There is so much I agree with in this intriguing radio bit about science fiction in Africa, and much of it I've been saying for years. The BBC get's South African SF author Lauren Beukes to answer the question, "Is Science Fiction Coming to Africa?" I think it was the wrong question... but the right answer.

BBC World Service - Your World, Is ( Read more... )

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The Leeds conference always resonated as the real first SF con to me. That would make this the month of anniversary. Thoughts?

I promised that I'd give a recap on my poll on prologues (which is still open and will remain so indefinitely), and here it is. The initial results are in. It's fairly simple really. The vast majority of readers do read prologues. Some few may skim them, but most would give it a go first and only skim it if it seems to be irrelevant or poorly ( Read more... )

I've been to panels at cons where editors/writers believed that many/most readers don't read prologues and it made no sense to me. Surely a reader would always read the prologue? Or am I wrong? A recent poll of hands at our writers' group saw a 70%-30% split, with most agreeing with me. Well, almost. Truth is few had just a yes or no answer, so I ( Read more... )