August 17th, 2011
SiMF regrets to announce the cancellation of the 2011 Science in My Fiction short story contest.
This is due primarily to lack of apparent interest. With just two weeks remaining until the entry deadline, SiMF has received just 25% as many entries as we’d received by the same time in last year’s contest.
The lack of interest could be partly due to the more specific nature of the entry guidelines (i.e. the requirement that stories take place off Earth). Another possible reason is the SiMF managing editors have experienced a series of setbacks which prevented them from dedicating time to promotion of the contest. The final setback occurred this past weekend when our 5-year-old son fell and broke his arm. This proved to be the final straw and solidified our decision to end the contest.
We’d like to thank the judges for agreeing to aid us in the contest. We apologize to them, and to all the writers who did enter or were planning on entering. We would have preferred the results to be different, but unfortunately at this point we feel this is the only decision left to us.
Thanks to all readers, fans, and those who submitted for your support!
August 9th, 2011
There are just 23 days left to enter 2011 Science in My Fiction contest!
What do you have to do to enter? Write a science fiction or fantasy short story which is inspired by a scientific discovery or innovation made or announced within the past year.
A panel of five judges will select the winner:
• Tobias Buckell – Author (NYT Bestselling novel Halo: The Cole Protocol)
• Liz Gorinsky – Hugo-nominated editor at Tor Books & Tor.com
• Cameron McClure – Agent, Donald Maass Literary Agency
• Joan Slonczewski – Campbell Award-winning author; Professor of Biology
• Lavie Tidhar – Author (The Bookman, Camera Obscura)
The top 3 stories will receive cash prizes (pro rates for the winner!) and will be published in the 2011 Science in My Fiction anthology (November 2011)!
Entries close after Wednesday, August 31! Show us your science fictional chops!
June 1st, 2011
The 2nd @SciInMyFi contest, Science in My Fiction: Off-World, is now OPEN for submissions!
Entries will be accepted until August 30. Prize details and entry guidelines are here.
Thanks again to our amazing panel of judges! Now let’s see some incredible stories! For SCIENCE!
April 29th, 2011
Science in My Fiction and Crossed Genres Publications are thrilled to announce our 2nd annual Science in My Fiction contest!
Last year’s contest was a huge success, and we’re excited to see what new and creative ideas authors can come up with this time!
This year the contest is slightly different. Here’s how it works:
Authors write a science fiction or fantasy short story inspired by a scientific discovery or innovation made or announced within the past year. It can’t be peripherally added: the science must be integral to the story. We’ll be looking for thoughtful, creative and well-researched application of science to a story. Writers must include a link to a relevant article or study of the applied science when they submit their stories.
Entries will be narrowed down to 10 finalists by the Crossed Genres publishers. Then a panel of judges will read and rank the finalists based on a points voting system. The top 3 stories will be published in Crossed Genres’ Science in My Fiction 2011: Offworld, an anthology of the 3 winning stories plus the 12 monthly stories published to the SiMF blog (Release date: 11/24/11).
Why is the anthology called Offworld? That’s the twist to this year’s contest. All story submissions must be set somewhere off Earth. It can be in orbit, on the moon, a distant world or in deep space, but the story has to take us away from the comfort of our home planet.
The winner will receive professional pay (5¢ per word) for their story, plus print and ebook copies of the anthology. Second place will receive 3¢ per word plus copies, and third place will receive 1¢ per word plus copies.
FULL DETAILS AND GUIDELINES FOR THE CONTEST HERE
2011 CONTEST JUDGES:
• Tobias Buckell – Author (NYT Bestselling novel Halo: The Cole Protocol)
• Liz Gorinsky – Hugo-nominated editor, Tor Books & Tor.com
• Cameron McClure – Agent, Donald Maass Literary Agency
• Joan Slonczewski – Campbell Award-winning author; Professor of Biology
• Lavie Tidhar – Author (The Bookman, Camera Obscura)
Huge thanks to our amazing panel of judges for agreeing to help us out!
Submissions will be open from June 1 through August 31. So show us your science chops – prove to us there’s still a place for science in SFF!
FULL DETAILS AND GUIDELINES FOR THE CONTEST HERE
March 1st, 2011
Today marks one year since we launched Science in My Fiction!
Since then our amazing contributors have written over 100 blog posts, ranging in topics from sapient dolphins to piezoelectrics to quantum gravity to the color of alien pants.
In late April, less than 2 months after our launch, we were approached by the editors of the popular science site io9 with a request for the rights to reprint occasional SiMF posts on their site. Numerous SiMF posts have been reprinted on io9 since then.
In late July, Kay Holt’s tongue-in-cheek post I Know Why The Vampire Sparkles (Inspired after a grudging read of Twilight) was picked up on BoingBoing; it spread from there, being linked literally hundreds of times and translated on numerous international sites. To date the post has been read by over 125,000 people on the SiMF site alone.
Over the summer, SiMF hosted the first annual Science in My Fiction short story contest! The contest was a big success and we hope to host more contests soon!
And in October SiMF began publishing monthly science-inspired fiction with our first story, Stephanie King’s “Ending Alice“.
We have lots more in store for the future, including (if there’s enough interest) a print collection of Science in My Fiction posts, with proceeds going to science-based charities. Thanks to everyone who supported us during this remarkable first year, and please keep reading and writing!
November 29th, 2010
Science in My Fiction has moved URLs! We can now be found at
http://scienceinmyfiction.com
All URLs from the old site will automatically forward to the same page/post on the new site. No need to change any links you’ve previously posted!
Huge thanks to Matt Baya for making the transfer happen!
November 12th, 2010
We’re pleased to announce that the short story “Buckets of Light”, written by Dylan Fox, will be the second fiction published by Science in My Fiction.
“Buckets of Light” will be published online on Monday, November 29. It will also appear in the yearly anthology (estimated release: November 2011).
September 19th, 2010
We’re pleased to announce that Stephanie King‘s short story “Ending Alice” will be the first fiction published on Science in My Fiction.
It will appear on the final Monday of October (the 25th). A new short story will appear on the final Monday of every month from then on.
Speaking of which, we’re still looking for submissions! Read the guidelines, and then send us your science-inspired speculative fiction short stories!
July 27th, 2010
Congratulations to Kay Holt, whose SiMF article “I know why the vampire sparkles!” was linked on the enormously popular site Boing Boing! Said Maggie Koerth-Baker:
In what may possibly be the best fantasy fanwanking ever, writer Kay Holt presents a creepily dead-on theory explaining the characteristics of Twilight-series vampires (up to and including the sparkliness) via revised taxonomy.
July 22nd, 2010
The judges’ voting on the Science in My Fiction contest is complete! Below are the winners, Honorable Mentions and Finalists. Subscribers can read the top 3 stories by going to the Subscribers Area or clicking the links below.
WINNER
Del Dryden – “Extra Credit“
After earning two graduate degrees, practicing law awhile, and then working for the public school system for over ten years, Del Dryden finally got a clue. She tossed all that aside and started doing what she should have been doing all along, writing fiction! In hindsight she could see the decision was a no-brainer. Because which sounds like more fun? Being a lawyer/special educator/reading specialist/educational diagnostician…or writing spicy romances novels and the occasional piece of science fiction?
When not writing or doing “mommy stuff” Del reads voraciously, blogs intermittently, noodles around with web design, and plays computer games with her husband. She is fortunate enough to have two absurdly precocious children, one delightful rescued mutt, two fancy mice and three African Dwarf frogs.
Del and her family are all Texas natives, and reside in unapologetic suburban bliss near Houston. Find out more about her and her writing at http://deldryden.blogspot.com. |
2ND PLACE
J Y Yang – “Carrier Signal“
3RD PLACE
Durand Welsh – “The Justice Arm“
Honorable Mentions
James Beamon – “Dialogues With Talking Heads”
Bruce Golden – “The Sum of Their Receptors”
John Eric Vona – “Regular Robots and Irregular Humans”
Finalists
Sarah E. Glenn – “Patch Test”
Chris Hayes – “Maternal Instinct”
Ariyana Spencer – “Carnivores”
Erika Tracy – “Still Life With Dog”
Congratulations to all the Finalists!
Big thanks to the judges and slush readers, everyone who supported the Kickstarter drive, and everyone who entered the contest!
