Editorial – August 2025: Bucket Lists Are Never Completed When Wars Get In The Way.

Hello everyone,

I’m beginning to think I can do miracles, or at least I’m becoming aware of how powerful my ability is to find things. I now have ‘The Champions Colouring Book’ and know the story. Sheer luck I came across a run of the 1971 ‘Countdown’ comic at a reasonable price and am enjoying the story, which still holds up. Miraculously, even Andy Loomis’ ‘The Eye Of The Artist’ was at a low enough price to afford and better than the description given, as it was mark-free inside, although I’ve nearly finished this one. His chapter on colour explains a lot about their naming for oil paints and what to be wary of. I wonder what he would have thought of acrylics and digital. All three sources are unlikely to have read my piece in last month’s SFCrowsnest. I’m almost beginning to think I could find the Holy Grail if it existed, although it isn’t on my bucket list. One has to have credible books you want to read and own.

If you ever wonder what you can do if you fulfil a bucket list, I think the best response to make is to start another bucket list. Don’t let it define your life and think it ends there. It’s there as an opportunity for something to be completed or seen completed. I still want to see proof of the Loch Ness creature and the various yeti/sasquatch across the world in my lifetime. A lot of people are never even given an opportunity to start a bucket list, let alone complete one. It shows that it’s possible, so if you need hope, you can do it, but it pays to look.

Even so, there is also the possibility that time is being tidy for me before the start of a world war as dangerous as possible. A subject that frequently pops up here. After all, how many times can country leaders bluff each other or back down before something is bound to erupt? Wars, especially global ones, have started with less. None of which is helped when sides have already picked themselves. It makes for a precarious time. Even wondering if there’s going to be a next year for a lot of people. It makes it a lot more difficult to write an editorial with a science fiction theme of the future when no one can be really sure there is one for any of us.

Science fiction has gone through many end-of-civilisation scenarios, but nothing like this because it becomes too complicated on paper and screen. This is more like an espionage film scenario, meaning we don’t see what happens behind the scenes. The only thing that would keep it in SF territory is if the people behind those UAPs came out into the open and stopped things with more than giving the inhabitants, that’s us, a slap on the wrist. Of course, they might have already taken action, as rumours suggest that they have been neutralising nuclear warheads around the world. If that’s the case, then we have an even bigger triple bluff happening in the world right now.

We’ve scored better with what happens in the aftermath, but a lot of that is logical assumption, as some level of law and order is achieved out of the literal ashes. What SF authors never anticipated was what kind of political system would rise to the top, as most assumed a form of feudalism before democracy.

Just to keep the SF context, what if the UAPs really had neutralised different countries nuclear weapons? What would be the consequences of that? The countries already know that, and since mutually assured destruction should put a nuclear war off the table, that shouldn’t happen anyway. Famous last words when so much is going on at the moment. Some country’s leader is going to think replacing their nuclear warheads at short notice would get around this, relying on the belief that other countries wouldn’t have the nerve to retaliate. Then again, any nuclear-armed country is likely to think the same way.

If whoever is running the UAPs realises this, just how far would they let it go before getting involved? If they just wanted Earth as real estate, then let the war take place and wait for the fallout to fade. Of course, any species that can neutralise weapons-grade nukes would see that as a minor detail. We have to assume they are looking after our interests and getting beyond nuclear war so we can still develop.

Even so, you do have to wonder how various countries leaders would react, knowing they are now answerable to something or someone much more powerful than themselves. I mean, they are effectively neutralised, and these UAPs are faster and unable to be caught. It wouldn’t even be an invasion, as they’ve been here all the time. Would we see the UAP owners as a threat to stop or just a means to go back to ordinary lives? Some or any country is likely to give a bad reaction. Now that is an SF scenario that has been explored. I’d rather have benevolence and malevolence.

Thank you, take care, good night, and here’s to another month.

Geoff Willmetts

editor: www.SFCrowsnest.info

A Zen thought: Think a solution through and its consequences before assuming it’s the only solution.

What Qualities Does A Geek Have: Thinking is a beneficial idea.

The Reveal: Nothing has no mass.

Observation: Blood, of course, is thicker than water due to its mixture with plasma and corpuscles. 

Feeling Stressed: Situation normal, but you’re still here.

Submissions:

                        If you feel that receiving free books to review isn’t sufficient, would you be interested in reading them months before they are available to others? I mean real months. This approach is more effective than using a time machine.

I did think that having a lot of text about submitting material to SFCrowsnest would attract those with a compulsion to read and understand things the geek way. The main problem with the Internet is that it tends to encourage less reading, so it’s time to take a different approach. The original notes will be left on the July 2009 editorial, although the links aren’t likely to work.

Please include a brief introduction in your cover email to help me understand you better. The boss in the tower, also called Stephen Hunt, describes me as a ‘Dutch Uncle’ in that I’m helpful with advice and can explain when I see something that is wrong. Egos should be left at the door, as I’m only interested in your talent and how to improve it.

Reviews:

I always have a clarion call for new reviewers, and if you have the yen to learn, you’ll quickly get the ropes if you’ve never done it before, but you must show me a sample, especially if you can follow my guidelines. We can usually get paper-based books in the UK, but if you live abroad, then you might have to stick with ebooks. If you’ve picked a book we haven’t reviewed, then it stands a better chance of being used, so use the SFC search engine to see first, but I need to see how you would write for us.

The obvious qualification is a desire to read regularly and I like to tell others about the book without giving away too many spoilers. The benefit is access to free books for the price of a review.

I want to give you the opportunity to get things right, so look up the Review Guidelines link: https://www.sfcrowsnest.info/so-you-want-to-write-reviews-for-sfcrowsnest-what-you-need-to-know-by-geoff-willmetts/

Fiction:

Although we can’t pay for submissions, what we do make up for is exposure. Only the Sci-Fi Channel gets more hits than us, so it’s worthwhile getting us on your writer’s CV. Please avoid samplings from books you might be writing or have had in print elsewhere, as I do check. New original work is best, and whether I accept or reject it, you will be told of any problems I see so you look your best, and a grammar check that is equal to the pro-world. Even the boss finds me scarily accurate.

Flash or One-Page Fiction:

The work speaks for itself. The shortest fiction possible is also the toughest to write, as no word must be wasted.

Link here for details: https://www.sfcrowsnest.info/one-page-stories-or-flash-fiction-submissions-instructions-by-gf-willmetts/

Short Stories:

The definition of a short story is anything up to 30 pages, and then it becomes a novella. Bear in mind you want other people to read it online; stay somewhere between 5 and 20 pages. At least digitally, you don’t have to go double-line, as HTML will do that automatically, but think about being concise. If you want to send an attachment with these, then ask first and send as a TXT file, as it removes most touchy virus codes.

Look up the Short Stories Link by linking here: https://www.sfcrowsnest.info/so-you-really-want-to-write-an-sf-story-an-update-by-gf-willmetts/

Finally:

The worst problem I see in any samples is poor grammar. I don’t want you to think I’m a perfectionist, but the less work I have to do, the more I can focus on your other issues. It will also serve you in good stead if you ever approach paper-based publishers because they will send back any poor grammar samples because it’s not worth their time.

Effective grammar is the tool of any writer. Don’t just depend on what you remember doing at school. There are numerous quality grammar books available, so please take a moment to refresh your understanding of the rules. If you find the number of rules overwhelming, focus on mastering the most important ones before progressing to the next, ensuring it becomes a habit.

This link, www.sfcrowsnest.info/the-guide-to-better-grammar-from-the-harrowed-hand-of-gf-willmetts/, will show you the common problems.

To submit, use our email address by joining the spaces, as shown here: letters@SFcrowsnest.info, and use the subject matter as to what you’re submitting.

If you have any hobbies that can be used to pass the time in captivity, let me know, and we’ll see if they can be turned into an article.

Direct comments to reviews should continue to function as before.

Good luck.

Geoff