New Worlds, New Voices - SFF Shooting Gallery
The NWNV "Shooting Gallery" provides writers with opportunities to test market their best SFF novels and hopefully score a contract. Agents and TV/Film reps will check in and review work during 2021. AAC will edit beforehand as needed. This particular SG for Algonkian alums only.
13 topics in this forum
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Exposition and End Game This select forum thread is dedicated exclusively to Algonkian alums who wish to post sell sheets of their completed SFF novels, or novels-in-progress, for the purpose of showcasing them to literary agents and TV/Film reps. We will inform these professionals of new high-concept projects and invite them to stop by regularly during 2021. If they wish to request something immediately, or at a future date, they will either contact you directly, make a post, or else contact us. It is also possible they might wish to video conference with you. The scenarios are various, but all is casual. There is no set schedule. This is how we want this to wo…
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Name: Gerrit Hansen Novel Title: The Power of Ancients Comparables: Throne of the Crescent Moon (Saladin Ahmed); The Poppy War (R.F. Kuang) Hook Line: Possessing power beyond far beyond his mentors, a tribal villager forsakes magic to overcome a murderous immortal by raising rival immortals long thought dead. Pitch: Maruli, a young Javan villager from the hated Jupami tribe leaves his remote jungle home to study a form of magic he hopes will help save his people from the island’s nemesis, Dahat, a member of the powerful race of Ancients that’s nearly extinct. However, the magic requires grinding up special stones that elders insist are the dead remains…
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Name: Cavis Adams Novel: Terror Undeleted Genre: Literary Fiction Comparables: "Version Control" (Dexter Palmer). "The Lathe Of Heaven" (Ursula K. Le Guin). Hook Line: Being kicked out of Tent City, New York, Miko turns to an experimental tech-firm for the chance of a lifetime--to commit his mind to the good of science and to get paid of course. If only that were the story, and not one of undead terrorists rehashing their own bloody plot. From homeless to would-be savior of the world, Miko stands to lose more than he finally has, a place in this world. Pitch: Miko finds himself habitually at his lowest, kicked out…
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Name: Sarah Pierce Title: Lucid Genre: YA SciFi Comparables: Inception meets Maze Runner meets Stranger Things Hook: Trapped inside a dream, a group of international students must discover the truth about their world before a fugitive nightmare gains control of their minds. Pitch: A high security dream has broken loose. Known only as the Siren, it causes 20 people to commit mass suicide in Berlin, and before anyone can react, panic erupts across the globe. Thousands of sleepers will no longer wake, and for those left aware, every night could be their last. The most dangerous nightmare of the 21st century is out of its cage, and it’s going t…
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Name: Cavis Adams Novel: The Resurrection Arc Genre: Literary Fiction Comparables: The revived spirit of Total Recall meets Inception for a journey of Memento. Hook Line: Finding the strength to wrest an immortalizing technology from the enslaving hands of a world techno-giant means to die trying. For Justin, what begins as an imaginative game along a cutting-edge of role-playing plunges deeper into the real world than he ever suspected, a world turned deadly with the struggle to save all he has ever believed in, starting with the very memory of himself. Pitch: Justin has it all on the outside: wealth, status, a beau…
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Name: Travis N. Travis Novel Title: HOW TO SUCCEED AT THE PEARLY GATES JOB FAIR Genre: Adult Fantasy (81,512 words) Comparables: Good Omens, Library of the Unwritten, and The Good Place Hook: A man perfectly content not dying must navigate the hell that is finding a job in the heavens while trying to save his drunk G.U.A.R.D.I.A.N. Department representative from a pre-pubescent creation god. Pitch: Religion was formally banned in the districts of heaven when a monk, a priest, and a rabbi walked into a bar and nothing funny happened. Probably for the best. Charlie Tackle is Dea…
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· Name: Kayla Hardy · Title: RED WIDOW · Genre: Adult Fantasy · Comparables: (TV/Cinematic)Marvel’s Black Panther meets Netflix’s Cursed (Books) Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone meets Melissa Caruso’s The Tethered Mage. · Hook: Set during a magical apartheid known as The Partitioning, where mages are divided into rigid social classes and sold off to the highest bidder, an African warrior princess must break the law and cross into foreign magical territory to hunt down a slave trader hellbent on stealing her tribe’s magic, even if it means she’ll be stranded behind enemy lines forever. · Pitch: …
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Name: DeQuaina Washington Title: HELLGROUND Genre: Sci-Fi Comparables: Octavia E. Butler's Dawn meets Tom Piccirilli's The Cold Spot Hook: Beaten and betrayed, facing a life sentence in state prison, a seasoned bank robber makes a desperate break for freedom and escapes only to discover that the world he knew has suffered a devastating and hellish alien invasion, and the only option left to him is to try and save the one person he still loves. Pitch: When Mint Mallard, one of the most prolific bank robbers in the world, breaks out of prison to get revenge on the man who put him there, he quickly realizes that the world he left five yea…
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STRANGE HIGHWAYS, Science Fiction- Gardner Browning Word Count: +50k, still in progress Log Line: Trekking a ghostly highway across a Void Land of hostile vagrants, mercenary Luna Briggs must save the man she loves from the death dealer he has become before he claims the power of a forgotten artificial intelligence and engineers an army of killers. Comps: Strange Highways captures the hostile journey of the Road with the techno-thrill of Robopocalypse. The Road – 2006- Cormac McCarthy. About the grueling journey of a father and his young son over a period of several months across a landscape blasted by an unspecified cataclysm that has dest…
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THE BODY ELECTRIC, Science Fiction - J. David Liss Comparables : The Strange Case of the Alchemists Daughter by Theodora Goss meets Blake Crouch’s Recursion Hook : Struggling with the accidental electrocution of his wife and son, modern scientist Lew Argent gets pulled through time in the greatest fight of all time, as he joins Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla in their struggle against Mary Shelley, the one electrical genius able to create life. At stake are the lives of the people they love and the world as we know it. Pitch : 21st Century scientist Lew Argent knows tragedy. His wife and son were electrocuted by a fallen power line. Lately, A…
Last reply by JDavidLiss, -
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Name - Shola Adedeji Title(s) - War Gods of Africa, The Hollow Glory of a Dumb Kingdom Genre - Alternate History Comps - • the “what if?” spirit of S.M. Stirling’s Black Chamber series. • the world building of Guy Gavriel Kay’s The Lions of Al Rassan. • significantly influenced by the originality of Octavia Butler’s Kindred. Hook Line - It is the 1300’s, an untested and naive emissary from a technologically advanced nation in Africa, inadvertently finds himself the only one capable of preventing a genocidal war set into motion by a murderous Pope and his Imperial Roman allies at Constantinople. S…
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Name: Joseph Hall Novel Title: ARKFALL (90,000 words) Genre: Adult Sci-fi Comparables: The celebrity main character of EMPRESS OF FOREVER hurled into the indifferent cyberpunk world of ALTERED CARBON. Hook: A cybernetic supermodel infiltrates the corporate underworld to exact revenge on the CEO who murdered his childhood family. Pitch: In a distant future where Earth was rendered uninhabitable, mankind now lives in helio-centric megastructures that orbit around the sun. Living on Solar Ark Terra, Vino Belissi is the solar system’s hottest cybernetic supermodel. He’s got wealth, connections, status, and his name alone is associated with…
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Name: Mikaela Kemsley Novel: Gods of the Fallen Genre and Comparables: Gods of the Fallen is a young adult fantasy novel that will appeal to fans of Katy Rose Pool’s There Will Come a Darkness and Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes. Hook line: After being abducted and abused by a bloodthirsty theocracy, a young woman escapes into the arctic, where she awakens a newfound, dangerous magic in a tribe of outcasts to defend herself, her best friend, and her people. Pitch: Seventeen-year-old Alora has spent her life trapped within the glass walls of a seminary, studying to become a Diviner for the Church of the Element. When the abused, orphaned young wom…
Last reply by Mikaela Kemsley,
Stephen King's War on Plot
An Algonkian Success Story
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AAC Content Stream
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a:The Odyssey Writing Workshop
The Odyssey Writing Workshop One of the top workshops in the world for writers of fantasy, science fiction, and horror Held at Saint Anselm College, Manchester, NH, June 7-July 16, 2021 Only 15 students. The most intense learning experience you’ll ever have. Application deadline: April 1 Six weeks of directed study with Jeanne Cavelos, former senior editor at Bantam Doubleday Dell, bestselling author, and winner of the World Fantasy Award Guest Lecturers: David Farland * Gregory Ashe * Meagan Spooner Djéli Clark * Melissa Scott * Sheree Renée Thomas Virtual Guests: David Brin * -
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The Heiress by Molly Greeley
TW: child abuse, drug abuse, addiction and recovery Fans of Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice might recall meeting Anne de Bourgh for a hot minute and also hearing her referred to incessantly by her domineering mother, Lady Catherine. The Heiress tells Anne’s story from her point of view, beginning in early childhood and extending through the entirety of her life. This book was not what I expected, but I loved it once I adjusted to its tone. While The Heiress contains a romance, it is less about romance and much more about the search of the protagonist for autonomy and purpose in her li -
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a:WOW! Interview with Contest Runner Up Courtney Harler for "Divorce Ranch"
Congratulations to Courtney Harler and Divorce Ranch and all the winners of our 2021 Quarter 1 Creative Non-Fiction Essay Contest! Courtney's Bio: Courtney Harler is a freelance writer, editor, and educator based in Las Vegas, Nevada. She holds an MFA from Sierra Nevada University (2017) and an MA from Eastern Washington University (2013). Courtney has been honored by fellowships from Writing By Writers, Squaw Valley Community of Writers, and Nevada Arts Council. Courtney’s creative work—which includes poems, flash fictions, short stories, literary analyses, craft essays, book and film revi -
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Fantasy, Historical Romance, & More
All In RECOMMENDED: All In by Simona Ahrnstedt is $1.99! Redheadedgirl gave the book an A: I felt like this was full of Shakespearean drama, and scheming families, and hot sex, and gorgeous clothes, but also some important things to say about how the world is functioning. There’s a lot going on, though, and the ending a tad rushed. In the cutthroat world of Sweden’s financial elite, no one knows that better than corporate raider David Hammar. Ruthless. Notorious. Unstoppable. He’s out to -
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She's a Literary Agent
Overall, this is a great, comprehensive video for new writers just starting out. Heck, it's also good for writers who just finished their first manuscript and have no clue what to do next. Something I very much appreciate about this video is the tempering of expectations, and the emphasis on curating writing advice by its source. Too often I see new writers falling down rabbit holes of terrible advice from friends, family, or writing groups who don't quite know what they're talking about. For new writers, one of the best ways to learn is to know WHO and WHERE to learn from. I once joined -
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a:Congrats on Finishing Your Quarantine Novel
* sense of humor required Warning: Hacks for Hacks tips may have harmful side effects on your writing career, and should not be used by minors, adults, writers, poets, scribes, scriveners, journalists, or anybody. Happy Quarantiniversary! Time flies, does it not? Now we’re one year into the pandemic, and many of you reading this have already been vaccinated. It’s time to celebrate not just the prospect of life returning to normal, but also your forthcoming literary success. When all this nonsense started, writers everywhere said, “This sucks, but at least I’ll have more time to write.” A w -
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a:Interview with Meagan Spooner, Instructor with Odyssey Writing Workshop
Photo by Christopher TovoToday I am excited to have another instructor from Odyssey Writing Workshop: author Meagan Spooner. Meagan Spooner will be a guest lecturer at this summer’s Odyssey Writing Workshop, where she will discuss techniques for building characters and character arcs, participate in workshopping sessions, and meet in private conferences with students. She grew up reading and writing every spare moment of the day, while dreaming about life as an archaeologist, a marine biologist, an astronaut. She graduated from Odyssey in 2009 and currently lives and writes in Asheville, -
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Outlawed by Anna North
A- Outlawed by Anna North January 5, 2021 · Bloomsbury Publishing TW/CW for the book and this review: discussions of infertility, death in childbirth. Have you ever thought to yourself, “I wish I could read a Western that has a queer girl gang”? Well, guess what? I have great news. While I don’t typically read Westerns, I was drawn in by the blurb for Outlawed: The day of her wedding, 17 year old Ada’s life looks good; she loves her -
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She's a Literary Agent
Her take on the learning curve to becoming a marketable author was realistic. The special "helium voice" effects were annoying, but her delivery overall was professional. Check the box with her on: - DO YOUR HOMEWORK on plot, characters, etc. - READ BOOKS on how to write a novel (okay, but the right ones). - OUTLINING a better idea than PANTSING. Uncheck the box on: - READ BLOGS AND ONLINE VIDEOS to learn how to write. They will inevitably be filled with quasi-productive, very poor, or contradictory advice unless chosen very selectively. How is a neophyte novel wr -
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She's a Literary Agent
Meg Latorre's "11 ways to improve your writing" are worth learning about if you're a new writer. While I find that she covers a lot of the same points that have already been addressed in other videos, there were a couple things that stood out that I think new writers should definitely take note of. Critique groups vs. beta readers - Meg takes the time to explain the difference between these and why you would find them useful during the editing phase of your manuscript. More than once she kindly encouraged writers to be open to making changes to their story upon receiving constructive crit -
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Staff Picks: Raisins, Rhythm, and Reality
Allan Gurganus. Photo: © Roger Haile. Courtesy of W. W. Norton. In his Art of Fiction interview, Allan Gurganus preaches the power of the sentence. But for me, the real satisfaction to be had from the newly released Uncollected Stories of Allan Gurganus comes from the layers: a shrewd grad student’s thrifting trip becomes the story of a portrait, which is actually the story of a tragic moment in a small town’s history; a local news report becomes a firsthand account of the incident told by a police officer to his tape recorder. (In fact, local news reporters are more than once a way of gettin -
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Episode 447, Your Transcript is Ready!
http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/WP/wp-content/themes/smartbitches/images/podcast/header_05c.jpg The transcript for Podcast 447. Hanging Out with Sarah J. Maas has been posted! This podcast transcript was handcrafted with meticulous skill by Garlic Knitter. Many thanks. ❤ Click here to subscribe to The Podcast → View the full article -
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Hot Contemporaries, Princess Brides, & More
Hot and Badgered Hot and Badgered by Shelly Laurenston is $1.99! This is the first book in the Honey Badger Chronicles. Sarah read this one and gave it a B grade: Among my favorite things about Laurenston’s writing is how very affirming and inspiring and a whole lot of fun it is, because angry, fearless women make room for themselves, they get shit done, and they’re the heroines. More honey badgers, please. It’s not every day that a beautiful naked woman falls out of the sky and lands fac -
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Author Spotlight – Gabriela Houston (THE SECOND BELL)
Gabriela Houston is a London-based writer. She was born in Poland and raised in a book-loving household on the nourishing diet of mythologies, classics and graphic novels. She had spent much of her early school years holed up in the library, only feeling truly herself in the company of Jack London’s trappers and Lucy Maud Montgomery’s red-headed orphan, among many others. She came to the UK at 19 to follow her passion for literature and she completed her undergraduate and Masters degrees at Royal Holloway, University of London. After her studies she worked in publishing for a few years. She -
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The Fabric of Memory
In Paul Anthony Smith’s Untitled (Dead Yard), a figure stands with arms outstretched in the midst of a haze of ghostly breeze-blocks. The physical appears to commune with the spiritual; unreality encroaches on the real. It’s a startling effect, one that persists throughout Smith’s second solo show with Jack Shainman Gallery, “Tradewinds” (on view through April 3). Using a needled wooden tool, Smith painstakingly works over his photographic prints, puncturing the surface and chipping away at the ink. Each stipple, each architectural flourish laces the images with the fabric of memory. This is n
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