Rose City Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers
Our three-fold mission is to create, socialize, and learn. We provide safe, inclusive spaces (in-person and online) for speculative fiction writers of all experience levels.
May 2026 Newsletter
Announcements: Authors’ Publications!
Celebrate our authors who have published last month, six months ago, and one year ago.
April 2026
Don’t Go Home by Deborah Sale-Butler in Double-back Review
https://doublebackreview.com/issue-8-1-april-2026/sale-butler-home/
Did you publish a story in May 2026, November 2025, or May 2025?
Please share your title, pen name, publication date, and a URL to rosecity.sff.writers@gmail.com.
Writing Advice
What Did You Say? Or Actions Speak Louder Than Words (Sometimes):
The Dos and Don’ts of Good Dialogue by Deborah Sale-Butler
Deborah Sale-Butler’s work has appeared in dozens of publications including "The Genre Society,” “Flash Fiction Magazine,” and “Amazing Stories: Best of 2025 Anthology.” You can find links to all her published work at https://deborah-sale-butler.com.
Dialogue can reveal character, add energy to a scene, and establish conflict if you use it well. Since dialogue can do so much, you may be tempted to make it do too much. Here are a few common mistakes, and what to try instead.
• Using dialogue to wedge in backstory (aka “You are my brother, as you know”)
Imagine a scene where two brothers, the king and his brother, the prince, meet. The prince has just returned from a battle he lost.
“Brother—my liege, I lament the loss of the thousand fallen, including your best friend, Demetrius, but the enemy had knowledge of the land. They surprised us from all sides before we could prepare. I know you sent me to secure Fallenbroke, and I’ve failed you. Your daughter, Felecia, will be gladdened to know that you will now favor her in the succession.”
So here, the author would be trying to establish relationships and tell some back story, but it comes off as an info dump. Nothing actually happens.
Let’s try introducing these characters again, while building tension through subtext. All that backstory can show up in smaller chunks later in the story:
The page bowed deeply. “Your brother is most anxious to speak with you, Sire.”
Aramis poured a glass of dandelion wine into a crystal goblet. He watched the late afternoon light bend through golden liquid. He sipped and rolled his tongue through its honeyed sweetness.
The page waited, still holding his bow.
“Tell him I will not see him.”
“Sire.” The page kept his eyes on the flagstones and crept backward through the door.
Aramis poured a second glass of wine into his goblet’s twin.
His daughter’s giggle rang like vesper bells from the antechamber. “You could at least have let him stand up.”
Aramis set the goblet on the table and took his daughter’s hands in his. “When you are queen, you must always keep lessers in their place, or they will perceive your kindness as weakness.”
Tease your readers with interesting questions and trust they can read between the lines.
• Direct address where it doesn’t belong
In real life, unless you’ve just met someone, you don’t insert their name into a conversation. Writers sometimes insert names to “help” readers figure out who’s who. It’s awkward.
“Barry, you forgot your keys again today.”
“Thank you, Doris, I’m glad you found them.”
Let actions do a bit more of the heavy lifting.
Doris dangled the keychain from her fingertips. “You forgot these again.”
Barry patted his pants pocket, as if the keys in her hand were an illusion, then held out his hand. “Thanks.”
She dropped the keys into his waiting hand and kissed him on the neck.
• Problem #3 – overuse of dialogue tags
In the above examples, you might notice the word “said” is never used. My mother-in-law, an avid audiobook consumer, once lamented the excessive use of dialogue tags in audiobooks. They start to sound like a tick, and no, changing “said” to “uttered, exclaimed, shouted, whispered, exhorted, boasted, or any other descriptor isn’t really the answer, either.
Recurring Meetups
RSVP on Meetup
https://www.meetup.com/rose-city-science-fiction-and-fantasy-writers/events/
Tuesday
Ava Roasteria at Orenco Station @ 11 am
936 NE Orenco Loop, Hillsboro, OR
Wednesday
The Clubhouse @ 5 pm
2365 SW Cedar Hills Blvd, Beaverton, OR
Thursday
Rose City Coffee @ 5 pm
3370 SE Milwaukie Ave, Portland, OR
Friday
Bold Coffee & Books @ 12 pm
1755 SW Jefferson St, Portland, OR
Saturday
Milwaukie Beer Store @ 11 am
10610 SE Main St, Milwaukie, OR
Other Event News
Volunteer at Sellwood Community House’s Summer at the Shack!
Remember WinterCon? That lovely venue is the Sellwood Community House, which generously provides us with free space for our annual convention. Let’s return the favor by volunteering to help kids during their annual Summer at the Shack. You can volunteer for as little as one hour or as much time as you’d like—and you get to choose what you’ll do. For example, Mick plans to teach elementary-age kids how to write a science fiction or fantasy story in just five sentences.
https://www.sellwoodcommunityhouse.org/the-shack-at-sellwood-park
Request a New Meetup Near You
Don’t see a Meetup in your area when you can make it? Fill out this form so we know where there is enough interest to start another.
Cyber-magi 2026
https://rosecitysff.org/cyber-magi
Volunteering to judge the 2026 Cyber-Magi Award is open! Judging will begin on December 17, 2026.
You’re welcome to submit your first chapter or short story anytime. You can submit updates until the deadline on December 16, 2026.
WinterCon 2027
https://rosecitysff.org/wintercon
Save the date! The next WinterCon will be January 23, 2027 @ 3 pm. Panel submissions are not yet open.
Beta Reading Exchange
Introducing the RCSFFW Beta Reading Exchange, a token-based system for beta-reading between writers.
Do you want to read speculative stories from local authors and help make them better? Register on our website (rosecitysff.org) and subscribe to the “Beta Reader Requests” list. Each story you read will give you one or more Beta Creds (1 per thousand words) to use when you’re ready for feedback on your own story.
Are you in need of beta readers? If you have Author status on our website, you can upload a work-in-progress to our website. We will send an email request to everyone on the beta reader list. Frequency and beta-credit limits apply.
To request Author status, please contact rosecity.sff.writers@gmail.com with when and where you attend our Meetups.