by Arvind Singh

One of my friends recently remarked that reading or writing fiction in his opinion was a waste of time. Of course, he made this remark in jest. Yet I started to look at the value of fiction in a broad context in response to his criticism.

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reported by Cindy Adams, FictionFanatic.com

In the Spring of 2006, Harvard sophomore Kaavya Viswanathan was thrust into the limelight as a plagiarist. Her debut novel, "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life," contained dozens of passages which were nearly identical in substance or form to books by several other authors.

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reported by Susan F. Monroe, FictionFanatic.com

While thirty million readers a month read pulp fiction magazines during the first half of the 20th century, this past weekend at PulpCon 35 in Dayton, several hundred die-hard fans and collectors came together to celebrate the past glory of these historic publications.

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reported by Paul Lewis, FictionFanatic.com

Zilco Studios presents their newest production, SciFryGuys, A Podcast. During the show the hosts, Xen and Lon, present Science, Science Fiction and Fantasy news in all media types from movies to books to the internet in a humorous format.

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reported by Libby Jordan, FictionFanatic.com

Dr. Judith P. Shoaf of the University of Florida decided to take on "The Da Vinci Code" another way. With tongue firmly in cheek, Shoaf has written "The Da Vinci Barcode," a clever and refreshing parody of Dan Brown's popular book. She decided to have some fun with Dan Brown's sometimes confusing work.

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reported by Nigel Gimble, FictionFanatic.com

Karl Lembke has collected strange, wondrous, and tasty recipes from guests and members of the L.A. Con IV, the 64th World Science Fiction convention. In keeping with the convention's "Space Cadets" theme, Karl has published "The Official Manual for Spice Cadets."

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