The Honest Fox now free-to-read at Lightspeed
The Honest Fox, or, a Truth Shared is Not a Truth Lost
The Honest Fox, or, a Truth Shared is Not a Truth Lost is now free-to-read at Lightspeed. I already said a bunch of things about this story and its history in the last newsletter, so I’ll just give a quote:
There was once a little fox who was not at all like the others. Where other foxes were sly, he alone was honest. Where other foxes were sneaky, he alone was kind. Where other foxes were clever, he alone was forthright. And so, despite the love between them as a kind will have, they could not long abide his company, nor he theirs. In the end, it was quite impossible for them to live together. So he left the company of other foxes and spent many years wandering the woods, wholly apart from his fellows.
This story is quite different from anything I’ve ever published, so I’m quite interested to see the response.
Aster says: “Always Read Your Contracts”
My friend Aster (who, among many other great IF projects, made this wonderful adaptatation of Compassionate Simulation for sub-Q) has some advice for any writers or other creative professionals who might be reading this (or any other kind of professional).
There is honestly an epidemic of not reading contracts in short sff fiction, and it is frustrating to me, both in general (Because there are often important things in contracts, that can cause problems even if no one is a bad actor! And sometimes there are bad actors!) and in specific (Because I keep catching errors when I read contracts that would have been spotted if anyone else was reading them.)
I know that reading contracts can be confusing or terrifying, both because of the language involved and the fear of being the squeaky wheel. But if you have trouble reading your contract, please know that I (and a squad of other professionals) would be happy to help.
Thinking of Aristoi by Walter John Williams
There’s a specific scene from Walter John Williams’ Aristoi that I’ve been thinking of recently. The protagonist is a polymath genius type from a society that empowers and promotes polymath geniuses. He runs an entire planetary government, albeit mostly through delegation, and is wildly accomplished in the arts, including writing most of an opera that he’s still struggling with.
Anyway, he goes off on a space adventure and, late in the book, has uncovered the villain and his plans, which involve considerable crimes against humanity (basically creating a medieval society from scratch with real humans grown in a lab, including all the suffering and violence and plague and death.) The protagonist has been caught, and the villain is torturing him while monologuing about how his crimes are justified because it helps get the protagonists’ society out of their comfort zone.
“Just think,” says the villain. “Before this week, the hardest thing you’ve ever done in your life is write an opera.”
“Actually,” the protagonist replies, “the hardest thing I’ve done in my life is still writing an opera.”
I think about that when there is a lot of adversity in my life. Sure, adversity is a challenge, but you know what’s also a challenge? Creative work. The hardest thing I’ve done in my life, that brought me the most personal growth, is writing a novel.
(I love Aristoi for many reasons, but partially because it features a protagonist with DID but the story isn’t about his trauma, he just goes off and has a sexy space adventure. That said the conception of DID is fairly rooted in the 90s, when the book was published, so that might be off-putting to some readers. I chalk it up to their tech-magic brain implants making their mental illnesses work differently.)
Some Very Good News I Can’t Share Yet, and Various Upcoming Things
I have some very good professional news that I cannot share yet! I hope I will be able to soon.
The deadline for Nebula award nominations is the 28th (this Monday.) I’d previously mistakenly said it was the 15th, but that was the deadline for running for board positions. Anyway, if you are a SFWA member or associate and haven’t nominated, I encourage you to do so!
I have an “Ask Me Anything” on Reddit Fantasy on March 8. I will post closer to the time, but I would love it if you could come ask me questions about writing or my fiction (of course, you are free to ask me questions at any time, including in the comments on these posts, but posting on Reddit will help with my self-promotion.)