Kenai, Alaska native and Kenai Central High School graduate (’04) Sky McKinnon was a winner in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest and was honored along with eleven other writers and twelve artists at the Taglyan Complex in Hollywood, California, on Apr. 25th. His story, “The Edge of Where My Light Is Cast,” is published along with the other writers’ and illustrators’ stories and art in the international bestselling anthology L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 40, which will be officially released on May 7th.
Sky McKinnon is an author and artist grown from the Pacific coast of Alaska. He holds an MFA in Poetry from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and a master’s in library and information science from the University of Washington, though their journey with stories began with their mother in the forests of the North.
According to a press release from Galaxy Press, “‘The Edge of Where My Light Is Cast’ explores, though not answers, the question of how love and memory manifest in new technology. At what point do these afterimages take on their own life, and how far do they reach? It is also, for those with a taste for more direct description, a tale of a cat and caretaker who love each other very much.”
The story is dedicated to the memory of a friend and mentor to McKinnon, Derick Burleson.
The L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest is in its 41st year and is judged by some of the premier names in speculative fiction.
The Writers of the Future Contest judges include Tim Powers (author of On Stranger Tides), Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert (Dune prequel series), Robert J. Sawyer (The Oppenheimer Alternative), Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn series, The Stormlight Archive), Larry Niven (Ringworld), Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game), Nnedi Okorafor (Who Fears Death), Hugh Howey (Wool), and Katherine Kurtz (Deryni series) to name a few.
The Illustrators of the Future Contest judges include Bob Eggleton (11 Chesley Awards and 7 Hugo Awards), Larry Elmore (Dungeons & Dragons book covers), Echo Chernik (graphic designs for major corporations, including Celestial Seasonings tea packaging), Rob Prior (art for Spawn, Heavy Metal comics, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer), and Ciruelo (Eragon Coloring Book).
Following the 1982 release of his internationally acclaimed bestselling science fiction novel Battlefield Earth, written to celebrate 50 years as a professional writer, L. Ron Hubbard created the Writers of the Future in 1983 to provide a means for aspiring writers of speculative fiction to get that much-needed break. Due to the success of the Writers of the Future Contest, the companion Illustrators of the Future Contest was inaugurated five years later.
In the 40 years of the Writers of the Future Contest, there have been 559 winners and published finalists. The past winners of the Writing Contest have published 2,000 novels and nearly 6,300 short stories. They have produced 36 New York Times bestsellers, and their works have sold over 60 million copies.
In the 35 years of the Illustrators of the Future Contest, there have been 406 winners. The past winners of the Illustrating Contest have produced over 6,800 illustrations and 390 comic books, graced 700 books and albums with their art, and visually contributed to 68 television shows and 40 major movies.
The Writers of the Future Award is the genre’s most prestigious award and has now become the largest, most successful, and demonstrably most influential vehicle for budding creative talent in the world of speculative fiction. Since its inception, the Writers and Illustrators of the Future contests have produced 40 anthology volumes (with this event) and awarded upwards of $1 million in cash prizes and royalties.
For more information about the Contests, go to www.WritersoftheFuture.com.
