Indie Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for August 28, 2014

Here is our weekly round-up of interesting links about indie speculative fiction from around the web:

Speculative fiction in general:

• Shaun Duke tackles the impossible and attempts to define science fiction. 
• Sarah Hannah Gómez wonders where all the people of colour are in dystopias, since dystopias tend to be overwhelmingly white. 
• Urban fantasy writer Kyoko M. posts an open letter to DC Comics and Warner Bros Studios to protest the overwhelming darkness and grimness of superhero movies based on DC Comics characters.

Writing and marketing:

• Heidi Garrett talks about retelling Hans Christian Andersen's fairytales "The Little Mermaid" and "The Dryad".  
• Urban fantasy writer Jeffrey Aaron Miller talks about the real life inspiration behind his novel Mary of the Aether.
• Science fiction writer S.A. Mulraney talks about his writing mentor, poet Stephen Dunn. 
• German writer Thomas Diehl talks about taking the eight hour fiction challenge.
• Paranormal romance author Linda Poitevin explains why fiction writers need to blog.  
• Thriller author Robert Bidinotto shares the best book marketing advice ever. 
• Robert Bidinotto also asks "What is a thriller?" 
• Paranormal romance writer Sherry Soule writes about her indie author journey.
• Fantasy writer C. Gockel writes about surviving as an indie author after missing the first indie e-book great wave. 
• Patty Jansen shares her Twitter tips for authors. 
• Fantasy writer Ruth Nestvold blogs about the pitfalls and challenges of setting up an author newsletter. 
• Erotica author Jessie Snow offers a list of distributors and retailers for indie books. Don't worry, the post is completely safe for work.
• Paranormal romance writer Stacy Claflin reveals the revamped covers of her Transformed series.
• Fantasy writer Joanne Hall posts an update about the kickstarter of the Bristol based small press Grimbold Books.
• Tor.com posts a great video with writing advice from Ray Bradbury.

Interviews:

• Lucas Bale interviews SF writer Harry Manners about his writing process. 
• Michael Brookes interviews fantasy author David Meredith.
• Judy Goodwin interviews fantasy writer Marytn Stanley.
• The Awesome Gang interviews paranormal romance writer Stella Wilkinson.
• The Black Cat Horror Blog interviews Geoff Jones, author of a kick-arse thriller about dinosaurs.

Movie and book reviews:

• SF writer Michael Patrick Hicks reviews the horror novellas Blackout as well as Deadlock, both by Tim Cullan.
• Michael Patrick Hicks also reviews the horror novella Dead Five's Pass by Colin F. Barnes.
• Horror writer Steve Vernon reviews Darren Aronofsky's film Noah and comes to the conclusion that it is a flaming pile of excrement. 
• Urban fantasy writer Kyoko M. offers a defence of Luc Besson's much criticised film Lucy. 
• Cora Buhlert shares her own and her mother's thoughts on Captain America: The Winter Soldier. 
• C.P.D. Harris reviews the game Divinity: Original Sin.

LonCon3 and Nine Worlds con reports:

• At Things Mean a Lot, Ana S. offers an extensive con report with summaries of several panels.
• At The 13th Colony, Bertha Chin takes on WorldCon through the lens of the diversity issues that are still endemic in the speculative fiction community and discusses the dangers of being pigeonholed.
• Ana Grilo and Thea James of The Book Smugglers recount their LonCon and Hugo Award experiences with lots of photos.
• John Chu talks about his experience winning the Hugo Award for the best short story.
• Ann Leckie, winner of the Hugo Award for best novel for Ancillary Justice, talks about her Hugo and LonCon experiences.
• Double Hugo winner (for best fanwriter and best related work) Kameron Hurley reposts her acceptance speeches on her blog (with bonus cute fuzzy llamas).
• Aidan Moher, whose blog A Dribble of Ink won the best fanzine Hugo, talks briefly about his Hugo and LonCon experiences.
• Not LonCon3, but Nick Bryan blogs about his experiences at Nine Worlds, a convention which took place in London Heathrow the weekend before LonCon3. 
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw compares her experiences as a younger fan at LonCon3 and Nine Worlds. 
• Bethan Jones also discusses the generation and fandom gap she experienced at LonCon3. 

Awards:

• The winners of the 2014 eFestival of Words have been announced.