There are days I feel like my head is full of fluff and bother. This is one of those days. For one thing, I slept in. Even now, sitting upright at my desk, I would like to go back to bed. However. I have this post to write, conflicting times on an obligation midday today,... 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 →
Worldbuilding and Writing Style– Jason Fuesting
Guest post by my friend and fellow author, Jason Fuesting. He had a book come out yesterday, and I had asked him for a guest post. You should definitely look up his stuff, and there is more coming soon! Book 1 in the series, By Dawn's Early Light Even though I'd scribbled words many years... Continue Reading →
And Again, with More Feeling
From a writer's perspective, I'm trying to watch the world unfold around me with the prerequisite distance to learn from it, rather than be caught up in the emotions of the moment. We are too close for objectivity, and will be for some time. Besides which, we need logic, not emotion, at the moment. It's... Continue Reading →
Anti-Curious
"To be anti-free speech is to be anti-curious" -- Ayishat Akanbi I was driving home from work, and listening to a podcast, because I've learned that dictation on the way to work is possible. Coming home? I'm tired and the story doesn't want to come out. Also, one more complication while I am driving tired... Continue Reading →
Childlike Enthusiasm
I've been listening to a linguist, John McWhorter, on his passion for languages via the podcast Lexicon Valley. One of the things I realized recently is that the reason I'm enjoying it so much isn't just that I have this deep affection for the English language (although I do). It's the charm of it. It's... Continue Reading →
FlySafe School, Ltd.
Science Fiction, fantasy, anything in between, most of these stories focus on the big problems. Really big problems, with plenty of drama. Save the village, save the world, save the universe! Life as we know it is over! We read them to dream, to let our imaginations wander. To reconnect with that sense of wonder... Continue Reading →
How to Read: Science Edition
Last week I'd offered to do a full write up of how to read scientific paper critically, and asked if there was any interest in such a topic. No one asked for this, but here you are anyway. I did the research, and I've got nothin' else! Besides which, it's a fascinating topic to me,... Continue Reading →
The Grim and The Bright
(Thanks for rescuing me. They were threatening to make me write romance novels as a form of punishment until I showed them one of my pen names and the Harlequin-esque novel. They hurriedly gave in to your demands and now I'm free.) Part of the issue today with aspects of science fiction is that some... Continue Reading →
Trendy Trendsetters, All
There are trends, and then there are trends. Look at it this way: you could be trendy and buy jeans with fake dirt on them, for $425. Frankly, I raised an eyebrow when I first saw this go viral, because it's an interesting psychological study. We are, culturally, fetishizing the working man. Think about it.... Continue Reading →