Huntington Woods man wins
international award for science fiction writing

By Jeremy Selweski
C & G Staff Writer

HUNTINGTON WOODS — The literary world isn’t exactly bursting at the seams with opportunities for science fiction authors, which is why writers like Al Bogdan of Huntington Woods have had to seek other avenues in order to get their voice heard by the masses.

And Bogdan may have just found his big break. The 46-year-old unpublished author is one of 12 writers and 12 illustrators from around the world who was named a winner in this year’s Writers and Illustrators of the Future short story writing contest.

Honored on August 15 during the 24th annual L. Ron Hubbard Achievement Awards in Hollywood, Calif., Bogdan received special recognition for his short story, “The Girl Who Whispered Beauty.” In addition, his story, along with those of the other winners, will appear in the yearly anthology, “L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers and Illustrators of the Future, Volume 24.”

Bogdan — who grew up in western Massachusetts but has lived in Huntington Woods since 1994 with his wife and their 3-year-old daughter — said he was honored to be recognized for something that has truly been a labor of love. For Bogdan, writing fiction in the sci-fi genre has always provided the greatest amount of personal satisfaction and joy.

“I’ve written stories based in the real world,” he said. “And that’s fine, but science fiction or fantasy stories get to create this incredible sense of wonder of what is possible. They get the reader to examine all these ‘what ifs’ and get involved in discovering this new world.”

Bogdan described the 7,000-word “The Girl Who Whispered Beauty” as a coming-of-age story set in the future, but admitted that the complex plot was a bit difficult to explain. Still, he said that element of wonder he loves so much is very prevalent in its framework.

“Since I can’t re-create a past I never lived, I can create a whole future world of my own,” he said.

“The Girl Who Whispered Beauty” impressed Canadian science fiction author Robert Sawyer, who has been a judge in the Writers of the Future contest for the past four years.

“To win this contest, you really have to be firing on all cylinders,” he said. “You have to have evocative prose, great dialogue, characters that are memorable and well-defined, and a captivating plot. Al’s story had all of that — he was doing everything right. I’m delighted that he was selected as one of the winners.”

Reading and writing have always been a major part of Bogdan’s life. As a child, he was always riding his bike to the library or convincing his parents to buy him books. Then, when he was 11, he had a pivotal experience that forever shaped the rest of his life.

“One summer while I was staying at my grandparents’ house, I ran out of books to read,” he said. “So, I just pulled out a pencil and paper and began writing my first science fiction story. I’ve been writing ever since.”

Later, Bogdan studied computer science and theater while attending Wayne State University. He has since worked as a software developer, video producer, multimedia producer and photographer, while his spare time has been filled with short films, painting, puppetry, music and — of course — writing his own science fiction stories.

In the past few years, he has submitted a number of his stories to the Writers and Illustrators of the Future contest, receiving recognitions as an honorable mention and a semifinalist — “slowly climbing my way up the ladder,” as he put it — before finally being named a winner this year.

“I think it’s fabulous,” said Bogdan’s wife, Larc. “He’s been working on this for a really long time.”

John Goodwin, president of Galaxy Press — which publishes the “Writers and Illustrators of the Future” anthology — stressed that despite being named after the founder of Scientology, the L. Ron Hubbard Awards have “no connection whatsoever” to the religion so popular among Hollywood celebrities.

Instead, it’s merely a contest for short fiction stories — 17,000 words or less — written by unpublished authors in the genres of science fiction and fantasy. “These stories are judged on merit and merit alone,” Goodwin said. “This is the top new talent in the field.”

Throughout the Writers and Illustrators of the Future contest’s 24-year history, more than 500 writers and illustrators have been recognized as winners. “What’s amazing to me is that a good 60 to 70 percent of the winners go on to successful careers,” said New York Times best-selling author and contest judge Kevin J. Anderson in a statement. “You could call it the ‘American Idol’ for writers — long before there ever was such a show.”

The contest was initiated by L. Ron Hubbard in 1983 to provide a means for aspiring writers to get a much-needed break, and its winners have gone on to publish more than 550 novels and 1,400 short stories, selling 31 million copies in the process.

Joni Labaqui, director of the contest, noted that it serves as a foot in the door to “the publishing industry, an industry renowned for being closed to the newcomer.”

“Well over 6 million fiction and non-fiction manuscripts make the rounds annually to find a publishing home, yet only 2,500 new science fiction and fantasy titles are published each year, and many of these are from already established authors,” she said in a statement. “That’s why these contests were created — because it’s so hard to get published, and there are so many talented people who give up on their dream to see their work in print.”

One thing’s for sure, though: As one of those talented people, Bogdan will not be putting his dream aside anytime soon. In fact, though he recognizes how challenging it can be to succeed as a fiction writer, he’s hoping this award can serve as a stepping stone.

“This doesn’t guarantee anything, but editors will definitely look at your work a little closer,” he said. “That’s actually the ultimate goal: pushing to become a more recognized, professional writer, even though I realize that it’s a very difficult industry to make it in. Life is full of rejection for writers, but I’d love to see how far I can take this.”

You can reach Staff Writer Jeremy Selweski at jselweski@candgnews.com or at (586) 218-5004.