Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for March 6, 2015

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

Speculative fiction in general:

• At Nerds of a Feather, Ian Sales, Aliette de Bodard and Paul Kincaid attempt to define science fiction.
• Some folks have used George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire as the basis for a business manual.
• Neil Gaiman remembers Douglas Adams.
• Jason Sanford remembers the late Eugie Foster and her stories.
• At Uncanny Magazine, Jim C. Hines points out that politics have always been a part of science fiction, because all fiction is political. 
• Martin Wisse remembers various women writing science fiction in the 1970s and beyond who are now largely forgotten.  
• Brenda Cooper talks about women, diversity and science fiction. 
• Mercedes M. Yardley reponds to some unkind remarks about the appearance of female horror writers and points out that things like this are why we need a Women in Horror month. 
• Lucy Baker discusses the depiction of birth in Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan saga.
• At NPR, Alaya Dawn Johnson talks about the challenges facing black science fiction writers. 
• Lauren Natale shares 6 SFF novels with protagonists of colour that aren't by Octavia Butler.
• S.L. Huang wonders why so few speculative fiction protagonists seem to belong to more than one marginalised group. 
• At Strange Horizons, Renay discusses the challenges of putting together a non-fiction anthology. 
• At Amazing Stories, R.K. Troughton talks about great villains.
• The AV Club discusses the curious hybrid subgenre of science fantasy.
• At the Guardian, Kazuo Ishiguro explains why he has turned to Arthurian fantasy. 
• Neil Gaiman reviews the book in question The Buried Giant for the New York Times.
• At the Book View Café, Ursula K. LeGuin comments on Kazuo Ishiguro's turn to Arthurian fantasy.
• At Tor.com, Leah Schnelbach ranks 1980s fantasy movies.
• At Vice, Oscar Raymundo remembers the 1980s Mexican speculative TV show La Hora Marcada, which launched the careers of Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuarón and many other Mexican filmmakers.
• Den of Geek wonders why Christopher Nolan continues to be snubbed at the Oscars.
• Playboy takes a look back at the first season of Agent Carter.
• The Daily Dot insists that Agent Carter deserves a second season.
• At BoingBoing, Lisa Granshaw introduces Marvel's Inhumans.
• Selina Kyle a.k.a. Catwoman has officially come out as bisexual.

Tributes to Leonard Nimoy:

• The New York Times has an obituary for Leonard Nimoy. 
• At the Guardian, Jordan Hoffman remembers what Mr. Spock meant to him. 
• At City Lab, Kriston Capps explains why we still need to learn from Spock's utopianism.
• The Washington Post discusses the Jewish roots of Leonard Nimoy and the Vulcan salute.
• Today shares the reactions of various scientists, actors and writers to Leonard Nimoy's death.
• Strange Horizons has a round-up of tributes to Leonard Nimoy.
• CBC News points out that Leonard Nimoy's legacy reaches far beyond science fiction.
• At the Independent, Matthew James points out that Spock shows him that it was okay to be the weird kid. 
• At Tor.com, Emily Asher-Perrin explains what Spock meant to the geeky 12-year-old girl she was.
• At NPR, Eric Deggans discusses how Leonard Nimoy's Mr. Spock taught the world that acceptance is highly logical.
• At CNet, Bonnie Burton explains how Leonard Nimoy helped her prosper.
• At BlackGate, Thomas Parker shares how Leonard Nimoy's Mr. Spock saved his life.
• Rosemary Kirstein remembers that she was always Spock when planing Star Trek as a child.
• At nerds of a feather, Vance K. points out that for him, Leonard Nimoy was Star Trek.
• At The AV Club, Caroline Siede points out that Leonard Nimoy was Star Trek's greatest ambassador.
• Kali Amanda Browne shares her appreciation for Mr. Spock and Leonard Nimoy.
• Jeffrey M. Carver explains what Spock meant to him.
• Paul Levinson remembers Leonard Nimoy and reviews the latest episode of Vikings.
• At Topless Robot, Rob Brickens shares the 10 awesomest things Leonard Nimoy has done that have nothing to do with Star Trek.
  

Awards:

• The finalists for the 2015 Aurealis Awards have been announced.
• The finalists for the 27th annual Lambda Literary Awards have been announced.
• The nominations for the 41st annual Saturn Awards have been announced.
• SFWA has named Larry Niven the 2014 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Becca Mills discusses her experience with a fraudulent DCMA takedown notice. 
• David Gaughran shares Barnes & Noble's dirty little secret, namely the fact that they have partnered with the notorious Author Solutions.
• Michael J. Martinez takes on the myth of the starving, tortured writer.
• Debra Purdy Kong shares five things writers should shed. 
• Jamie Todd Rubin shares five things he wishes he could tell his 20-year-old self.
• Chuck Wendig discusses the importance of having your own space to write. 
• At the Book View Café, Sherwood Smith discusses bricolage and how to make fictional worlds feel lived in. 
• At Tor.com, Kate Elliott has a great article about writing women characters as human beings.
• Elena Linville explains why all good characters should have scars.
• Cora Buhlert introduces her character Richard Blakemore. 
• J.L. Williams interviews his character Slatnichor. 
• Kameron Hurley talks about effective book titles.
• Owen Adams shares five tips for writing a first draft.
• Guido Henkel shares three indie author mistakes that could cost you dearly. 
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about get-by writers.
• Stuart J. Whitmore shares six facts about ISBNs for self-publishers.
• Kali Amanda Browne talks about managing a book Facebook page.
  

Interviews:

• Ethan Jones interviews Heather Ray Bax. 
• Michael Brookes interviews R.L. Henry.
• The Writers Emporium interviews D.M. Cain.
• Ginger Nuts of Horror interview Ian Jarvis.
• Lytherus interviews Aric Carter.
• My Bookish Ways interviews Leanna Renee Hieber.
• Dead End Follies interviews Vincenzo Bilof.
• Scott Edelman interviewed Thomas M. Disch (in 1984).

Reviews:

• Jared Shurin reviews The Bloodbound by Erin Lindsey. 
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Extinction Edge by Nicholas Sansbury Smith.
• Tommy Muncie reviews Convergence by Michael Patrick Hicks.
• A.K. Hinchy reviews the anthology No Way Home, edited by Alex Roddie and Lucas Bale. 
• David Wailing also reviews No Way Home.
• Judy Goodwin reviews Fallen Down World by K.E. Douglas.
• Pauline M. Ross reviews Forging Divinity by Andrew Rowe.

Crowdfunding:

• T.A. Pratt is looking for funding for Queen of Nothing, a new novel in his Marla Mason series.
• Matthew Gronke is looking for backers for his cyberpunk novel Quantum Mann. 
• Genius Loci, an anthology of short fiction about spirits of a certain place edited by Jaym Gates, is looking for backers. 
• Littlest Lovecraft: The Shadow over Innsmouth, an illustrated and rhyming adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's eponymous story, is looking for funding.
• Comic artist Ben Templesmith is looking for backers for his graphic novel version of H.P. Lovecraft's Dagon.
  
• Unstuck in Time, a documentary film about the life of Kurt Vonnegut by Robert Weide, is looking for backers.
• Mosaic Stock, a stock photo company focussed on providing stock with diverse models for writers who have problems finding suitable stock photos, is looking for funding.
  

Con reports:

• Walter Jon Williams shares his experiences at Boskone in Boston.
• Rosemary Kirstein also shares her report on the snowbound Boskone convention.

Science and technology:

• Wired explains the science behind the dress whose colour had the Internet divided.
• Lockheed Martin has tested a prototype laser weapon.
• A galactic "missing link" which sheds light on early galaxy formation has been found. 

Free online fiction:

• "A Death" by Stephen King in The New Yorker. 
• "The Wizard Did It" by A. Lee Martinez. 
• "Voyeuristic Tendencies" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. 
• "Driving the Arquebus", chapter 41 of Musketeer Space by Tansy Rayner Roberts.
• Chapter 4 of "Darkness Falling", part 84 of The Descendants by Landon Porter.  

Odds and ends: 

• Watch the new trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron.
• Take a look at this cool Godzilla themed hotel in Japan.
• And here is a Batman themed hotel room in Taiwan.
• These Star Trek cookies are almost too cute to eat.
• Draw your own Nebula (no, not the award) online.