I am the worst Dragon trainer in the universe. No, I don't mean a winged reptile. I mean of course the Nuance program. Look, years ago, when the Earth was new -- now I think about it, probably 18 years ago or so -- I had the then current version of dragon, and I trained... Continue Reading →
Genre Signals: Science Fiction
Starships! Computers! Blasters/phasers/proton torpedoes/lasers in spaaaaaaaace!!!! Toss those into your story, stir, slap on a tag and go right? If only. (I decided on this before Karen posted her piece, so I'm riffing off of her, plus going a few other directions. No, we did not plan in advance. Pinkie-claw swear.) Science fiction goes back... Continue Reading →
Empty as a pocket
I think I ought to change my name to MT Vessel - but then I might have to make more noise. Honestly, I am exhausted and empty at the moment, the stress of 'guvmint he'ping' me is telling. It's a long story, but our local petty bureaucrats are solving Australia's housing and rental crisis (horrendous... Continue Reading →
Sunday Snippet: Alma Boykin W-I-P
"Saxo, what are you doing?" A firm hand grabbed the back of his neck and collars and hauled him upright. "Boy, I told you—" Master Agri stopped. "That bird's leg." The young, grey-tan great-hauler gelding walked back and forth in his pen, nibbling a little of the fresh food Saxo had given him after he... Continue Reading →
Tactical Farmhand
This post is expanding on a topic that CV Walter, Jonna Hayden, and I discussed on Episode 3 of the Broad Cast. The Broad Cast is presented by the Three Moms of the Apocalypse, and it's a podcast spun off from the livecast run by JL Curtis. Three women, all highly creative, sitting and chatting... Continue Reading →
Putting the Science in Science Fiction (and vice versa)
[--- Karen Myers ---] Plenty of SFF authors have practiced (professionally) what they preach (in their stories) -- in the world of science, anyway. This is everyone's favorite: Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex by Larry Niven (From "All the Myriad Ways" (1971)). Niven answers all the important questions. It's a classic, and short --... Continue Reading →
How Much Is Your Reputation Worth? – (AKA) Do Your Great-Grandchildren Need Your Copyright? A Guest Post By Frank Hood
How Much Is Your Reputation Worth? - (AKA) Do Your Great-Grandchildren Need Your Copyright? A Guest Post By Frank Hood Headnote: Since we're all either writers here or people fairly savvy about the ins and outs of the writing life, I have to apologize for insulting anyone's knowledge, since I wrote much of this for... Continue Reading →
Commercials and Genre: It’s All in the Signals
—Alma T. C. Boykin— Is the book urban fantasy, plain fantasy, historical fiction? Yes? The correct answer is Yes. So, the annual "fun commercials with a football game in the middle" has come and gone in the United States. The general sense among my friends and coworkers was that with one exception, the commercials were... Continue Reading →
History is fluid and time is an illusion
'and lunch-time, doubly so.' (Thank you, Douglas Adams.) Enjoy this while it lasts, because there is little doubt that some Owellian little prat somewhere in the future will be shocked at the idea of "Two pints, at lunch-time" being mentioned and re-write it. As Orwell predicted: 'Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book... Continue Reading →
Truth in Fiction
"So, to tell a few truths I can't manage in any other way, I tell a larger lie. I make fiction. But sometimes, when I'm lucky, I find out that in the process of telling that big lie, I tell more truth than I set out to. When I'm luckiest, I tell myself things even... Continue Reading →