Saturn Space Music Captured in Fiction Short Stories Anthology

Stephen Kotowych, the Grand Prize Winner of Writers of the Future Volume 23, wrote his award-winning short story "Saturn in G Minor" based on music being played on the rings of Saturn.

Now we just got to hear some of this music that was brought to us from the Cassini space probe which is circling Saturn currently. "Eerie" is definitely the word.

In Stephen's story a renowned composer takes off to Saturn on a confidential project, but we find out soon enough that he actually programmed a series of meteorite showers to hit Saturn's rings to create the ultimate symphony.

Stephen told us what inspired him to pen this story:

"The inspiration for this story came from a bit of real-world science, believe it or not. I was reading articles in popular science magazines (a goldmine of SF ideas) about the findings of the Cassini probe to Saturn. One of the most amazing things was that Saturn's rings give off distinct musical tones in the form of radio waves when struck by micrometeoroids, and the findings came as a surprise to even the scientists working on the project.

My first thought was: 'Well, somebody has to get out there and play some music on those rings!' and that's when the story idea was born. The rest of the details I fleshed out from my own experience (I work with academics every day, and took a course in electro-acoustic musical composition in university) and the science I filled in mainly from internet research."

When Stephen came to attend the Writers of the Future workshop in Pasadena, he also got a tour of JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) which is the very place the Cassini orbiter was built!

But the biggest surprise came for Stephen when he found out during the awards ceremony that he won the Grand Prize with his fiction short story.

You can see a video of him getting announced and going up on stage to accept the award here:
Writing Contest - Stephen Kotowych

Furthermore, here is a photo of Stephen during the workshop with the Writers of the Future judges Tim Powers and K.D. Wentworth:



Stephen told us how he felt about winning the contest. He said:

"To have the story win in the Writers of the Future competition is still a little unbelievable to me. This was the third or fourth story I'd submitted to the contest and when I got the call from Joni that I'd won the contest--well, it was a good thing I was sitting down.

What I kept coming back to was the judges: these writers who I'd grown up reading--major pros in the field--had read MY story for a change, and had LIKED it. It's still a bit surreal, but that thought alone is a tremendous boost to a writer's self-confidence (which is usually so riddled with doubt, wondering 'Is this any good? Will anyone like this?')"

He told us that before he came to attend the workshop and the awards ceremony, so he didn't even know at that point that he was the Grand Prize Winner. Well, so it goes.

If you want to read his story, you can order the book here:

Fiction Short Stories

What if King Tut was alive today?

Andrea Kail won 1st Place in the L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Contest and was published in Volume 23 of this riveting science fiction and fantasy anthology. Here she is at the awards ceremony receiving her award from Writers of the Future judge and New York Times best selling author Tim Powers.



Author offers answers in Writers of the Future Volume 23 short story anthology as King Tut's 3,300-year-old face makes its first appearance

NEW YORK — What if Tutankhamun — better known as King Tut – was alive today, cloned from strands of DNA? The child pharaoh from ancient Egypt whose 3,300-year-old teenage face was briefly bared to the world last week would certainly face a totally different world than the one he knew.

Author Andrea Kail asked and answered that question in her winning short story, “The Sun God at Dawn, Rising from a Lotus Blossom,” published in L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume XXIII (Galaxy Press, 2007). The anthology includes winning short stories contributed by new and fledgling authors to the writing contest—Writers of the Future—now in its 23rd year.

“The genesis of my story was the picture of a 2005 reconstruction made from a CAT scan of Tutankhamun’s mummy,” Kail said. “He looks so alive and so sad in that picture that it really brought home to me that this was a real person.”

“I began to wonder what would happen to a young ruler emotionally if he found himself alive today,” Kail added. “Would he develop an inferiority complex when compared to other world leaders . . . would he be able to deal with an Egypt no longer at the center of power in the Middle East, let alone the world?”

Reviewer Michelle Lee of the online publication, The Fix (www.thefix-online.com) wrote of Kail’s premise that it was “both a commentary on human conditions and a striking tale of a child-king growing up subject to the whims of others.”

The Writers of the Future contest was established in 1983 by world-recognized, multiple best-selling author L. Ron Hubbard and has become the top merit-based competition of its kind for new or little-published writers worldwide. Entries are received throughout the year and are judged by leading literary professionals. The L. Ron Hubbard Presents Illustrators of the Future, begun in 1988, similarly honors artists who illustrate the winning short stories. Since inception, the Writers and Illustrators of the Future contests have recognized and published 500-plus authors and illustrators, produced 23 anthology volumes, and awarded a cumulative $500,000 in cash prizes.

To get your own copy of the book go to: King Tut Story

New Releases in Science Fiction and Fantasy

Steven Savile, who was published in L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Vol. XIX with the story "Bury my Heart at the Garrick", just released a novel called "The Hollow Earth".



His book debuted at #1 at the "Horror Mall" website (www.horror-mall.com). In an email he sent me he said:

"Life is good. Just had a new book come out - one these fancy limited
editions us chappies like so much. It debuted at #1 on the Horror
Mall best sellers list - a store dedicated to these small press
limited editions. Pretty cool huh?" - Steve Savile, www.stevensavile.com

Yes, Steve, that's very well done. I noticed that other authors such as Stephen King and Ed Gorman are further down on the list. Good on beating them out, mate!

Steven is definitely keeping himself busy. He has published a total of six novels, two Doctor Who anthologies and several novellas.

Further he has been scripting Doctor Who screenplays for the TV series.

He likes to write in the Horror genre from what I have seen, but does well in the science fiction and fantasy genres according to his success with his Doctor Who works.



Here is a picture of him from the last Writers of the Future workshop week in Pasadena which he attended.



Well, for anybody who is interested you can still get Writers of the Future Vol. XIX from Galaxy Press. We have a special book package with 7 books and several free gift items you only get with the package. This book package also includes the recently released science fiction and fantasy short story anthology Writers of the Future Vol. XXIII which has already made it on several bestseller lists including B&N.com and Amazon.com.

Check out the link right here: NEW RELEASES IN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY