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SFWA adds Comics and Poetry Nebula Awards for 2025.

Great news for writers, especially those of us who write in the comics or poetry medium. SFWA, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association announced today that it will be adding Nebula Award categories for works published in 2025. The new awards will be given as part of the 2026 ceremony. Each year, the awards honor work published the previous years.

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/11/22/sfwa-adds-comics-and-poetry-nebula-awards-for-2025/

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SFWA adds Comics and Poetry Nebula Awards for 2025.

Great news for writers, especially those of us who write in the comics or poetry medium. SFWA, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association announced today that it will be adding Nebula Award categories for works published in 2025. The new awards will be given as part of the 2026 ceremony. Each year, the awards honor work published the previous years.

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/11/22/sfwa-adds-comics-and-poetry-nebula-awards-for-2025/

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A Prewriting Exercise for Characterization in the Fantasy Genre from Sarah Hawley

As I wrote about last week, one of the main reason I attend New York Comic Con is for the professional track craft writing panels. Unfortunately, this year, there were fewer craft panels than there were at any previous NYCC which I've attended. There were still a couple of useful craft panels, however, and one of the best ones focused on characterization.

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/11/15/a-prewriting-exercise-for-characterization-in-the-fantasy-genre-from-sarah-hawley/

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A Prewriting Exercise for Characterization in the Fantasy Genre from Sarah Hawley

As I wrote about last week, one of the main reason I attend New York Comic Con is for the professional track craft writing panels. Unfortunately, this year, there were fewer craft panels than there were at any previous NYCC which I've attended. There were still a couple of useful craft panels, however, and one of the best ones focused on characterization.

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/11/15/a-prewriting-exercise-for-characterization-in-the-fantasy-genre-from-sarah-hawley/

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Writers on Writing, NYCC 2024 Edition

One of the main reasons I go to New York Comic Con each year is to attend the professional track craft panels. Traditionally, there are many panels on the craft and business of writing, both in the comics and prose genre writing categories, and one used to be able to spend entire days of the con in panel rooms getting writing advice from some of the top writers in the field.

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/11/07/writers-on-writing-nycc-2024-edition/

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Writers on Writing, NYCC 2024 Edition

One of the main reasons I go to New York Comic Con each year is to attend the professional track craft panels. Traditionally, there are many panels on the craft and business of writing, both in the comics and prose genre writing categories, and one used to be able to spend entire days of the con in panel rooms getting writing advice from some of the top writers in the field.

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/11/07/writers-on-writing-nycc-2024-edition/

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Rules, What Rules: Chapter Length

Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, regarded by many as the greatest novel ever written, does not follow this rule. Most of the chapters=are very short, ranging from less than 2 to more no more than 6 pages in the Pevear ad Volokhonsky translation. The book isn't slim either. It makes sense that a short book, like Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle would have shorter chapters than the norm, but Anna Karenina is over 800 pages in most editions. While it…

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/10/11/rules-what-rules-chapter-length/

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Rules, What Rules: Chapter Length

Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, regarded by many as the greatest novel ever written, does not follow this rule. Most of the chapters=are very short, ranging from less than 2 to more no more than 6 pages in the Pevear ad Volokhonsky translation. The book isn't slim either. It makes sense that a short book, like Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle would have shorter chapters than the norm, but Anna Karenina is over 800 pages in most editions. While it…

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/10/11/rules-what-rules-chapter-length/

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Best Climate Change Stories available in preorder now

The Secant Press Best Climate Change Stories anthology, which features my gold medal winning story “Noah’s Great Rainbow” is now available for preorder prior to the October 1st release. The anthology features the winning stories on the Secant Press/Book Bin Climate Change Story contest. “Noah’s Great Rainbow” is one of my favorite stories I’ve written. It’s classic hard science fiction with a literary twist. I can’t…

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/09/20/best-climate-change-stories-available-in-preorder-now/

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Best Climate Change Stories available in preorder now

The Secant Press Best Climate Change Stories anthology, which features my gold medal winning story “Noah’s Great Rainbow” is now available for preorder prior to the October 1st release. The anthology features the winning stories on the Secant Press/Book Bin Climate Change Story contest. “Noah’s Great Rainbow” is one of my favorite stories I’ve written. It’s classic hard science fiction with a literary twist. I can’t…

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/09/20/best-climate-change-stories-available-in-preorder-now/

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The Camera Roll Theory of Being Present

In Nick Walker's Blackbox, one of the characters, who is an actor, worries that in observing other humans for the sake of his craft, he has become so detached he has forgotten how to experience those emotions himself. There is a scene where he witnesses a terrible accident and knows how he is supposed to behave, but he, instead, watches the facial expressions of others in order to learn how to reproduce them on stage.

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/09/13/the-camera-roll-theory-of-being-present/

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The Camera Roll Theory of Being Present

In Nick Walker's Blackbox, one of the characters, who is an actor, worries that in observing other humans for the sake of his craft, he has become so detached he has forgotten how to experience those emotions himself. There is a scene where he witnesses a terrible accident and knows how he is supposed to behave, but he, instead, watches the facial expressions of others in order to learn how to reproduce them on stage.

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/09/13/the-camera-roll-theory-of-being-present/

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A Back to School Poem

As I recover my serious heart procedure, I will be reposting some old blogs until I am able to write new ones again. With school starting this week, here’s a poem which expresses my feelings on the current state of education.

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/09/06/a-back-to-school-poem/

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A Back to School Poem

As I recover my serious heart procedure, I will be reposting some old blogs until I am able to write new ones again. With school starting this week, here’s a poem which expresses my feelings on the current state of education.

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/09/06/a-back-to-school-poem/

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Revealed: Frankenstein’s Monster’s Name!

I’ve been dealing with some health issues which have prevented me from posting regularly over the last month. I should be back to full strength soon. In the meantime, in honor of Mary Shelley’s birthday, please enjoy this classic from the archive. People who run in literary circles are fond of pointing out that Frankenstein is the name of the doctor* in Mary Shelley’s famous novel, not the … Revealed: Frankenstein’s Monster’s…

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/08/30/revealed-frankensteins-monsters-name-3/

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Revealed: Frankenstein’s Monster’s Name!

I’ve been dealing with some health issues which have prevented me from posting regularly over the last month. I should be back to full strength soon. In the meantime, in honor of Mary Shelley’s birthday, please enjoy this classic from the archive. People who run in literary circles are fond of pointing out that Frankenstein is the name of the doctor* in Mary Shelley’s famous novel, not the … Revealed: Frankenstein’s Monster’s…

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/08/30/revealed-frankensteins-monsters-name-3/

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“Night Walkers”’Nominated for 2024 Poe Visiter Award

I’m proud to announce that my poem “Night Walkers” was nominated for a 2024 Saturday Visiter Award by the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum in Baltimore in the “Works Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe” category. The awards are given at the museum’s annual annual Poe Fest in October. Night Walkers was originally published by The 6 Degrees of Edgar Allan Poe, after it won first place in the inaugural…

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/08/02/night-walkersnominated-for-2024-poe-visiter-award/

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“Night Walkers”’Nominated for 2024 Poe Visiter Award

I’m proud to announce that my poem “Night Walkers” was nominated for a 2024 Saturday Visiter Award by the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum in Baltimore in the “Works Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe” category. The awards are given at the museum’s annual annual Poe Fest in October. Night Walkers was originally published by The 6 Degrees of Edgar Allan Poe, after it won first place in the inaugural…

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/08/02/night-walkersnominated-for-2024-poe-visiter-award/

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I heard them calling in the echo chamber of my mind: the faint sounds of nascent ideas, barely formed, almost conceived.
“Let us out,” they said, “write us before we’re crushed; free us before we’re buried beneath the massive weight of your crippling doubt.
#FromOneLine #vss365

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I heard them calling in the echo chamber of my mind: the faint sounds of nascent ideas, barely formed, almost conceived.
“Let us out,” they said, “write us before we’re crushed; free us before we’re buried beneath the massive weight of your crippling doubt.
#FromOneLine #vss365

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Edit With The Scalpel

Here’s a little poem I wrote detailing my editing philosophy. In it, the speaker addresses their editor, but I endeavor to edit with scalpel when I edit my own work or take on an editing project for someone else. Edit with the scalpel,Practice, please, finesse—Don’t edit with the hatchet,And make a bloody mess!  For though the deadline’s looming,

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/07/19/edit-with-the-scalpel/

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Edit With The Scalpel

Here’s a little poem I wrote detailing my editing philosophy. In it, the speaker addresses their editor, but I endeavor to edit with scalpel when I edit my own work or take on an editing project for someone else. Edit with the scalpel,Practice, please, finesse—Don’t edit with the hatchet,And make a bloody mess!  For though the deadline’s looming,

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/07/19/edit-with-the-scalpel/

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Some Thoughts About The Carousel, Catcher in the Rye, and Childlike Wonder

Yesterday, I took my kids to the Nunley’s Carousel, a historic Long Island Carousel built in 1912, which is notable because it is one of the only New York area carousel which still features the ring game. The ring game was a feature of old carousels where children on the outer ring of horses competed to grab a brass ring off a sliding mechanism.

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/07/12/some-thoughts-about-the-carousel-catcher-in-the-rye-and-childlike-wonder/

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Some Thoughts About The Carousel, Catcher in the Rye, and Childlike Wonder

Yesterday, I took my kids to the Nunley’s Carousel, a historic Long Island Carousel built in 1912, which is notable because it is one of the only New York area carousel which still features the ring game. The ring game was a feature of old carousels where children on the outer ring of horses competed to grab a brass ring off a sliding mechanism.

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/07/12/some-thoughts-about-the-carousel-catcher-in-the-rye-and-childlike-wonder/

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On the Bamboo Tree and the Oak Tree

Nearly every martial arts teacher I've had in my almost 40 years of study has recommended the philosophy embodied in the famous Bruce Lee quote "Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind." Be yielding and supple, they say, roll with the punches rather than meeting them head on.

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/06/27/on-the-bamboo-tree-and-the-oak-tree/

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On the Bamboo Tree and the Oak Tree

Nearly every martial arts teacher I've had in my almost 40 years of study has recommended the philosophy embodied in the famous Bruce Lee quote "Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind." Be yielding and supple, they say, roll with the punches rather than meeting them head on.

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/06/27/on-the-bamboo-tree-and-the-oak-tree/

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Introvert Time or How I’ve Learned to Recharge My Social Battery at Cons

During last year’s New York Comic Con, a friend and colleague told me that she wished she could be as outgoing as me. I was taken aback by the comment. I’ve always been an introvert. I have trouble approaching people in new situations. I’m often awkward socially. I have only a few close friends, and my relationship with most of them—including my wife and my best friend—started when the other…

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/06/13/introvert-time-or-how-ive-learned-to-recharge-my-social-battery-at-cons/

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Introvert Time or How I’ve Learned to Recharge My Social Battery at Cons

During last year’s New York Comic Con, a friend and colleague told me that she wished she could be as outgoing as me. I was taken aback by the comment. I’ve always been an introvert. I have trouble approaching people in new situations. I’m often awkward socially. I have only a few close friends, and my relationship with most of them—including my wife and my best friend—started when the other…

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/06/13/introvert-time-or-how-ive-learned-to-recharge-my-social-battery-at-cons/

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My Panel and Author Meet and Greet at the SFWA Nebula Conference

The Science Fiction Writers Association's Annual Nebula Conference runs from June 6-9 in Pasadena California. I will be presenting at the Future of Comics Panel on Thursday Morning at 9AM California Time. The panel, which will be moderated by Madeleine Holly Rosing, will discuss emergent technologies and their effects on the comics industry. I will also be hosting an author meet and greet on Saturday June…

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/05/31/my-panel-and-author-meet-and-greet-at-the-sfwa-nebula-conference/

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My Panel and Author Meet and Greet at the SFWA Nebula Conference

The Science Fiction Writers Association's Annual Nebula Conference runs from June 6-9 in Pasadena California. I will be presenting at the Future of Comics Panel on Thursday Morning at 9AM California Time. The panel, which will be moderated by Madeleine Holly Rosing, will discuss emergent technologies and their effects on the comics industry. I will also be hosting an author meet and greet on Saturday June…

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/05/31/my-panel-and-author-meet-and-greet-at-the-sfwa-nebula-conference/

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How Arnold Schwarzenegger got me out of my Writing Blues

Recently, I've been pretty down. Going through a blue period is normal. Even though social media is flooded with saccharine, often forced positivity, it's normal to be in a bad mood from time to time, especially for creative people. The thing is, I shouldn't be down, especially about my writing. I've had a number of very big publishing wins recently. In the past year, I've qualified for the…

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/05/23/how-arnold-schwarzenegger-got-me-out-of-my-writing-blues/

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How Arnold Schwarzenegger got me out of my Writing Blues

Recently, I've been pretty down. Going through a blue period is normal. Even though social media is flooded with saccharine, often forced positivity, it's normal to be in a bad mood from time to time, especially for creative people. The thing is, I shouldn't be down, especially about my writing. I've had a number of very big publishing wins recently. In the past year, I've qualified for the…

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/05/23/how-arnold-schwarzenegger-got-me-out-of-my-writing-blues/

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The Awful Alphabet Preorder Store Now Open

If you missed out on the Backerkit campaign for The Awful Alphabet, by me and Sara McCall Ephron, you're in luck. The post-campaign preorder store is now open. You can find it here: You can order the book in a variety of formats, as well as some nice posters and art prints, along with previous publications. The Awful Alphabet…

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/05/09/the-awful-alphabet-preorder-store-now-open/

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The Awful Alphabet Preorder Store Now Open

If you missed out on the Backerkit campaign for The Awful Alphabet, by me and Sara McCall Ephron, you're in luck. The post-campaign preorder store is now open. You can find it here: You can order the book in a variety of formats, as well as some nice posters and art prints, along with previous publications. The Awful Alphabet…

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/05/09/the-awful-alphabet-preorder-store-now-open/

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My Story “Noah’s Great Rainbow” Wins Secant Publishing’s Best Climate Change Stories Contest, Sponsored by Book Bin

My story "Noah's Great Rainbow" has won the Secant Publishing Best Climate Change Stories Contest, sponsored by Book Bin. The first page prize comes with $1000 grand prize and a commemorative gold medal. I am humbled and honored by the selection. Congrats to all the winners. See the complete press release below, and look for the winners anthology in…

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/04/25/my-story-noahs-great-rainbow-wins-secant-publishings-best-climate-change-stories-contest-sponsored-by-book-bin/

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My Story “Noah’s Great Rainbow” Wins Secant Publishing’s Best Climate Change Stories Contest, Sponsored by Book Bin

My story "Noah's Great Rainbow" has won the Secant Publishing Best Climate Change Stories Contest, sponsored by Book Bin. The first page prize comes with $1000 grand prize and a commemorative gold medal. I am humbled and honored by the selection. Congrats to all the winners. See the complete press release below, and look for the winners anthology in…

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/04/25/my-story-noahs-great-rainbow-wins-secant-publishings-best-climate-change-stories-contest-sponsored-by-book-bin/

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Raindrops From a Cloudless Sky: A Poem in honor of Superman and National Poetry Month

Today, April 18th, marks the anniversary of the publication of the first Superman story in 1938. It is also, of course, National Poetry Month. As such, here is a poem I wrote which is inspired by The Man of Steel. While it may not be as good as Vadamir Nabokov's poem about The Man of Tomorrow, I hope you enjoy it anyway.

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/04/18/raindrops-from-a-cloudless-sky-a-poem-in-honor-of-superman-and-national-poetry-month/

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Raindrops From a Cloudless Sky: A Poem in honor of Superman and National Poetry Month

Today, April 18th, marks the anniversary of the publication of the first Superman story in 1938. It is also, of course, National Poetry Month. As such, here is a poem I wrote which is inspired by The Man of Steel. While it may not be as good as Vadamir Nabokov's poem about The Man of Tomorrow, I hope you enjoy it anyway.

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2024/04/18/raindrops-from-a-cloudless-sky-a-poem-in-honor-of-superman-and-national-poetry-month/

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In case you were wondering what it was like to grow up #genx, I had this interaction with my mother today:

Me: Mom, do you have anbesol? [6’s] tooth hurts?

Mom: No. Do you want to put some slivovitz on it?

If you don’t know, Slivovitz is 90 proof Central European plum brandy.

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In case you were wondering what it was like to grow up #genx, I had this interaction with my mother today:

Me: Mom, do you have anbesol? [6’s] tooth hurts?

Mom: No. Do you want to put some slivovitz on it?

If you don’t know, Slivovitz is 90 proof Central European plum brandy.