Blurred Line

I realized today that Fusion Fragment has now been kicking around for almost two years. I've been reading stuff for Apodis even longer. Basically, that means that I've now been wearing the editor had for long enough to throw said hat into the ring and do one of those inevitable "Here's a list of stories I don't want, and if I get anymore of them I'm going to scream" lists. So, without further adieu, if these are in your story, you should probably look for a market other than FF:

An opening scene where a brilliant scientist is about to begin an experiment that will change/end the world (I get such a huge number of these, it's just plain frightening). You lose additional points if the scientist is working with another scientist who happens to be both female and hot. You lose additional points if the two scientists hook up at some point in the story (it always happens).
The first sentence of your story contains the rank and full name of your main character. For example, "Without regard for his own safety, Lieutenant David Johnson flung himself into the heat of battle". About 75% of military SF that I get starts this way.
Aliens invade Earth, resulting in hilarity. At what point did it become uncool to write an invasion story with a straight face? I'm pretty sure every single invasion story I've gotten has ended with a punch line. Let me lay this challenge down: send me an invasion story that's gritty and has a little bit of a kick to it. Don't make me laugh.
An alien race (or two alien races) become involved in a minor quarrel that result in Earth being destroyed, which of course results in hilarity.
A human lands on another planet and misinterprets all of their customs, resulting in hilarity.
A human lands on another planet and has sex with its inhabitants (often resulting in hilarity).
For that matter, an alien lands on Earth and has sex with its inhabitants (often resulting in hilarity).
The first paragraph of your story reads like the introduction to a Star Wars movie. A boring Star Wars movie.
The main character in your story discovers a way to give themselves superhuman powers (often the scientist from the first example) and then discovers that superhuman powers aren't so great. Destroys themselves/the world/the universe.
Your story, at some point, contains the crew of a spaceship having conversations that consist of nothing but launch/landing procedures. Additional loss of points if the crew contains a withdrawn guy and a tough but beautiful woman. Further loss of points if the tough but beautiful woman hooks up with another crew member.

If you're into this kind of stuff, stay tuned; on the weekend, I'm planning to mercilessly plagiarize this post from The Swivet.


Profile Editor. Writer. 9-5er. Lord of the Dance. Blurredline.com Apodis Publishing Fusion Fragment cterrill(at)blurredline.com Buy Goodbye, Darwin Amazon.com Amazon.ca Chapters.ca Barnes&Noble.com Read it free in PDF Format Buy Blurred Line Amazon.com Amazon.ca Chapters.ca Barnes&Noble.com Read it free in PDF Format The Short Stuff "Learning Magic From Mint" - published May 2007 in Atomjack "Between Eternities" - published October 2005 at Speculative.ca "Smoke and Mirrors" - published June 2005 in Byzarium Submissions Log Total Subs: 25 Acceptances: 3 Rejections: 17 Withdrawals: 3 Subs Out: 2 Quality Blogs Scalzi's Whatever Dave's Blogography Bookslut The Struggling Writer SF Signal the0phrastus Paperback Writer Scribe's Writing Desk Nathan Bransford Lyons Literary LLC The World in the Satin Bag Book In The Oven The Word Perhaps We Learned Something... Words, etc. Archives March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 Et Cetera Cavan @ Last.fm Cavan @ LibraryThing Feeds Atom Feed RSS Feed	Thursday, February 19, 2009 - If you write science fiction and are writing stories like those below consider this your personal punch to the groin I realized today that Fusion Fragment has now been kicking around for almost two years. I've been reading stuff for Apodis even longer. Basically, that means that I've now been wearing the editor had for long enough to throw said hat into the ring and do one of those inevitable "Here's a list of stories I don't want, and if I get anymore of them I'm going to scream" lists. So, without further adieu, if these are in your story, you should probably look for a market other than FF: An opening scene where a brilliant scientist is about to begin an experiment that will change/end the world (I get such a huge number of these, it's just plain frightening). You lose additional points if the scientist is working with another scientist who happens to be both female and hot. You lose additional points if the two scientists hook up at some point in the story (it always happens). The first sentence of your story contains the rank and full name of your main character. For example, "Without regard for his own safety, Lieutenant David Johnson flung himself into the heat of battle". About 75% of military SF that I get starts this way. Aliens invade Earth, resulting in hilarity. At what point did it become uncool to write an invasion story with a straight face? I'm pretty sure every single invasion story I've gotten has ended with a punch line. Let me lay this challenge down: send me an invasion story that's gritty and has a little bit of a kick to it. Don't make me laugh. An alien race (or two alien races) become involved in a minor quarrel that result in Earth being destroyed, which of course results in hilarity. A human lands on another planet and misinterprets all of their customs, resulting in hilarity. A human lands on another planet and has sex with its inhabitants (often resulting in hilarity). For that matter, an alien lands on Earth and has sex with its inhabitants (often resulting in hilarity). The first paragraph of your story reads like the introduction to a Star Wars movie. A boring Star Wars movie. The main character in your story discovers a way to give themselves superhuman powers (often the scientist from the first example) and then discovers that superhuman powers aren't so great. Destroys themselves/the world/the universe. Your story, at some point, contains the crew of a spaceship having conversations that consist of nothing but launch/landing procedures. Additional loss of points if the crew contains a withdrawn guy and a tough but beautiful woman. Further loss of points if the tough but beautiful woman hooks up with another crew member. If you're into this kind of stuff, stay tuned; on the weekend, I'm planning to mercilessly plagiarize this post from The Swivet. Cavan blogged at 7:43 PM \| 2 comments	Progress Zilch! 0/0 Listening A.J. Croce - "Maybe I'm Amazed" My Music Reading Bright Lights, Big City - Jay McInerney My Library Watching Black Book: B Sweet and Lowdown: C Breakfast on Pluto: B Wishlist Bridge of Sighs - Richard Russo Rachael Yamagata - Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart