October 31, 2015

Weird Kitties: Best Fan Writer Open Thread

A category in which I know a fair amount, but find myself with relatively few opinions, simply because there’s been an awful lot of smart stuff written about sci-fi this year, albeit not for the happiest of occasions. But many of my picks here are conflicts of interest and long shots anyway, so those with saner taste – inform us what’s good in this category, and we’ll be back later with Zygons.

Elizabeth Sandifer

Elizabeth Sandifer created Eruditorum Press. She’s not really sure why she did that, and she apologizes for the inconvenience. She currently writes Last War in Albion, a history of the magical war between Alan Moore and Grant Morrison. She used to write TARDIS Eruditorum, a history of Britain told through the lens of a ropey sci-fi series. She also wrote Neoreaction a Basilisk, writes comics these days, and has ADHD so will probably just randomly write some other shit sooner or later. Support Elizabeth on Patreon.

→ Elizabeth Sandifer

10 Comments

Max Curtis
October 31, 2015 @ 9:30 am

Would Jamie Mathieson’s new Doctor Who short story “My Dad, the Doctor” count? It’s very short and very simple, but it really struck a chord with me.

http://www.firstnews.co.uk/news/exclusive-doctor-who-story-for-first-news-readers-i12560

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- Matt M
  October 31, 2015 @ 10:59 am
  
  I guess the question is whether that’s an ‘official’ story or if it is Jamie Mathieson writing fanfic. Are show writers even allowed to write fanfic? I’d assume it would have had to be endorsed somewhere along the line by the BBC?
  
  Reply
  - Genie P
    October 31, 2015 @ 2:45 pm
    
    If they establish it’s fan-fic first, why not? It’s just an exercise in creative writing then, right?
    
    Reply
Laura
October 31, 2015 @ 6:40 pm

I’m thinking of Adam Whitehead who blogs at

http://thewertzone.blogspot.com/

In particular he’s been doing a great series of posts on A History of Epic Fantasy which is currently up to part 24.

In general he does review and news on SFF books, movies/tv, and games.

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AndyRobot
October 31, 2015 @ 8:19 pm

Um… Phil Sandifer…?

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- Elizabeth Sandifer
  October 31, 2015 @ 8:30 pm
  
  I’m not actually convinced I’m eligible; this is my full-time job.
  
  Reply
  - Camestros Felapton
    October 31, 2015 @ 9:56 pm
    
    Professional writers are eligible I think, but for this category only for non-professional work. i.e. somebody could nominate George RR Martin as best fan writer for his Live Journal posts.
    I guess as most of what is written here is published in book format then it wouldn’t be eligible as the basis for a best fan writer nomination but that might require a more seasoned reader of the Hugo rules to judge.
    
    [Nominate blog for ‘Hugo for Worst Captcha’s’]
    
    Reply
    - Elizabeth Sandifer
      October 31, 2015 @ 10:00 pm
      
      I think you could convincingly argue that the Patreon renders the whole blog ineligible.
      
      (The Captchas are very high on Anna’s to-do list.)
      
      Reply
      - Camestros Felapton
        November 1, 2015 @ 2:12 am
        
        Fair enough 🙂 and I’m sure they really don’t want even more curious test-cases.
        
        I guess then by the same measure (you make a living off the blog and associated work) the blog counts as professional rather than a semiprozine etc.
        
        [And sorry for being mean about the Captchas 🙂 ]
Doug Muir
November 2, 2015 @ 10:07 am

Surely James Nicoll (of “More Words Deeper Hole”) should be mentioned here?

Doug M.

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