Julie Duffy's Blog, page 131

[Writing Prompt] Turn A Trope Upside Down

In James Blish’s Surface Tension (which I reviewed recently), the author took the idea of space travel and did something a bit different with it: instead of humans arriving on a new planet and terraforming it to suit themselves, they genetically-engineer versions of humanity that would thrive on the planet. Now that’s what I call ‘subverting … Continue reading "[Writing Prompt] Turn A Trope Upside Down"

SWAGr – Accountability for Feb 2017

Every month we gather here to discuss what we’ve achieved and commit to making more progress in our creative lives in the coming month. We call it our   Serious Writer’s Accountability Group or SWAGr, for short! (We’re serious, not sombre!) Leave a comment below telling us how you got on last month, and what you plan to do next … Continue reading "SWAGr – Accountability for Feb 2017"

The Best of StoryADay for January 2017

Happy January! This month’s theme has been ‘Practice’ (as in setting up and maintaining a healthy writing practice). Here’s what you might have missed: Podcast The January 2017 episodes covered: Stay Excited About Your Writing This Year I talked a lot in December, about looking forward and setting goals for the new year. Now that … Continue reading "The Best of StoryADay for January 2017"

Ep 48: Cheerleaders and why we need them

Sometimes it’s hard to write, or hard to get started, or hard to remember why we put ourselves through this! That’s when you need to assemble your cheerleaders…In this episode I talk about what my cheerleaders have done for me lately and how you might get some of your own. Another new episode of Write … Continue reading "Ep 48: Cheerleaders and why we need them"

SWAGr Tracking Worksheet – Your Key To Accountability and Productivity

Every month we get together to declare our intentions for the month in the SWAGr post’s comments. It’s like New Year’s Day every month! (Without the hangover…) But when the month rolls around to the 20th or so, it can be a bit hard to remember what you committed to doing this month. So here’s … Continue reading "SWAGr Tracking Worksheet – Your Key To Accountability and Productivity"

[Reading Room] Surface Tension by James Blish

Verdict: Fabulous. Surface Tension is a science fiction story originally published in 1952 and so qualifies as being either from (or near) the so-called ‘Golden Age’ of science fiction. (I found it in The Big Book of Science Fiction, edited by Ann & Jeff Vandermeer.) Fear not, this is not all heros saving damsels in … Continue reading "[Reading Room] Surface Tension by James Blish"

Write 12 Stories This Year – A Challenge From Alexis A. Hunter

I’ve always been impressed with how much fiction StoryADay friend and participant Alexis A. Hunter pushes out into the world: over 50 short stories in publications like Apex, Shimmer and Cricket. In 2017, she has committed to writing a new short story every month. That sounded like my kind of challenge, so I asked her more about it. … Continue reading "Write 12 Stories This Year – A Challenge From Alexis A. Hunter"

My December Short Story Reading List

Here are the stories I’m going to read this month.

Feel free to read along, or make your own list (post some suggestions or links to your list in the comments, maybe?)

I’ll post some reviews, if I like any …

SWAGr – Accountability for December 2016

Every month we gather here to discuss what we’ve achieved and commit to making more progress in our creative lives in the coming month. We call it our   Serious Writer’s Accountability Group or SWAGr, for …

A Thank You, A Favor, And Two Reminders

The Thank You

Thank you so much to all the people who responded to my ‘what does short story writing do for you’ survey last issue.

Not all of the quotes made it into the Writer’s Digest Magazine article (coming …