New Fantasy Anthology (aka the DISTAFF women again...)

The Judge

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As most people on Chrons know, last year some of us brought out an all-women SF anthology called DISTAFF. Well, some bright spark thinks we did so well with it, we ought to have another go! And since many of us are on some kind of lockdown thanks to Covid-19, planning and writing a story might perhaps help pass the time and give us some respite from the worry we're undoubtedly all feeling.

We've been discussing this in Writing Group, but that's only accessible to members with over 100 counted posts. We want to make sure that everyone knows about it, though, since the anthology is open to all female-identifying Chronners, hence this thread.

Here's where we are at present:
  • The genre this time is fantasy, but we're defining that widely and we'd encourage anyone who prefers to write SF to have a go -- for instance, why not try using the hook of magic realism to blend science with magic?
  • The author must be a female-identifying member of the SFFChronicles forum
  • The working title for the anthology is Femmes Fae-Tales and while we won't restrict the anthology to stories about the Fae, it would be good to justify the title if we had at least a few tales in which they appear!
  • Word count is 3k - 15k and these limits are hard. Anything below 3k will automatically be rejected; anything above 15k will automatically be rejected
  • No franchise material will be accepted -- as Juliana put it: "Play in your own sandbox!"
  • Your story must be family friendly
  • The main character(s) in your story must be female -- there can be males in the story, but they must play secondary roles
  • If at all possible, we'd like each story to pass the Bechdel test and preferably within the first few pages -- that is, two female characters talking to each other about something other than a male
  • We want all the stories to be ready by 30th June 2020 (unless as a group we decide to extend the deadline) -- this will allow us time to peer edit/critique before we get into more formal editing later this year/early next
  • We'll start a conversation thread for sharing the finished stories and discussing anthology issues once participants are confirmed
  • This is a collaborative project; everyone will be expected to chip in with help in some way. We have a list of the most crucial tasks, some of which have not yet been filled. If you were not part of DISTAFF, let us know how you feel you can help.

Here's the website Juliana created for the DISTAFF anthology, in case anyone wants to have a look. She'll be revamping the website entirely at some point so it's about SFF Sisters as a continuing project instead of just one book. (Because some of us are already thinking of the third anthology in two years' time -- Distaff: The Reweave!). Distaff

If you're interested, and not yet signed up to us on the Writing Group thread, let us know. And if you have signed up but you have questions/comments, let us know, too.

Welcome aboard!
 
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Magic is science unexplained :sneaky:

@Serendipity it sounds like a great chance to have your FANTASY character take the magic they learn and pick it apart,
initiating the scientific revolution. Naturally, the guy mages will not be pleased... 'science equals witchcraft!' Just sayin' ;)

As a smut commonsewer, I have to say my fantasy ideas are a bit different. But I digress...

K2
 
To have my making a list fix, we (from the Writing Group thread) already have 10 authors interested in possibly subbing...
  1. Juliana Spink Mills
  2. Kerry Buchanan
  3. The Judge
  4. Jo Zebedee
  5. Nixie
  6. millymollymo
  7. Abernovo
  8. crystal haven
  9. Teresa Edgerton
  10. Mouse
Ah well, back to quantum physics for me...
Hi, could you add me as a possible. Though my writing has totally failed since we moved.
 
PM me with the problem, nixie, and I'll see if I can help. If we can't brainstorm it between us, we can open a thread in WG for it.
 
Quantum magic? The physics of fireballs? Aerodynamics (could dragons really fly)? Light-bending in crystal balls?

Um... let me see - did quantum magic in the noughties, physics of fireballs in nineties, light-bending crystal balls in the seventies... does this sound to arrogant?

Welcome on board Susan... the list now stands as

  1. Juliana Spink Mills
  2. Kerry Buchanan
  3. The Judge
  4. Jo Zebedee
  5. Nixie
  6. millymollymo
  7. Abernovo
  8. crystal haven
  9. Teresa Edgerton
  10. Mouse
  11. Susan Boulton
 
Just in case:

The Bechdel test also known as the Bechdel–Wallace test, is a measure of the representation of women in fiction. It asks whether a work features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. The requirement that the two women must be named is sometimes added.

So romance is doable but seriously these lasses need to have concerned that go further than which bloke they're marrying.
 
The Bechdel test also known as the Bechdel–Wallace test, is a measure of the representation of women in fiction. It asks whether a work features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. The requirement that the two women must be named is sometimes added.

For those who have a story with pared-down characters, like mine (which is for the most part just my MC, or my MC and the genderless-but-identifying-as-male fae creature she meets), we could perhaps also make exceptions for stories that meet the Mako Mori test?

Named for the Pacific Rim character, this one stipulates: "The requirements of the Mako Mori test are that a film or television show has at least one female character and that this character has an independent plot arc and that the character or her arc does not simply exist to support a male character's plot arc."
 
Just to confirm, I never envisaged that meeting the Bechdel test would be compulsory, since someone might have a brilliant story with only one person in it! But since it would help with marketing, for those of us still at early stages of scribbling/writing, if we can possibly meet the test and in a meaningful way, it would be good. And the more we have meeting it, the better!

I'd not heard of the Mako Mori test, but if we're going with a requirement that the main character is female, and that any male characters are secondary, I'd guess that not would we all meet the test, we'd all actually exceed it -- yay for us! With MM the female character may simply be in a supporting role to the main lead, whereas we won't be accepting that. But yes, good point -- we should all make sure our female MCs have plot and character arcs that are independent and not simply supporting a secondary male's arc.
 
For those who have a story with pared-down characters, like mine (which is for the most part just my MC, or my MC and the genderless-but-identifying-as-male fae creature she meets), we could perhaps also make exceptions for stories that meet the Mako Mori test?

Named for the Pacific Rim character, this one stipulates: "The requirements of the Mako Mori test are that a film or television show has at least one female character and that this character has an independent plot arc and that the character or her arc does not simply exist to support a male character's plot arc."

I like this much better. The Bechdel often feels forced for me, for any character mix.
 

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