It had been a while since the ships stopped coming. Lillith told herself that it didn’t matter all that much. She had everything she needed. Shelter in her prefab dome. Feasts of plenty from her diverse garden. Books to read, endless vids to watch, all paid for by her simple labor of monitoring equipment that Continue
Relics From the Stream
Voyagers (SF)
How come you don’t know about them? You can’t go on your first deep mission without knowing what to do if you see one. They’re out there in the black. Some say they’re from the before times, Some say they’re proof of alien life. Folks say if you see one, you’d better make a wish, Continue
Bi-yo-Warez: New Year, New You! (SF)
“Take a resolution. I dare you.” Freya’s eyes glittered like blue ice in the reflection of the LED vending machine lights. Under the Bi-yo-Warez: New Year, New You! banner was a simple screen to enter info and make payments. The resolution, picked by biometric scan and social media analysis, would be spooled out like old-fashioned Continue
The Deep Child
Mirriam took a sip of her tepid coffee as she watched yet another group of children and adults pass by her garden gate. Everyone had a sled in tow, a smile on their face and a carol on their lips. Her own smile drooped when she realized that they weren’t Christmas carolers. They went on Continue
Radio Flyer (Memoir)
I find the sled at the back of the shed. Red rails, wooden slats, a leash of weathered jute. It sings to me, begs me to take it out into the snow. When I pull it free of the cobwebs, it looks barely used. That was yours once, Dad says. I stare at it, appalled Continue
Robin Redbreast (Contemporary Fiction)
Robin peered down the ridgeline, scoping out the ranch below. In the late afternoon twilight, everything looked picture-perfect. A thick blanket of snow made everything look pristine. The house, a gigantic ultramodern interpretation of a log cabin, glowed with Christmas lights. The light breeze carried a whiff of the smoke that drifted from the river Continue
The Heroine’s Journey
I want to tell you a secret. I have a heroine’s journey story hidden in plain sight. The Heroine’s Journey is a bit of writing craft that’s been gaining traction recently. Many novels are written on the familiar “Hero’s Journey” skeleton. Heroine’s Journey stories parallel Hero’s Journey in that both deal with people going out Continue
Happy Birthday to the Vampyre Genre!
The first English language vampire literary story was The Vampyre, written by John William Polidori. First published April 1, 1819, it was originally developed as a contest piece. The writers in the group also included Lord Byron and Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein. Gothic horror became super popular in the English-speaking world in the Continue
