Jon Skovron, the host for Shut Up & Write, a writing discussion series hosted by the Arlington Public Library and presented by Lit-Up! sent us this announcement.

All About Anthologies
Our next Shut Up & Write event is May 24th, and it’s going to be about writing YA short fiction and editing YA short fiction anthologies. We will have not one, but two anthology editors: Ellen Oh, and SU&W’s own beloved behind-the-scenes mastermind, Jessica Spotswood!

But that’s not all! Since I will be in Phoenix for Comic Fest that week, previous guest host (and short story author) Robin Talley has kindly agreed to return to Arlington and lead the discussion. You won’t have to listen to me prattle on about whatever thing pops into my head again until September.

Oh, yes, I suppose that’s a good reminder. Per usual, we will not have an event in July, so May 24th will be our final event until September. So please come and enjoy the lovely writing community we continue to build one last time before the summer break.
We hope you can make it to the Central Library at 1015 N Quincy Street in Arlington on May 24th at 7 pm!

And remember, as always, this event is FREE. If you know any other writers or people passionate about fiction and the art of storytelling who also like free events, please forward this email on to them. What’s the worst that could happen?

The 5-4-18 First Friday WSFA meeting began when Prez Bob banged his gavel. Alright ladies and gentlemen. Sam S fixed the clock. It’s the first Friday in May. “It’s election time,” said Bill. Sam L. summed last meeting. Nothing was done.

Sam S., treasurer, said, “Tonight is election night. To vote, you are supposed to be a member, check with me to see if you are a member and if not, see me. Treasurer’s report $$$ with a year over year of $$$.”

Capclave Present: Cathy said we are doing big push at Balticon. Need XX members. Sit at the table and be accurate. Use the dodos and make eye contact. If get 20 or 30 people do drawings for tschaskies. Table list here. Rodger said prelim schedule is up. If everyone does an hour or two, it won’t be a huge burden. Take flyers to conventions, book groups, gaming etc. We need all the publicity. Push it to your friends. We will have a table at Worldcon. When we were in Reno, people stopped by and took flyers. Publicity not just for this year. If going to San Jose, try to do an hour a day at the table. Also need help traveling with dodos. They understand about flying steerage (Sam S. Since they don’t normally fly.) Need people for Gaithersburg book festival on Sat the 19th. Contact Cathydalek@gmail.com. Also meeting on the 20th at Cathy’s. Learn how to use the program system. We’re…, so upsell it to friends. Share the info. If going to bookstore, leave flyers. We can reciprocate with stuff for our registration bag. We’ve been doing this for years, but people still don’t recognize that we are here. If know an author who will be interesting for programming tell them about it and Capclave@gmail.com. Tweet about it. And book your hotel room.

Click the link for the full text of the May/June 2018 WSFA Journal, including the Minutes of the May 4th, 18th 2018 / June 1st, 15th 2018 meetings.

WSFA Journal May-June 2018

Note: Publication date is set to the date of the Journal, rather than the date posted, for indexing purposes

This Friday, May 4th, will be an election meeting. To vote for the slate, you need to be a member of WSFA. You’ll be able to pay your dues or check your status (if  you can’t remember whether you already paid) at the meeting before the vote is taken.

The trustees’ slate is:

• President – Bob Macintosh
• Vice President – George Shaner
• Secretary – Sam Lubell
• Treasurer – Sam Scheiner
• Trustees – Barry Newton, Elizabeth Twitchell, and Rodger Burns
• Small Press – Cathy Green and Kim Hargan.

(There is no open Capclave chair since the club has already made Bill Lawhorn Chair of Capclave 2020)

Of course nominations are accepted from the floor in addition to the slate.

May the fourth be with the candidates!

Also, the committee to discuss science fiction will be discussing the March/April issue of F & SF.

Robert Sawyer Confirmed for 2019.

The 3-2-18 First Friday in March was called to order by Prez Bob. “We’ll do this quickly because we have a guest reader tonight and the committee to discuss SF has a special event. The Secretary told me that no one gave him the minutes from last time, so we may have had a meeting.”

Treasurer Sam is here.

We have $$. Reminder to pay your dues. Bob said, “Let’s make committee reports succinct.”

Cathy for Capclave 2018. Moving along. We have GoH. Will have more on website. Sam said we are registering people online.

Capclave 2019. Robert Sawyer has confirmed dates in contract.

Cap 2020, nothing new to report.

Click the link for the full text of the March/April 2018 WSFA Journal, including the Minutes of the March 2nd, 16th 2018 / April 6th, 20th 2018 meetings.

WSFA Journal March-April 2018

Note: Publication date is set to the date of the Journal, rather than the date posted, for indexing purposes

The 1/5/18 first Friday in January meeting began with an “Alright ladies and gentleman, first Friday in 2018,” said Prez Bob. “And it’s colder than you know what –I don’t actually–. It is 9:18.” Bill said, “We’re late.” Bob answered, “We had to wait for Sam’s machine.” . Sam L read minutes from last meeting.

Treasurer’s report: Current balance: $money. Year-over-year change: $. Important caveat: The Hilton has not yet cashed its check. Once you subtract that amount our net change for the past year is approximately $. Bob said that Judy will collect dues. There is a sheet. Sam S. is away for warmer weather.

Click the link for the full text of the January/February 2018 WSFA Journal, including the Minutes of the January 5th, 19th 2018 / February 2nd, 16th 2018 meetings.

WSFA Journal January-February 2018

Note: Publication date is set to the date of the Journal, rather than the date posted, for indexing purposes

The November third, 2017 WSFA meeting began with an “alright, ladies and gentlemen” said President
Bob. There were only two Sams at the meeting “That’s not a quorum.” The Secretary had brought his
computer bag, but there was no computer in it. So he didn’t know what happened at the last meeting.
Treasurer’s report was $$$ for a year over year of +$$$. But we haven’t paid the hotel bill yet. The
surplus is equal to what the hotel bill will be.

Click the link for the full text of the November/December 2017 WSFA Journal, including the Minutes of the November 3rd, 17th 2017 / December 1st, 15th 2017 meetings.

WSFA Journal November-December 2017

Note: Publication date is set to the date of the Journal, rather than the date posted, for indexing purposes

The Washington Science Fiction Association (WSFA) is pleased to announce that on October 7, 2017,  at the Capclave science fiction convention, Ursula Vernon won the 2017 WSFA Small Press Award for best short fiction published by a small press in 2016.  The award consists of certificates and trophies for both the author and publisher and $500 for the author.

The winner is  “The Tomato Thief” by Ursula Vernon, published in Apex Magazine (January 2016) edited by Jason Sizemore.

The other finalists for the 2016 WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction were:

• “Foxfire, Foxfire” by Yoon Ha Lee, published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies (March 2016) and edited by Scott H. Andrews;
• “Jupiter or Bust” by Brad R. Torgersen, published in Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show (March/ April 2016), edited by Edmund Schubert;
• “The Mytilenian Delay” by Neil James Hudson in Hyperpowers (May 2016), edited by Bascomb James, published by Third Flatiron Publishing;
• “Only Their Shining Beauty Was Left” by Fran Wilde, published in Shimmer Magazine (September 2016), edited by E. Catherine Tobler;
• “Radio Silence” by Walter H. Hunt in Alien Artifacts (2016), edited by Joshua Palmatier and Patricia Bray, published by Zombies Need Brains;
• “A Salvaging of Ghosts” by Aliette de Bodard, published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies (March 2016), edited by Scott H. Andrews;
• “Vengence Sewn With A Fey Cord” by Christine Lucas, published in The Future Fire (April 2016), edited by Djibril al-Ayad; and
• “The Witch’s Knives” by Margaret Ronald, published in Strange Horizons (October 2016), edited by Niall Harrison, Jane Crowley, Kate Dollarhyde, Lila Garrott, Catherine Krahe, An Owomoyela, and Vajra Chandrasekera.

The award honors the efforts of small press publishers in providing a critical venue for short fiction in the area of speculative fiction. The award showcases the best original short fiction published by small presses in the previous year (2016). An unusual feature of the selection process is that all voting is done with the identity of the author (and publisher) hidden so that the final choice is based solely on the quality of the story.

The winner was chosen by the members of the Washington Science Fiction Association (www.wsfa.org) and was presented at their annual convention, Capclave (www.capclave.org), held this year on October 6-8, 2017 in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

This year’s book The Man Who Ended History by Ken Liu will be delayed.

Due to unavoidable issues with the printing schedule, we’ve been informed that “The Man Who Ended History” will not be available until the end of October/first of November, and not available at Capclave as originally planned.

To everyone that pre-ordered a copy prior to the convention and who was expecting to pick it up at Capclave, we will be mailing the book to you at our expense as soon as we receive it. Please make sure we have a valid mailing address.
(Check at the SFRevu table in the Dealer’s Room.)

We will also still take orders at Capclave at the reduced Convention price but will have to add a $3.00 shipping fee.

We apologize for any inconvenience this unavoidable delay may cause.

WSFA’s 1st Friday meeting will be held at Capclave.
Meeting will be held at 9:00 Rockville/Potomac Room in the
Hilton Washington DC North/Gaithersburg,
620 Perry Parkway, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20877

The September 1, 2017 meeting began with VP George saying, “Your backup emergency president is
here.” Rodger immediately fired back, “Please state the nature of your science fictional emergency.”
George called to the people in the back, “Care to join us, we’re having a meeting.” <noise> HEY!
<quiet> This first Friday in Virginia was called to order at 9:14.

Sam L read the minutes and there were some corrections. Treasurer Sam S. reported $money as of Sept
2017. Year over year +money.

Click the link for the full text of the September/October 2017 WSFA Journal, including the Minutes of the September 1st, 15th 2017 / October 6th, 20th 2017 meetings.

WSFA Journal September-October 2017

Note: Publication date is set to the date of the Journal, rather than the date posted, for indexing purposes