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How you write can influence what you write. How often you write equates with how much content you create. With laptops, tablets, and mobile phones, you’re no longer constrained by where you write. If you’re just using online social media to send direct messages and communicate ideas, why not take it to the next level and get published?

Join Alan Vincent Michaels and the R-SPEC Team during our September 7 meeting to learn about his efforts over the last several years to write successful speculative microfiction and poetry, have it promoted and sold online, and published in ebooks and printed formats.

Attendees are welcome to share their writing experiences using social media, including any fears or concerns, and how using their favorite social media platform has helped them to develop their writing craft and creative output.

Presenter: Alan Vincent Michaels

Location: Zoom (Please join us about 10 minutes before the regular 7 p.m. start time to ensure you're connected.)

Meeting Time: September 7, 2021 from 7-9 p.m. ET

Note: R-SPEC presentations on topics of interest meetings may be recorded, and a link to the recording posted on our website.

The traditional genre markets for speculative fiction novels, stories, and poetry remain a thriving part of the publishing world. With the advent of Apple, Google, Amazon, and others, ebook and print-on-demand services help you bring your work directly to readers across the world. These services have proven you don’t always need a publisher, if you’re willing to take more control of your written product.

Join Sarah Waites during our R-SPEC meeting on July 6 to learn more about her real-world publishing experiences and how you can use self-publishing and self-promoting tools to support your SF, fantasy, and horror writing. Cover art, book formatting, and basic book marketing give you more control over the design and release of your writing. We look forward to your questions and any experiences you wish to share about self-publishing your work.

Sarah Waites (she/her/hers) is the designer behind The Illustrated Page blog and The Illustrated Page Book Design service. She got her start in the traditional NYC publishing scene and holds a certificate in publishing from Columbia University. Then, she switched her skills and energy to helping indie authors succeed. Sarah is happy to work with both new and experienced authors alike. She works primarily with fantasy book covers of all subgenres, as well as historical romance. She specializes in female-led and LGBTQ book covers, and she loves artwork with a diverse array of protagonists.

Moderator: Alan Vincent Michaels

Location: Zoom (Please join us about 10 minutes before the regular 7 p.m. start time to ensure you're connected.)

Meeting Time: July 6, 2021 from 7-9 p.m. ET

Note: R-SPEC presentations on topics of interest meetings may be recorded, and a link to the recording posted on our website.

On June 1, attendees will reveal their very short story or long poem with fewer than 1,000 words, based on the prompts selected during the May R-SPEC meeting.

Moderator: Alan Vincent Michaels

Location: Zoom (Please join us about 10 minutes before the regular 7 p.m. start time to ensure you're connected.)

Meeting Time: June 1, 2021 from 7-9 p.m. ET

Note: R-SPEC presentations on topics of interest meetings may be recorded, and a link to the recording posted on our website.

On May 4, attendees are invited to challenge themselves to write a “very short story” or long poem with fewer than 500 words. This can be exciting and, perhaps, a bit daunting. During the workshop, we’ll explore the answers to these burning questions and many more: What is flash fiction and microfiction? How do I start? What about character and plot development? What do I leave in? And what must I leave out?

As a group, we’ll decide whether we write collaboratively, solo, or a combination of approaches. We’ll also pick a set of writing prompts (words, phrases, descriptions) and then create works that incorporate those items.

It will be interesting to see how many different ways there are to write about the same topics, proving that old and new ideas are just grist for the mill. What you create will be fresh and original.

Moderator: Alan Vincent Michaels

Location: Zoom (Please join us about 10 minutes before the regular 7 p.m. start time to ensure you're connected.)

Meeting Time: May 4, 2021 from 7-9 p.m. ET

Note: R-SPEC presentations on topics of interest meetings may be recorded, and a link to the recording posted on our website.

Nebula and Hugo Award-winning author Nancy Kress once wrote: “Endings carry tremendous weight with readers; if they don’t like the ending, chances are they’ll say they didn’t like the work.”

Yet writing a truly satisfying ending can be quite challenging. What makes some endings work and other fail spectacularly? And what are some of the best practices to get them right?

At our September 4 meeting, we’ll talk about good and bad story endings, with a bit of ugliness along the way. If you have a favorite or hated ending, bring it (or both) and we’ll discuss why the ending did or didn’t work. Then, we’ll put some best-practice techniques and your creative ideas to work in a writing exercise that puts the ending in your hands.

Moderator: Alan Vincent Michaels
Location: Barnes & Noble, Pittsford
Meeting Time: September 4, 2018 from 6:45-8:45 p.m.

Attendees are invited to read from their current or in-progress works or to share their writing roadblocks. (An older or sold story or poem is also welcome, especially if you'd like feedback on it.) Please bring a short piece or a portion of a longer work – fewer than 1,000 words, if you can, but no more than 2,000 words, if you can't break the scene – so everyone has sufficient reading time and attendees have time to provide their feedback.

Please try to arrive before 7 p.m. to put your name on the reading list.

After the readings conclude and time permits, we'll go around and share with the group what we're currently reading.

Moderator:Alan Vincent Michaels
Location: Barnes & Noble, Pittsford
Meeting Time: June 5, 2018 from 7-9 p.m.

Infodumps plague writers and readers. Click the title to commiserate.

Will spec-fic fans dump facebook for Shatner's new site? Click the title for more.

Yup. Jetpacks. Not cheap, but available and lasting much, much longer than the 26 sec. of previous attempts. Click the title for more.