Royce Sears-Sci-Fi/Fantasy Author

Science Fiction has been around for a while and these are just some interesting little tidbits that I've picked up along the way. 1. The earliest use of the term Science Fiction, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, was in 1851 when it was applied to poetry or fiction interweaving a story with scientific fact. 2. The earliest use of “science fiction” for futuristic writing was in 1927… 3. … and the abbreviation “sci-fi” was introduced in 1954, by analogy with “hi-fi”. 4. The annual awards at the World Science Fiction Convention are called the “Hugos” after Hugo Gernsback, founder of Amazing Stories in 1926. 5. Although Greenback was the first in modern times to use the term “science fiction”, he preferred to call it “scientifiction”. 6. According to Vladimir Nabokov, Shakespeare’s The Tempest was science fiction. 7. The first US edition of Nabokov’s novel Lolita was published on Brian Aldiss’s birthday in 1958. 8. The first bowler to take four wickets in cons...

An article by Chris Beckett, from April 15, 2014 inthe Atlantic says : “When I’m introduced to someone as a writer, a now familiar pattern of events often follows. “Oh, really! How interesting!” the someone—let’s call her Jane—says, sounding quite enthusiastic. “What do you write?” “Science fiction,” I say. Jane instantly glazes over. “I’m afraid I never read science fiction.” “Science fiction,” I say. Jane instantly glazes over. “I’m afraid I never read science fiction.” While I have had that happen, it’s been my experience that “the someone” says “Oh, what kind of science fiction? Aliens? Spaceships? I didn’t used to like it, but I started watching “The Big Bang Theory,” and now I love it.” I have a friend who had never seen any of the Star Wars movies until she “got into The Big Bang Theory,” she is now, not only a fan of Star Wars but a few other Sci-Fi franchises as well. Sheldon and the rest of the geeky gang, along with some other high profile films, have he...

Science Fiction is often viewed as nothing more than fanciful ideas from the minds of those of us who spend too much time in our own heads, yet when October 21, 2015 rolled around on the calendar what happened? Social media explodes with, where are the hoverboards?  Where are the flying cars? Why don’t we have these things? This is just one example of how we, as science fiction writers, can shape the world around us. In an article from September of 2013 we find things like this: “This fall, MIT Media Lab researchers Dan Novy and Sophia Brueckner are teaching "Science Fiction to Science Fabrication," aka "Pulp to Prototype," a course that mines these "fantastic imaginings of the future" for analysis of our very real present.” This is our legacy, as science fiction writers. We may not have the technical capacity to develop the things we imagine, but others do. We help shape what the future might become. Reading science fiction is like an ethics...

From an article found on www.Smithsonian.com entitled “ How America’s Leading Science Fiction Authors Are Shaping Your Future” “In the early part of the 20th century, American science fiction tended to present a positive image of a future in which scientific progress had made the world a better place. By mid-century, after several horrific wars and the invention of the atomic bomb, the mood of science fiction had changed. The stories grew dark, and science was no longer necessarily the hero.” Dystopian Sci-Fi is the scapegoat of the genre, in my opinion. We use it to portray some of the worst facets of humanity, and hopefully, show how we, as a species, can overcome those faults and come through the crisis, whatever it may be, as having grown beyond those faults. It can be a message of hope in a world which focuses on the negatives far too often. Through Dystopian Sci-Fi, we can watch our worst fears come true, face those fears, and emerge victorious as we conquer those fears...

Charlie Jane Anders opens her article, "What it Means to be a Science Fiction Writer in the 21st Century with this:  "I believe that science fiction’s best days are ahead of it, because I have read a lot of science fiction. And if this genre has taught me anything, it’s optimism about human ingenuity—along with a belief that the unexpected is just around the corner. I’m not alone: Many people seem to feel like science fiction is healthier than ever."  This statement could not be more true. Science Fiction has always had the power to inspire real science and real discoveries. It was Gene Roddenberry's imagination that inspired the inventor of the mobile telephone, Martin Cooper, to develop the device. He envisioned something like the "Star Trek" Communicator device and made it a reality. I would wager, thought I don't know it to be fact, that  Miguel Alcubierre's initial white papers --the same white papers that led to  Harold (Sonny) White'...

Culinary Savages By Royce Sears “Order, Order, this meeting will come to order. Let the record show the Galactic Council for Species Acceptance met on this 23rd day of the month of Yarvost to discuss the planet known as Earth. Speaker Relnak, you have visited the planet most recently, please enlighten us with your studies of the indigenous sentient lifeforms." Speaker Relnak approached the podium, cleared his throat and smacked his thick, full lips together in preparation for the delicate articulation required by the approved interspecies language. "Ladies, gentleman, various transgendered species, ungendered plant life, and of course our newest, and esteemed, fungal friends of the Muscida system. I welcome you to the Galactic Council for Species Acceptance meeting to discuss the recently discovered sentient species on the planet known as Earth." Speaker Relnak paused, breathing deeply before continuing, "The indigenous species on Earth call themselves Humans...

My short stories are "okay" in my opinion, but I wish I had found these tips and pointers before entering the Writers Digest Short Story Competition.

8 Sure-Fire Ways to Improve Your Writing

In stepping out on this limb of writing for publication and meeting other writers at conferences with MFA's and degrees in English, English Lit, etc, I felt a little out of place. After reading this article, I don't feel so bad about not having that MFA or degree in English. 10 Misconceptions a College Education Taught Me About Writing