Adaptability (Free Short Story)

[--- Karen Myers ---] Almost all my writing is long form (not just novels, but series), and it's almost all Fantasy vs SciFi. In addition to one stand-alone SciFi story (Second Sight), I have a vague notion of an eventual compilation of SciFi stories (There's a Sword for That) sharing the common theme of "unusual... Continue Reading →

Taking on hell with a fire-bucket

There are times when it is probably relatively sensible to back away. When the 'good idea' fairy is being their most helpful... Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), humans are not very good at that. Monkeys like myself, less so. This explains a great deal about the situations I frequently find myself in, as well as a... Continue Reading →

Keeping it short

This is a topic on something I don't know how to do. Or a request for help. How do you write a short story, and keep it short? My shortest story is really a novelette, not short enough to be a short. And not every anthology is going to let me get away with writing... Continue Reading →

Spices and Inspiration

The latest story, Business not Bullets, came from several sources - first, a long-running conversation / argument about what would actually be economically feasible to transport across interstellar distances, as drawn from current and historical examples. Ideally, a colony world would export digital entertainment: songs, movies, books. They contain no mass, require no extra fuel... Continue Reading →

You want me to write… short?

I was invited to an anthology. No, that's not quite right. I looked up from my food, as Jim Curtis said, "You need to write more." I cleverly replied, "What?" He looked at me. I looked at him. "Uh... I haven't gotten the latest chapter to you to beta, but I am working on it..."... Continue Reading →

What Colors are Your Worlds?

Description is vital to world building. You need some setting, at least a quick sketch to show readers where your characters are and what's happening. How characters describe their surroundings can also be a clue as to something unusual.  Does the protagonist focus on smell over color (Rada Ni Drako?) Do they focus on the... Continue Reading →

Collections

Why on God’s Green Earth am I creating a collection of my stories? Well, you see, I had all these three quarters written stories, all in my Wine of the Gods series, but I’d written and published past them. And my numbering is mixed up enough already thank you. I can publish a collection as... Continue Reading →

Butcher’s Bill

Filed under: HFY, BEM Grothmorgu stared around the battlefield after the indigenes had withdrawn. The remains of his Mass heaved themselves out of the heaps of gore and corpses, staggering to their pods. Few of the green-skinned savages lay among the Holy People. The ugly things had sent their wounded back, and soaked up an... Continue Reading →

A day short and a dollar late

Image by 7854 on Pixabay The short story, once the absolute heart of the sf writer’s career has long since dwindled off to become so irrelevant that many a successful author never writes one, and certainly many (me included) never sold one prior to selling a novel. There is very little money in shorts these... Continue Reading →

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