SFR Shorts: Perfect When Paired with SFR Tshirts
AUTHOR: Jody Wallace

Is that monster of a novel you?re trying to write dragging you down? Need a break, a refresher and a little inspiration? If you can?t bring yourself to get out of the house or office and go for a brisk walk or get sidetracked by a great book, try employing your creativity on a smaller scope by writing some science fiction romance short stories instead. And if you do take an exercise or bookreading breather, when you sit back down at the terminal or in front of your trusty yellow legal pad, try writing a short story anyway!

Writing short fiction will exercise many different skills than writing the novel. Instead of stretching out over 300 leisurely pages, your story has to be fully encapsulated in 10,000 words. In fact, many markets require that your submission be under 7,000 or even 5,000 words to be considered for publication. That length, of course, leaves little time for shilly-shallying. It?s more difficult to convince readers in 5,000 words or less that your two main characters, often complete strangers at the beginning of your work, are going to live happily ever after. There is not a great deal of time to get to introduce personalities and histories, so every single word or incident is going to have to work doubly hard.

One way around the traditional girl-meets-boy scenario and the exposition it requires is to focus on different aspects of your characters? romantic relationships. Perhaps your short story portrays a new lover on a business trip in the Sexcapades star system encountering and defeating temptation. Perhaps your 40 something wife must find the best way to inform her dearly departed husband (whose ghost has decided to stick around awhile) that she is pregnant by him...or by her new boyfriend. Perhaps your older couple discovers that borrowing their neighbor?s timeshare in the outskirts of the Faerie realm for the weekend revitalizes their tepid sex life. It?s your story, but since it has to be less than 10,000 words, you might just be forced to dredge up new storytelling techniques. (Of course, if you just can?t shut up, you can turn it into a novella, but don?t let that fact prevent you from learning what the short story format can teach you.)

Linnea Sinclair, an LTD and SWP ebook author as well as a short story specialist (http://www.linneasinclair.com), describes short stories as ?intense experiences?. She points out that ?the writer doesn't have the luxury of novel length to explore characterization, to build setting, to set up tension.? She also feels that in science fiction and alternate reality short stories, authors are presented with a unique challenge. Not only do they have to describe their characters sufficiently but they have to ?present the unfamiliar quickly and understandably.? Three benefits Linnea suggests can be derived from writing short fiction are:

1) It tightens your writing, your characterization, and your focus.

2) You learn word choice. (She ranks word choice right up there with chocolate.)

3) From a promotional angle, SFR shorts can be tasty tidbits to entice a reader to buy your novel.

?But where,? you ask, ?would I ever get such a specialized format published?? Well, if there is a healthy market out there for science fiction haikus (see last month?s article), you can bet your harddrive there are locations to market your shorts. To begin with, there are an impressive number of fantasy, science fiction and horror magazines and e-zines (but be very careful to read their guidelines and preferences, for many are NOT fond of romance). Most of the Sapphire winners and nominees appeared in this type of publication as well as in the numerous anthologies currently available. There are also many venues for romantic erotica, although the anthologies tend to be more literate. Examples include the series at Red Sage Publications, Secrets http://www.redsagepub.com/home1.htm, the Alien Sex anthologies edited by Ellen Datlow http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0441004369/qid=976652882/sr=1-1/106-0768636-6442853 and the vampire series edited by Celia Tan http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1885865236/ref=sim_books/106-0768636-6442853.

One market designed especially and deliberately for authors of science fiction, fantasy and speculative romance is the magazine Romance and Beyond http://members.aol.com/rbeyond/romance.html edited by Mary Tarver. Just as many SFR authors enter the field because they can?t find enough books they like, Mary established her magazine three years ago to generate a steady source of the speculative romance shorts she loved to read. She had been vainly reading Asimov?s http://www.asimovs.com/, Fantasy & Science Fiction http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/ and Ellery Queen http://www.mysterypages.com/ in an attempt to satisfy her craving, but the content, while good quality, just didn?t have enough of a romantic element. Her reasoning behind the venture?

I believed that there were others out there who enjoyed writing and reading romance short stories which didn't quite fit into the existing markets. I also believed that everyone in the world needs love, whether that world is in the present, the future, the past, or in someone's imagination. So, I decided to create a market for all types of speculative romance -- paranormal, fantasy, time travel, futuristic, basically any sub-genre of "boy-meets-girl" as long as it has a happy ending.

Romance and Beyond accepts less than 5% of the submissions it receives. Stories, mostly from new and aspiring authors, are channeled through several readers before making it to Mary?s busy desk. One-third of the magazine?s authors are men, and about 15% live outside the United States. The magazine contains original artwork inspired by the various stories, author bios, and other goodies. The website features excerpts from each story, updates on authors from past issues, comments from readers and a place to sign up for a free newsletter.

Additionally, Romance and Beyond hosts an annual contest, now in its fourth year. The grand prize winner receives $100 and publication in the magazine, and entries are limited to the first 30 received in each of the three categories:

(1) Paranormal/Supernatural

(2 Science Fiction/Futuristic

(3) Fantasy/Fairy Tale

Authors can send an SASE for the rules and entry form or print them from the web site. The judges write detailed comments on the contest entries, whether or not they place, and use a scoring system developed and copyrighted by the magazine. ?We've received quite a lot of mail from our past contest entrants, expressing their appreciation for the feedback on their work, whether they won or not,? Mary said. ?We hope to make everyone feel that their $15 entry fee is a good investment in their writing career.? The contest is open until March 1, 2001.

This year, Linnea Sinclair came in first in the Science Fiction/Futuristic category with her short story MACAWLEY?S LIST and won the grand prize with GAMBIT, also a science fiction romance. She was floating on a cruise ship in the Caribbean at the time Mary initially tried to contact her about her dual wins and didn?t actually find out until a day or two after she returned. ?Both wins meant a tremendous amount to me,? she explained. ?I bought extra copies of the issue with GAMBIT and handed them out to all who stopped by my author's table at the Romantic Times Convention in Houston in November.?

If you are interested in purchasing subscription of Romance and Beyond as a present for yourself or a fellow SFR fan, the staff members will gladly wrap up the first issue and deliver it with a gift card. If you prefer a set of back issues, you should email Rbeyond@aol.com prior to placing your order to guarantee availability. The mailing address is: 3527 Ambassador Caffery #9; Lafayette, LA 70503-5130

A few ebook anthologies focusing on SFR short stories and novellas:

Three ?star? anthologies dated 1999: http://www.starpublications.com/imprints/anthologies/index.html

Twilight Visions, 1999: http://www.darkstarpublications.com/anthology.html#TTBV

Stardates: Infinite Celebrations, 1999: http://www.dreams-unlimited.com/futuristic/stardates.htm

Then and Later, 2000: http://www.bookmice.com/sciencefiction/then.htm

Millenium Magic, 2000: http://www.hardshell.com/Millenni.asp

A few print anthologies focusing on SFR short stories and novellas:

Lovescape, 1996

Irish Magic, 1996

Faery Magic, 1998

Moonglow, 1998

Charmed, 1999

Once Upon A Star, 1999

Once Upon A Dream, 1999

Bewitched, 1999

A Dangerous Magic, 1999

Enchanted Crossings, 2000

If you would like to recommend other SFR-friendly short story markets and anthologies to newsletter readers, please email me and we will post an addendum in next month?s edition. Happy reading, and definitely let us know if you get a short story published! As Linnea says, ?No amount of free bookmarks, note pads or keychains adorned with book covers can convince me to buy an author's novel. But one good short story will get me every time.?

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Note: All quotes were taken from personal interviews with Linnea Sinclair and Mary Tarver dated December 2000