Cifiscape – Updates

We are officially announcing today that we are now accepting submissions for Cifiscape Volume III: London. It will once again be published by Onyx Neon Press. This is an anthology of writing talent, to be set in London. After the success in the USA of two volumes on The Twin Cities, we want to see the imaginings of London. In a city with so much past, we want to explore the future. What is the future of London?

David Oppegaard answers some questions about his life as a published author, teacher, and podcaster.

Brian D. Garrity was kind enough to answer a few questions about his love of music, writing, film, and photography. He’s an interesting guy and it was a pleasure to get to know him a little better.

Thank you to everyone who came out to the book launch this past Saturday. The event was a massive success and everyone had an amazing time. You can find pictures from the event on our facebook page.

We have more news than just the thank you, though. Today is a special day because it marks the first time that we get to say this: Cifiscape is now available on your favorite ereader! Well, unless your favorite is the ipad, in which case you’ll have to wait a week, but Cifiscape Volume II: The Twin Cities is available for Kindle and Nook (which look suprisingly like the Personal Access Data Device from Star Trek).

Bob Lipski is a rare talent. His work is unique, original, and funny. Seriously, in his installment for Volume I of Cifiscape, Bob Lipski poked fun at the future and simultaneously shed light on our obsession with technology. When he told us he had something for for Volume II we were genuinely thrilled and excited to see what he had prepared for us.

Let’s just get straight to the point here. Cifiscape Vol. II: The Twin Cities is released. It’s out.

You can buy it on Amazon.com. It’s available on Barnes & Noble. Soon it will be available in local bookstores in Minneapolis. Seriously, follow the links, buy the book. It’s out now.

We’re ramping up for the release of Cifiscape Vol. II: The Twin Cities by releasing the synopses of all of the stories in the book.

Today we’re talking about Aaron M. Wilson’s Lethal Options. His story is an existential, original and epic tale of choices.

“For reasons unbeknownst, Daniel Seward struggles to find hope in three dystopian choices in which to straddle humanity’s future, but more importantly, the future of The Twin Cities. Rising from what must have been a lethal biking accident on Minneapolis’ Midtown Greenway, Seward stands between life and death, risking eternity in purgatory. He drifts from a Minneapolis that is free of automobiles to a St. Paul ripe with hillbilly cannibals to a Twin Cities parted by a great wall. All three choices present problems for humanity, but Seward must choose the one future that presents humanity with the most hope, the most opportunity for redemption.”

When I think about Science Fiction, I always think about that Ray Bradbury quote about Science Fiction being the literature of ideas. Jonathan Hansen is a man who embodies that idea. His story in Cifiscape Vol. II is something of a gem. Especially given the nature of what we’re trying to do, his story, Harris, sums up what this anthology is about: local authors, talking about the future of the Metropolis they live in.

Well, you’ll be happy to know that we did get it all done. Like, actually, Cifiscape Vol. II: The Twin Cities is finished and has been sent to the printer. It should be out next week. Seriously, it’s done. I know you can’t believe it, but the book is done and we’re just putting the finishing touches on the ebook which should be out at roughly the same time as the Paperback (it’ll be available through Amazon, Apple, and Barnes and Noble).

We know that it’s been a while since you’ve heard from us. We’re working on that post. Right now we’re starting the story synposes for Cifiscape Vol. II: The Twin Cities, which will be out sometime next week (fingers crossed). Our first Story Synopsis is: Harris by Jonathan Hansen

“Aliens came and wrecked the world. They pillaged, they looted, and then they left, gone back to the stars. Boone lives in the ruins, scavenging, trying to survive, but today the only thing she wants is to make it across downtown. She needs to make it home, past the gangs of twisted cannibals and the monstrous wreckage of the aliens’ war machines. She has to make it home. She doesn’t have a choice. Run, fight, or die… just another day in the windswept rubble of Minneapolis.”

The first time I read a story by Erica Lindquist was almost a year ago in the June 2011 issue of Efiction Magazine. It was a short story called Fireflies and I loved it. Seriously, it had been a while since I had something that the idea was the main focus. While I loved the characters, and thought the story was wonderful, it was the idea of it that struck me. It felt like I was reading something that Ray Bradbury could have included in The Martial Chronicles, seriously, it was that good. I began to communicate with Erica via Twitter, and when Kit and I decided it was time Volume II of Cifiscape, I immediately thought of trying to get Erica to be a part of it. Admittedly, Erica and Aron don’t reside in Minneapolis, and while that may stretch the bounds of our premise, I felt that the quality of the writing was enough that I had to try and get her in Vol. II. Well, long story long, she and Aron were happy to submit a story that they had previously published in their own collection of short stories called In Odder Words. We were happy to accept it into this Volume, and we’re even more excited about getting to share it with you soon.

I love getting to know new people, especially people who are fascinating. Dale has been involved with film, science fiction, and been interested in radio. He’s co-written multiple books on film making, has numerous book projects in the works, and seems to be constantly adding more and more projects to his diverse and vast list.

He’s a genuinely nice guy and a talented writer. We are proud to present the Author Spotlight of Dale Newton, author of a story in Cifiscape Vol. II.

Today we are starting a feature called “Author Spotlight.” This will be an ongoing interview series that will allow us to delve a little deeper into the lives of our authors. You’ll get to know them a little better, and so will we.

We wanted to start with someone who is both unique and talented. He has a pretty fascinating life, and it was really good to get to know him a little bit. Today we are starting with Aaron M. Wilson.

Today is an awesome day for us here at Cifiscape. We are announcing another story to our anthology that wasn’t going to be part of it until a matter of weeks ago. This contributor had a show in Minneapolis a few weeks ago, which we attended, and we loved it so much we asked him if he would be willing to share some of his work with us to put in the forthcoming Vol. II.

Ladies and gentlemen I would like to thank you for coming back regularly to keep up with the author announcements, it means a lot to us that you all have been interested in the news, and today we are happy to announcement the final author for Cifiscape Vol. II. Don’t worry, though this will not be the end of regular updates. We will begin releasing synopses of the stories to get you excited about the stories and we will begin the Author Spotlight feature soon as well, so, lots to look forward to.

PASA and Onyx Neon Press would like to cordially invite you to the first skills workshop of the spring semester: Making A Book

Humphrey Offices room 175, Friday January 27th, 3:00-4:30
Refreshments will be provided by PASA

Perhaps you want to publish your travel narrative, a master piece, or an organizational report. Regardless of your content, this workshop will walk you through the basics of publishing you or your communities writing, tricks for designing it, and allow you to turn your work into a professionally bound book available on amazon, and other on-line book sellers. Come here from Author Aaron Wilson and Editors of Onyx Neon about the process of getting writing into print.

If you read the previous volume of Cifiscape you’ll know that one of the most memorable stories was about a man who had a shit job, where he found a dead body at work (spoilers!), and you’ll also know that it was pitch perfect, and fabulously written.

The author we are announcing today is tremendously talented in both his creativity and his execution. His dry wit and attention to detail makes him stand out in a collection of talented writers such as we have. Today we are proud to announce that Max Hrabal will be joining Cifiscape again with a story in the upcoming Volume. His story is excellent and we cannot wait for you to read it.

The author we are announcing today is new to us here at Cifiscape. He was one of the last story submissions that we received and definitely stood out because of his unique perspective not only compared to our other authors, but also in general. His story definitely follows the original idea of looking for the optimism in the world, trying to find to the good in the strange. We loved what he had to say, and we would loved the way he had to say it.

We’re here again today to announce the third story for Cifiscape Vol. 2. Our author today is a talented and original lover of science fiction. He teaches science fiction at The Loft and is an amazingly gifted and original writer

Today we are proud to announce that David Oppegaard will have a story in the next Cifiscape. Keep up with him at https://www.davidoppegaard.com as well as on his Twitter

Look for our next announcement on Friday!

Hey everybody we just wanted to apologize for suddenly dropping off the face of the planet this past week. We were hard at work on the cover and book designer as well as getting author questions written when suddenly the computer of our designer (that’s me) blew up. So, we’re a little behind schedule, but over all everything is coming together. Hopefully we’ll have the cover and book finished by the end of January, so that we can get it to you no later than March (obviously we’d love to have it to you sooner).

Today’s Author announcement is a big deal because this author is remarkable, not only is his writing style unique and accessible, but he is also gifted with the most rare gifts when it comes to being a writer: creativity.

His ability to craft new and original worlds would be impressive if it wasn’t completely blown out of the water by his ability to make us believe in these worlds. We have been keeping up with his career since his involvement in the first volume of Cifiscape and we are happy to say that he has only grown as a writer over the past year.

It’s probably not what you’re thinking, but we are happy to announce that yet another author from the previous volume of Cifiscape will be making an appearance in Vol. II. This author, or rather this artist, gave Vol. I a little comic relief and challenged us by making us see that we don’t know what the future of the Twin Cities will hold, and by forcing us to look at our current use of technology in a humorous, yet poignant light.

Today we are announcing the second author who will be in Cifiscape Vol. 2. Well…actually, we’re announcing the second and third authors and we couldn’t be happier. These two authors are talented, seriously, seriously talented. I cannot say enough nice things about these two authors. Between the their raw imagination and their ability to convey their scenes we cannot wait to show you what they have in store for you.

We are a little less than an hour away from the biggest announcement we’ve made so far! We’re announcing an author who is familiar to this project. Who will it be?

Check back at 5 PM to find out.

We are announcing an author today who is a real treat for us. He was previsouly featured in Cifiscape Volume I and when we saw that he submitted a story for this volume we flipped our $&^#, seriously, we love this author. Some authors struggles with dialogue, some authors struggle with plot or character development, he struggles with neither. His gift is for the scene, though. If you recall his story from volume one it was a mere ten pages but you were able to see the scene in front of you, it was like watching photographs come to life, which makes sense considering his profession.

To everyone who has been following the progress made on Cifiscape Vol. 2 we’d like to thank you for your continued belief in this project.

Today we have the most joyous news we can possibly imagine: today we unveil our new website AND we’re announcing our first author for our next volume. Truly this is a good day for us here at Cifiscape.

There is more work to be done on the website, so don’t fret, it will continue to grow and get more and more interactive over the next month or so. For now we just want to have a landing pad for everything Cifiscape related. So take a moment, poke around and let us know what you think. (you can email us at cifiscape@onyxneon.com if you’d like to ask any questions).