Personal Information is a new serial sci-fi webcomic from Sarah “Does Not Equal” Ennals.
[Sorry it’s so late; been at Eastercon. Hey, even webzine editors need a holiday once in a while, AMIRITE? – PGR]
Away at Eastercon
Hey, folks – just a note to let you know I’m away drinking beer and talking books networking with other sf publishing professionals at Eastercon this weekend, and that I’m treating it as a largely-away-from-the-internet holiday.
Of course, I’m never completely away from the internet (who is?), but what I mean is that I’m not working this weekend, which means no posts here, and Sarah’s next episode of Personal Information will be posted a little later than usual (unless I convince someone to lend me a laptop for half an hour). Yeah, I know, the real blog pros write new content in advance, or get in a guest blogger to fill the gap… but time has been both short and fraught of late, I’m afraid, and I had no chance to do either. My bad. Forgive me? Go read Eric Del Carlo’s new story instead. Go on.
Who knows, though – if I’m moderately drunk you’re really lucky, I might post some fuzzy cameraphone shots of genre fiction notables from my phone… and you can always follow my ramblings on Twitter for on-the-spot reportage and BSFA Award results and stuff (as well as via other attendees on the #eastercon hashtag, no doubt). How’s that for a deal sweetener, huh?
Have a good weekend, everyone. 🙂
NEW FICTION: OUT WALKING THE STREETS by Eric Del Carlo
After his excellent study of gender politics in “Fluidity” last autumn, Eric Del Carlo returns to Futurismic with another look at the unanswered yet imminent questions of posthuman identity. Short, sharp and timely – enjoy!
Out Walking The Streets
by Eric Del Carlo
I’m ravenous for sights and sensations, for the leathery creak of the seat beneath me, for the subtle reassuring hum in the metaplastic hull of the train car. I feel the speed; I record in my mind the tug of force against my body, basic physical principles acting upon me at every moment. It is new. It is all worthy of my acute attention.
It is not new. I am thirty-four years old, and the laws which oversee reality are as familiar–and discountable in day to day life–as the thump of blood in my veins.
I exert the effort not to make a spectacle of myself. I’m hardly alone on the train, but no others, I feel sure, are as mesmerized by the cityscape streaming past both rows of windows. I want to, but do not, press my nose to the clear ‘plastic and cry out at the pearlescent architectural wonder on display. They’ve put me on this train, among regular people. I’ve promised to control myself, and my promises have convinced those who needed convincing. Continue reading NEW FICTION: OUT WALKING THE STREETS by Eric Del Carlo
Futurismic fiction submissions form closed! (But not for long.)
The title says it all, folks – as of April 1st (no joke) we’re shutting down the fiction submissions webform here at Futurismic so that hard-workin’ Chris East can catch up on the slush mountain and get some well-deserved time away.
So if you’ve been working on something to send to us, you’ve got a chance to rest your manuscript a little before doing another edit or rewrite, to familiarise yourself with our guidelines (a huge percentage of the stories we reject are rejected simply because they ignored the guidelines, so the five minutes it’ll take to read ’em will be well spent) and perhaps researching some of the other fine paying venues for genre fiction that are open to new material, be they online or off.
(Do bear in mind that the good people at Apex Magazine are closing to subs for a while, too… which if nothing else suggests that fiction editors approach burnout at similar speeds. 😉 )
But fear not – we’ve got a whole bunch of super new stories waiting in inventory, and we’ll be reopening for submissions again real soon. In the meantime, we hope you’ll keep reading along… there’ll be a brand new story later today!
Nation-building 101
Fancy starting up your own micronation? It’s not enough to just think up a flag and occupy your turf; there’s paperwork to be done. Luckily, Wired UK has a four-point beginner’s guide, as suggested by former UN strategy co-ordinator Carne Ross, to get you started. Step one:
Play by the rules – Meet the criteria outlined in Article 1 of the 1933 Montevideo Convention (which applies to all subjects of international law): a permanent population; defined territory, and control of the territory; the capacity to enter into relations with other states. These are not binding — “You can have a state which is recognised by many other states but does not control its territory, such as Palestine” — but generally it would be hard to operate without them .
Once you’re up and running, drop me a line with any further tips, would you? I’m also available for diplomacy work on a contract basis.