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2024 Aurealis Award Winners

Locus News - Mon, 05/05/2025 - 11:36

The 2024 Aurealis Awards winners, recognizing the best in Australian speculative fiction, have been announced.

Best Science Fiction Novel

  • WINNER: Temporal Boom, J.M. Voss (Shawline)
  • Transported, Kate Fitzpatrick (New Found)
  • Inheritance, Genevieve Gannon (Pantera)
  • The Temp, Martin Livings (self-published)
  • Big Time, Jordan Prosser (University of Queensland Press)
  • Juice, Tim Winton (Hamish Hamilton Australia)

Best Science Fiction Novella

  • WINNER: Ghost of the Neon God,
...Read More
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Publishing News

Locus News - Mon, 05/05/2025 - 10:30

Employees of Abrams books are seeking to join UAW Local 2110, which also represents the HarperCollins union. The prospective union would include workers in publicity, marketing, design, managing editorial, sales, distribution, IT, finance, and the mail room. A spokesperson said, “In forming a union, we stake our claim in shaping the future of Abrams: a more equitable, ethical, and transparent working environment. As employees, we want a seat at the ...Read More

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2025 Locus Awards Top Ten Finalists

Locus News - Fri, 05/02/2025 - 14:29

 

Congratulations to all of the Locus Awards top ten finalists!

The Locus Awards winners will be announced June 21, 2025, during the in-person Locus Awards Ceremony, held in the historic Nile Hall at Preservation Park in downtown Oakland, California. Join MC Gail Carriger and special guests Tochi Onyebuchi and Sarah Gailey, plus featured local author Kemi Ashing-Giwa and artist Stephanie Law, for an entertaining presentation of the awards, plus ...Read More

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Rainforest Writers Village Retreats 2025

Locus News - Fri, 05/02/2025 - 14:00

Four sessions of the Rainforest Writers Village retreat were held over four weeks, from February 19 through March 17, 2025 in Quinault WA.

 

Photographer: Patrick Swenson

While you are here, please take a moment to support Locus with a one-time or recurring donation. We rely on reader donations to keep the magazine and site going, and would like to keep the site paywall free, but WE NEED YOUR FINANCIAL ...Read More

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George Barr (1937-2025)

Locus News - Fri, 05/02/2025 - 12:32

Artist George Barr, 88, died April 19, 2025 in Livermore CA. He was nominated for the Hugo Award for best fan artist five times, winning in 1968, and was twice a nominee for best professional artist.

Geoge Edward Barr was born January 13, 1937 in Tucson AZ. While he did little in the way of formal training, he was mentored by artists Mary Kimball Johnson and Harold “Jack” Vigos. Barr ...Read More

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Gail Carriger to be Master of Ceremonies of the 2025 Locus Awards!

Locus News - Fri, 05/02/2025 - 11:23

The fantastic New York Times bestselling author and ex-archaeologist Gail Carriger will be joining us at the Locus Awards Weekend on June 21, 2025, in Oakland, California as our Master of Ceremonies! We’re ecstatic to welcome Carriger to the stage for an evening of magic and laughs. Carriger will be joining special guests like Tochi Onyebuchi, Sarah Gailey, Kemi Ashing-Giwa, and Stephanie Law.

From her website: Gail Carriger writes books ...Read More

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2025 Philip K. Dick Award Judges

Locus News - Fri, 05/02/2025 - 10:56

The five judges for the Philip K. Dick Award for works of science fiction published as paperback originals in the US during the year 2025 have been announced:

  • Jim Aikin, 1308 Hillcrest Avebue, Livermore CA 94550-4925; epub files to midiguru23@sbcglobal.net
  • Kim Antieau, 945 N Javalina Place, Tucson AZ 85748-2084; print copies only
  • J.D. Goff, 11697 Allendale Drive, Falcon CO 80831-6812; epub or pdf files to jongoff@sommerstone.com
  • Abbey Mei Otis, 5046
...Read More
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2024 Danuta Gleed Literary Award Shortlist

Locus News - Thu, 05/01/2025 - 12:42

The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC) has announced the nominees for the 28th Danuta Gleed Literary Award. The award recognizes “the best first collection of short fiction by a Canadian author published in 2024 in the English language.” Nominees of genre interest include Perfect Little Angels by Vincent Anioke (Arsenal Pulp) and Code Noir by Canisia Lubrin (Knopf).

The winners of the $10,000 first prize and two $1,000 additional prizes ...Read More

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2024 Australasian Shadows Awards

Locus News - Thu, 05/01/2025 - 12:17

The 2024 Australasian Shadows Awards (previously known as the Australia Shadows Awards) shortlist has been announced. The award is given by the Australasian Horror Writers Association (AHWA) for “the finest in horror and dark fiction published by an Australasian within the calendar year.”

Novel

  • The Dead Spot, Caroline Angel (Red Cape)
  • Remedy, J.S. Breukelaar (PS)
  • Jasper Cliff, Josh Kemp (Fremantle)
  • The Briar Book of the Dead,
...Read More
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SFWA News

Locus News - Thu, 05/01/2025 - 10:30

The Science Fiction and Fan­tasy Writers Association (SFWA) has announced Erin Roberts as Toastmaster for the 2025 SFWA Nebula Conference and Awards, to be held June 5-9, 2025 at the Kansas City Marriott Downtown in Kansas City MO.

SFWA also posted an update on the election results for the 2025 SFWA Board of Directors. Ryka Aoki joins as new Director-at-Large along with returning Director-at-Large Curtis C. Chen and continuing Director-at-Large ...Read More

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2025 Splatterpunk Awards Nominees

Locus News - Wed, 04/30/2025 - 12:00

Nominees have been announced for the 2025 Splatterpunk Awards, honoring “superior achievement in the literary sub-genres of Splatterpunk and Extreme Horror fiction” in 2024.

Best Novel

  • Benjamin, Aron Beauregard & Shane McKenzie (Bad Dream)
  • This Wretched Valley, Jenny Kiefer (Quirk)
  • American Rapture, CJ Leede (Tor Nightfire)
  • The Home, Judith Sonnet (Madness Heart)
  • The Old Lady, Kristopher Triana (Bad Dream)

Best Novella

  • A Life of Crime
...Read More
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2025 Dagger Awards Longlists

Locus News - Tue, 04/29/2025 - 13:38

The Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) has announced the longlists for the 2025 Dagger Awards. Titles and authors of genre interest include:

Gold Dagger

  • Book of Secrets, Anna Mazzola (Orion)
  • Deadly Animals, Marie Tierney (Bonnier Books Ltd)

Ian Fleming Steel Dagger

  • The Cracked Mirror, Chris Brookmyre (Sphere)
  • Nobody’s Hero, M.W. Craven (Constable)
  • Run, Blake Crouch (Macmillan)
  • Sanctuary, Garry Disher (Viper)
  • What Happened to Nina?,
...Read More
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2025 TAFF Winner

Locus News - Tue, 04/29/2025 - 12:00

Mikołaj Kowalewski has won the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund (TAFF) to travel from Europe to North America to attend Worldcon 2025: Building Yesterday’s Future–For Everyone, defeating Zi Graves in the second round of voting.

There were 138 votes in the first round, 8 of which were submitted with no preference, and 128 votes in the second round. The fund is currently administered by Sarah Gulde in North America and Sandra Bond ...Read More

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2025 Tolkien Society Awards

Locus News - Tue, 04/29/2025 - 11:32

Winners of the Tolkien Society Awards 2025 were announced on April 27, 2025. The awards “recognize excellence in the fields of Tolkien scholarship and fandom, highlight­ing our long-standing charitable objective to ‘seek to educate the public in, and promote research into, the life and works of'” J.R.R. Tolkien. The society’s trustees choose the shortlist, with winners chosen by the membership.

Best Book

  • WINNER: The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien,
...Read More
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How to Write a Comic Script

SFWA.org - Tue, 04/29/2025 - 11:30

by Tim Susman

The first time I tried to write a comic book script, I had no guidance about what a script looked like, but I’d read comic books and graphic novels. So I wrote up my idea for a four-to-five-page story and sent it to the editor. He sent it back with a gentle note that read, paraphrased, “This is about twenty pages worth of material.”

I was taken aback because I’d separated it into five pages. But when I looked more closely at it, I saw what he meant. I’d crammed way too much into each of those five pages. With help from the artist I was working with, I pared it down, and we got the story to the required length (with some necessary but painful cuts).

Part of the problem was—and is—that there is no definitive template for comic scripts like there is for screenplays. At the end of this post are links to comic script archives; I suggest browsing them to see how established, published writers have tackled the problem. What I’ll cover here are the basics to keep in mind when writing a comic script: collaboration, layout, and dialogue.

Collaboration

If you are lucky enough to have an artist assigned to work on the project with you, your job becomes much more manageable. The comic script is a list of instructions for the artist, and any artist can tell you how best to write instructions for them. My experience has been that artists produce their best work when they have some kind of creative input, so I suggest that your comic script leave room for the artist to bring their creativity to the project. Alan Moore famously wrote highly detailed scripts, each panel meticulously described in immense paragraphs, but even in those details, he would include several alternatives and then write, “the options are there, so just do what you want,” allowing the artist to make some choices about the image. Your artist will create the look of your comic, so leave them room to interpret your words in their style–just as in writing a screenplay, where you can tell the actor and director the character’s mood, but leave the interpretation on screen up to them.

Layout

If you don’t have an artist assigned, the layout of your comic script is the biggest hurdle for a new writer. Comics (you are probably aware) are broken down into pages, and pages are broken down into panels. Most writers delineate these with “PAGE:” and “PANEL:,” but as I wrote above, there is no standard format; please browse the examples linked below. In general, it’s helpful to think of the scenes of your story in units of pages—and each scene is fewer pages than you might think.

Whether you dictate the panel layout within the page is up to you. Most scripts I’ve seen include at least a breakdown by panel, often allowing the artist to decide the relative sizes if it’s not one of the standard comic page layouts. On occasion, a writer might free-form a page and allow the artist to do the breakdown; they might also go in the other direction and specify the precise layout of the page. Some artists prefer the freedom to play with layout; others might like the defined structure. Once you have an artist to work with, you may (likely will) have several conversations clarifying your vision and incorporating the artist’s ideas.

My mistake in the above example was to try to write out each moment of the scene panel by panel; that’s not how most comics are written. If you want to take advantage of the comics medium, decide which moments in your scene are crucial. Make a panel for each of those moments and allow the reader to interpolate the rest. Scott McCloud in his seminal work Understanding Comics talks about the importance of the spaces between panels in a comic (gutters), how “closure” (the way we intuit the whole of something from seeing parts of it) allows the reader to build a more complex story than just what’s on the page.

“War of the Worlds – Classic Comics page – Space A Journey to Our Future – Museum of the Rockies – 2013-07-08” by Tim Evanson is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

You can also control the pace of the story through layout. The reader reads at a more or less constant rate, so you can speed up the story or slow it down by the content of each panel. Quick transitions that move the story along will make it feel more dynamic (think of any superhero fight scene); slower transitions will force the reader to slow down (think of a sequence of panels lingering on a character as their expression slowly changes; we are with them in the moment of understanding). When I said “key moments only,” that doesn’t mean you have to jump around in every scene. In a fraught conversation, every line of dialogue might be a key moment.

Dialogue

Dialogue in comic scripts has constraints unique to the form. All the words you assign to the characters in a panel have to share space with the images of the characters and the background, both of which also convey important information to the reader. Long speeches sometimes happen in comics, but the shorter you can make your dialogue, the better. You can make up for information not revealed in dialogue by describing character expressions and poses, and by putting information into the background. Comics are a unique combination of the written and visual arts; the best comics take advantage of both.

Comic Script Archives

Below, as promised, are some archives of comic scripts:

  • The Comic Book Script Archive
  • Scripts & Scribes: Sample Comic Book Scripts

If you don’t have an artist to work with, study a few of these, considering the above rules. And remember: The only “right” way to write a comic script is the way that allows your artist to produce a comic from your shared vision.

Explore more articles in THE COMICS PANEL series

Award-winning author Tim Susman began his writing career while pursuing degrees in chemical engineering and international business at the University of Pennsylvania. He later earned a master’s in zoology from the University of Minnesota, where he worked with primatologist Jane Goodall. After relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area, he embraced writing full-time. Tim co-founded Sofawolf Press, where he edited several comic stories and graphic novels. His stories have appeared in Apex and Lightspeed, and he’s authored 40+ novels and several published comic stories.

The post How to Write a Comic Script appeared first on SFWA.

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The Bookseller Launches New Adult Book Prize

Locus News - Mon, 04/28/2025 - 14:01

The Bookseller has announced the launch of the New Adult Book Prize, an award to celebrate “one of the fastest growing areas of fiction publishing that is powered by one of the most enthusiastic cohort of readers”.

The award will accept any English language new adult fiction published in print in the UK or Ireland between March 1, 2024 and February 28, 2025. Submissions will open for five weeks starting ...Read More

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2025 Theakston Awards Longlist

Locus News - Mon, 04/28/2025 - 12:40

The 18-book longlist for the 2025 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year has been announced. Works and authors of genre interest include:

  • The Cracked Mirror, Chris Brookmyre (Sphere)
  • The Mercy Chair, M.W. Craven (Constable)
  • The Last Word, Elly Griffiths (Quercus)
  • The Kill List, Nadine Matheson (HQ)
  • Blood Like Mine, Stuart Neville (Simon & Schuster UK)
  • Deadly Animals, Marie Tierney (Henry Holt and
...Read More
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2025 Future Worlds Prize Shortlist

Locus News - Mon, 04/28/2025 - 12:04

The Future Worlds Prize for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers of Colour has announced its eight-title shortlist for short fiction:

  • “All Storms a Labyrinth”, Phoebe Yemi Ara
  • “Hantu”, Kat Bador
  • “Silted Hearts”, Jade Cuttle
  • “Blood in the Water”, Amber Houlders
  • “Dream Scion”, Thomas Gough
  • “Earth S.O.S.”, Harmony Knight
  • “The Princess of Small Things”, C. M. Leung
  • “Pit”, Ayanna Van Der Maten

The judges are Saara El-Arifi, Mahmud El Sayed, Rogba

...Read More
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2024 LA Times Book Prize Winners

Locus News - Mon, 04/28/2025 - 11:31

The Los Angeles Times has announced the winners of their 45th annual Book Prizes.

Works of genre interest include The Book of Love by Kelly Link (Random House) in the Science Fiction, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction category, The Puzzle Box by Danielle Trussoni (Random House) in the Mystery/Thriller category, Orwell’s Ghosts by Laura Beers (Norton) in the Biography category, and James by Percival Everett, narrated by Dominic Hoffman (Penguin Random ...Read More

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Kemi Ashing-Giwa Joins Locus Awards as Featured Local Author

Locus News - Fri, 04/25/2025 - 19:09

We are pleased to announce that award-winning and bestselling author Kemi Ashing-Giwa will be joining us as a Featured Local Author at the Locus Awards Weekend on June 21, 2025, in Oakland, California. Ashing-Giwa will join fellow local artist Stephanie Law and a lineup of amazing guests for an unforgettable celebration!

From her website: Kemi Ashing-Giwa is an author and scientist-in-training based in Palo Alto. Her work includes the USA ...Read More

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