News

The April meeting went well with three new attendees, though few people had read the Nebula nominees. Those that did discussed them and why they liked or did not like them. We also discussed why people aren't reading the magazines the way they used to and what factors might be involved in spec. fic. readership. Click the title for more information.

Member Steve Carper posted this information to the R-SPEC Google group. Here it is with the table it contains in a slightly more readable format. Click the title to see it.

Member Pat Rapp posted this notice:

The Creative Process:  Writing for Different Audiences

In-world Wednesdays: Monroe County Library System’s Monthly Author Visit in Second Life

March Visiting Author: Lois Gresh (Bobo Fromund in Second Life)

Date: Wednesday, March 25, 2009 at 8 pm Eastern Time (5 pm Pacific Time)

Location: The MCLS Amphitheater in Second Life

 http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cybrary%20City%20II/68/100/22

More information in full story.

I have posts up for Piers Anthony, Isaac Asimov, and Greg Bear. Their names here are hotlinked to their posts.

In our April 7 meeting we'll be discussing the 2008 Nebula awards. (Yes, they are the 2008 awards. Even though this is 2009. But this is our 2009 poll.) In preparation for our discussion, we're asking you to pick your own favorites. We'll report the results here after the awards have been given.

March meeting went well. We have a list of recommended authors and works. Now we need your help.

Thought control of devices takes another step forward with this wheelchair arm that is controlled by thought alone, as reported at Discovery.com. University of South Florida researchers mounted a robotic arm on a wheelchair and a helmet on the user's head. The helmet includes electromagnetic sensors that respond to excitations in the brain resulting from the user thinking about moving the arm and acts on its interpretations. Pretty cool. Previous experiments have yielded thought controlled pointing devices for computers (link not available at the moment).

Member and SFWA Member/Volunteer/Committe Chair Steve Carper posted the news that the nominees for the 2008 Nebula Awards are announced. The announcement says both 2008 and 2009, but in discussion it's mostly resolved that this is the 2009 presentation of the 2008 Awards.

Contributor Frank G. posted the news to the Google Group that Mr. Farmer died on 25 February 2009. Mr. Farmer wrote a wide variety of works but is perhaps best known for the Riverworld series. Others that this poster enjoyed were The World of Tiers and Dayworld, but this list hardly scratches the surface of the body of Mr. Farmer's work. Here is the link Frank posted, which refers to this story on io9, which in turn refers to the official P.J. Famer site provided above.

President Alicia Henn posted a link to this (well-written) article by Roy Blount, Jr., addressing the question of whether authors should receive payment for audio rights as a result of Kindle 2 (and other similar devices) converting text versions of works to speech.

An interesting question. My initial impression is that having your device read your book aloud is no different than having a friend read it to you. That seems like a fair use of the product that you have purchased. However, Blount presents a strong case for author compensation as a result of Kindle readings. Click the title to see why.