Planeta SF

I recently joined Planeta SF, an Argentine Yahoo group designed to bring together science fiction and fantasy writers from across the globe, and I've been really pleased and intrigued by the group.

A wise science fiction writer pointed out to me early on that having a name in countries other than the US is a way to increase sales. While I'd like to think I'm being forward looking and building up an audience, the truth of it is that I love reading through the daily digest of Planeta SF. People write in English, Spanish, German, French, Portugese and Italian, and it is vastly satisfying to me to find out my rusty Spanish is still good enough to be used to read posts. And I continue to delude myself that when I stare at a passage in Portugese long enough, it magically becomes Spanish and I can understand it. People who can do so are very good about posting versions in other languages, but not everyone speaks English, so the end effect is confusing - but in a GOOD way.

It's fascinating to learn something about the international SF scene, and I've already added several books to my wish list as a result. It's also fun to be doing something science fictiony that also seems self-improvey, since I can't help but think my Spanish is improving as a result of the practice.

<A HREF="http://ar.groups.yahoo.com/group/planetasf/?yguid=198006506"> The group was started last year by Sergio Gaut vel Hartman, who runs the Argentine science fiction magazine, <A HREF="axxon.com.ar ">Axxon</a>. A couple of my stories, along with the Suite 101 interview with Nancy Jane Moore, "The Revelation of Gender" will be appearing in Axxon soon, which is my first non-English publication! How cool is that?