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Ken Schneyer

@kenschneyer.bsky.social

99 followers 198 following 48 posts

Nebula-nominated writer of science fiction & fantasy, humanities professor, lawyer, amateur astronomer & genealogist, humanistic Jew. Born in Michigan but living in Rhode Island. Interested in nearly everything. kenschneyer.com

Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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My schedule for Readercon:
kenschneyer.com/2024/07/02/m...

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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Just added 750 words to a partial draft I last looked at 16 years ago. My process is so weird. Oh, and it was previously a fantasy story and seems to be turning into a horror story.

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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I’ve only ever read Maria’s translation. It rocks.

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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The Apollo One fire is the first news bulletin I remember hearing. I was with a babysitter.

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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Yup, I've been seeing that sh*t for a few months now.

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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This is to emphasize what specific events I was not (and, indeed, could not be) thinking about when I wrote it. I never tell readers how they ought to interpret one of my stories, and I'm not doing that here. But there's a particularly nauseating kind of literary opportunism that I wish to disclaim.

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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I wrote the first draft of "Tamaza's Future and Mine", which will appear in @asimovssfmag.bsky.social in the next week or so (Jul/Aug issue), between May 31 and June 3 of 2023, and it was submitted to Asimov's on September 10. I have made no significant changes to it since it was submitted.

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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Some writers are performing work, i.e., labor, and that can be possible for an independent contractor. But a novelist or short-story writer who sells rights to a magazine or book publisher is an owner conveying property, not a worker.

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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I’ve never seen one. Mine just ask me to warrant that they’re not defamatory or infringements.

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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My love to you all. I’m thinking of you.

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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Durn it, I knew I should have shorted it when it was first offered. ...But then again, that would be a (somewhat) sophisticated investor making money off the guilelessness of hicks, which is exactly what they accuse us of, isn't it? Probably better I didn't.

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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Durn it, I knew I should have shorted it when it was first offered. But then again, that would be a (somewhat) sophisticated investor making money off the guilelessness of hicks, which is exactly what they accuse us of, isn't it. Probably better I didn't.

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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From a recent student e-mail: "As a quick sidebar, I feel like it was incredibly foolish to assign a paper like this when every single class is having a final or some kind of test. It's just very stressful to have to juggle all these plates at once." *sigh* It's that part of the term.

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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The case itself was never going to sustain any harm from this. But the delay May wind up being fatal for all of us.

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Wesley Osam's avatar Wesley Osam @mwosam.bsky.social
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Our culture has real trouble grasping that we can't bring back what it felt like to see The Prisoner/Ghostbusters/Star Wars the first time by doing them again, because the thing that made them compelling is that they were different. We can only feel that feeling again by making more new things.

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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These strategies remind me of the passive noncompliance against the Nazis that Hannah Arendt describes in “Eichmann in Jerusalem.”

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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This was hideous. You all deserved better. We have to make sure that nothing like this happens again.

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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I’ve reached a point where I *have* to tell myself, “This is just for me, I don’t care if anyone else likes it,” or I can’t write a word.

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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Stupendous work, Jason. I’m in shock.

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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I mean, I *hope* you’d be a fan of your own work; shouldn’t we be writing things we like ourselves?

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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I'll be participating in the Rhode Island Author Expo this coming Saturday. Along with a whole mess of other RI writers, I'll be talking to readers, hawking books, and generally having a good time. Maybe I'll see you there!

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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This year folks said it was the best they’d ever tasted, so I think I’m improving.

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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This is my first sale to Asimov's, which has long been an ambition (nay, a dream) of mine. I'm not ashamed to admit that this story was my 34th submission to that magazine over a period of more than 15 years. I mention this to remind you all, yet again, of the importance of persistence.

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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I have signed and returned the contract, so I am delighted (and still a little shocked) to report that Sheila Williams bought my story "Tamaza's Future and Mine" for @asimovssfmag.bsky.social.

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Nicola Griffith's avatar Nicola Griffith @nicolaz.bsky.social
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FFS people, I can't believe I have to keep re-upping this. Do NOT use 'lame' as a derogatory term. Words matter. Insults like gay and lame can kill. If you’re not gay or lame, you might not see the grinding damage that’s occurring below the waterline to those who are. ♿️ Allies: repost please.

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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So your distinction is between effective use of language and technically correct use of language? ‘Cause you don’t get either convincing character development or suspense without effective use of language.

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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“Rebecca was amused by how many little girls she’d met named Tiffany this year. You never knew what new fashion the aristocracy were going to latch onto, did you?”

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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*shrug* Isn’t the Tiffany Problem just the under-informed assuming their knowledge is greater than it is? Could a blended sentence or two can clue them in?

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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I’m not sure I understand the distinction. What is the “story” apart from the language used to tell it? Just a plot outline?

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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I only read it for the first time this year, and had a blast.

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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Also, tie-ins & fanfic allow for a terrific economy of language, because you can depend on your reader sharing a ton of antecedents with you. That’s a lot of fun.

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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Vagueposting happily! I’ll say more when I can, but for now, I just want to remind everyone that persistence matters.

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Ken Schneyer's avatar Ken Schneyer @kenschneyer.bsky.social
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My body contains the blueprints for a temple, inexplicably used to construct a drive-in movie theater and a fast-food restaurant.

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