Today I read an unpublished novelette that – in theory – was a page turner. A former mind-swap expert treks to a remote monastery to look for his ex-wife who’s hiding as a mind upload in a virtual-reality maze where she can never be found. This novelette – which
In the comments of a Guardian article about the cult-like nature of Britain’s shrinking political parties: Technology has driven cultural changes, what we see is what politics looks like when people have so much control over what they see, and who they speak with. Social
Everyone else has opinions on Donald Trump. I’m British, but we’ve getting plenty of coverage over here. So, hey, why shouldn’t I join in the fun. 1. No, I’m not going to point and yell “fascist”. Yep, Trump’s egotism and nativism is somewhat 1930s jackboots-&-genocide, but fascism is mostly
By four o’clock I’d wound up taking photos of a 1950s power station in a town on the Kent coast where I had no sane reason to be. I was down on travel options, I was out of daylight, and the only constructive thing I’d done in
The god gave his keys to my brother, but I knew it was a mistake. Keys are a woman’s domain. The Secrets of the Universe, a flash fiction by Kat Otis, is published today by Daily Science Fiction. It’s Renaissance fantasy, but executed with exceptional grace, polish
Greg from Rocket Stack Rank wrote in the comments on Lela E. Buis’ blog: Try “Damage” for a really bad story that actually got recommended by someone. How could I resist an invitation like that? And, yep, Damage is pretty bad. Although not the worst I’ve read this
“My #1 candidate for the worst short SFF published in any professional venue in 2015” That’s how Greg at Rocket Stack Rank described Pan Haitian’s short story The Hunger Tower. I can’t say I disagree with him. This is a literary car crash. A monster truck
Self-published eBook author? Want to convert samples into sales? Consider cutting the “front matter”: the testimonials, genealogy, pronunciation guide, foreword, epigraph and cast of characters: When you get a reader interested enough that they downloaded a sample, or are clicking “look inside” on a web page, you really don’t
Great tip for writers who plan to self-publish their books on Amazon Kindle (and similar). ‘Writing to market’ used to mean writing ‘teenage vampire stockbroker‘ erotica for publishers looking to meet the latest craze. For indie authors, ‘writing to market’ means: I’m going to look at the sub-sub genres, check the potential sales
I have a Gitta Sereny-like fascination with the morality of violence. Film-maker Deeyah Khan spoke to the London Evening Standard about Jihad: A British Story: I suggest IS may be the ultimate headhunters. Khan nods. “They are. It’s also like grooming. They find out what