March 8, 2026
Quote of the Day
“Hey guys, there’s a red-thingy moving toward the green-thingy… I think we’re the green-thingy.” — Guy Fleegman (Crewman Number Six), Galaxy Quest
Awards: Hugo Nominations Now Open
L.A. con V Hugo Nominations: Official nominations for the 2026 Hugo Awards, Lodestar, and Astounding Awards are now open. Eligible nominators include members of L.A. con V (as of Jan 31, 2026) and 2025 Seattle Worldcon members. Deadline: March 28, 2026. (Source: L.A. con V Official Site)
2026 Poetry Hugo Award: L.A. con V has officially confirmed a special category for Best Poetry for the 2026 cycle. (Source: LAcon V Site Selection)
Nebula Awards Toastmaster: Tananarive Due will serve as Toastmaster for the 61st Nebula Awards in Chicago (June 3–7). (Source: SFWA News)
Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master: N. K. Jemisin has been named the newest Grand Master to be honored at the 2026 Nebula Conference. (Source: SFWA Official Announcement)
Kevin O’Donnell Jr. Service to SFWA Award: Gay Haldeman is the 2026 recipient for her decades of service. (Source: SFWA.org)
Harland Prijs 2025 Winner: Pam Hage has won the prestigious Dutch award for the story “It’s Been Pixelated!” (Source: Amazing Stories News)
Future Worlds Prize Judging Panel: The panel for the 2026 prize for SF writers of colour has been set. (Source: Future Worlds Prize)
2026 VES Awards Results: Avatar: Fire and Ash dominates with seven wins, including Outstanding Visual Effects. (Source: Visual Effects Society)
Call for Submissions
Flash Fiction Online: Special call for “Tiny Gods” (500-1,000 words). Guest Editor: Jennifer Brozek. (Source: FFO Submittable)
Yale Sci X Sci-Fi Contest: Seeking flash fiction (300-1,000 words) focusing on climate hope and sustainability. (Source: Yale Planetary Solutions)
Raconteur Press: Crash Landings: Seeking homage stories to the “meteor in the woods” trope (5,000–8,000 words). (Source: Curiosity Never Killed the Writer)
Metatron Press: Seeking experimental digital literature and anti-genre prose (10–40 pages). (Source: Metatron Press)
Agita: Seeking horror or dark science fiction flash stories (up to 1,000 words). (Source: Agita Magazine)
Orion’s Belt: Open for speculative flash fiction and poetry (1,200 words max). (Source: Orion’s Belt Mag)
Transcendent Fiction: Seeking speculative fiction with therian/otherkin protagonists. (Source: Transcendent Fiction)
Book XI: Seeking science fiction and humor with philosophical themes. (Source: Book XI Submission Guidelines)
The Forge Literary Magazine: Open for prose under 3,000 words. (Source: The Forge)
Cosmic Horror Monthly: Tribute fiction for C.L. Moore. (Source: Cosmic Horror Monthly)
Science & Spaceflight
Artemis II Launch Rollback: NASA’s SLS rocket has returned to the VAB to troubleshoot helium flow issues; rollout expected later this month for an April window. (Source: NASA.gov Blog)
Artemis Course Correction: NASA eliminates SLS Block 1B and Mobile Launcher 2, reportedly shifting to a Centaur V-based upper stage for future missions. (Source: Space.com)
NASA Dragonfly Update: The Titan rotorcraft has reached its final design milestone for its 2028 launch. (Source: NASA.gov News)
SpaceX Starlink 10-40 Mission: Successful launch of the 600th Starlink satellite of 2026 from Cape Canaveral. (Source: Spaceflight Now)
ULA Centaur 5 for SLS: NASA contract confirms selection of the Centaur 5 as the new upper stage for Artemis IV+. (Source: Spaceflight Now)
PLD Space Funding: Spanish startup raises $209M to scale production of the Miura 5 rocket. (Source: Spaceflight Now)
Skyroot Vikram-1 Integration: India’s private rocket enters final integration phase. (Source: Economic Times Tech)
Vast and Axiom Private Missions: NASA awards new private mission contracts for ISS research. (Source: NASASpaceFlight)
Starship Flight 12 Prep: Ship 39 begins preflight movements at Starbase. (Source: NASASpaceFlight)
Japan Kairos Launch Preview: Japan’s commercial rocket Kairos prepared for its March window. (Source: NASASpaceFlight)
SF Literature
Hell’s Heart by Alexis Hall: Solar system survival horror involving “spermaceti” harvesting on Jupiter. Released March 10. (Source: Dark Shelf of Wonders)
Imagine a Friend by David Quantick: New speculative release from Stars and Sabers Publishing. (Source: Dark Shelf of Wonders)
Star Shipped by Cat Sebastian: Contemporary romance set on a popular sci-fi television series. (Source: Flyleaf Books)
Strange Buildings by Uketsu: Unsettling mystery following the author’s previous “Strange” titles. (Source: Flyleaf Books)
Green & Deadly Things by Jenn Lyons: High-fantasy standalone about sentient forests. (Source: Dark Shelf of Wonders)
Children of Strife by Adrian Tchaikovsky: Launching March 19 in the Children of Time universe. (Source: The Phrase Maker)
Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yamboa: A debut exploring favoritism and exploration. (Source: Runalong The Shelves)
Folio Society March Release: New editions of The Last Unicorn and Station Eleven. (Source: Andrew Liptak’s Transfer Orbit)
Nature Futures Index: Updated master index for the long-running short fiction series. (Source: SF² Concatenation)
Robert J. Sawyer Index: Comprehensive update on Sawyer’s short fiction milestones. (Source: Science Fiction 101)
Gaming: Tabletop & Digital
Grimdark Future v3.5.1: March 2026 Patreon release and rules update from OnePageRules. (Source: OPR Games)
Away Team: The Voyages of the Pandora: SOLITAIRE campaign game from GMT generating buzz on BGG. (Source: BoardGameGeek)
SETI (CGE): Hard-SF board game trending in the BGG Top 10 Hotness for March. (Source: BoardGameGeek)
Exodus RPG: Renegade Games brings the Fallout-inspired classic to modern tabletops. (Source: Renegade Game Studios)
Star Wars: Unlimited – A Lawless Time: Booster release scheduled for March 13. (Source: Board Game Bliss)
Dune: War for Arrakis Expansion: Desert War expansion now in stock. (Source: Board Game Bliss)
Echoes of Time: Strategic time-manipulation board game reviewed this week. (Source: BGG Thread 3258124)
Gamicon Bromine: Final auction items and program books finalized for the March 6-8 convention. (Source: Tabletop.Events)
Planet of Lana 2: Cinematic SF puzzle platformer arrives on Game Pass. (Source: Times of India Tech)
Slay the Spire 2: Roguelike sequel enters early access. (Source: TheGamer)
Film, TV & Streaming
Project Hail Mary: Ryan Gosling starrer set for March 26 India release in IMAX. (Source: Times of India)
Upcoming 2026 SF Movies: Space.com lists The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (April) and The Mandalorian and Grogu (May). (Source: Space.com)
Disclosure Day: Steven Spielberg’s upcoming 2026 SF project confirmed for a June 12 window. (Source: Space.com)
War Machine Review: Netflix’s militaristic SF survival film starring Alan Ritchson. (Source: The Guardian Film)
Obex: Retro-Gaming Surrealism: Lynchian SF/Fantasy tribute arriving on digital platforms. (Source: The Guardian Culture)
Sky Studios Expansion: £2B investment in Elstree site, home to Jurassic World: Rebirth. (Source: SF² Concatenation)
BFI 4K Invaders From Mars: Restoration of the 1953 classic available now. (Source: Science Fiction 101)
Netflix Boroughs Teaser: Details emerge on the “Stranger Things meets batteries not included” series. (Source: Deadline)
Historical Happenings
1978: The Hitchhiker’s Guide Radio Debut: First episode on BBC Radio 4. (Source: BBC Archive)
1934: Birth of Yuri Gagarin: First human in space. (Source: ISFDB.org)
1910: Raymonde de Laroche’s License: First woman to receive a pilot’s license. (Source: HistoryNet)
1958: Vanguard 1 Prep: Oldest satellite still in orbit readied for launch. (Source: NASA NSSDC)
1887: Death of Henry Ward Beecher: Influence on Victorian Utopian writing. (Source: ISFDB.org)
Fandom & Art
Remembering Grant Canfield (1945–2025): Honoring the legendary fan artist. (Source: Amazing Stories News)
Nuremberg 2028 Worldcon Bid: Publicity ramp-up after ConKigali withdrawal. (Source: Amazing Stories News)
Glasgow 2024 Retrospective: Review of publications policy at the recent Worldcon. (Source: SF² Concatenation)
Eating the Fantastic: Scott Edelman chats with Liz Gorinsky in Episode 276. (Source: Amazing Stories News)
SFWA Elections: Updates on ongoing elections for member-voters. (Source: Amazing Stories News)
Cool Stuff: The Materialist’s Corner
The Marx “Cape Kennedy” Missile Crawler (Vintage Restoration) A stunning look at the centerpiece of the original 1960s Marx Carryall playset. This friction-powered behemoth is a holy grail for fans of vintage 50s-60s retro space toys. Source: Marx Toy Museum Digital Archive
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Steve Davidson is the publisher of Amazing Stories.
Steve has been a passionate fan of science fiction since the mid-60s, before he even knew what it was called.
