Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for January 30, 2015

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

Speculative fiction in general:

• Andrew Liptak tackles the history of serialised fiction in science fiction and fantasy.
• At SF Signal, Corrina Lawson talks about reading Lois McMaster Bujold.
• Jaime Lee Moyer talks about the realities of being a woman who writes science fiction and fantasy.
• S.L. Huang talks about unlikable women protagonists in speculative fiction.
• At the Guardian, Damien Walter wonders whether science fiction is a 21st century religion.
• Steve Davidson wonders whether it's possible to "fix" the Hugo Awards and concludes that while it may be possible to buy a nomination with sufficient cash, it's next to impossible to buy a win.
• C.P.D. Harris talks about corruption and pollution in modern fantasy.
• Claire Ryan takes on the swordmaster trope in fantasy.
• Cora Buhlert presents the "Is my book a romance?" flowchart. 
• At The Atlantic, Ta-Nehisi Coates explains what the marriage of Peter Parker a.k.a. Spider-Man and Mary Jane means to him.
• At The Toast, Sulagna Misra points out that Captain America's rather progressive attitudes are actually historically accurate. 
• Emily Asher-Perrin attempts to explain why Obi Wan keeps lying to Luke Skywalker.
• Gene Bathurst offers a reappraisal of the original Planet of the Apes movies.
• Noel Murray revisits the Back to the Future series thirty years on. 
• At Psychology Today, Robin S. Rosenberg tackles the psychology of Wolverine. 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks discoverability on the Author Biz podcast.
• Jeff Somers talks about mixing genres. 
• Charley Daveler discusses why originality isn't everything and indeed may not even be as original as the author thinks. 
• At Terrible Minds, Myke Cole points out that there is nothing new under the sun.
• Elle Chambers talks about self-publishing short stories.
• F.W. Flouisa shares her condensed hero's journey, which is particularly suitable for short stories.
• Marina Finlayson introduces her character Garth. 
• Kali Amanda Browne talks about writing as therapy and vocation. 
• Nadine Matheson talks about the remainings vestiges of the anti-selfpublishing stigma.
• Steve Vernon discusses the cost of self-publishing.
• Dean Wesley Smith shares his top ten reasons why he would never publish traditionally again.

Interviews:

• Kyra Halland interviews J.R. Boles. 
• Justin Sloan interviews Claire Frank. 
• Sever Bronny interviews Chris Fox. 
• Noah K. Mullette-Gillman interviews Katrina Sisowath and Craig Hansen. 
• Nicky Peacock interviews Gigi Pandian.
• Liz Bourke interviews Jo Walton.
• Scott Edelman interviews Samuel R. Delany.

Reviews:

• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Afterburn by Tim Curran.
• Judy Goodwin reviews Gilded by Christina Farley.
• Elena Linville reviews Written in Red by Anne Bishop.
• Thomas Watson reviews The Wanderer by Fritz Leiber, winner of the 1965 Hugo Award for best novel.
• Keith Allison reviews L. Neil Smith's Lando Calrissian novels from the early 1980s. 
• Paul Levinson reviews episode 2.2 of Helix.

Crowdfunding:

• Toolbox, a graphic novel by Kyle Gnepper and Kristen Gudsnuk, is looking for backers.
• Season 2 of Spectral Transmissions, an anthology series of short films created by faculty and students of SUNY Oswego Cinema and Screen Studies department, is looking for funding. 
• Writer and US veteran Michael Buckley is stuck in the Philippines and needs help to get back to the US. 

Con reports:

• Uncanny Magazine hosts a roundtable on how to improve Worldcon.
• Andrea Johnson reports on ConFusion in Dearborn, Michigan.
• Bakersfield Now reports on the Bak Anime convention in Bakersfield, California. 

Science and technology:

• NASA is planning to use autonomous helicopter drones to further explore Mars.
• Cady Vance discusses the Jupiter moon Europa. 
• Kristen V. Braun attempts to explain why artificial intelligence always seems so far away.
• Jeanne Carstensen explains why the singularity is greatly exaggerated. 
• At io9, George Dvorsky explains how to create a virtual body for an uploaded mind.
• Check out this new wind power generator which looks like a tree sculpture.  
• Take a look inside the Airbus A300-600ST Beluga, the massive cargo plane which transports airplane parts (and occasionally satellites, rocket parts and other spacecraft) between the various Airbus factories. 
• Watch Lars Andersen's amazing feats of archery, based on historical models.

Free online fiction:

• Part 1 of Phoenix with a Purpose by Joyce Chng.
• "The Lonely Heart" by Aliette de Bodard in Lightspeed.
• "Dead Man's Hand" by Christie Yant.
• "The Fox" by Malinda Lo. 
• "Damascus Interrupted" by Lou Antonelli. 
• "Changeling" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. 
• "Covenant" by Elizabeth Bear in Slate.
• "Scarecrow" by Alyssa Wong at Tor.com.
• "The Sound of Useless Wings" by Cecil Castellucci at Tor.com.  
• Chapter 6 of The Dragon of Ankoll Keep by K.S. Augustin.
• "Sexting the Enemy", part 36 of Musketeer Space by Tansy Rayner Roberts.
• Chapter 4 of "Avalon Rises", part 83 of The Descendants by Landon Porter.

Odds and ends: 

• Dressing up as Captain America to fight stereotypes and prejudice.
• Someone has covered up islamophobic ads on busses in San Francisco with images of superheroine Kamala Khan a.k.a. Ms. Marvel (who just happens to be Muslim) speaking out against racism. 
• Watch a trailer for upcoming episodes of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Watch a trailer for the upcoming Fantastic Four movie. 
• Watch a trailer for Jupiter Ascending.
• Watch a trailer for the new TV series The Returned. 
• Watch a trailer for the movie The Lazarus Effect.