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Ahoy, Critterfolk!
New entry Dec 07
Critter Notices
Critters is 23!
Yes, 23 years ago Critters was born. Wow! Thanks so much to all of you, who've made it such a resounding success!
Critters no longer accepting European Union members :(
It's with a heavy heart that I have to announce Critters can no longer accept people in the European Union as members. This is a result of the "GDPR" privacy laws going into effect. I'm a big fan of privacy, and applaud the general idea behind the GDPR, but the way it's implemented forces me to close the door to EU writers. [read more why...]Books from Critters!
Check out Books by Critters for books by your fellow Critterfolk, as well as my list of recommended books for writers.
How to Write SF
The Craft of Writing Science Fiction that Sells by Ben Bova, best-selling author and six-time Hugo Award winner for Best Editor. (This is one of the books your ol' Critter Captain learned from himself, and I highly recommend it.)
(Also via Amazon)
New Book from a Critter Member

P&E Has a New Caretaker!
I'm very happy to announce that P&E has been handed off to a new caretaker! Check out the site for news and such. Hurrah!
Interviewed!
I'm being interviewed live on public radio for Critters 20th birthday. For those who want to listen, it's on the 10am (Mountain time) show on Thursday, 11/19/16, on Colorado Public Radio - www.cpr.org has streaming on the site or it's 90.1 FM in the Denver area. [Interview is done, you can listen on the site]
Free Web Sites
Free web sites for authors (and others) are available at www.nyx.net.
ReAnimus Acquires Advent!
ReAnimus Press is pleased to announce the acquisition of the legendary Advent Publishers! Advent is now a subsidiary of ReAnimus Press, and we will continue to publish Advent's titles under the Advent name. Advent was founded in 1956 by Earl Kemp and others, and has published the likes of James Blish, Hal Clement, Robert Heinlein, Damon Knight, E.E. "Doc" Smith, and many others. Advent's high quality titles have won and been finalists for several Hugo Awards, such as The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy and Heinlein's Children. Watch this space for ebook and print editions of all of Advent's current titles!
Network speeding up
I'm switching the connection over to a new, shiny 10X faster network because of all the load. There might be bits of downtime as your boxes learn new addresses and things. Should be brief. Let me know of any prolonged outages you see.
Preditors & Editors Changeover
With the very sad passing of Dave Kuzminski, who ran P&E, I've taken over the P&E duties. Lots of what I hope are improvements; check it out at pred-ed.com.
Critters Server is Dying has been Replaced
See important details here in my blog. Let me know if you find anything that isn't working right. (Manuscripts are now available for this week, FYI.)
Book Recommendation
THE SIGIL TRILOGY:
The universe is dying from within...
"Great stuff... Really enjoyed it." — SFWA Grandmaster Michael Moorcock
Announcing ReAnimus Press
If you need help making ebooks from manuscripts or print copies—or finding great stuff to read—look no further! An ebook publisher started by your very own Critter Captain. (And with a 12% Affiliate program.) [More]
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FEATURED BOOK
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Weekly Notes
Notes for 20-Feb-2019... Helping out the Critters Fund Drive this week are sales of the *PAPERBACK* edition of... PHOENIX PRIME by Ted White ReAnimus Press Store: www.ReAnimus.com/1605 Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/1793997616/?tag=critters3a-20 (NOT the ebook, another publisher has that) The dream of being a superman came true for Max Quest--and immediately turned into a nightmare. He was not alone. There were Others with extraordinary powers, and the last thing they wanted was another superman on Earth--especially one working for good instead of evil. They couldn't kill him. But they could send him... elsewhere. Elsewhere was the viciously hostile world of Qanar, where Max's powers didn't work and sorcery was a more potent weapon than science, where shadows were as menacing as steel. Max Quest still had to save Earth from the corrupt threat of the Others--but he found his destiny intricately linked with that of Qanar as well. And somewhere in space-time was his lost love... -+- Thanks for the donations, folks! We are 20.3% of the way to the fund drive goal with contributions from 48 donors, leaving about $3300 to go. Thanks especially to Mariam Melikadze Steven Fritz Donald B Gibb Bill Leonard for their recent donations to help keep Critters going. Much appreciated! [See http://www.critters.org/donate.php for more information.] -+- Woohoo! Congratulations to... - Tom Greene, whose short story, "Better" is now out in the current issue of Analog. Please report your Woohoo!s via the www.critters.org/telldaworld.ht web page. -+- This week's Most Productive Critter award, for 5 critiques (at time of judging), averaging over 1000 words each, goes to... Ray Franklin To redeem an MPC, visit: www.critters.org/usempc.ht Congratulations! To everyone else -- Crit early and often! (For an explanation of the MPC award, see the www.critters.org/award.ht page.) -+- Recommended Reading... One of the best writing books - Secrets from the 6-time Best Editor Hugo Award Master, Ben Bova: THE CRAFT OF WRITING SCIENCE FICTION THAT SELLS http://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1144 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Critters Workshop ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This week we have... [get from http://www.critters.org/private/mss.php ]... Title Author --------------------------------------------------------------------- Week of 20-Feb-2019 (Crits due 27-Feb-2019): SF The Woman Who Spoke for the Gnoles [mpc] Ray N. Franklin -#28298 F Lilith's Story Sandy Kulhavy -#28299 F Icarus, Chapter 4-5 Chris Turner -#28300 SF A Branch in Time Darrell J. -#28301 SF The Forever War Emily Randall -#28302 H My Devil Dave Schultz -#28303 H A Real Haunting Madison Estes -#28304 F Built on Bones, Chapter 1 Lyric Gray -#28305 F Stopping the Bleeding Chris Hepler -#28306 SF All You Ever Wanted Jamie M. Boyd -#28307 F Baudwynn and the Fool of Cleft Chapters 1-3 & Blurb Matthew Leo -#28308 H Lovelock Justin Lemley -#28309 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Recommended books on writing: THE CRAFT OF WRITING AND SELLING SCIENCE FICTION by Ben Bova ReAnimus Press Store: http://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1144 Amazon: http://Amazon.com/dp/B006MAZPEI HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SPECULATIVE FICTION OPENINGS By (Critter member) Robert Qualkinbush http://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1184 | http://Amazon.com/dp/B007O272ZI STAYIN' ALIVE - A WRITER'S GUIDE by three-time SFWA President Norman Spinrad How things really work in the art and commerce of publishing http://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1179 | http://Amazon.com/dp/B007SIC4I8 EXPERIMENT PERILOUS: THE 'BUG JACK BARRON' PAPERS by Norman Spinrad (A 99cent essay on SF and writing) http://ReAnimus.com/store?item=1180 | http://Amazon.com/dp/B007MF3MS8 Because you might enjoy it... HAVING RELATIONSHIPS WITH CHARACTERS ON THE ROAD TO GREAT FICTION by ANDREW BURT (Shhh! A Secret of Great Writing) https://reanimus.com/store/?item=1422 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pieces up for critique in other workshops... In the lit workshop - http://critique.org/lit : L Silent Addiction Danny Hollier Jr -#28284 In the mystery workshop - http://critique.org/mystery : T The Mad Scientists' Ball Kevin J. Cheek -#28297 In the nonfiction workshop - http://critique.org/nonfiction : NP Holes Sandra Edwards-Thro -#28260 In the script workshop - http://critique.org/script : SC Johnny Lucid Gets a New Muse Jerry Sexton -#27889 In the kids workshop - http://critique.org/kids : YP Wise Old Tree Michelle Henrie -#28233 In the comics workshop - http://critique.org/comics : CG Metropolise, Chapter 1 Carina Mchardy -#26473 In the western workshop - http://critique.org/western : W A Message to Santa Fe, Chap 1-3 Frank Coombs -#25375 In the romance workshop - http://critique.org/romance : R M/M Romance Ghostwriting Test J.L. Bebout -#28261 In the video workshop - http://critique.org/video : VS The Gallery of Henri Beauchamp Jay DeTalente -#21424 In the music workshop - http://critique.org/music : MP The Shade Riders and Nocturnal Ned song Beth Zurkowski -#21675 In the photo workshop - http://critique.org/photo : PH Dry Mud and Cinder Cone Bill Wight -#19627 In the art workshop - http://critique.org/art : AH Art Man, a portrait Robert J Cleary -#27847 In the website workshop - http://critique.org/website : WW Ax-yZ The Creative Projects Platform Charles Gull -#27088 In the critters workshop - http://critique.org/critters : SF The Woman Who Spoke for the Gnoles [mpc] Ray N. Franklin -#28298 F Lilith's Story Sandy Kulhavy -#28299 F Icarus, Chapter 4-5 Chris Turner -#28300 SF A Branch in Time Darrell J. -#28301 SF The Forever War Emily Randall -#28302 H My Devil Dave Schultz -#28303 H A Real Haunting Madison Estes -#28304 F Built on Bones, Chapter 1 Lyric Gray -#28305 F Stopping the Bleeding Chris Hepler -#28306 SF All You Ever Wanted Jamie M. Boyd -#28307 F Baudwynn and the Fool of Cleft Chapters 1-3 & Blurb Matthew Leo -#28308 H Lovelock Justin Lemley -#28309 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You might also like... AGGRESSOR SIX by WIL MCCARTHY 'One part STARSHIP TROOPERS, one part OUTER LIMITS' - F and SF Magazine https://reanimus.com/store/?item=1146 Standard notes: HELP: If you need help with anything, see http://www.critters.org/help -- there are FAQs and a form to ask questions. HELPING CRITTERS: Critters is donation funded & volunteer run, so if you'd like to help out with our current fund drive or otherwise, please visit http://www.critters.org/donate.php -- Thanks!! HOW TO SEND CRITIQUES: Remember to send the critiques directly to me, critters@critique.org, so I can forward them to the authors _and_ give you credit for your effort. Please send only one critique per mail message (makes it easier to archive). Please make sure the "#" symbol and manuscript number are in the email Subject: line, like Subject: #1234. (Conversely, if you want ol' Aburt to personally read the message, i.e., it's _not_ a critique, don't put a "#" in the subject or I won't see it. Also -- put my current anti-spam code word in there: see http://www.critters.org/antispam.ht .) You may also send your critiques via http://www.critters.org/webcrit.ht . Note that all critiques will be available to everyone to read the next Saturday. DIPLOMACY: Remember, authors and critiquers, we're all friends here. Be polite. Be considerate. Be tactful. You can say you thought a story was drivel in a courteous way. Try to point out the good and the bad; offer alternatives if you can. Never, ever, attack the author -- only the story. Authors: Remember that some reviewers may lack tact. Try to be understanding, but if you get any that you feel are just plain mean-spirited, too short to be of any use, or too "feel good," let me know and I'll withhold the reviewer's "credit" for that story and/or cajole them into something more insightful. See http://www.critters.org/diplomacy.ht for more... CRITIQUE LENGTH: If you want to send a short critique that you know is too short for credit (200 words or less of your own meaningful content) please put "NC#" in the Subject (NC=No Credit, like Subject: NC#1234) -and- say something like "not for credit" inside your critique. (Remember also that for MPC purposes, a critique must be 300 words or more.) CHATTING: Comments -other- than critiques (such as discussion of the critiques, or Woohoo! announcements, or chit chat) should be posted to one of the official Critters discussion forums (See the http://www.critters.org/newsgroups.ht web page for full info, guidelines, etc.) Don't post stories or critiques (mail those to critters@critique.org). QUOTING: Please pare the ms. down if critiquing in-line (don't quote the whole ms.!). Other format rules are at http://www.critters.org/format.ht . EVERYTHING'S ON THE WEB: Past reviews are on the web page. The current week's manuscripts are also there, as are prior mss. and even some rewrites. There's a Master Page Index (site map) with tons of links to common items. AUTHORS: Authors for this week -- if you aren't getting email'd critiques from me (as they come in) within a couple days -- ask me and we can verify I'm sending them to the correct address. (Send me a phone# in case I can't get email to you.) Check the format of your story ASAP to make sure it's all there and readable. EMAIL ISSUES: If you want to change your email address or preferences (# mss. emailed, SF/F/H type, or whether you get the huge critique batches at week's end), point your browser to http://www.critters.org/admin.ht . Please don't ask me to do this by hand, it's quite a chore! (E.g., if you're going on vacation and want to suspend mail from me -- do this before/after your trip.) BACKUP SITE: If you're unable to reach www.critters.org to get manuscripts, I've set up an emergency backup site at http://backup.critters.org where you can get the week's manuscripts (but not much of anything else :-). Speaking of backups -- don't forget to back up your own manuscripts so you don't lose them! QUITTING: If you want to quit or go inactive, drop by http://www.critters.org/admin.ht . DONATIONS: Critters is funded by donations, so visit http://www.critters.org/donate.php if you'd like to help out. Because you might enjoy it... HAVING RELATIONSHIPS WITH CHARACTERS ON THE ROAD TO GREAT FICTION by ANDREW BURT (Shhh! A Secret of Great Writing) https://reanimus.com/store/?item=1422 -- You received this email message because you signed up for the Critters Writers Workshop. If you want to stop getting these emails, please visit http://www.critters.org/email.ht .