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SCI FI - ARIZONA REPORT
AUGUST 1999

We offer this report as a public service for our regular visitors and for 
everyone who is interested in science fiction and writing.  You can now reach 
us by typing http://scifi-az.com , or the usual http://www.scifi-az.com .

1)  GIBRALTAR EARTH by Michael McCollum http://www.scifi-az.com/sfaz-04l.htm.

FIRST TIME IN PRINT ANYWHERE!

It is the 24th Century and humanity is just gaining a toehold out among the 
stars. Stellar Survey Starship Magellan is exploring the New Eden system when 
they encounter two alien spacecraft. When the encounter is over, the score is 
one human scout ship and one alien aggressor destroyed. In exploring the wreck 
of the second alien ship, spacers discover a survivor with a fantastic story.

The alien comes from a million-star Galactic Empire ruled over by a mysterious 
race known as the Broa. These overlords are the masters of this region of the 
galaxy and they allow no competitors. This news presents Earth's rulers with a 
problem. As yet, the Broa are ignorant of humanity's existence. Does the human 
race retreat to its one small world, quaking in fear that the Broa will 
eventually discover Earth? Or do they take a more aggressive approach?

Whatever they do, they must do it quickly! Time is running out for the human 
race...

2)  DRAGON THREE TWO NINER by Peter L. Manly http://www.scifi-az.com/manly .

Georgine the Dragon tolerated Humans, generally ignored Elves and stayed out 
of the way of trolls (wise policy for anybody -- even other trolls).  
Goergine's favorite person was Irulana, a lesser princess and a great pilot 
who led her dragon to interesting places and wonderful flights.  It might have 
been an ideal dragon's life except for some of the characters that Irulana got 
them mixed up with.

3) WRITER'S WORKSHOP http://www.scifi-az.com/sfaz-05.htm

The August articles are now in the Writer's Workshop.  

a) The Art of Writing Series: Writing a Novel
Having just finished my first new novel in seven years, I find it feels good 
to be back in harness again.  In the effort over the past few months to bring 
Gibraltar Earth online, I have been reminded of what is required to go from a 
fuzzy idea in your head to a book on the bookshelf.  Then there are the new 
options for writers that the INTERNET makes possible to consider.  With novels 
on the brain, it seemed a good time to review what it takes to write a novel.
7000 words
(80 Kb, 40 second download at 2 Kbytes/sec)

b) The Art of Science Fiction: This Month's Article:  The Einstein Barrier, 
Part II
A compendium of all the fictional methods science fiction writers have 
established over the years for getting around Einstein's barrier. You can 
write a story about starships that take a thousand years to get where they are 
going, and many people have. However, a thousand year journey in the middle of 
your story isn't generally a good idea. It tends to make the plot drag.
7000 word
(70 Kbytes - 35 seconds download 2 Kb/sec)

c)  BONUS SECTION: The Writer's Guide to the Human Body 
http://www.scifi-az.com/sfaz-05.htm
I find as I am writing that I have a tendency to make all of my heroines 
beautiful, buxom, and blonde. I have always wanted a tool to help me combat 
this tendency toward repetition in physical descriptions, but have never found 
anything close to what I needed. So, if you can't find it, you can always 
invent it. We have a 49-page specialized thesaurus dealing with the human 
body. It's a compendium of descriptive and action terms that can be applied to 
various appendages when you find yourself saying, "She smiled broadly." for 
the tenth time in a single chapter. 
d)  BONUS SECTION: The Sci Fi - Arizona Astrogator's Handbook. 
http://www.scifi-az.com/sfaz-05.htm
 The handbook looks at local space as it is viewed from outside. It includes 
3-D layered star maps that show every star within 125,000 cubic light years of 
space and their relationships to one another. This is a must for science 
fiction writers who want to make sure that they have their stars in the right 
place in the sky.
4) AUTHORS' SHOWCASE

The SF Authors' Showcase is a new feature at Sci Fi - Arizona.  It is a 
service that provides new and well established authors with the ability to 
sell their books directly to the public on the Internet.  If you are an author 
who has a book currently out of print, why not put your intellectual property 
to work for you? http://www.scifi-az.com/showcase.htm.

Our first two authors are now online in the Authors' Showcase, with more in 
preparation.  They are:

Peter L. Manly  DRAGON 329er    A hi-tech fantasy.
Steven W. Wise  CHAMBERS                A psychological thriller
Netani A. Nettrour      SOARING FREE    A classic fantasy of love and flying

Stop by and check out the future of self-publishing

5)  DON DIXON ART GALLERY http://www.scifi-az.com/gallery.htm 
ART GALLERY PICTURES UPGRADED!

Don Dixon's paintings of other worlds, both real and imagined, have made it 
possible for many people to experience the beauty of the universe.  His 
spacescapes have graced over 60 book covers, scores of magazines, and are in 
the collections of Ray Bradbury and Larry Niven.  This past month, Don has 
upgraded the prints in the Gallery.  His artwork now comes in exquisite IRIS 
prints that have a rich, glossy finish, high color fidelity, and are signed by 
the artist.  Two different sizes are available.

One of Don's paintings appeared on the cover of the November, 1997 "Scientific 
American," and two more graced the cover and frontispiece of a special Cosmos 
issue of the magazine in February, 1998.  Last week he uploaded new pictures 
to "Scientific American," and passed the time reading GIBRALTAR EARTH, for 
which he is doing the cover.  Keep a watch out for his new work, both at 
Scientific American and here at Sci Fi - Arizona. 

6) REAL BOOKS http://www.scifi-az.com/sfaz-10.htm

Our line of hard copy, trade paperback plus books and our hard cover books are 
becoming ever more popular.  If you prefer your science fiction in the form of 
ink and paper rather than glowing pixels on a screen, then we have just the 
thing for you! 

7) HARDBACK BOOKS http://www.scifi-az.com/sfaz-04h.htm

We have now added HARDBACK BOOKS to our repertoire.  Thunderstrike! is online 
in a library quality, hard cover edition that you would be proud to add to any 
bookshelf.  Go to the Thunderstrike Page

8) ART OF WRITING BOOKS http://www.scifi-az.com/sfaz-05f.htm

We now have two volumes in the Art of Writing.  Volume I is the first 16 
articles in the series.  Volume II is the second 12 articles.  If you came in 
late or otherwise missed some of the articles, here is your opportunity to get 
them all in one handy package!

9) ART OF SCIENCE FICTION BOOKS http://www.scifi-az.com/sfaz-05g.htm

We now have two volumes in the Art of Writing.  Volume I is the first 16 
articles in the series.  Volume II is the second 12 articles.  If you came in 
late or otherwise missed some of the articles, here is your opportunity to get 
them all in one handy package!

10) ARTICLES ARCHIVE http://www.scifi-az.com/archiv1a.htm

We now have all our articles online in the archive page.   If you are 
interested in any past article, you can obtain it for the low cost of $1.00 
through the I-Micros electronic payment system.  Please visit and observe what 
commerce is going to be like all over the Internet in the future!