Captain's Blog
Ahoy, Critterfolk!
New entry Dec 20
Critter Notices
[It's Freebie Friday in the Critters Store...]
P&E Readers' Poll
Preditors & Editors / Critters annual best-of Readers' Poll is now open! Vote for your favorites!
How to Write SF
Hot off the presses from ReAnimus Press! 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.)
Free Books
I've got five review copies of my newest ebook, A PRIVATE MUTINY and of the Vonnegut/Catch22-esque SIDE EFFECTS available for those who'd like one.
Book Recommendation
I wholeheartedly think you'll like this book ("Biff America" - humor) and want to recommend it to you.
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]
~~~
FEATURED BOOK
~~~
Weekly Notes
Notes for 01-Feb-2012...
-+-
Thanks for the donations, folks! We are 62.8% of the way to the fund drive goal with contributions from 91 donors, leaving about $1200 to go.
Thanks especially to
Morell Mullins
Ed Kratz
Christopher Corbell
Jim Adam
for their recent donations to help keep Critters going.
Much appreciated!
[See http://www.critters.org/donate.php for more information.]
-+-
Woohoo! Congratulations to...
- Ken Liu, whose short story, "The Five Elements of the Heart
Mind" is now out in the current issue of Lightspeed.
- Richard Zwicker, who sold his (Critter'd) short story,
"Stellar Dust and Mirrors" to Stupefying Stories. {Thanks,
as always, for the feedback. }
- James Beamon, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Song of
Passing Grief" to Penumbra. {Thanks to all the critters who gave
me feedback... you'll see it in March at Penumbra!}
- Dwayne Minton, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Requiem
for Shiva" to The Future Fire. {This one took a long time to find
a home--thank you to everyone who crittered it several years ago.}
- Ian Creasey, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Joining
the High Flyers" to Asimov's. {(This went through the queue in
the week ending 13-Jul-2011; my thanks to those who commented.)}
Please report your Woohoo!s via the www.critters.org/telldaworld.ht web page.
-+-
This week's Most Productive Critter award, for 10 critiques (at time
of judging), averaging over 900 words each, goes to...
Brent Rehmel
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.)
-+-
New from ReAnimus Press: Four hard SF ebooks by Wil McCarthy -
Aggressor Six
Bloom
Flies from the Amber
Murder in the Solid State
http://ReAnimus.com/authors/wilmccarthy
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Critters Workshop
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This week we have... [get from http://www.critters.org/private/mss.php ]...
Title Author
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Week of 1-Feb-2012 (Crits due 8-Feb-2012):
SF The Dread Naughts: Chapters 20 Jeff Cates -#20848
F A Bolt for Semele Richard Zwicker -#20849
SF The Painting and the Painters Adam Bickford -#20850
F Best for the Quest Justin R. Lawfer -#20851
F Capitol Hell Douglas E Ryan -#20852
H Take a Deep Breath Wendy Turner -#20853
SF I need a plastic thingy Mark Niemann-Ross -#20854
H Real Ben Jones -#20855
F Smear Campaign Alex Bottle -#20856
F Step Caitlin Seal -#20857
SF Storming The Pagoda Palace K.W. Ramsey -#20858
SF Botanicaust ch 2 Tam Schlies -#20859
SF Courting Corporal Coogan Chapters 1&2 Cynthia Echterling -#20860
SF Microcosm Oliver Buckram -#20861
F Flash Harry Jon Hooper -#20862
F The Weight of a Wing, Chapters 4-6 Ioana Visan -#20863
F Eternity in an Hour, Chapter 1 Matthew Merendo -#20864
F The Intercession, The True Created Series, Book 1, Chapters 1-5 Stacey Nilsen -#20865
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Pieces up for critique in other workshops...
In the lit workshop - http://critique.org/lit:
L Where are the Voices? patrick spence -#20779
In the mystery workshop - http://critique.org/mystery:
M The White River Killer, Chapter One Stephen Wilson -#20824
In the nonfiction workshop - http://critique.org/nonfiction:
NP How to Bomb a Lit Class and still Ace it Twana Biram -#20804
In the script workshop - http://critique.org/script:
SC Cuddles 007 Ronald Hurst -#20740
In the kids workshop - http://critique.org/kids:
YA Visionaries, Summary and Chapter 1 Christine Scott -#20758
In the comics workshop - http://critique.org/comics:
CM Kia Book 1 Trapped in this World Carissa Farland -#20448
In the western workshop - http://critique.org/western:
W Long Trail 2 Patrick Sence -#20281
In the music workshop - http://critique.org/music:
MP My Fate "My first song Sydney Ledoux -#19032
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:
AN Re: Generation Louise Spencer -#20847
In the website workshop - http://critique.org/website:
WW Loan Comparison tool - http://tech-soft.com/loancompare Andrew Burt -#19033
In the critters workshop - http://critique.org/critters:
SF The Dread Naughts: Chapters 20 Jeff Cates -#20848
F A Bolt for Semele Richard Zwicker -#20849
SF The Painting and the Painters Adam Bickford -#20850
F Best for the Quest Justin R. Lawfer -#20851
F Capitol Hell Douglas E Ryan -#20852
H Take a Deep Breath Wendy Turner -#20853
SF I need a plastic thingy Mark Niemann-Ross -#20854
H Real Ben Jones -#20855
F Smear Campaign Alex Bottle -#20856
F Step Caitlin Seal -#20857
SF Storming The Pagoda Palace K.W. Ramsey -#20858
SF Botanicaust ch 2 Tam Schlies -#20859
SF Courting Corporal Coogan Chapters 1&2 Cynthia Echterling -#20860
SF Microcosm Oliver Buckram -#20861
F Flash Harry Jon Hooper -#20862
F The Weight of a Wing, Chapters 4-6 Ioana Visan -#20863
F Eternity in an Hour, Chapter 1 Matthew Merendo -#20864
F The Intercession, The True Created Series, Book 1, Chapters 1-5 Stacey Nilsen -#20865
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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 newsgroups, found on the news server news.sff.net.
(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
for your choices.
DONATIONS:
Critters is funded by donations, so visit http://www.critters.org/donate.php
if you'd like to help out.