Review by Traci Dowe/Kenworth

Book Reviews: The Writer’s of the Future 40^th Anniversary Edition by various authors

Review by: Traci Dowe/Kenworth

I was unsure what I’d find in this edition. I’ve never read one of these before and I’d been told it mostly leaned on the science fiction side. I prefer fantasy. However, I’m not adverse to science fiction and I found a few memorable ones to me: The Edge of Where the Light is Cast by Christopher Moran, Halo by Nancy Cress, and The Imagilisk by Michael Kortes. I loved the cat who was just a memory who became more real to its creator than anything. It really showed me what is possible in science fiction. The computer who becomes more humane than the aliens that keep a human as a pet. Tales of a fantasy note were: Life and Death and Love in the Bayou. That one was mysterious and heartbreaking and the sweetest revenge.

As I said previously, I’ve never read the Writers of the Future editions before except perhaps when I was starting out as a reader, I read much more back then. I wasn’t sure what to expect and was pleasantly surprised. It’s been a long time since I’ve read a collection, ask those collecting dust on my shelves. The honest truth is that I’m trying. To read more, to dig into stories and learn from them.

I think that helps us to grow as an artist. We kind of take in the flavor of the books we’ve read and it influences our own creations in various ways. I enjoyed reading the behind the scenes notes by various judges, famous writers, and Ron L. Hubbard himself. This is a contest I was hoping to win and have submitted to a couple times, but I feel that it is more science fiction leaning than the stories I tell. The Bayou story being the exception for that. But that was such a good story they had to find a place.

Maybe that will happen to me someday. I can only hope. Good luck to all the winners!

The 41^st Edition is now out if you’re interested.

The Seven:

1. Entertaining Stories: It’s a Saturday | Entertaining Stories

Saturdays are for writing these days. I really should be thinning those Asian pears and might brave the 100 degree temperatures for a bit this afternoon to at least get started. The tree sets thousands of them and there isn’t much of a natural fruit fall on this tree. Scissors work well this early in the season.

I’ll share something that makes my imagination work. You guys might get a kick out of this. This is on my commute home and I’ve looked at it for years. Everything was gridlocked last night so I snapped a quick photo.

Funny, the things we see, when we’re out and about!

• Smorgasbord Magazine: Smorgasbord book reviews – #Family, #Australia #Immigration Quarter Acre Block by Janet Gogerty | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine In the nineteen sixties many ‘ten pound pommies’ had never left England before and most expected never to return or see loved ones again. George Palmer saw Australia as a land of opportunities for his four children, his wife longed for warmth and space and their daughter’s ambition was to swim in the sea and own a dog. For migrant children it was a big adventure, for fathers the daunting challenge of finding work and providing for their family, but for the wives the loneliness of settling in a strange place.

My review for the book May 31st 2025

This is a book which captures a unique time in British history when residents were invited to immigrate to Australia for the sum of £10 and welcomed with open arms. These days of closed borders and anti-immigration policies, it was certainly a different world.

Reviews are the best news for writers!

• Fiction Favorites: Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt – “Walk” | Fiction Favorites It is a long walk from the bedroom to the kitchen. Well, let’s say it seems like a long walk when the caffeine-deprived brain is screaming behind the eyeballs for immediate relief. To quiet the banshee inside my head, I choose two cups of that second export from Colombia. A finger touch is all it takes, and the steaming frothy cup is delivered post haste.

The first sip quelled the roaring neurons, and the room color went from pink to white. The realization that my burning eyes were giving the room the pink hue dawned on me just as the doorbell tripped the Westminster chimes. The quiet air was shattered with what sounded like a 747 in dire trouble, only to realize that a knuckle bone would be needed to restore the peace. Said bone was tossed into the soundproof room, followed by the Baskerville hounds and a door slam. Once the chimes finished their routine, the quiet almost made the ears hurt.

I love to see what John comes up with for these!

• Smorgasbord Magazine:  https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2025/06/06/smorgasbord-music-column-william-price-king-and-iconic-movie-themes-flashdance-and-breakfast-at-tiffanys/ Welcome to the movies and I hope you will enjoy the trip down memory lane with me as we listen to the iconic theme songs from the hit movies across the decades. William.

“Flashdance . . . What a feeling”

“Flashdance . . . What a Feeling” is from the 1983 film “Flashdance,” directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Jennifer Beals as the young dancer, Alex Owens, whose goal is to become a professional ballerina, and Michael Nouri, who plays her boyfriend and the owner of the steel mill where she works by day in Pittsburgh.

“Flashdance” opened to negative reviews by professional critics but was a surprise box-office success nonetheless, becoming the third-highest-grossing film of 1983 in the US.

I LOVE Flashdance! I so wanted to be a dancer when I was younger between this movie and The Fame TV show!

• Writers in the Storm: https://writersinthestormblog.com/2025/05/7-types-of-questions-to-help-you-define-your-author-brand/ Last month, I talked about “the How and Why of a Strong Author Brand,” and the comments were amazing. So many of you said, “I’ve been meaning to do this for ages!” This month’s post is for any of you who felt like the Mysterious Branding Forest was just way too confusing to navigate based on that big picture overview.

This post divides your questions into seven distinct areas. You’re invited to do them all at once, or (even better) to divide them up and do one every week. This would mean you’d have a much stronger author brand by the end of the summer. How awesome would that be?!!

This is something I’m going to digging into as I move forward to my quest of publication, hopefully, by the end of this year.

6. Books and Such: https://www.booksandsuch.com/blog/books-such-literary-management-big-news/ Books & Such Literary Management is often asked if all literary agencies are basically alike? Our answer? Absolutely not. Let me explain.

Some agencies are all about the sale.

That’s understandable. Writers want an agency that will actively go about making the sale of their manuscript. But what about aftercare? There’s so much more— choosing covers and titles, for instance. Troubling issues arise at times, and an agent needs to decorously step in to help resolve things. If your agent is all about the sale, they may be AOL during problem phases. What if the writer feels his book has been over-edited? That takes a discerning agent who can address the problem without straining any relationships. Books & Such places an equal emphasis on selling and aftercare.

I have no experience at this, of course, but I think if I was trad, I’d want an agent that stuck with me through all stages of the process and beyond.

7 Writers in the Storm: https://writersinthestormblog.com/2025/06/when-the-second-draft-feels-like-a-step-back/ The first time I finished a first draft, I celebrated with an entire box of chocolate. I’d completed a novel! All that stood between me and a polished manuscript I could start submitting to agents was one quick pass to clean things up. How hard could a second draft be, right?

I poured my heart and soul into that next draft, and followed all the advice I’d read about. I revised my manuscript into what I was sure was a solid book ready to go.

Then I read it again.

Yikes. My “brilliant plot” had holes you could drive a tank through. My “witty banter” made me cringe. My protagonist came across as whiny and inconsistent. That second draft was a disaster, and for a moment, I seriously wondered if I should ditch the whole thing and start over.

A messy second draft doesn’t mean you got it wrong—it means you’re actually seeing what you need to do to get it right.

I think each draft after the first is heartbreaking for me. I’m in search, lately, in how to get over that and get the book done!

What I’m learning:

Lots of marketing at AutoCrit.com.

The uncertainty of AI at Apexwriters.com.

Setting at 52 Scenes or deadlinesforwriters.com.

What I’m working on:

Organizing notes and such for my Gothic Fantasy Book 1.

Writing the 23^rd scene for my Gothic Fantasy series Book 1 (yes two at the same time!).

Letting my short story sit while I contemplate where to send it next.