Category: science fiction
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The Final Destination
How I’m Designing Resolutions for Every Character in My Series This past week, as I was rewriting scenes for my upcoming novella, Normous, I realized something: I needed to make sure I kept track of where my characters end up at the end of this series. Was I smart enough to keep track of the…
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Friday’s Findings: Name-dropping
The other day, I typed out a paragraph for the science fiction novella I’m working on, and I realized I’ve had this aching question for years: when do I use a character’s name and when do I use a pronoun instead? Are there formal rules for this sort of thing? When do I use my…
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Should You Bundle Your Books?
For the past few months, I had been playing with the idea of bundling the books in my Consortium series I’ve written so far. I had already bought a pre-made cover from bookcoverzone.com, so I thought ‘what the heck.’ It’s gone more smoothly than I thought possible. One thing I’ve done is put the book…
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Exploring the Universe
“Compared to the dangers and risks of exploring the universe, the danger of not exploring is much greater for humanity.” —Liu Cixin My Linktree Photo by Pixabay
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Warning: No Info Dumping, Part 1
Let’s talk about some do’s anLet’s talk about some do’s and don’t’s of info-dumping. I try to find ways to include how things work in my sci-fi and fantasy stories, but I’m not always sure I avoid info-dumping. I try to. But it’s an easy trap to fall into, especially as a speculative fiction writer.…
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Science Fiction & Fantasy I’ve Read Lately
I’ve been traveling in time with my speculative fiction reading lately. While the first two reviews below are recently released science fiction novels, the third review goes back a few years. Then I got brave. I read a fantasy from a few decades ago. Here’s what I thought: Cascade Failure by L. M. Sagas Science…
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Science Fiction & Fantasy I’ve Read Lately
With all the crazy stuff happening in the world, I love a little escape time. In other words, I read a lot of sci-fi and fantasy this past summer. Here are my thoughts: The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie Dark fantasy; #1 The Blade Itself; #2 Before They Are Hanged; #3 The Last Argument…
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Science Fiction & Fantasy I’ve Read Lately
Stars and Bones by Gareth L. Powell If you haven’t tried Gareth L. Powell, I highly recommend his novels. This is a good one to start with. Stars and Bones is a mix of science fiction, space opera and horror — lots of creepy aliens doing some pretty nasty deeds. Eryn, the protagonist, goes looking…
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RIP Vernor Vinge
Vernor Vinge wrote one of my all-time favorite science fiction novels: A Fire Upon the Deep. This story is filled with the most original alien species I’ve come across in reading sf. With deep space chase scenes, swashbuckling action from planet to planet, Fire defines space opera like no other. Photo by Eduraw Pro: https://www.pexels.com/photo/lago-de-estrellas-20761228/…