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The finalists for the Endeavour Award have been announced. The award recognizes “a distinguished science fiction or fantasy book written by a Pacific Northwest author or authors and published in the previous year.” The finalists are:

• Bookshops & Bonedust, Travis Baldree (Tor)
• Vampires of El Norte, Isabel Cañas (Berkley)
• Again and Again, Jonathan Evison (Penguin Random House/Dutton)
• Sleep No More, Seanan McGuire (DAW)
• Painted Devils,

...Read More

The 2024 Polari Prize Shortlists have been announced via social media.

Authors and titles of genre interest include Away With Words by Sophie Cameron (Little Tiger), Gwen & Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher (Wednesday), and Bitterthorn by Kat Dunn (Andersen), all in the Children’s & YA category; and Killing Jericho by William Hussey (Zaffre) in the Book Category.

The prizes are given to writers born or based ...Read More

Murmuration by Elizabeth Pike (self-published) is on the five-title shortlist for the 2024 Kindle Storyteller Award.

The award, launched in 2017, includes a £20,000 prize and “is open to writers publishing in English in any genre, who publish their work through Kindle Direct Publishing” on Amazon.co.uk. There were 20 titles on the “Featured Sci Fi and Fantasy Entries” and the shortlist itself includes titles from categories “Crime, Mystery, and Thrillers” ...Read More

by Nisi Shawl, Somto Ihezue, and Zhui Ning Chang

We’re in this together. That’s what publishing has taught me over the course of decades. That’s what this project, Publishing Taught Me, continues to teach me and all my friends. You, too. All my friends; all my relations.

Publishing is a community endeavor. If we analogize it in mechanical terms, we can say it has lots of moving parts: writers, readers, editors, publishers, marketers, printers.  Reviewers, narrators.  Illustrators.  Interns.  Sellers and librarians, and I may even be forgetting a few more important elements, but my point is, publishing is multiplex as hell: it’s full of clusters of different levels of fractal expressions of itself leading to and from its major, medium, and minor iterations.

So, we really need each other. Every one of us needs to be doing our best in order to make publishing do its best.

That means we can’t just passively accept the status quo—not when that status quo excludes many people. Race-based gatekeeping, gender policing, ableist submission tools, and the like—they’ve simply got to go if we expect our publishing community to flourish.

It’s an accomplishment devoutly to be wished, and something various elements of the enterprise have tried to achieve. Have we succeeded?  Now and then. Here and there.

This anthology is both a good assessment of how well we’ve done making publishing properly inclusive, and an excellent tool for doing so.

I was approached by SFWA for my feedback on this project back in 2022, when it was first proposed to the National Endowment for the Arts. It sounded like such a great idea! The plan was to create an online anthology of essays addressing the experiences of BIPOC authors, editors, etc., as they interacted with current and established publishing practices. The SFWA volunteers and consultants who were the plan’s architects recognized that paying for the work of marginalized authors and editors makes greater participation possible, so an integral part of the plan was to offer the authors professional rates while also compensating the project’s editor and editorial interns.  Win-win! I pronounced myself delighted!

I was even more deeply delighted to learn that SFWA had chosen me to head up the anthology.

Behind the scenes, our work began.  Some of it was pretty boring: schedule checking, protocol setting, calendar clearing, that sort of stuff. Some of it was fun and easy: I named the anthology Publishing Taught Me in honor of the Twitter hashtag #publishingpaidme, one of the means by which certain inequities we wanted to talk about were revealed.

Some of the work was fun and hard. The one task that felt particularly hard to me was hiring my two editorial interns. But I’m incredibly proud of my choices: Somto Ihezue and Zhui Ning Chang. Working with them has been pure pleasure. Their hearts and heads have proven indispensable to making this anthology as wonderful as it is to read, and I’m asking them now to chime in on this introduction.

ZNC:

It has been a joy to work on this with Nisi, Somto, the SFWA team, and all our contributors. In publishing, too often we chase the young and fresh and new, and so I was especially drawn to the idea of an anthology of essays that sought to recognise, celebrate, and reflect on the experiences of those who have been fighting for years for greater equity. To contribute some small part to this endeavor, among such fine colleagues and pillars of our community, was my honor.

The selection and editing process was extremely democratic—I learned a great deal from Nisi’s open, horizontal management of the entire project, and enjoyed bouncing off Somto’s keen eye and precise notes in our collaborative editing.

Some essays, in particular, have stayed with me: Diana M. Pho’s incisive insight into the editor’s role in the publishing process, and the challenges of balancing author care and business demands; Erika Hardison and Nelly Geraldine García-Rosas’s respective recognition of the labor and love poured in by slush readers and book reviewers, to help sustain stories from opposite ends of the spectrum; the contrast of Yoon Ha Lee’s cynicism and Emily Jiang’s faith in where and how our industry and our communities move forward from here.

I hope that, wherever you are on your publishing journey, this anthology will help bring you closer to what you wish to achieve. We can’t wait to read the stories you will tell. So come, step through the door and join us.

Somto:

“Learning is a life-long journey, not a process.”

Among editors, there’s a recurring phrase: Editing is a thankless but rewarding endeavor. There’s something about working meticulously with others, exchanging thoughts and ideas, lending your guidance, and being trusted with the words and stories of authors. It intimately connects you to the work, makes you a part of the story, a part of the journey—and working on the Publishing Taught Me anthology, this connection has been the reward. I will forever be grateful to have been brought aboard this project with Nisi Shawl, Zhui Ning Chang, the SFWA team, and the fantastic and brilliant contributors who trusted us with their words. This was a fulfilling process in many ways; every minute spent with the authors and my fellow editors was enlightening and a learning moment. From Yoon Ha Lee’s work, I learned that our experiences as authors can be valid and instrumental in our storytelling. Still, they shouldn’t be a cage hoisted up by the expectations of the industry and society. In James Beamon’s call to “Take Humor Seriously,” I learned that laughter might not solve the root problem when facing tragedies, but, often, it is the right prescription to know that things will be okay. In Kanishk Tantia’s story snippets, I learned the need for honesty, substance, and authenticity in our storytelling.

Working with Nisi and Zhui Ning was a reminder that we are eternal students. Nisi’s firm and exemplary work ethic, their commitment to care, and their acknowledgment of the weight of words when approaching a text as an editor—all exemplary in every way. On the other page, there was Zhui Ning’s punctuality, enthusiasm, and thoroughness—demanding that authors interrogate every statement and maximize their words and thoughts to their fullest potential.

And to our ever-readers, as you immerse yourself in this anthology, our fervent hope is that you learn with us the many ways we tell our community’s continuing story to each other.

This is the introduction to the Publishing Taught Me: A SFWA Anthology Project. The Publishing Taught Me project is overseen by multiple award-winning editor Nisi Shawl and two editorial interns, Somto Ihezue and Zhui Ning Chang. More information on this series can be found here: Publishing Taught Me: A SFWA Anthology Project – SFWA  

The post Introduction – Publishing Taught Me Anthology appeared first on SFWA.

Finalists for the National Book Awards (NBA) have been announced, including titles and authors of genre interest in multiple categories.

Fiction

• Ghostroots, ’Pemi Aguda (Norton)
• James, Percival Everett (Doubleday)

Nonfiction

• Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, Salman Rushdie (Random House)

Young People’s Literature

• Buffalo Dreamer, Violet Duncan (Nancy Paulsen)
• The First State of Being, Erin Entrada Kelly (Greenwillow)

Translated Literature

• The Book Censor’s Library,

...Read More

The 22 MacArthur Foundation Fellows have been announced for 2024, including filmmaker Sterlin Harjo of feature Mekko (2015) and TV series Reservation Dogs (2021-2023); Ling Ma, author of Severance (2018) and Bliss Montage (2022); Jason Reynolds, author of the Stuntboy children’s superhero series and YA fantasy Long Way Down (2017); and writer and disability activist Alice Wong, who had an essay in Uncanny’s “Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction!” issue (2018). ...Read More

by John Ryan

Editor’s note: This piece is part of our Playtesting Game Narratives series, curated by SFWA’s Game Writing Committee.

When you hear about narrative in video games, positions such as writers and narrative designers might be the first roles you’ll think of. What people don’t think about is one of the most important roles in the game studio: Quality Assurance, or QA.

I want to talk about what QA does in a video game studio and how this overlooked discipline is an unsung hero of game development. While QA helps multiple departments in a studio, I’m going to focus on narrative for this article and on how game writers can best work with QA.

So how do QA and storytelling work together in a game studio?

This really depends on the studio. If you have a narrative-focused studio, then you’ll likely have some QA personnel (either internal or third party) that will be devoted to spotting narrative issues during their play passes. This isn’t always the case though. There’s a good chance your studio or your team will just have a general QA pool at their disposal. However, with proper context and communication, you can have these generalists help spot narrative issues in your game.

What QA Looks For in a Narrative Pass

From my experience, QA looks for plot inconsistencies, discrepancies in character voice, odd leaps in plot logic or dialogue, and/or missing dialogue (which is also an audio issue, but it’s something that narrative needs to be aware of). Also, spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Eagle-eyed testers will also be familiar with your game’s proper nouns: titles, naming conventions, weapon names, and locations. When I was working on Guild Wars 2, both QA and the editing team would double-check map names and even look up if a Charr name in-game matched the rules for naming a Charr character. No detail was too small.

QA doesn’t look for the following during its narrative play pass: level design issues (like traversal issues), missing art assets (hey, where’s the painting I’m supposed to steal?), missing ambient audio or effects, missing character animations, or absent visual effects (like an explosion going off). QA will notice these issues and file bugs to the appropriate teams, however.

A Word of Context for Writers

QA isn’t there to be your servant. It will not be at your beck and call at all times. Depending on the stage of development, QA might be slammed with other requests from other departments. QA has a job to do for the whole studio, not just you in the narrative department.

Whether the studio is narrative-focused or not, the narrative team is responsible for briefing QA on what it should be looking for before it does its play passes. This helps narrative as well as QA. Narrative will get specific feedback about what QA finds, while QA can narrow the scope of its review.

How to Get the Most Out of QA

Be proactive about this. Engage with QA from the start. If you don’t have a dedicated narrative QA team, then give QA detailed guidelines about what your team is looking for and the best way to send feedback to the writers. This is an ever-evolving process, so be ready to constantly communicate new targets to the QA team when necessary.

Speaking of, also tell the QA team about already identified problems. This saves QA from writing bugs it doesn’t need to and saves you the headache of getting multiple bugs for the same issue. And trust me, duplicate bugs are an aggravation you don’t need. I have lost count of all the times I’ve seen developers (dumbass younger me included) seethe with contempt and send QA a bitter note saying (paraphrasing): “Stop sending me this, you moron.”

You want to get ahead of this mindset. You need to see QA as more than a bunch of nitpicking elves who send you bugs that eat at your creative confidence. You need to see all the hard and thankless work QA does in the shadows. Be kind. Why?

The Unsung Heroes

Because QA is often the punching bag of the studio—the most grueling work with low pay and little prestige. Think of it this way: when QA does their job, it isn’t noticed. Compare that to when you have great dialogue, engaging audio, awesome vistas, or kick-ass cut scenes. All those devs can take a bow. Players never see the hard work QA has done to flag all the issues. However, when something blows up or breaks a game, everyone points their fire at QA: “Why wasn’t this obvious bug spotted?”

I’ve also seen QA framed as the pit where talent comes from, not where talent is. At ArenaNet, QA was at one time our farm league, where testers worked their asses off to be noticed and then “promoted” into design, art, audio, programming, or writing. QA was a stepping stone, not seen as a valid career path. As you can imagine, it gave the impression that QA was a place you wanted to cycle out of as fast as possible. The pay sucked and the respect wasn’t there. The older I get, the more I see this as unfair.

QA isn’t disposable. It’s a team vital to making a functioning, immersive game. Give QA the respect it deserves. When you work with them, be clear about what you want them to look for. Be clear about how you want them to give you feedback. And be clear that you appreciate their hard work.

After all, QA is there to help save you from yourself. Honor that.

John Ryan is a veteran game writer/narrative designer who has worked on franchises including Fable, Horizon, Marvel’s Iron Man, Guild Wars, Destiny, Forza, and Lily’s Garden. He’s brought stories to life across multiple genres and platforms, including VR and XR. He is currently working on two unannounced projects but is always looking for the next adventure. He currently lives near Seattle with his wife, two cats, and a growing backlog of games on his Steam account. You can read more about him and his work at his site: johnryanwrites.com.

The post QA and Storytelling in Video Games appeared first on SFWA.

The Future Worlds Prize for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers of Colour is open to submissions from unpublished writers of color based in the UK until January 26, 2025.

The winner will receive £4,500, one runner-up £2,500, and up to six shortlisted authors will each receive £850. All writers will also receive mentoring from one of the prize’s publishing partners: Bloomsbury, Daphne Press, Gollancz, Hodderscape, Orbit UK, Penguin Michael Joseph, ...Read More

StokerCon 2025 has announced their Guests of Honor: Scott Edelman, Paula Guran, Adam L.G. Nevill, Joyce Carol Oates, Gaby Triana, and Tim Waggoner.

StokerCon 2025 will be held June 12-15, 2025 at the Hilton Stamford Hotel & Executive Meeting Center in Stamford CT.

For more information, see the official website.

While you are here, please take a moment to support Locus with a one-time or recurring donation. We rely on ...Read More

The winner of the 2024 Washington Science Fiction Association (WSFA) Small Press Award for Short Fiction has been announced:

• WINNER: “A Bowl of Soup on the 87th Floor”, Kai Holmwood (DreamForge Anvil 3/11/23)

• “Six Meals at Fanelli’s”, Annika Barranti Klein (Fusion Fragment 4/23)
• “Baby Golem”, Barbara Krasnoff (Jewish Futures)
• “Interstate Mohinis”, M.L. Krishnan (Diabolical Plots 6/16/23)
• “Better Living Through Algorithms”, Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld 5/23)
• “Machines”, Jennifer R. Povey

...Read More

By Zoe Mantas The panel, left to right: Claire Steves, Elizabeth Black, Christine Aicardi, Benjamin Greenaway, Stephen Oram

What could the future look like? What do we want it to look like? ‘All Tomorrow’s Futures: scientists meet sci-fi writers to invent possible futures’ hosted by the King’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence attempts, if not to answer, then to explore how we might try. 

Bringing together creatives and experts, All Tomorrow’s Futures is a project in foresight, attempting to provide plausible (or at least thought-provoking) narratives for how technologies may change our society. What makes it different from other projects is its methodology tying experts and creators together from the very start of the process to bounce ideas off each other and bring in research and creative resources. The panel was chaired by Dr. Christine Aicardi, senior research fellow in science and technology studies (STS) from King’s College London, and included editors and writers Benjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram, with contributions from Dr. Elizabeth Black and Professor Claire Steves, and the discussions focused more on the process and intent of the project rather than the content of the book which contained resulting stories. 

So, what is foresighting? Let’s start with what it isn’t: a definitive prediction. Foresighting isn’t about saying what will happen. It’s about saying what could happen.  More importantly than that, it is about the skill of asking important questions and developing ideas to support future possibilities. Interestingly, the panellists emphasized the importance of participatory foresight, bringing in perspectives beyond the usual ‘experts’. The panellists emphasized the importance of asking who is envisioning these futures in the status quo right now and the need to actively include those in society who feel, in the main quite rightly, that they do not have agency in the decisions being made that will affect their futures.This also goes beyond the UK, for example, the future is African – it is the youngest continent, yet our global future imaginaries in the field of science fiction and beyond are not yet shaped in a way representative of people who will live in those futures. 

What struck me was that the event was proof of concept of some of the ideas explored in the book. Notably, the final section of the book is about education and learning, and this event successfully put into practice  the principles of collaborative learning, and cross-disciplinary exploration in a de-formalized academic settings. It was interesting to hear from other contributors too who were in the audience, such as Jayen Parmar, Eva Pascoe and Prashant Vaze.

Jayen, an expert in policing technology, brought up the value of diversity of thought, mentioning how in his field of operational policing it is considered vital. He explains that with a variety of perspectives comes strength. And this event definitely did have a variety of ideas, and it had its fair share of disagreement. With participants who were experts in climate financing, AI ethics, policing technology, nuclear security and more, this diversity led to well-rounded and interesting discussions that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. Each brought their own perspectives and expertise to the conversation, and it is the same multidisciplinary way that the book itself was developed.

All Tomorrow’s Futures is the successor to think-tank Cybersalon’s 22 Ideas About the Future, which evolved from a series of readings and in-depth discussions involving researchers, experts and writers. One thing that kept coming up after the completion of that project was a desire for experts to be involved in the writing process from the beginning rather than commenting on completed stories. In response, Greenaway and Oram developed a new system for creative collaborations that involves selecting specific authors (rather than taking story submissions)  and appropriate experts and, from the very start of the process, ensuring that they are able to bounce ideas off each other, share resources and collaborate on research for future-oriented stories.

While it’s an undeniably cool project, what’s the impact? And why is it being discussed in an academic context? What sticks in my mind is an explanation by Dr. Aicardi, “Visions mobilize resources for the present.” While the short stories are fictional, the issues they explore are pressing. The creative exploration of ideas about futures can be beneficial in a variety of contexts. At the College of Policing’s library, All Tomorrow’s Futures is almost always checked out. In educational settings, where asking students to read and write fiction can enhance understanding of the topic at hand; as Prof. Claire Steves said, “Getting students or postdocs to read it […] get together and discuss their reactions […] how to generate new ideas about what to research.”  In decision making, e.g. emergency preparedness where practitioners and policy experts can use narratives to simulate possible disaster situations and responses. Yet, applying speculative cultures in education is far from mainstream.

The project goes against the grain of traditional academia, to demonstrate the benefits of creativity, collaboration and looking forwards. As Dr. Aicardi noted, “The reason why I’m doing this work is because I am an unusual academic. I don’t have a career in academia at stake. This kind of work may be enjoyed and even encouraged but not properly recognised and rewarded.” 

Details for All Tomorrow’s Futures: Fictions That Disrupt can be found at https://mybook.to/atf

The event was recorded and is available on YouTube.

Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati (Penguin Michael Joseph) won the 2024 Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award, honoring a novel in any genre “with brilliant characterization and a distinct voice that is confidently written and assuredly realized.” The winner receives a handmade glass bell and a cash prize of £2,000.

The awards are decided by team members from Goldsboro Books. For more information, see the Goldsboro Books website and announcement at The ...Read More

The Alberta Book Publishing Awards have announced that Guy Immega’s novel Super-Earth Mother: The AI that Engineered a Brave New World (EDGE) is the winner of the 2024 Douglas Barbour Award for Speculative Fiction.

The Alberta Book Publishing Awards were created by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta to “celebrate the essential role Alberta book publishers play in supporting authors.” The Douglas Barbour award honors the late Canadian science fiction ...Read More

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) has finalized the candidates for its upcoming special election for the roles of president and secretary.

• Candidates for president are Jennifer Brozek, Kate Ristau, and Christine Taylor-Butler.
• The candidate for secretary is Matthew Reardon aka JRH Lawless.

A voting link will be posted and optional paper ballots will be mailed on October 9, 2024. Ballots will be counted after October 23, 2024. ...Read More

Janet Morris (25 May 1946 – 10 August 2024) was a military fantasy writer most known for blending history, ancient mythologies, and science fiction into secondworlds. With a publication career spanning over 35 years, Morris is known for works such as the Silista quartet, and The Sacred Band of Stepsons saga, written with husband Chris Morris, as well as active participation and mentoring in shared worlds, such as Theives’ World and Heroes in Hell.

A military strategist, Morris researched and advised the US Government on topics of methods of psychological combat that could be used for intervention in global conflicts. Morris was also a lifetime equestrian and award-winning horse breeder. In addition to co-founding a defense consulting company, she co-founded the publishing company, Perseid Press, where she continued her writing, co-writing, and her genuine love for elevating the craft of storytellers.

Writer Michael Armstrong writes in tribute: “Janet loved the writers she discovered and nurtured. For those of us who came to be one of those writers, we loved her almost as fiercely, and we will miss her physical presence terribly and take comfort in her intense spirit that lives on in all of us.” Writer Andrew Paul Weston writes: “Janet was a pillar and arch; a blazing star; a square and compass to us all, who traversed the great mosaic of speculative fiction in a spectacular way. And now the star has fallen, the world will be a darker place, and she will be sorely missed… But not forgotten.”

Janet Morris lived 78 years.

The post In Memoriam: Janet Morris appeared first on SFWA.

Winners of the French-language Prix Aurora-Boréal were awarded on May 22, 2024 at the Congrès Boréal in Québec City, Canada.

Best Novel

• WINNER: La Voie de l’apprenti, Jean-Sébastien Drouin (Nux & Nox)

• Dissident, Jean-Pierre Gorkynian (mémoire d’encrier)
• Inmortem, Mireille LaCombe (Luzerne Rousse)
• Sombre Chaos, Jennifer Pelletier (Édiligne)
• Couleur de l’obscurité, Maxim Poulin and Frédéric St-Jean (Luzerne Rousse)

Best Short Story

• WINNER: “Ce qu’on laisse derrière”,

...Read More

The United Talent Agency (UTA) and Conville & Walsh (C&W) have announced the inaugural Andromeda Award. The contest aims to “seek out and support the best new emerging science fiction and fantasy writers.”

The contest is open to anyone based in the UK or USA with a full length SF/F novel. The first-place author will be awarded $5,000, second place $3,000 and a spot in Curtis Brown Creative’s nine-week Writing ...Read More

Dream Foundry, a “non-profit dedicated to bolstering the careers of nascent professionals working with the speculative arts,” has announced the winners of its 2024 contests.

Writing Contest

• Vikoriia Grivina (First Place)
• Kaia Ball (Second Place)
• Nigel Faustino (Third Place)

Art Contest

• Moneke Gabriel (First Place)
• Martins Deep (Second Place)
• Dhiyanah Hassan (Third Place)

First place winners receive $1,000.

Writing judges were Valerie Valdes and C.L. Polk, and art judges were

...Read More

Pedro Iniguez is a Mexican-American horror and science-fiction writer from Los Angeles, California. He is a Rhysling Award finalist and a Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize nominee. 

His work has appeared in Nightmare Magazine, Never Wake: An Anthology of Dream Horror, Shadows Over Main Street Volume 3, and Qualia Nous Vol. 2, among others. 

Forthcoming, his horror fiction collection, FEVER DREAMS OF A PARASITE, is slated for a 2025 release from publisher Raw Dog Screaming Press. https://pedroiniguezauthor.com/

Jean-Paul L. Garnier is the owner of Space Cowboy Books bookstore and publishing house, producer of Simultaneous Times Podcast (2023 Laureate Award Winner, BSFA, Ignyte, and British Fantasy Award Finalist), and editor of the SFPA’s Star*Line magazine. He is also the deputy editor-in-chief of Worlds of IF & Galaxy magazines. In 2024 he won the Laureate Award for Best Editor. He has written many books of poetry and science fiction. https://spacecowboybooks.com/ 

JPG – What made you want to take on the themes in Mexicans on the Moon through speculative poetry, and where did specpo take you that other mediums might not have allowed? 

PI – I think there’s a power in the brevity and playfulness of poetry that really worked in my favor with this collection. Speculative poetry allows me to shift gears quickly from poem to poem. For example, in Mexicans on the Moon, you’ll find poems that are heartwarming, funny, sad, chilling, or thought-provoking. It allows the poems to take on their own life, be tonally different, while still feeling thematically coherent in the grand scheme of things.  

JPG – The poems in Mexicans on the Moon are all standalone, but together form a cohesive theme and story. Did you set out to do this intentionally, or did the poetry dictate the path toward the book—and, if so, when did you know that it was becoming a collection? 

PI – I’ve only been writing speculative poetry seriously for about three years, and as I started to go over what I’d been getting published, I noticed a very loose story of a possible future starting to take shape, so I began writing new poems to fill in the gaps of this timeline. 

JPG – You mention in the foreword that Mexicans have been excluded from SF in all mediums. Why do you think this has happened, and how do you think the media can do a better job paving the way toward an inclusive future? 

PI – It comes down to whose stories were getting published, whose movies were getting financed and produced over the years. It certainly wasn’t Mexicans or Mexican-Americans. And so, a lot of American, British, Russian, and Japanese SF became widespread and sort of laid the groundwork for the SF media we now know. It’s only been recently that Latinos have had a seat at the table in publishing and movie-making. I think now we’re seeing more representation in the films we watch and the stories we read. I think it’s important that agents, publishers, and film producers recognize that there is a richness in other points of view. That there are undiscovered narratives that can enrich the imagination and make them think outside their worldview. And this goes for everyone. 

JPG – Can you speak about the concept of “writing yourself into the future”?  

PI – Going back to the exclusion discussion, I think words have the power to shape our futures, or to leave us out of them. Like Margaret Atwood said in her poem, Spelling, “A word after a word after a word is power.”  

By writing about ourselves and our cultures in our stories, we normalize our humanity and our right to exist. We cease to become invisible and take a seat at the table of humanity’s future. Not just in our eyes, but in those that read our words. Through our narratives we are making a declarative statement, a promise, that we will be here among you. As we deserve to be. 

JPG – As a Latinx writer, have you faced any adversity, or discouragement, from the publishing industry? 

PI – Not directly. It can be discouraging to see big-name anthologies carrying the same writers over and over, especially when those ToCs (Tables of Contents) are low on people of color. That can dampen one’s mood. When I started getting published fifteen years ago, it would be common to see me being the only person of color on a ToC, and that was discouraging. Things have gotten a lot better now, but I think publishing has a long way to go. I want to give a shoutout to those readers, editors, and publishers who gave my poems and stories a chance and a home.  

JPG – What power do you think poetry holds as a vehicle for social justice, and what are your hopes for the reader’s experience, especially in this time of racist rhetoric from politicians in this country and around the world? 

PI – I think the brevity of the poem adds a sense of immediacy to the message, and I like to think of my poetry as accessible, so that was particularly helpful in trying to convey the social messages in this collection. I think sometimes poems click with people in novel ways, the creativity of the form or rhyme or meter really can hit someone in ways maybe you couldn’t with prose. Especially when you want to grab someone’s attention and don’t have time to explain things in the time it would take to read a short story or a novel. That can be crucial when trying to convey important matters that affect people’s livelihoods: important matters like racism, homophobia, genocide, immigration, etc. Matters which are more important than ever, with politicians espousing fear and perpetuating falsehoods about immigrants and people of color. 

JPG – On top of being a poet, you also write long- and short-form fiction. When do you reach for poetry versus fiction to tell your story, and do you have a preference when addressing certain themes? 

PI – I think I take to short- and long-form fiction when I want to examine multiple themes or characters a bit more in-depth. Whereas with poetry I tend to focus on a singular theme and try to deliver a message with a gut-punch. It’s like a much more playful version of flash fiction. 

JPG – What have been the greatest challenges, and rewards, in your work as a writer? 

PI – The greatest challenges have been on the publishing end of things. Rejections, getting ghosted by publishers, seeing fellow writers of color getting their stories passed over time and time again. The writing itself has been wonderful despite the hard work that goes into creating stories and poetry. The greatest reward has been seeing my work find good homes or sit alongside legends like Stephen King, Josh Malerman, Cynthia Pelayo, Gabino Iglesias, Laird Barron, Joe Haldeman, and John Langan. Also, receiving wonderful responses from readers. It makes everything worth it. 

JPG – You also have several new collections coming out next year, can you tell us a bit about these projects, and what readers can expect? 

PI – I’ve got a horror anthology comic book called Catrina’s Caravan coming out in March of 2025 from Chispa Comics. Past issues have been written by V. Castro and Cynthia Pelayo. Later in 2025, Raw Dog Screaming Press is releasing my horror fiction anthology, Fever Dreams of a Parasite, and then in July of 2025 Stars and Sabers Publishing will be releasing my SFF collection, Echoes and Embers. 2025 is going to be a busy year!  

JPG – What are you currently working on, and what’s next for you?  

PI – Currently, I’m working on a horror novel, I’m also working on finalizing the horror writing workshop course I’ll be teaching in October for Palabras del Pueblo, an organization specializing in teaching Chicano writers. I’ve also got an eye on writing a few children’s picture books and perhaps compiling a horror poetry collection, but that’ll be down the line. 

by Austin Conrad

Editor’s note: This piece is part of our Playtesting Game Narratives series, curated by SFWA’s Game Writing Committee.

Tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) are built from basically two elements: game mechanics and narrative. Unlike video games, TTRPGs strongly focus on collaborative narrative between the players and the gamemaster at the table. Playtesting the narrative of a TTRPG diverges from other types of game writing due to the open-ended nature of the medium. Games such as Dungeons & Dragons or Call of Cthulhu don’t rely on the script of a video game or the clearly delineated rules of card games and board games. While TTRPGs do have rules and game mechanics—which also require testing—they fundamentally rely upon the players’ imagination in a way other game media do not.

This impacts TTRPG narratives because the player’s choices are open-ended. Possible responses to an in-game challenge are typically defined by each player’s imagination, not by the rules of the game. Consequently, playtests must be designed with those strengths in mind. This includes the intended plot of a particular work (such as an adventure the gamemaster runs for the players), as well as any narrative mechanics included in a core rulebook.

Set Playtesting Goals

Understand your goals and how to iterate your material through multiple rounds of testing to achieve them, similar to tweaking a novel after receiving feedback from beta readers. If you know your story’s intended emotional impact, you can make sensible revisions. Unlike a novel, a TTRPG’s narrative can change from one “read” to the next. Repeated playtests help the writer identify the variance in these outcomes and adjust their game’s design to strengthen the intended player experiences.

A common mistake is repeatedly playtesting TTRPG content by focusing on mechanics instead of narratives. While mechanics are undeniably important due to their structuring influence, failing to test the narrative can leave players dissatisfied and gamemasters unsure how to run your game.

Often, testing a TTRPG’s story takes time, especially for full campaigns of interconnected adventures (such as the famous Masks of Nyalarthotep). Because each session of a TTRPG can take multiple hours—and a full campaign can require 20 or more sessions to play—it’s not unusual for TTRPG narratives to undergo fewer playtests than narratives in other types of game writing. Setting goals for your playtest helps specify the round’s intended outcomes.

As in fiction, narrative playtesting goals should focus on the participants’ emotional experience of narrative elements. Don’t focus on whether or not a player “liked” the story. That’s not trivial, but it’s more important to ascertain if the game’s narrative is creating the expected emotions. For example, if an adventure’s ending is supposed to be sad but a playtest reports they liked the adventure’s happy ending, something has gone wrong. Focusing on intended experience prior to the playtester’s subjective opinion helps you understand if the game you’ve written functions as expected. If it doesn’t, then you have better information about how to revise the narrative and achieve the desired result.

Your goals should determine which material from your TTRPG is tested, what questions you ask the playtesters afterward, which playtesters you choose, and so on. Understanding how to ask questions connected to your goals is important. Frame these questions to encourage descriptive answers from the playtesters. For example, “What was your first thought when the mayor was killed?” is more likely to provide specific data about a player’s emotional response than “Did you find the mystery element intriguing or confusing?” Fortunately, the smaller sample size of TTRPG playtests means you’re less reliant on large-scale surveys and more able to analyze open-ended questions.

Don’t Help Playtesters

Give the material you’ve produced to a playtesting group without additional explanation or support. Effective game writing must stand without outside explanation.

A common error is supporting the players or gamemaster if they’re confused about how a narrative element should be presented or how some mechanics function. Observing playtests is a good source of data, but it’s best not to interfere directly. Watching someone get your game wrong is an important step in revising the text so that future customers will get it right.

Narrative Mechanics

Rules elements that blend “game physics” and narrative elements are increasingly popular in today’s TTRPGs. Mechanizing narratives in the game’s core rules strengthens role-play by providing incentives when players behave according to their character’s thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. Newer players feel supported when how to “play pretend” is more explicitly described. The player retains creative control—they typically choose their own character’s narrative parameters—but receives scaffolding within which to exercise it. As we know well, limitations foster creativity. For a classic example, Pendragon includes Traits and Passions for its medieval knights to describe their virtues and vices (such as “energetic” versus “lazy”). Players use their Traits to understand their character’s worldview. Rolls against these abilities allow players to overcome obstacles and influence the story—but may also result in melancholy or madness!

Narrative mechanics need to be playtested for their impact on both gameplay and on the group’s shared narrative. If a narrative mechanic doesn’t have a gameplay effect, it’s unlikely players will use it. Also, if it impacts gameplay but doesn’t impact the story, player immersion is reduced. The two aspects rely upon each other.

Fortunately, the narrative element of such mechanics can be tested like other story elements. Through questions and observation, the designer determines if the players are shaping the story through the use of mechanics or by some other means (such as a less rules-driven group consensus). In general, if a player feels the mechanics provide them with agency—helping them shape their story—then they are working effectively.

Conclusion

Playtesting helps game writers understand how narrative elements shape the player’s decisions and gameplay experience. Whether the core rulebook’s narrative mechanics or the story of an adventure, written narrative shapes—and is shaped by—player activity. Due to the open-ended structure of TTRPG stories, it’s not possible to account for everything the players might do. However, patient testing and revision enable designers to understand and respond to likely player choices. This helps players feel greater satisfaction because they have a say in the game’s narrative.

Austin Conrad is a full-time writer and game designer best known for his indie RuneQuest publications. His work for other systems has been published by EN Publishing and Menagerie Press. Austin’s most recent release is “Treasures of Glorantha 2,” a compendium of magic items from an age of god-manipulating sorcerers and imperial dragons. You can learn more about Austin’s work on his website, akhelas.com.

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