Every January since I started running about a decade ago–has it really been that long?! Jeez, no wonder my hip hurts–I’ve celebrated New Year’s Day with a long run. Traditionally, the first song I cue on my playlist is U2’s “New Year’s Day”. (Yes, I’m that dorky. No, it doesn’t bother me anymore.) But yesterday … More New Year, New Story
Spoiler alert: this post contains minor spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 6 “Gendry is obviously not Robert Baratheon’s bastard,” I observed to my Laddie during the most recent episode of Game of Thrones. “His father has to be The Flash.” After a few days’ hiking with the wight-hunting party, our warrior-blacksmith seems … More The Air-Speed Velocity of Ravens: “Game of Thrones” and the Importance of Consistency in SFF Writing
Fantasy author Intisar Khanani featured a great guest post on her website this week, in which SFF author Anela Deen examines the challenges female sci-fi writers face in creative circles. The incisive piece really hit home for me. Although compelled to respond, I don’t have a Disqus account and my remarks are unreasonably lengthy for website comments, so … More Sci-Fi’s Glass Ceiling: A Guest Post Every Fan Should Read
At the end of 2016, I submitted a short story for a science fiction anthology. If you’ve kept up with my ramblings, you’ll know that the short story format presents huge challenges to me. But I thought this particular effort turned out well. Ambitious in its narrative scope, the story packed a lot of complexity … More Success in Failure: or, an Oddly Empowering Rejection
No longer content to misshelve his favorite fictions in the non-fiction section of our national discourse, our new Librarian in Chief now wants to ban the entire 500 class of the Dewey decimal system: science. Last week the Trump administration issued a so-called “gag order” banning federal science institutions—including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Agriculture, and Department of … More Sci-Fi Strikes Back: How Genre Fiction Can Combat Scientific Censorship
“I feel a bit unqualified,” I confessed to my dad. “A lowly indie author criticizing a Nebula award winner?” The man who always provides unflinchingly candid feedback on my manuscripts observed that acclaimed works don’t always stand on their own merit. “Call it like you see it,” he advised. So I will. Ancillary Mercy let … More Review: Ancillary Mercy
Wild Type 