Art of Science Fiction Series: The Einstein Barrier, Part I -
(REPRINT) http://www.scifi-az.com/sfaz-05.htm
So why can't a spaceship go faster than light? Because Einstein said so,
that's why. If you would like to know the reason for this bold pronouncement,
you may want to read this article. If you plan any kind of an interstellar
romance, then not knowing about Einstein and his barrier could leave you
looking pretty silly. 2500 words (36 Kbytes - 20 seconds download at 2
Kb/sec)
c) BONUS SECTION: The Writer's Guide to the Human Body
http://www.scifi-az.com/sfaz-05.htm
I find as I am writing that I have a tendency to make all of my heroines
beautiful, buxom, and blonde. I have always wanted a tool to help me combat
this tendency toward repetition in physical descriptions, but have never found
anything close to what I needed. So, if you can't find it, you can always
invent it. We have a 49-page specialized thesaurus dealing with the human
body. It's a compendium of descriptive and action terms that can be applied to
various appendages when you find yourself saying, "She smiled broadly." for
the tenth time in a single chapter.
d) BONUS SECTION: The Sci Fi - Arizona Astrogator's Handbook.
http://www.scifi-az.com/sfaz-05.htm
The handbook looks at local space as it is viewed from outside. It includes
3-D layered star maps that show every star within 125,000 cubic light years of
space and their relationships to one another. This is a must for science
fiction writers who want to make sure that they have their stars in the right
place in the sky.
3) AUTHORS' SHOWCASE
The SF Authors' Showcase is a new feature at Sci Fi - Arizona. It is a
service that provides new and well established authors with the ability to
sell their books directly to the public on the Internet. If you are an author
who has a book currently out of print, why not put your intellectual property
to work for you? Go to the Showcase.
Our first two authors are now online in the Authors' Showcase, with more in
preparation. They are:
Steven W. Wise CHAMBERS A psychological thriller
Netani A. Nettrour SOARING FREE A classic fantasy of love and flying
Stop by and check out the future of self-publishing