by Martin L. Shoemaker

A tall, strong, young man stood on the crest of a hill, looking out over the green-brown plain below. A slight breeze ruffled the collar of his dark blue shirt. The air bore the sweet scent of the Maringa trees behind him and the musical chattering of the dabchicks in the ponds. The sun warmed his head through his short, curly locks. He held a long, straight, roughly shaped staff. But he did not lean upon it. He stood strong.

A short, gnarled old woman, old as the land itself, emerged from the trees and stood next to him. She also stood unbowed, and she gave the impression that she was larger than him in a way that the eye could not see. “You are audacious,” she said, “to bear a stick to meet me.”

He shook his head. “It is not a stick, it is a scepter.”

“I am the Woman of the Wood,” she answered. “I know this stick. I can name the tree from which it broke, and the stories of that tree, and of the seed from which it grew, and of the tree which dropped those seeds. Your eyes lie to you. It is a stick.”

“I do not see with my eyes, old mother, but with my spirit. As you have taught me. And my spirit knows that this is a scepter, and it marks me as king of all that I see.”

The woman chuckled softly as they looked out over the plain, with its stagnant ponds, sparse grasses, clumps of withered trees, and goats idly grazing. “And what do you see, O king?”

The young man shielded his eyes and looked out where she did. “I see rich fields where our people will someday grow sweet berries and yams and rice. We will plant vast crops to feed ourselves, and more. We shall feed a hungry world.”

She shook her head. “Once these lands were enough to feed our people, so they did not ask for food from others. Your spirit sees the past, before the wasters and the troubles, not the future. These lands were rich once.”

“And they shall be again! We bear burdens, but we do not sink beneath them. Someday we shall be rid of those who threaten the people and the land. We shall not break, we shall grow.”

“All I see is struggling grasses and goats wandering among them. And dirty little children,” she added, though she smiled when she did. “Children all around the field, if you know where they play.”

“And not just in the field,” the man answered. He glanced over his shoulder where bushes rustled, and he heard one small child’s voice gasp, while another giggled.

“They are brave, but foolish to approach me.”

“As was I,” the man answered. “Brave. Foolish. Burning with a hunger that food could not fill. I had to know. I had to know your ways.”

“And so it is with these? They come to learn of the Woman of the Wood?” Her eyes grew moist. “They still know of me?”

“No. They do not see you. Not yet.”

“I know,” she said, and a tear ran down the furrows of her face. “They do not know me anymore.”

“They will! It’s my turn now. I will teach them. They will know you, and they will know this future. That is what draws them today.” He lifted the stick and grasped it by the end. “They come to hear tales of my star sword!”

That turned the old woman’s frown into a smile. “I thought it was a scepter.”

“It is a star sword, won on the field of battle! You see?” He gestured across the plain with the stick. “Out there, beyond our rich fields, is the spaceport! There we shall build our own space program, with our own strong hands and our own bright minds. There we shall build rockets that shall take Nigerians to other planets. To the Moon and to Mars. To the stars!”

The woman’s dark lips parted, her mouth gaping. Finally, she said, “You’ve given me a gift. Now I know that even I, Oldest, can still wish. I wish that I could see that.”

“You will,” the man said. “My spirit sees it. We will go places that can only be seen in the imagination today; and wherever we go, we will take your stories. We will take you with us. I will tell your stories.”

“No,” the woman said softly. “I’m sorry. Not you.”

He turned to her. “So soon?” She nodded. “But I have so much to do. So many stories to tell. My children must learn. They must have this future.”

“You’ve made me believe, king of the world. They will. But you? Your spirit shall be freed to go many places, worlds even I have never imagined. And that journey starts today.”

The Woman of the Wood loomed tall over the man, her true majesty revealed at last as she reached out a hand and gently cupped his shoulder. He collapsed against her, strong until the final moment. And then he faded on the wind until all that remained was spirit, which she clasped to her breast.

And then she too was gone, and the old stick clattered to the ground, the only sign that the tall man had ever stood there.

The bushes rustled once more. After several minutes, the bravest of the two little boys came forward, looking around the hill and out over the plains. In the distance, he saw the silver towers of the spaceport. He picked up the stick. As a rocket blazed into the sky, the boy held up the sword and pointed it to the stars.

Emeka Walter Dinjos, 7 Dec 1984 – 12 Dec 2018

You saw far, but too briefly.

Walter Dinjos introducing himself as a Writers of the Future winner.

Walter Dinjos acceptance speech shown at the Writers of the Future Volume 33 awards event.

Walter Dinjos award-winning story “The Woodcutters Deity” was published in L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 33.

Martin L. Shoemaker is a programmer who writes on the side… or maybe it’s the other way around. Programming pays the bills, but a second place story in the Jim Baen Memorial Writing Contest earned him lunch with Buzz Aldrin. Programming never did that!

Martin’s work has appeared in Clarkesworld, Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, Galaxy’s Edge, Digital Science Fiction, Forever Magazine, Humanity 2.0, The Year’s Top Short SF Novels 4, Writers of the Future Volume 31, Time Travel Tales, Trajectories, Little Green Men: Attack!, The Glass Parachute, and The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirty-First Annual Collection.

Martin had become very good friends with Walter and so originated this tribute.

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The cover for L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 35 is not one, but two paintings by world-renowned artist Bob Eggleton.

We found a piece of art that Bob had painted years ago which had never been on a book cover. The painting itself is a perfect example of the power of illustration and one we really wanted to use for the book cover. But, there wasn’t enough art to be able to wrap around a book.

Bob said, “It was fun to revisit a painting I did 12 years ago and expand on it. It was a wonderful job melding two paintings together to make a wholly new one.”

And with this final art, we are able to reveal the cover for L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 35.

Bob Eggleton was born in Concord, Massachusetts in 1960 and became interested in science fiction art at an early age. Today he is a successful science fiction, fantasy, and landscape artist.

Winner of seven Hugo Awards and eleven Chesley Awards, his art can be seen on the covers of numerous magazines, professional publications, and books in the world of science fiction, fantasy, and horror across the world including several volumes of his own work. He has also worked as a conceptual illustrator for movies and thrill rides.

Of late, Eggleton has focused more on private commissions and self-commissioned work. He is an elected Fellow of the International Association of Astronomical Artists and is a Fellow of the New England Science Fiction Association.

He has been an Illustrators of the Future judge since 1988 when the Contest first started.

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Writers of the Future is a contest built upon short stories, inspired by the days of pulp fiction, where short was de rigueur, whether science fiction short stories or fantasy short stories.

So we want to help you start off the New Year by keeping with the original goal for Writers of the Future as stated by L. Ron Hubbard when he launched the Contest in 1983, to “provide a means for new and budding writers to have a chance for their creative efforts to be seen and acknowledged.”

What better way to make a New Year’s resolution than to ask some of the top names in publishing their thoughts on the future of short stories. Allow them to help you reaffirm your goal to be a published author of fantasy short stories or science fiction short stories!

Bill Fawcett

“I see short fiction and media merging with cut scenes and videos weaved into eBook formatted stories and audio read stories … Multifiction format.”

—Bill Fawcett, an American editor, anthologist, game designer, book packager, fiction writer, and historian.

David Farland

“The future for short fiction has never been brighter. With a plethora of new online magazines, it’s now cheaper to produce and distribute great short fiction than ever before, and so I see a burgeoning market over the next decade or two!”

—David Farland, an international bestselling author, a writing instructor, and the Coordinating Judge for Writers of the Future.

Mike Resnick

“The short story, as has been shown over the past couple of centuries, can be as powerful as the novel. It’s quicker to write, easier and cheaper to publish, takes less of a time commitment on the part of the reader (and usually, though not always, the author), and there’s no question that it’s here to stay. I would guesstimate that there are more short stories in print from the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s than there are novels in print from that same time period.”

—Mike Resnick, has sold 69 science fiction novels and more than 250 short stories and edited 40 anthologies, and is Editor of Galaxy’s Edge Magazine.

Jody Lynn Nye

“With a single plot and a world drawn with rapid strokes, short fiction has a flexibility that long fiction does not. Readers can have the pleasure of downloading a piece to enjoy with their lunch, during a commute, or just standing in line. Writers have been experimenting with the explosion in social media and new technology to get their work into the hands of more readers than ever before. We’re already seeing short stories being posted on websites, transmitted over Twitter, or downloaded on cell phones (especially in Japan), in both text and audio formats. Every advance in communication is an opportunity for writers to offer their ideas, their characters, their worlds to readers. Short stories are those bite-sized pieces ready for those eager consumers.”

—Jody Lynn Nye, the author or co-author of approximately 40 published novels and more than 100 short stories.

Dean Wesley Smith

“I think in this new world of indie publishing, short fiction will play a major part in a lot of different areas, from increased cash flow to promotions to discoverability of a writer’s work. In essence, I think any writer working into the future must know short fiction and make it a regular part of their writing.”

—Dean Wesley Smith, has published almost 200 novels in 40 years, and hundreds and hundreds of short stories across many genres.

Nancy Kress

“In science fiction, short fiction has gotten increasingly sophisticated and literary, and as a new generation writes, its social concerns will be reflected in fiction’s themes, as has always been true.”

—Nancy Kress, bestselling author of 26 novels and four collections of short stories.

Orson Scott Card

“The investment a writer makes in a novel is staggering. For months or years of their lives, writers concentrate on a single story, usually a complex one, with many threads. Living inside that world, it becomes familiar and, when the books emerge, they are self-consistent exactly to the degree that the writers disciplined themselves to stay within the bounds of that fictional reality.

“In short fiction, however, the investment of time is far less burdensome. The writers have room to play, to explore. If they come upon an idea that contradicts what they said earlier, it’s a simple thing to go back and revise in order to fit in the new idea—because they will be revising here and there among 20 pages, not 200 or 1,000.

“Creativity, not consistency, is the river that spawns short fiction. Short fiction can make nonce rivulets that flow where there has been no stream before. It is in short fiction that genres are defined and redefined, banks and boundaries oversplashed and, in some cases, eroded away, to move the community of writers and readers into new channels and new possibilities.

“No television show can ever take the place of short narrative fiction, because the huge budgets required even for the cheapest storytelling podcast or vlog, compared to the cost of purveying short fiction, make it commercially impossible to create screen stories that do not meet audience expectations and follow the tropes and obey the parameters of existing genres.

“Even though television and its stepchildren on other screens have largely replaced short fiction in the attention of the vast public, there remains a select audience that recognizes that in the text of short fictional narratives, the best writers are carving out new territory. It won’t be ready for television for decades, in all likelihood—yet through that select audience, the influence of the short fiction will spread, opening the minds of the wider audience until they are ready to receive the new worlds and ways invented and discovered by the writers of short stories, novelettes, and novellas.”

—Orson Scott Card, international bestselling author (Ender’s Game) and publisher of Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show

As we enter 2019, the future of short stories, whether science fiction short stories or fantasy short stories, looks brighter than ever. So if your dream is to be a published writer, then heed what these top authors above have said and avail yourself the opportunity provided by the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest.

Make your New Year’s resolution. Enter the Contest. And allow your creative efforts to be seen and acknowledged.

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Real robots and sci-fi robots are not new. Since the Golden Age of Science Fiction, robots have both haunted and amazed us. In any given month, over 2 million robot related searches are done on Google alone.

Works of science fiction have long inspired the field of robotics. Robots and androids also have been an inspiration for speculative fiction authors since the beginning of the genre. In fact, the Bob Eggleton artwork above, used for the cover of L. Ron Hubbard presents Writers of the Future Volume 35, inspired “The Lost Robot” original story by Dean Wesley Smith.

When New York Times bestselling author L. Ron Hubbard wrote of robots, he really wrote about people—this quality set the trend of “humanized” robots and androids in science fiction at a time when the genre stories were about machines and machinery. For instance, in “Battling Bolto” a strong man pretending to be a robot discovers his boss is a robot, and in “Tough Old Man” an aging constable’s lack of feelings is not a matter of insensitivity, but of a secret—and surprising—side of his character. Both of these classic short stories can be found in L. Ron Hubbard’s When Shadows Fall.

While amazing leaps are being made in the world of real science, with robots like Honda’s Asimo (practically a fully functioning android!) and the Mars rover making it possible to explore other planets, we wanted to share some of the most loved science fiction robots and the books and movies that inspired them.

Meet giant robots and android robots—some are currently trending in the media and a few are from the dawn of television, and one of them is a famous robot that got his start in a video game.

This article would not be complete if we did not share some amazing videos about real robots that show the leap from science fiction robots to reality:

Let us know your favorite sci-fi robot.

Other articles you may be interested in:
Science fiction is the herald of possibility: How fantastic fiction has become science fact

Science Fiction’s Role in Space Flight

Not Your Typical Science Teacher

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Looking for brand new science fiction and fantasy? You are in the right place.

These science fiction and fantasy books have been written by the Writers of the Future award-winning authors and contest judges over the last year (along with a few coming out soon). The Writers of the Future program was created by L. Ron Hubbard to provide a chance for aspiring authors and their works to be seen and acknowledged. To receive information about the program click here.

Discover the cutting edge of speculative fiction, from space opera to hard science fiction, and urban fantasy to dark fantasy fiction, in both epic books and short stories.

Note: The anthologies below include one or more stories by Writers of the Future winners, judges, and L. Ron Hubbard (authors are bolded), and many include stories written by other authors as well.

This impressive variety of sci-fi and fantasy novels and short stories shows why the Writers of the Future is acclaimed as the leading speculative fiction contest for new talent, helping authors and illustrators to launch careers with a success record like no other.

“A culture is as rich and as capable of surviving as it has imaginative artists. The artist is looked upon to start things. The artist injects the spirit of life into a culture. And through his creative endeavors, the writer works continually to give tomorrow a new form.

“In these modern times, there are many communication lines for works of art. Because a few works of art can be shown so easily to so many, there may even be fewer artists. The competition is very keen and even dagger sharp.

“It is with this in mind that I initiated a means for new and budding writers to have a chance for their creative efforts to be seen and acknowledged.” —L. Ron Hubbard, in L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 1

To learn about the program and get the latest news and special offers click here.

WHY ONLY BRAND NEW SCIENCE FICTION?

We have limited this list to books that have come out since 2018, with a couple of exceptions, where the author’s most recent release was in 2017. The winning authors and judges of Writers of the Future have written thousands of science fiction, fantasy, and horror novels and short stories (all genres and sub-genres of speculative fiction and beyond). If you notice we are missing any of their brand new books, please let us know (it would be impossible to find them all).

We will update this list periodically as new books become available, so check back regularly.

For more information about the contest or the annual anthology L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future check out these links:

About the Contest

Writer Judges

Illustrator Judges

Newsletter

Writers of the Future Titles

“L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Vol 34” made it to the Best New Short Stories Books

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Originally published in Writers of the Future Volume 29, this article written by Nnedi Okorafor provides useful writing tips on how to start writing and even more specifically how to start a story. She discusses her personal story beginning with a career as a professional tennis player and how this provided her greatest writing lesson learned. Nnedi explains the battle she fights when beginning a new story, when facing the dreaded blank page and her ultimate triumph that has made her one of today’s most successful fantasy writers.

“The Writers of the Future experience played a pivotal role during a most impressionable time in my writing career. Everyone was so welcoming. And afterwards, the WotF folks were always around when I had questions or needed help. It was all far more than a mere writing contest.” —Nnedi Okorafor

When I was sixteen years old, I learned one of the greatest lessons I could learn as a writer. This was four years before I wrote my first creative work, so I didn’t know this at the time. I was barely paying attention, really. I was too busy trying to win. I was in San Diego, California on the hot tennis court, Wilson tennis racquet in hand, Reebok tennis shoes on my feet. These were from my corporate sponsors, but I loved their products, too.

I was playing in one of the United States Tennis Association (USTA) junior national tournaments. These were where the top young players in the country battled it out. I wasn’t a top seed. Neither was my opponent. I don’t even remember her name. However, she and I were evenly matched and for this reason, our match was long. Where most tennis matches took about an hour, ours had stretched to five and a half.

I’d lost the first set 6–7, won the second set 7–6 and because of this, we had to play a third. The score was 6–6 and we were playing a tiebreaker. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky or a person on the sidelines. We had no audience. Both of us had flown to California alone, so neither of us had parents there to watch.

Regardless, we were two teenagers at war, slugging that ball back and forth, diving for drop-shots, acing serves, really digging into the root of the sport.

All the other girls had finished playing their matches. Everyone but the officials at the front desk had gone home for the day. Finally, after about five hours and forty-five minutes, I won the match. There was no burst of applause. I hadn’t advanced to any namable position like the finals or the semifinals. I didn’t scream or fall to my knees with elation. And if I had, there was no photographer to catch that moment.

Nevertheless, I felt I’d reached the top of Mount Kilimanjaro; I experienced the purest form of success. This had nothing to do with winning and everything to do with loving the game and playing it well after being blessed with a formidable opponent. She and I shook hands and then sat in the shade and drank lots of water. We didn’t talk. We had nothing to say. We went to the front desk and reported our score. That was it.

Nearly a decade passed before I realized the lesson in this experience. Just as in sports, when writing creatively, if you don’t love the craft and art of it, you’ll never experience this pure form of success. Yet when you do have this love, you realize that pure success does not come from fame or fortune, it grows from that love.

Too often athletes and writers are seen as being on opposite sides of the spectrum, culturally, socially and in practice. The seed of this separation is planted early. In elementary and high school, there are “the jocks” who are the athletes and “the nerds” who are the academics (this group more often than not includes those who seek to and will become creative writers). Writers are stereotyped as sedentary people who loathe exercise; their movement is in their heads. Athletes are stereotyped as being anything but academics and thinkers. It is brains versus brawn.

How to Start Writing

Both groups miss out on valuable lessons by being so separated. The fact is that there are many parallels between the worlds of sports and creative writing. In my experience, they are nearly interchangeable. They are both forms of craft and art. Since I am speaking to writers, I’d like to share some of the lessons I learned from sports that are perfectly applicable to writing.

One of the greatest lessons is how to gracefully, bravely face fear. I remember vividly those matches where I had to play against someone ranked just below me. These were matches where I had nothing to gain and everything to lose. One of the unique things about tennis is that it is a very mental sport. The best player does not always win. All it takes is a small distraction and next thing you know, you’ve lost.

For example, I was playing a girl in a tournament when I was about fourteen. I was winning easily. I’d won the first set 6–2 and I was up 5–3. I was about to wrap things up. Then during one of the changeovers (every two games you switch sides), I noticed her left hand. It was prosthetic. I was only about fourteen years old and this killed my concentration. I went on to lose the match because I couldn’t stop looking at her hand and marveling at the fact that she could compensate so well.

Loss of concentration is not the only type of mental struggle when playing someone ranked below you. I was immature and highly competitive and such matches sparked sharp nervous fear. Despite this, I had to go out there. The walk out to the court was like a death sentence. The warm-up was torture. When I began playing the first point, I would find that I had to either curl up and lose or stand up and fight.

This is a battle I fight when beginning a new story when facing the dreaded blank page. There’s a voice in my head saying, “There’s nothing there! How can you create something from nothing? Where do I begin? There’s no instruction manual or guide I can Google.” That blank page is like the opponent who has everything to gain from me and nothing to lose.

Though I feel this fear every time, I have never walked away from it. I stand and face the monster, then I dance with it and it is exhilarating. “If you fear something you give it power over you,” says a North African proverb. And if you conquer that fear, you are rewarded with power and joy.

For one year, between the high school tennis season and my first (and only) year playing college tennis, I joined my high school’s track team. I went on to win over twenty-two medals and compete and place in the state championship in multiple events. My best event was the 400m. This race was once around the track; it is the longest sprint. Whenever I ran this race, something peculiar happened. I’d black out from the hundred-meter mark to the three-hundred-meter mark. Then I’d return to myself in that last hundred meters. The sound of the crowd would burst back into my ears as if it had been on mute and I’d speed up all the way to the finish line.

How to Start a Story

At first, I was disturbed by this blacking out. These were moments where I had no control of what was happening. However, after winning a few races, I learned to stop questioning and just trust in it. This is something I’ve applied to writing many, many times. Practically every successful story I’ve written grew from a “blackout” moment where I would fall into a creative zone. During these times, no matter how hard I try, I cannot recall how I came up with what I wrote. When I first began writing, these moments scared me. I didn’t like the idea of not knowing precisely where something came from or how I wrote it. Nonetheless, many novels and short stories later, I’ve learned not to question, fear, deconstruct or try to remember these blackouts.

There is a side of creativity that defies logic. This is the side that is no longer craft, but art. Imagine driving your car. Now, remove your hands from the wheel. Or imagine running. Now, shut your eyes. Now trust that you will not crash or fall. These are mystical moments for a mystical practice. Both athlete and writer are better off accepting these moments, welcoming them, even seeking to evoke them.

When life happens, certain emotions can cripple progress … like rage. There is one particular tennis match where I was being eaten alive by rage just before I went out onto the court. It was the state championship and I was tired of everything—the constant matches, nosy reporters, trash talking and pressure.

I felt burned out and generally angry at my existence. I just wanted to go home and sleep.

Instead, I had to play a girl who was just below me in rank, one of those “everything to lose and nothing to gain” situations. However, instead of letting that hold me down, I went out there and focused my rage to a razor-sharp edge. Then I used this weapon to demolish my opponent in a half hour. I beat her 6–0,

6–0, acing nearly every serve. I didn’t care about winning; I just wanted to get off the court so I could go relax.

Rage and writing can be enemies or friends. One can be so angry that she walks away from the page because she can’t focus enough to write. The words fall apart when she looks at them. Her eyes cloud with tears so that she can’t see them. The angry throb in her head is too loud for clear thinking. Or one can use that rage to sharpen her pen. Rage can be a great blade sharpener. It doesn’t feel good but it’s burning inside you, so you might as well use it. Don’t let it stop you from producing; channel it into your work instead. Let it serve a purpose. Produce something positive.

My Greatest Lesson

Possibly the greatest lesson that I took directly from sports and brought to writing was stamina. The stamina needed to practice day in, day out and then prove one’s worth in a tournament or track competition is the exact same stamina needed to navigate one’s way through the mental and physical obstacle course of finishing a novel. My days of training for the nationals and state championships helped me tackle the challenges of my first novel, Zahrah the Windseeker. Right after I sold this novel to Houghton Mifflin, my editor asked me to change it from third to first person.

On the tennis court, I’d tell myself, “One point at a time.” When writing, I tell myself, “One page at a time.” One of my favorite Nigerian proverbs is, “Little by little the bird builds its nest.” I used this proverb to create Nnedi Rule Number One: Don’t look a novel in the eye until you are done with the first draft. Focus on the journey, not the destination. This is the best way to reach your destination. Understand that the journey will be tough, perilous and sometimes painful. Never give up, but be willing to change and listen. Finish what you start. I’ve written over twenty novels and there has only been one that I have not finished.

The body and the mind are deeply connected. Writing is a mental and spiritual art but there is a physical side to it, too. One must have the stamina to sit and focus for long periods of time. There’s the physical act of the fingers flying across the keys or the hand holding the pen as it dances across the paper and the mouth moving as it exhales the story. Part of my own writing process includes working out at the gym. My muse sends me many of my finest ideas while at the gym, sweating and breathing hard, blood pumping. Exercise keeps my body fit and I therefore have more energy to burn writing.

It’s all connected.

Dr. Nnedi Okorafor is a speculative fiction novelist of Nigerian descent. Her novels include Who Fears Death (winner of the 2011 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel), Akata Witch (an Amazon.com Best Book of the Year), Zahrah the Windseeker (winner of the Wole Soyinka Prize for African Literature), and The Shadow Speaker (winner of the Parallax Award). Her children’s book Long Juju Man won the Macmillan Writer’s Prize for Africa. Her short story “Windseekers” was a Writers of the Future Contest finalist in 2001 and was published in Vol. 18.

Dr. Okorafor holds a Ph.D. in literature and is a Full Professor at the University of Buffalo, New York (SUNY). She became a Writers of the Future judge in 2013.

Find out more at: nnedi.com

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Hollywood, CA—World-renowned artist Bob Eggleton has provided the cover art for L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 35 releasing April 2019.

The painting named “One of Our Robots Is Missing” was transformed into a book cover by Bob Eggleton combining with a second painting he created. He stated that “it was fun to revisit a painting I did 12 years ago and expand on it. It was a wonderful job melding two paintings together to make a wholly new one.”

The upcoming volume 35 also contains a short story by award-winning science fiction author and Writers of the Future Contest judge Dean Wesley Smith, entitled “Lost Robot: A Sky Tate Mystery Story” which was inspired by Eggleton’s cover art. He told us, “I have been a fan of Bob Eggleton’s wonderful art since he did the cover for the very first Aboriginal SF Magazine for a story my wife wrote. We have that original and numbers of other Eggleton original paintings on our walls right now. So when I was offered the chance to write a story for Bob’s wonderful cover for Writers of the Future Volume 35, I jumped at the chance. And then, even more fun, the art hit perfectly into one of my ongoing superhero series starring Poker Boy and superhero detective Sky Tate. Having Sky solve the mystery of Bob’s “Lost Robot” turned out to be great fun.”

Bob Eggleton is a founding judge, meaning he has been with us the entire 30 years of the Illustrators of the Future Contest’s history having been brought on board by the original Contest coordinating judge, Frank Kelly Freas. About the contest, Eggleton says, “L. Ron Hubbard ignited the spark of imagination, which in the minds of these new artists has become ablaze.”

Writers of the Future was a contest initiated by L. Ron Hubbard in 1983 as a means of providing a helping hand to aspiring writers. Due to its immense success, a sister competition, Illustrators of the Future, was created.

The annual Contests draw entrants from around the globe and are free to enter. Winners retain full rights to their work and each are given cash awards. Grand prize winners receive an additional $5,000. The Contest flies out all winners to Los Angeles for an expense-paid, week-long workshop given by Contest judges and culminates in a black-tie gala awards event.

For more information, go to www.writersofthefuture.com.

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Hollywood, CA—Mark your calendar to watch the Writers and Illustrators of the Future Achievement Awards Ceremony Friday, April 5, 7:30 PM (Pacific)

The L. Ron Hubbard Achievement Awards ceremony, celebrating its 35^th anniversary of the internationally-acclaimed Writers of the Future Contest and its companion Illustrators of the Future Contest, will be broadcast on Friday, April 5, 7:30 PM (Pacific), to a worldwide audience via the Internet, it was announced today. Streaming will be live from www.writersofthefuture.com where a countdown to the event can currently be seen.

Themed around the book cover art entitled “One of Our Robots Is Missing” painted by award-winning artist Bob Eggleton, the opening act will be performed by EMCirque and a Mars Rover prototype.

The evening ceremony will be held before a packed hall of invited guests, celebrities, and many of speculative fiction’s most popular writers and illustrators at The Taglyan Complex in Los Angeles, all gathered to find out who will win the Writers of the Future Golden Pen award and a $5,000 check and the Illustrators of the Future Golden Brush award and their $5,000 check.

“You could call the Writers of the Future Contest ‘The American Idol for Writers’—long before there ever was an American Idol,” said USA Today and New York Times best-selling author and Contest judge Kevin J. Anderson (Dune prequels, Saga of Seven Suns, Star Wars). “It’s amazing to me that a good 60 to 70 percent of the winners go on with successful careers in writing, and several have become best-selling authors themselves.”

As the top names in the science fiction and fantasy world, Contest judges will be on hand to present the annual awards to this year’s writer and illustrator winners as well as the grand prize winner for each Contest. Writer judges who will be attending include Kevin J. Anderson, Doug Beason, Gregory Benford, Orson Scott Card, David Farland, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Todd McCaffrey, Rebecca Moesta, Larry Niven, Jody Lynn Nye, Nnedi Okorafor, Tim Powers, Robert J. Sawyer, and Dean Wesley Smith. Illustrator judges will include Echo and Lazarus Chernik, Bob Eggleton, Larry Elmore, Val Lakey Lindahn, Sergey Poyarkov, and Rob Prior.

“This annual gala ceremony for new writers and illustrators of science fiction and fantasy is such a moving experience that we want all speculative fiction fans everywhere and the friends and families of this year’s winners to witness it,” said Joni Labaqui, the Contests’ director.

Every quarter, three writers and three illustrators are selected by a panel of leading authors and artists of science fiction and fantasy. With no entry fee and judging done on an anonymous basis, the criterion is strictly merit. Beside first time publication, benefits include over $30,000 in cash prizes and royalties, a week-long workshop with top professionals of the genre as well as book signings, radio, and TV interviews organized by the contest administrators to assist the winners in launching their careers.

Please note, this is a live broadcast, so check your time zone for when it will show in your location. You can follow the live countdown to the achievement awards at www.writersofthefuture.com.

For more information, on the Contests, go to www.writersofthefuture.com/writers-contest-info.

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US, British, Chinese, and Canadian Writers and Illustrators are chosen to be published in L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 35.

The winners of the 35th annual and internationally-acclaimed L. Ron Hubbard Writers & Illustrators of the Future Contests have now been finalized.

They were selected out of thousands who entered the Contest and will be published in the 2019 edition of the national bestselling anthology, L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 35.

There are four quarters each year that entrants can submit a short story in the fantasy or science fiction genres. This Contest is for writers and illustrators looking to launch their career, not already established writers and artists.

Presentation of the Gold Awards for the year’s best story and illustration will be announced at the annual gala awards event in Hollywood, California in the spring of 2019.

Meet the talented group in the upcoming anthology.

The Writers:

Carrie Callahan from Kentucky
David Cleden from England
Preston Dennett from California
Christopher Baker from England
Andrew Dykstal from Virginia
John Haas from Canada
Kyle Kirrin from Colorado
Rustin Lovewell from Maryland
Wulf Moon from Washington
Mica Scotti Kole from Michigan
Elise Stephens from Washington
Kai Wolden from Minnesota

The Illustrators:

Aliya Chen from California
Alexander Gustafson from Washington
Yingying Jiang from England
Sam Kemp from England
Qianjiao Ma from China
Allen Morris from Washington
Jennifer Ober from New Mexico
Josh Pemberton from Washington
Emerson Rabbitt from Minnesota
Christine Rhee from California
Vytautas Vasiliauskas from England
Alice Wang from Washington

These are the writers and illustrators to look for. They are the future.

L. Ron Hubbard created the Writers of the Future Contest in 1983 to provide a means for aspiring writers of speculative fiction to get that much-needed break. Due to the success of the writing Contest, the companion Illustrators of the Future Contest was created in 1988.

The intensive mentoring process has proven very successful. 12 winners have become New York Times bestselling authors and winners’ works have sold over 50 million copies.

The Writers of the Future Award is the genre’s most prestigious of its kind and has now become the largest, most successful and demonstrably most influential vehicle for budding creative talent in the world of speculative fiction. Since inception, the Writers & Illustrators of the Future Contests have awarded over one million cumulatively in cash prizes and royalties to their winners.

Created in 1983 by L. Ron Hubbard, Writers of the Future is the longest running contest for SF and Fantasy novice writers in the world

Visit www.writersofthefuture.com for more information.

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While wyverns and dragons have graced art galleries and portfolios and have been the subject of numerous bestselling fantasy books in recent times, they entered into the world of art and literature thousands of years ago.

The most common questions you will hear about wyverns vs. dragons are which one came first? And when did these mythological creatures enter the world of fantastic fiction? And what makes them different?

Some mythology experts have noted that dragons appeared as early as 2500 B.C. in a poem entitled Akkadian, considered to be the first great work of literature. In one of the most important pieces of English Literature, Beowulf, written around 1000 A.D., a dragon is slain by the legendary hero in a bloody battle.

Wyverns were first recorded as appearing in 752 A.D. in the figure of a dragon. They were encountered by the Trajan’s legions in Dacia. The Dacian Draco depicts the wyvern’s head on the standard banner of the ancient Dacian soldiers, which can still be seen on the Trajan’s Column in Rome, Italy.

Just as interesting as when they first appeared in the world of literature, are the many types, colors, and cultures of dragons.

Dragon Types

Amphiptere: A serpent with greenish-yellow feathers, bat-like green wings with feathered bone, and an arrow-tipped tail. Others are described as entirely covered in feathers with a spiked tail, beak-like snout, and bird-like wings.

Dragon: A large serpent-like creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures around the world. Beliefs about dragons vary drastically by region, but dragons in western cultures since around 1,000 A.D. have wings, horns, four legs, and are capable of breathing fire. Dragons in eastern cultures are usually wingless, four-legged, serpentine creatures with above-average intelligence.

Drake: A spiny wolf-like creature with a dragon head, horns, and two legs.

Lindworm: A legendary serpent monster or dragon-like creature. In Norwegian heraldry, a lindworm is the same as the wyvern in British heraldry.

Wrym: A snake-like creature with no wings or legs and a dragon head.

Wyvern: A creature with a dragon’s head and wings, two legs, a reptilian body, and a tail often ending in a diamond or arrow shaped tip. A variant dubbed the sea-wyvern lives in the sea and has a fish tail in place of a barbed dragon’s tail.

Dragon Colors, Countries, and Cultures

Dragons have different colors and come from different cultures. Pat Henry, the CEO of Dragon Con, conducted extensive research on the various colors and cultures of dragons, which he shared during his keynote presentation at the annual L. Ron Hubbard Writers and Illustrators of the Future awards ceremony.

Wyverns and dragons have been around for millennia and continue to be created today through movies, comic books, novels, and art.

Dragons in Contemporary Literature

Many famous authors continue to tell dragon tales through fantasy short stories such as:

L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 33, featuring the Dragon Killer’s Daughter by Todd McCaffrey

L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 34, featuring Illusion by Jody Lynn Nye

Dragon Writers an Anthology by Brandon Sanderson, David Farland, and collected authors

In magical and mythical creature stories such as:

The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey

Winter Wyvern by McCaffrey-Winner

Dragons Run by Jody Lynn Nye

And through epic fantasy fiction books:

The Hobbit, by J.R.R Tolkien

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

And lastly, the dragon even takes the stage in the New York Times bestselling science fiction novel Battlefield Earth, by L. Ron Hubbard, where the Chinese legend of the dragon eating the moon helps Jonnie Goodboy Tyler turn the tide in a battle of intergalactic proportions. Read part one of Battlefield Earth for free.

Dragon Art

World-class artists have created magnificent dragon art:

The Legend by Shun Kijima, Battlefield Earth, Japanese cover art

Mountain Conflict by Larry Elmore

Tea Dragon by Echo Chernik

Dark Dsurion by Ciruelo

The Rainbow Dragon by Bob Eggleton

Dragons and Wyverns have longed sparked our imagination and inspired art and stories about them—and they show no signs of dying anytime soon.

Sign up for the latest news, specials, giveaways, and cool offers.

You may also be interested in these articles:

Why Is It Not an Adventure Worth Telling If There Aren’t Any Dragons?

Ciruelo’s “Dragon Caller” Provides Magical Cover for Writers of the Future Vol 34

Dragon Con 2017 – Day 1

Can You Draw a Dragon? How Illustrators of the Future Inspires Students

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The excitement has begun. It’s the Writers & Illustrators of the Future annual week of workshops and the gala awards event. The big show will be on Friday, April 5 at the Taglyan Complex. See it live at www.WritersoftheFuture.com.

This year’s workshops are being held at the Loews Hollywood Hotel. The writer winners arrived today and met up for the first time. Christopher Baker and David Cleden came in to Hollywood from 30 miles south of London. John Haas arrived from Ottawa. The other nine US-based winners few in from as far as Washington, DC (Andrew Dykstal) and as close as Reseda, which is only 14 miles away (Preston Dennett).

The writers arrived and checked into the hotel.  And as a lead up to the official start of the writer workshop, they were interviewed for a series of WotF podcasts and videos all of which will be posted on Facebook and Youtube to promote themselves, their stories, the Contest and the latest Writers of the Future anthology to be released on Friday (and nationwide on April 9).

The writers workshop then officially kicked off when all the winners gathered with workshop instructors: David Farland, Tim Powers and Orson Scott Card.

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Writer Workshop: Day 2, Story Ideas and Outlines

While Sunday was arrival day for the illustrators, it was the first full workshop day for our twelve writer winners. The day began at 9 am with a tour of Author Services, Inc. including the magnificent Writers of the Future library which features books, magazines, and graphic novels written or illustrated by contest winners past and present.

On their return to the workshop space, Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game) kicked off the day of writing tips with a history and overview of tense and point of view in fiction. The writers learned the nuances and limitations of everything from first person present to third person omniscient. Card even discussed second person future (which you will appreciate soon).

Tim Powers (On Stranger Tides) gave each writer the random items they’ll be using as story prompts when they begin their 24-hour stories on Day 2. The writers pondered their items, brainstorming what they might do with things like a blank 3×5 card, a tea bag or a tiny book of whale pictures.

David Farland (The Runelords) discussed story structure, teaching writers about the importance of try/fail cycles when writing short stories. Card supplemented the lesson with highlights from his popular MICE quotient theory (detailed in his book Characters & Viewpoint for those following along at home).

After their lunch break, the writers returned for talks on how to get the most out of writing workshops, different approaches to sensory details, and how to transport the reader into your story physically, emotionally and intellectually.

Our trio of famous authors wrapped up the day by talking about where story ideas come from and how to get more than a thousand story ideas in an hour by asking yourself just four questions.

Day 1 of the writer workshop ended with homework assignments designed to keep readers in suspense. Will the writers take the lessons to heart? Will they ever write in second person future POV? Will they ever be able to get the words “beaver water” out of their heads?

Tune in tomorrow to find out!

Reporting by Kary English, Writers of the Future Contest First Reader and winner from Volume 31.

Illustrators of the Future Art Workshop: Day 1, Arrival

Illustrators of the Future Contest winners arrived today from across the US including Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Vermont, 3 from the Seattle area, 2 from California, as well as 2 from England. It turns out that Josh Pemberton, Allen Morris, and Christine Rhee were all introduced to the Contest by Volume 34 Illustrators of the Future winner, Bruce Brenneise. Looks like Bruce knows how to pick ’em! Thank you, Bruce!

Their art styles and aspirations range from sci-fi art to fantasy art, character design, concept art, and story illustration.

Upon arrival, the illustrator winners were whisked off to do video interviews and podcasts for social media promotion for themselves, the Contest, and the book. Sharing their sources of inspiration and their hopeful plans for the future. These talented artists are definitely people to watch for.

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Writers Workshop, Day 3: Writing Short Stories Using Story Prompts

David Farland (The Runelords) opened Day 3 of the writers’ workshop with a discussion of short story markets, when to use pen names, and the financial realities of writing fiction for a living.

Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game) warned the writers to steer clear of politics in their public and professional personas. In addition to alienating potential fans and readers, publishers and editors could have concerns about the author’s politics having a negative impact on sales.

Continuing on the theme of sales, David Farland talked about career arcs in traditional publishing. Ideally, an author sells their debut novel, proceeds to mid-list and lead author status, then reaches the lofty pinnacle of having multiple New York Times bestsellers.

With the 24-hour story looming, the instructors touched on the following:

• Agents—A good agent can help make your career, and a bad one can break it. David Farland gave specific recommendations for how to conduct an agent search using the dealmakers database in Publishers Marketplace.
• On trying to write to trends—By the time something is a trend, the caboose is leaving the station. Try to set the trend instead.
• On MFAs and other credentials for writers—A writer’s best credential is their last book.
• Rights—Make sure you understand the full spectrum of subsidiary rights (e.g. audio, merchandise, RPGs, etc.) that are part of your novel so you can maximize your income by selling them.

Our trio of famous authors finished the morning with a discussion of Hollywood and movie deals.

After lunch, the writers embarked on their 24-hour story. First, they visited a library for short story prompts from random books pulled off shelves, then they hit the streets of Hollywood to interview a stranger. After yesterday’s discussion of using details for realism in fiction and short stories, the writers should be well-equipped for their challenge.

The clock started ticking at 4 pm, giving writers just 24 hours to draft a complete short story inspired by a random item, random information from the library, and their interview with a stranger.

Coffee’s brewing, words are flying, and the sun is setting on a long night of writing.

Illustrator workshop, Day 2: Art as a Business

Day 2 of the Illustrators of the Future Workshop kicked off with a tour of Author Services, showcasing book covers, illustrations, paintings, graphic novels and other fantasy and sci-fi art produced by previous contest winners.

Back at the hotel, the illustrators settled in to learn the business of art from instructors Echo Chernik and Lazarus Chernik of Echo-X Illustration. Echo and Lazarus taught illustrators how to put together a portfolio, including how to tailor a portfolio to showcase different styles, for presentation to a particular client or to bid for a particular project.

The instructors introduced the illustrators to the difference between commercial and fine art, covering contracts, the creative process, delivery and payment, and how to communicate with everyone from indie authors to game designers to art directors and CEOs.

The illustrators wanted to know more about where to advertise their art and which venues gave the best value.

Echo and Lazarus talked about the financial realities of starting out as a freelance artist, chuckling about the idea that you only have to work half-days, and you even get to pick which 12 hours those are. Since we’re talking science fiction and fantasy art, those might not be Earth days, either!

The illustrator judges wrapped up the day with an assignment: the illustrators have until tomorrow to turn in nine thumbnails, small sketches designed to test concepts before moving forward with a finished piece.

After dinner, the illustrators returned for a live drawing session featuring models in sci-fi and fantasy costumes. Some drew with traditional media such as ink and charcoal, while others drew on laptops and tablets. Echo brought out her brand new Staedtler blues and joined in!

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Writers Workshop, Day 4: 24-Hour Stories and the Big Art Reveal

There are 960 minutes from midnight to 4 pm, and the writers felt each one tick by as the clock counted down to the deadline for turning in their 24-hour stories. After a mad rush for printer paper, a stapler and extra staples, the stories landed safely in the hands of Tim Powers (On Stranger Tides), thus freeing the writers to head back to Author Services, Inc. for the big art reveal.

The art reveal is one of the highlights of the workshop, second only to the awards ceremony itself. In many cases, it’s the first meeting between the writers and the illustrators.

The writers are nervous. For most of them, this will be the first time anyone has illustrated their work, and they have no idea what the illustration will look like, or which illustrator will be working on their story. What scene will the illustrator choose? Will the characters look like the author imagined? Will they recognize the illustration for their story on sight?

Inside the conference room at ASI, the doors are closed. Twelve easels stand in a semicircle, each displaying a single, framed image. The illustrators gather in the back of the room. They’re nervous, too. The illustrations they’ve worked on will determine which one of them wins the Contest’s Golden Brush Award. But it’s more than that. What if the writer can’t tell which illustration is theirs? What if the writer doesn’t like their art?

The room goes silent.

When the doors open, the writers file in. They’re excited, but silent, too. Some recognize their artwork immediately and go straight to it. Others walk the semi-circle, inspecting each painting. There are gasps, and then, inevitably, there are tears.

Once the writers have found the illustration that goes with their story, the illustrators come forward to introduce themselves. The illustrators share information about their techniques and process, why they chose a certain scene or character, what they wanted to convey with their art.

Nervous silence has given way to excited chatter. This is a moment both the writers and the illustrators will remember for the rest of their lives.

Illustrators Workshop, Day 3: Color Harmony, Guest Instructors and the Big Art Reveal

The illustrators started their morning with a lesson from Echo and Lazarus on how to find clients—an important topic for any artist who wants to make a living from their work. After that, the illustrators selected one image from their nine thumbnails to develop into a tight drawing. If the instructors approve their work, they’ll turn this image into a finished illustration.

Maryse Alexander, Creative Director for Author Services, Inc., visited the workshop for a presentation on color theory. She showed the illustrators how to use color to evoke an emotional response in the viewer, to achieve depth and create a focal point in their work.

Val Lakey Lindahn, a professional illustrator for more than 30 years, talked to the illustrators about the importance of models and costumes for accurate painting and lighting. Val is a sculptor as well as a two-dimensional illustrator, and if she can’t find a suitable model for a project, she’ll sculpt or assemble one out of things like bones, found objects and clay.

After their lunch break, the illustrators spent more time in the studio, collecting references for their drawings, shooting photos where needed, and making progress on their in-class projects.

The big art reveal is a different experience for the illustrators. Most of them have never worked directly with an author before, and some have never worked for a client who isn’t an instructor. They’re not sure what to expect. In the art world, sometimes approval is limited to “good job, here’s your check.”

For the illustrators, the big reveal is nerve-wracking. What if the author doesn’t like the art?

When they see the writers respond, they’re baffled at first. They’ve never heard someone gush over their work like the writers do, and they’ve never seen someone moved to tears by their artwork before.

It’s a heady night the illustrators won’t soon forget.

Contributed by Kary English

Writers of the Future First Reader and winner from WotF 31

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Writers Workshop, Day 5: Guest Lecturers

Day 5 of the Writers Workshop was a full day of guest lectures by Contest judges.

The day opened with Kevin J. Anderson (Spine of the Dragon) and Rebecca Moesta (The Young Jedi Knights series) giving their popular and informative talk, “Things I Wish Some Pro Had Told Me When I Was Just Starting Out.” They promised the writers: “We’ve made all the mistakes so you don’t have to.” The talk started with Heinlein’s Rules for Writing, and then shifted to the topic of professionalism and how crucial it is to your career.

Next Dr. Robert J. Sawyer (Quantum Night) joined the class to share a message which arose again throughout the day: there are multiple ways to have a career, not just One True Path.

After Sawyer, lead instructors Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game), Tim Powers (On Stranger Tides), and David Farland (The Runelords) returned to add their own comments on business processes for writers, and also to lead the writers in a critique group to examine one of the 24-hour stories.

Toward the end of the day, Eric Flint (1632) addressed the writers, reiterating that there is no one way to succeed, and they must learn what works from many writers and then forge their own paths. He also discussed the tools and the limits of promotion, and explained that self-discipline and consistent production can be their most effective promotional tools.

The last guest lecture for today was from Larry Niven (Ringworld), who explained that a writer’s experiences feed their writing. And consciously or unconsciously a writer’s work is informed by that of their predecessors, so it helps to know the history of science fiction.

After the guest lectures, the writers joined the illustrators and the judges to see the unveiling of Volume 35 and to autograph copies. Tomorrow the guest lectures will resume.

Contributed by Martin Shoemaker

Writers of the Future winner from WotF 31

Illustrator workshop, Day 4: Professionalism, Self-Promotion and Guest Instructors

With their final projects moving toward completion, the illustrator winners alternated between studio time and presentations from all-star guest speakers.

Echo and Lazarus kicked off the morning with a presentation on branding, professionalism, and self-promotion, including tips and tricks for how to run a successful Kickstarter. The illustrators worked on their tight drawings, hoping to win final approval to proceed to a finished piece.

Contest judge and former Illustrator winner Sergey Poykarov regaled the illustrators with tales of winning the contest as a young artist from the Soviet Union who spoke no English. Poykarov has gone on to spectacular success as an artist, sculptor and television personality. His message to the illustrators focused on never giving up.

Poykarov is a hard act to follow, but Larry Elmore is the right person for the job. With more than 50 years of experience in the art world, Elmore’s name is synonymous with Dungeons & Dragons, Dragonlance, and SnarfQuest. Elmore is a rarity in an industry increasingly dominated by digital art. He still creates most of his work by hand, using paint, ink, and brushes.

How does it feel to be a grown man who makes a living drawing dragons? Neither Poykarov nor Elmore would trade it for anything.

Contributed by Kary English

Writers of the Future First Reader and winner from WotF 31

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Writers Workshop, Day 6: All-Star Guest Lectures

Excitement in the writers’ workshop always ramps up on Thursday. The writers have recovered from their 24-hour stories, and a parade of big-name authors have arrived for talks and presentations.

Farland, Powers, and Card started the morning session with a quick talk on profanity, sex, and gore in short stories and fiction writing. While the specific amounts vary by genre, too much of any of these can turn off readers and limit sales. If you’re aiming to write a bestseller, do some research in your genre to determine what’s acceptable and what’s not.

Nina Kiriki Hoffman (Catalyst: A Novel of Alien Contact) treated winners to a demonstration of her dice-powered system for creating stories.

Dean Wesley Smith (Dead Money) gave an impassioned, data-driven presentation about potential success in the world of indie and self-publishing.

Dr. Doug Beason (Ignition), who has a doctorate in physics, talked about rocket ships, asteroids and the importance of getting the science right.

Jody Lynn Nye (Moon Tracks) offered tips, insights and cautionary tales on professional and convention etiquette for writers.

Dr. Gregory Benford (The Berlin Project) shared stories from his long and illustrious career as a writer and physicist.

Dr. Beatrice Kondo, a board member for The Heinlein Society and Ph.D. in molecular biology, discussed natural selection, genetics and the limits of CRISPR.

Past winners Kary English (“Totaled”), Martin L. Shoemaker (Today I Am Carey), Darci Stone (“Mara’s Shadow”) and Eric James Stone (“An Immense Darkness”) talked about life as a neo-pro and how winning the contest has advanced their careers.

Liza Groen Trombi, editor of Locus, gave a short talk on industry trends.

When the lectures ended, judges and winners headed for the event venue to rehearse for tomorrow’s award ceremony. They’ll be up late practicing their speeches tonight!

Contributed by Kary English, Writers of the Future First Reader and winner from WotF 31.

Illustrators Workshop, Day 5: Guest Instructors and One-on-One Portfolio Reviews

The winning illustrators started Thursday morning presenting their finished (or Work-in-Progress) pieces from L. Ron Hubbard’s short story, “The Idealist,” to the judges, guests and workshop instructors. It was a pleasing variety of artistic interpretations with an impressive quality—particularly under their tight deadline of only a few days. Echo and Lazarus Chernik www.echo-x.com gave some constructive criticisms and helpful advice on the skill of presenting one’s art.

Special guest, Craig Elliot (who has worked for the likes of Disney, Blizzard, DreamWorks, and several other juggernaut entertainment studios) presented samples of his work and artistic experience, giving an invaluable and motivating lecture while scrolling through his varied portfolio.

Brian C. Hailes (Illustrator winner from 2002) also had a chance to present with a portfolio slideshow, speaking of his experience and artistic journey over the last seventeen years since he sat in the very same seat at the 2002 Illustrator’s workshop.

Rob Prior, illustrator, fine artist, and ambidextrous painter / performer extraordinaire, was next to present, and gave a stirring rock-n-roll lecture on his unique artistic approach as well as sharing a preview to his upcoming BBC documentary, focusing on his process and motivations moving from photo realism to a looser, more spontaneous style of work. He and Larry Elmore www.larryelmore.com worked off each other with some fun stories and bits of advice.

Next came the portfolio review, where each winner was able to spend ten minutes one-on-one with each of the judges and special guests—an invaluable opportunity that any up-and-comer could use to take their work up a few notches.

Bob Eggleton (cover artist for volume 35), finished out the Illustrators’ day with a lecture on his life, loves, and early career experiences meeting some of the field’s most influential fantasy and sci-fi heavy-hitters in the commercial art world (and also playing off Elmore—as they’ve been long-time friends).

Then it was up to Award Ceremony orientation and rehearsal for tomorrow’s big night! Bring it on. It’s sure to be an evening long remembered, especially for this year’s winning writers and illustrators.

Contributed by Brian C. Hailes, Illustrators of the Future winner from WotF 18.

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Coordinating Writer Contest judge David Farland and Writer Contest judge Orson Scott Card announced writer Andrew Dykstal from Arlington, VA as the Grand Prize Golden Pen Award winner while presenting him a check for $5,000. Andrew Dykstal’s winning story, “Thanatos Drive,” was illustrated by Qianjiao Ma.

“Thanatos Drive” is a post-apocalyptic story wherein, Alan Li is struggling to defeat God, but is he following his own will, or is he just another one of God’s puppets?

Coordinating Illustrator Contest judge Echo Chernik and Founding Illustrator Contest judge Bob Eggleton announced illustrator Aliya Chen as the Golden Brush Award winner while presenting her with a check for $5,000. Aliya Chen illustrated writer Elise Stephen’s story, “Untrained Luck.” Her art depicts the two main characters: Mag and a rescued boy named Lio. Aliya is the Contest’s first Chinese grand prize winner.

This year, the gala took place at the Taglyan Complex in Hollywood on Friday evening, April 5, 2019. The grand red carpet and garden featured a 16-foot robot inspired by the latest anthology’s cover art by Bob Eggleton. The entire evening featured the theme of retro robotics.

The invitation-only black-tie awards event was streamed live. The gala began with tray passed hors d’oeuvres and cocktails, followed by a delectable Mediterranean four-course meal and the awards show, followed a book signing and reception in the plush foyer of the Taglyan.

Andrew Dykstal, winner of the Grand Prize Writer’s Award, said: “This is absolutely fantastic! I feel that my career as a writer has now been catapulted. It’s a tremendous honor to be here. The quality of the stories of my fellow writers in this contest is amazing. Having the opportunity as I have for this past week in workshops networking and learning from authors I grew up reading, and whom continue to influence and inspire me, has been an experience I will never forget.”

Aliya Chen, winner of the Grand Prize Illustrator’s Award, said: “I didn’t expect this at all. I’m overwhelmed and very grateful! Winning this Grand Prize Award is validation for me that illustration, which is a passion for me, doesn’t have to be limited to a hobby, but it’s definitely possible as a career. I also feel God has opened these doors for me. My twin sister, Felicia, who is also an illustrator like myself, is the person who actually learned of the Illustrators of the Future Contest and encouraged me to enter. We are both supportive of one another, and for that reason we both didn’t enter the competition at the same time. This is a moment in my life I will never forget!”

Joni Labaqui, Director of Contests for Author Services, Inc. said, “This year, our fourth quarter illustrator 2018 winner, Alice Wang, became the youngest winner to ever enter our contests and win, at the age of 15. Submissions for our Writers and Illustrator Contests over the last 35 and 30 years respectively, have come from over 175 countries. This year we had four quarterly winners from England, more than ever before in one year. Selecting the two Grand Prize Winners from thousands of contest entries submitted annually is not an easy process.”

The awards show opened with sci-fi stomp and body percussion dance featuring ROV-E, a Mars Rover Robot Prototype from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and dancers from EmCirque, a world-renowned aerobatics and dance troupe.

Event master of ceremonies, Gunhild Jacobs, Executive Director of Author Services, Inc. introduced keynote speaker, Ed Hulse, an award-winning journalist and historian who specializes in documenting American popular culture of the late 19th and 20th centuries.

Ed Hulse’s address included, “These storytellers all contributed mightily to the evolution of Science Fiction. And now you’re part of that evolution. You represent a new generation of writers, alternately building upon and superseding literary traditions now more than a century old. Yours are the ideas and concepts that will shape Science Fiction for years to come. I look forward to seeing how you’ll respond to the challenge of making science fiction relevant to the readers of tomorrow.”

Joni Labaqui, Director of Contests for Author Services, Inc. presented the L. Ron Hubbard Lifetime Achievement Award to Bob Eggleton, a Founding Judge of the Illustrators of the Future Contest, and winner of many awards, including 9 Hugo Awards and 11 Chelsey Awards.

John Goodwin, President Galaxy Press, unveiled the 35^th volume of L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future featuring the work of the 12 new authors and 12 new illustrators from this year’s contests. Edited by David Farland, with cover artwork by Bob Eggleton, the book also features stories and articles written by renowned writers and illustrators, Dean Wesley Smith, Rebecca Moesta, Mike Resnick, Echo Chernik and L. Ron Hubbard. The new anthology is now available throughout the United States from Amazon.com, BN.com, BAM.com, in Barnes & Noble stores, Books A Million, or at GalaxyPress.com

Awards for each of the quarterly finalists of the Writers and Illustrators Contests were presented by actors Kate Linder, Lee Purcell, Sean Cameron Michael, Ernest Pierce, and Phil Proctor, along with renowned judges specializing in the genres of Science Fiction and Fantasy.

This year’s 12 quarterly award winners of the Writers’ Contest were each presented with cash prizes and trophies. They included: Kyle Kirrin of Creede, CO, Preston Dennett of Reseda, CA, Kai Wolden of Eden Prairie, MN, David Cleden of Fleet, Hampshire, UK, Rustin Lovewell of Gaithersburg, MD, Carrie Callahan Bardstown, KY, Elise Stephens of Seattle, WA, Christopher Baker of Ramsbury, Wiltshire, UK, Mica Scott Kole of Westland, MI, Andrew Dykstal of Arlington, VA, Wulf Moon of Sequim, WA, and John Haas Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

This year’s 12 quarterly award winners of the Illustrating Contest were each presented with cash prizes and trophies. They included: Emerson Rabbitt of Minneapolis, MN, Vytautas Vasiliauskas of Paris, France, Yinying Jiang of Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK, Alexander Gustafson of Essex Junction, VT, Christine Rhee of San Francisco, CA, Sam Kemp of Birmingham, West Midlands, England, Allen Morris of Cleveland, MS, Jennifer Ober of Atlanta, GA, Josh Pemberton of Seattle, WA, Qianjiao Ma of Arcadia, CA, Alice Wang of Bellevue, WA, and Aliya Chen of Fair Oaks, CA.

Dr. Beatrice Kondo, daughter of the late Writers of the Future Judge, Dr. Yoji Kondo, and a member of the Heinlein Society Board of Directors, presented Gunhild Jacobs, Executive Director of Author Services, Inc. with a letter of recognition. The Heinlein Society is devoted to the study and promotion of the late American Science Fiction author Robert A. Heinlein. During her presentation, Dr. Kondo said, “L. Ron Hubbard established the Writers of the Future contests as a means for new and budding writers to have a chance for their creative efforts to be seen and acknowledged. On behalf of the Heinlein Society and issued by its President and Chairman, George E. Rule, I would like to present a letter of recognition to L. Ron Hubbard and his enduring Contest on the occasion of the 35th Anniversary.”

Event attendees also included 23 world-renowned writer and illustrator contest judges specializing in the genres of Science Fiction and Fantasy. The 15 Writer judges in attendance included: Kevin J. Anderson, Dr. Doug Beason, Dr. Gregory Benford, Orson Scott Card, David Farland, Eric Flint, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Todd McCaffrey, Rebecca Moesta, Larry Niven, Jody Lynn Nye, Dr. Nnedi Okorafor, Tim Powers, Dr. Robert J. Sawyer, and Dean Wesley Smith. The eight illustrator judges included: Echo Chernik, Lazarus Chernik, Bob Eggleton, Larry Elmore, Dr. Laura Freas Beraha, Val Lakey Lindahn, Sergey Poyarkov, and Rob Prior.

In the 35 years of the Writers of the Future Contest, there have been 416 winners and 80 published finalists. The 416 past winners of the Writing Contest have published 1,150 novels and nearly 4,500 short stories. They have produced 32 New York Times bestsellers and their works have sold over 60 million copies.

In the 30 years of the Illustrators of the Future Contest, there have been 346 winners. The 346 past winners of the Illustrating Contest have produced over 6,000 illustrations, 360 comic books, graced 624 books and albums with their art and visually contributed to 68 television shows and 40 major movies.

The post The Writers & Illustrators of the Future Gala Awards Ceremony appeared first on Writers & Illustrators of the Future.

The Writer Workshop & Art Workshop Join

It’s hard to imagine a writer whose career is more on fire right now than Nnedi Okorafor Ph.D. (Binti). Multiple Hugo nominations. Writing Black Panther stories for Marvel and her own series LaGuardia for Dark Horse. A forthcoming HBO fantasy series based on Who Fears Death announced by George R.R. Martin at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards.

Nnedi spent the morning with our writer winners telling them how she went from a high school track and tennis athlete who’d never even thought about writing fiction to the multi-award winner and NYT Bestseller she is today.

Some writers have known they wanted to write since they were children. Not Okorafor. She discovered her craft by taking a creative writing class in college. It wasn’t long before she was hooked, and this in spite of her instructors actively discouraging her from writing science fiction or fantasy.

Okorafor called it magical realism and kept on writing. Two Masters degrees and one Ph.D. later, no one could tell her what not to write.

Journalism taught Okorafor to write clearly. Her childhood experiences taught her to write vividly and with words that conveyed the wonder of the fantastical. Her family taught her perseverance and that education was paramount.

The combination has led her to produce a body of work that is at once haunting and dreamlike while feeling utterly realistic. To call her a rising star would give the mistaken impression that Dr. Okorafor is a newcomer to the field of speculative fiction. She isn’t.

Okorafor was a rising star in the early 2000s, having published her first short story in 2000, her short story “Windseekers” appeared in Writers of the Future Volume 18 in 2002, and her first novel Zahrah the Windseeker in 2005. Today, she is a blazing comet whose work will light the skies of our imaginations for decades to come.

Contributed by Kary English, Writers of the Future First Reader and winner from WotF 31.

Promoting Yourself in this Day and Age

The combined workshop for both illustrators and writers continued in the afternoon under the banner of “Promoting Yourself in this Day and Age” given by President Galaxy Press, John Goodwin, and VP Public Affairs, Emily Goodwin, who were joined by special guests.

Hard-won tools were shared and practiced including formulating a message and sticking to it through various media channels such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter, the Writers of the Future Forum. Next up was journalism and how to present yourself and your book and get your message into a news story.

Dave Chesson of Kindlepreneur is an online book marketer. He provided tips on building mailing lists and email marketing and the importance of an author having a relationship with his readers.

Bill Fawcett (author, editor, anthologist, book packager) shared insight into targeting your market and exceptions to the rule.

And then it was a strategy meeting to coordinate the efforts of all winners and judges to make Writers of the Future Volume 35 a bestseller.

The workshop was followed by a now annual pizza party.

The evening was filled with a radio play inspired performance of L. Ron Hubbard’s sci-fi short “The Idealist.” Idealists generally start revolutions—and either die in them, or are condemned by the men they fought for. The story appears in Writers of the Future Volume 35.

All the winners were sent off with a suitcase full of books, their trophy, and story illustration and marketing materials. After some rest, they’ll be onto book signings and making their new release a bestseller.

The post Writers & Illustrators of the Future Workshop – Day 8 appeared first on Writers & Illustrators of the Future.

Writers of the Future 1st Quarter Standings for 2019, Volume 36

Of all the writing contests out there, this one launches careers!

And the winners are:

First Place – Andrew Dibble from Wisconsin
Second Place – F.J. Bergmann from Wisconsin
Third Place – Sonny Zae from Texas

Finalists:

Carina Bissett from Colorado
Paulo da Silva from Germany
K. D. Julicher from Nevada
Brittany Rainsdon from Idaho
Cliff Winnig from California

Semi-Finalists:

Hannah Azok from Ohio
Ian Gonzales from Washington
Jennie Keyes from Idaho
Noah Linwood from New Jersey
Jeremy Mallory from Virginia
Clarice Radrick from Florida
Roderick Turner from Canada

Silver Honorable Mentions:

Jay Barnson from Utah
Amitai Ben-Abba from California
T.E. Bradford from New York
E.W. Carlson from Minnesota
Michael Dorman from Germany
Alexander Duhamel from Canada
Adina Edelman from Maryland
Samantha Edelman from Nevada
Joshua Essoe from Maryland
Michael Gardner from Australia
Joshua Grasso from Oklahoma
Hollis Henry from Trinidad and Tobago
Seth Kennedy from California
Geetha Krishnan from India
Angela Lawlor from Indiana
Skylar Nitzel from Colorado
Jerry Parker from California
Liviu Surugiu from Romania
Mark Thomsen from Virginia
Eileen Wiedbrauk from Michigan
Kaitlyn Zivanovich from Europe

Honorable Mentions:

Les Abernathy from Alabama
Jason Adams from Virginia
Ashlea Adams from Florida
Lance Adams from Georgia
Billy Ketch Allen from California
F.D. Arther from West Virginia
Tim Asay from Oregon
Alexis Askew from Georgia
Abby Baier from California
Alexandra Balasa from Texas
Matthew Baron from Georgia
Christopher Baxter from Utah
J.A. Becker from Australia
Kierra Beeson from Illinois
Joe Benet from North Carolina
Ryan Benson from Georgia
Christopher Best from Maryland
Ananyo Bhattacharya from United Kingdom
Jeff Binkley from Alabama
James Blakey from Pennsylvania
Shawna Borman from Texas
Matt Bosio from Florida
Z.T. Bright from Utah
J.D. Brink from Ohio
Jonathan Bronico from Massachusetts
Nathan Buckingham from Arizona
Daniel R. Burkhard from Utah
L.M. Burkhart from Colorado
Brennan C. Caldwell from California
Jack Calverley from United Kingdom
Anne Cameron from Maryland
Sam Chapman from Oregon
Rachel Chimits from Nevada
Justin Chung from New York
Paul Seungoh Chung from Canada
Rui Cid from Portugal
John Coffren from Maryland
Elaine Cohen from Florida
David R. Coombs from Canada
Krishan Coupland from United Kingdom
Ben Credle from Georgia
Clemency Crow from United Kingdom
D. Allen Crowley from Ohio
Sarina Dahlan from California
KM Dailey from California
Patricia D’Angelo from Kansas
L.H. Davis from Florida
Michael DeCarolis from Florida
Ladd DeWinter from Utah
Nathan Dodge from Texas
Peter T. Donahue from New Jersey
Jeff Dosser from Oklahoma
CB Droege from Germany
Steve DuBois from Kansas
Mason Engel from Indiana
Madison Estes from Texas
K.L. Evangelista from Australia
Robert Mitchell Evans from California
J.T. Evans from Colorado
Shamari Evans from New York
Jason Evans from Illinois
Stevie Evers from Alabama
Angelique Fawns from Canada
Caitlin Finley from Texas
Patrick Finley from New York
Jacob Foncea from Alabama
S.C.A. Fontaine from France
Felicia Fredlund from Sweden
John A. Frochio from Pennsylvania
Taylor Garcia from California
Simon R. Gardner from United Kingdom
Jhanys Gardner from Virginia
Garland Gayle from Virginia
Michelle F. Goddard from Canada
J.C.G. Goelz from Louisiana
Barry Goldsmith from Arizona
Colton Goodrich from Utah
Mark A. Gordon from Florida
KR Gordon from California
Les Gould from Virginia
Collette Grace from Texas
Theodora Green from California
Gavina Grendall from California
Austin Gunderson from Washington
Rebecca Guzman from California
Anaïd Haen from Netherlands
Kevin Hallett from Texas
Laura Handley from Virginia
H.J. Harding from Virginia
Charlie Harmon from Illinois
A.W. Harris from Oregon
Angelea Hayes from California
Michelle Henrie from Utah
James Henrik from Sweden
Todd Honeycutt from New Jersey
Aaron Horsager from Ohio
K.R. Horton from Oregon
Phoebe Houser from Pennsylvania
Chip Houser from Missouri
Cathy Humble from Oregon
Bailey Hummel from Texas
Jay Hurteau from New Hampshire
Micah Hyatt from Texas
Kevin Kauffmann from North Carolina
Carolyn Kay from Colorado
Bart Kemper from Louisiana
Brandon Ketchum from Pennsylvania
D.M. Kiely from Florida
Jace Killan from Arizona
Anike Kirsten from South Africa
Emily Kjeer from Minnesota
Jeffrey Kremer from New Jersey
Alex Kropova from Canada
Grace Kueker from Tennessee
M. Kuriel from Virginia
Sarah Kushneryk from Canada
Eli Landes from New York
Elizabeth Langlois from Wisconsin
Alexis Lantgen from Texas
John Leahy from Ireland
Riley Lebowicz from New York
Sussu Leclerc from Ohio
Justin Li from Singapore
Beatrice Lim from New York
Bonner Litchfield from North Carolina
Thomas Logan from Oregon
Colton Long from District of Columbia
Robert Allen Lupton from New Mexico
Angus MacGregor from Australia
Kirk Maile from Canada
Caroline Malgen from Switzerland
A. Michael Marsh from Arizona
Django Mathijsen from Netherlands
Daniel Matusicky from Ohio
Dennis Maulsby from Iowa
Thomas McDaniel from Washington
Megan McGrath from Georgia
Erin McHugh from Illinois
Charles Mears from California
Andrew Medlin from North Carolina
Dan Melnick from Indiana
Lauryn Mercredi from Canada
Michael Middleton from Oregon
Kevin Barry Miller from Canada
Mister Lmouto from Australia
Murtaza Mohsin from Pakistan
Sarah Montagna from New Jersey
Leo Moonrise from Canada
Camille Moore from Maryland
Jonathan Moore from United Kingdom
Russell Morin from Colorado
Aaron Moskalik from Michigan
Caley Mueller from Minnesota
Evan D. Mullicane from California
Kalaivani Narayanan from New Jersey
Christopher Ng from Canada
Linh Nguyen-Ng from Massachusetts
Brent Nichols from Alaska
Joseph Norris from California
Adam O’Connell from United Kingdom
Jessica Oesterle from New York
Sarah Ortega from Texas
Billy Palmer from Florida
Adam Patla from Illinois
Elena Pavlova from Bulgaria
Rachel Pepin from New Hampshire
Barton Perkins from Alabama
George Petit from Delaware
Peter Philleo from Florida
John Post from Arkansas
Joshua Potter from New York
Aelred Powell from Georgia
Kathleen Powell from Missouri
Brooke Prado from California
Rajeev Prasad from California
Jake Reed from California
Devyn Regueira from Florida
D H Richards from Virginia
David Ridd from North Carolina
Travis D. Roberson from New York
Cassie Roberts from Washington
J. Rohr from Illinois
Glenn Rosado from California
SM Rose from Canada
Peter Sartucci from Colorado
Kirtan Savith Kumar from Singapore
Caroline Sciriha from Malta
G.S. Scott from Michigan
Rick Shaw from California
Sophie Sheeder from Iowa
Charles Shell from Virginia
David Shultz from Canada
J Sluys from Texas
Jack Smiles from Pennsylvania
Benjamin Smith from Pennsylvania
Samantha Soard from Georgia
David Sorensen from Virginia
C.L. Spillard from United Kingdom
Michelle Staloff from Florida
Tasha Staples from Colorado
E.C. Stever from Idaho
Nicole Stewart from Utah
Shami Stovall from California
Todd Sullivan from Georgia
Gordon Sun from California
Vincent Sutherland from Arizona
Daniel Szydlowski from Indiana
Corine Tan from California
Tyra Tanner from Utah
M.R. Tevebaugh from Colorado
Kelly Thomas from California
Dan Thurot from Utah
Crystal Trobak from Canada
Andy K. Tytler from United Kingdom
Francisco Velasquez from Mississippi
Scott Pahaku Vilhauer from California
Yaye Viner from Nebraska
Christa Vogt from Colorado
Charles Wade from Mississippi
Matthew Wardell from Canada
R.W. Ware from Maine
Galen Westlake from Canada
Daniel Westmoreland from New Jersey
Kay Katherine White from New Jersey
Robert Luke Wilkins from California
JM Williams from South Korea
Walter L. Williamson from New Mexico
Thomas Woodward from Minnesota
Dane Wooster from Colorado

The post Writers of the Future 1st Quarter Winners Announced for Volume 36 appeared first on Writers & Illustrators of the Future.

Illustrators of the Future 1st Quarter Winners for 2019, Volume 36

This illustration contest list is the place to be!

And the winners are:

Brock Aguirre from Washington
Daniel Bitton from Maryland
Benjamin Hill from Florida

Finalists:

Adrian Bush from California
Darya Pauliuchenka from New York
Miriam Presas from California
Mackenzie Reid from Wisconsin
Grace Underfanger from Illinois

Semi-Finalists:

Hannah Chang from California
Yihong Chen from New York
Anna Fiacco from Missouri
Alyssa Forbes from Georgia
John Jarin from California
Madolyn Locke from Georgia
Angela Mott from Wisconsin
Christian Olarte from Virginia
Madrona Redhawk from Nevada
Henry Scott from Pennsylvania
Mackenzie Shephard from Florida
Eternity Shorter from New York
Symphonii Smith-Kennedy from Florida
Erin Springs-McCottry from South Carolina
Alicia Warren from Georgia
Rebekah Wood from South Carolina
Nuo Yan from New York

Honorable Mentions:

Chase Allen from North Carolina
Cristhian Montenegro Arias from Costa Rica
Savannah Barlage from Ohio
Alexandria Campbell from Massachusetts
Andres Cardenas from California
Kayla Clark from Florida
Amiel Djoume from New York
Caitlin Fowler from California
Rebecca Gowdy from Virginia
Brandon Harn from Colorado
Kacie Jones from California
Katherine Knapik from Florida
Freya Lee from New York
Blake Maurice from Pennsylvania
Ana Moreno from Illinois
Lauryn Reynolds from Utah
April Robinson from Arkansas
Robyn Rozelle from Texas
James Sammons from Florida
Tori Shoemaker from Georgia
Zachary Stith from New Hampshire
Erika Torres from Georgia
Mary Visco from Ohio
Zhiqian Wang from Massachusetts
Sam White from Missouri
Cameron Yancy from Georgia

The post Illustrators of the Future 1st Quarter Winners Announced for Volume 36 appeared first on Writers & Illustrators of the Future.