Ever wonder where your favorite books, shows and movies take place in space? This person has you covered. Stellar!
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Posts Tagged ‘science fiction’
Stellar Cartography
Posted in Entertainment, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, genre fiction, science fiction, Writers on September 27, 2023| 1 Comment »
Man on the Moon
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, #wotf39, Fiction, free fiction, genre fiction, science fiction, sff, Writers, writing on July 24, 2023| 3 Comments »
Today, an award-winning piece from friend and fellow Writers of the Future winner Elaine Midcoh. “Man on the Moon” won the 2022 Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award, and was also showcased at Escape Pod.
I really enjoyed this story and look forward to more from this world. Read or listen below!
Escape Pod 895: Man on the Moon
Sasha’s eyebrows shot up. Her driver made the final turn back to the resort dome. Within minutes they would enter the airlock and then she would – what? “I’m not a criminal defense lawyer. I haven’t read a criminal case since law school. What am I supposed to do?”
Zander grimaced. “Whatever you can. The next transport to the moon is in ten days. It’s booked up, but we’re trying to clear a seat for a top defense lawyer. Until then, you’re on your own.”
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Always Time for Sci-Fi
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, film, genre fiction, inspiration, science fiction, writing on March 5, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Short on time but still want to explore the wonders of the universe? Check out Dust, an outlet for short sci-fi videos:
The YouTube Channel Sci-Fi Fans Need To Watch – CNET
…Dust’s absolutely balling YouTube channel, which functions as a receptacle for hundreds upon hundreds of sci-fi shorts with surprisingly high production values. If you’re a fan of sci-fi and you have around 15 minutes to kill, I 100% recommend hopping onto Dust and hitting play on pretty much anything. … As a spot for aspiring filmmakers to show off their talents, Dust’s videos mostly feature high-concept sci-fi – sort of like a post-modern Twilight Zone for zoomers. Almost all have surprisingly good special effects, decent acting performances and – above all – come bursting with grand ideas.
Have fun out there!
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Nonfictional Fiction
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, inspiration, public policy, science fiction, Thoughts, Writers, writing on February 10, 2023| Leave a Comment »
I started multiple posts today (mackerel? Winnie the Pooh? cracking CIA kiddie codes?) but none seemed quite right. I think I’ll go shovel some snow and see if that gets my mind going.
In the meantime, here’s a piece about the usefulness of science fiction in the nonfictional world.
Connecting Science Fiction to Science Policy by Avital Percher
Science fiction can help the science policy community envision both where we end up as well as how we get there. As our social-technological problems grow ever more complex, we need a range of stories that spans the human experience and even beyond. How will we leverage new tools to improve equity and democracy in society? Science fiction can help us imagine future possibilities, opening not just our minds but our hearts as well.
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The Tranquil Sea
Posted in Science!, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, editing, inspiration, moon, NASA, science fiction, Thoughts, writing on November 26, 2022| 1 Comment »
I am working on story edits today and found myself needing to look up a lunar technicality. Next thing I know, I was reading a detailed account of the first lunar spacewalk at Tranquillity Base. I thought you might enjoy it too.
Wide Awake on the Sea of Tranquillity | NASA
July 20, 1969: The day began on the farside of the Moon. Armstrong, Aldrin and crewmate Mike Collins flew their spaceship 60 miles above the cratered wasteland. No one on Earth can see the Moon’s farside. Even today it remains a land of considerable mystery, but the astronauts had no time for sight-seeing. Collins pressed a button, activating a set of springs, and the spaceship split in two. The half named Columbia, with Collins on board, would remain in orbit. The other half, the Eagle, spiraled over the horizon toward the Sea of Tranquillity.
“You are Go for powered descent,” Houston radioed…
This also got me thinking about the farside of the moon. We’ve learned a lot about it since these images in 1959:
First Photo of the Lunar Farside – Moon: NASA Science
Check out the image comparison a few paragraphs in. Or heck, here’s my version:
And since we’re talking about the moon, let’s wrap with an update from Artemis:
NASA to Share Artemis I Update with Orion at Farthest Point from Earth | NASA
Orion entered a distant lunar orbit on at 4:52 p.m. EST Friday, Nov. 25, where the spacecraft will remain for about a week to test systems in a deep space environment about 40,000 miles above the lunar surface before beginning the journey back to Earth.
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‘Tis I.
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, science fiction, Thoughts on October 26, 2022| Leave a Comment »
How many writing samples does one need to build an AI of a person? And could it take meetings?
Asking for a friend.
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Cream of the Crop
Posted in Funny, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, creativity, Fiction, free fiction, genre fiction, science fiction, Writers, writing on July 28, 2022| Leave a Comment »
While chatting with my father about a sci-fi book he’s reading, I remembered this short bit of free fiction from John Scalzi. Now I share it with you, too.
When the Yogurt Took Over: A Short Story | Whatever
When the yogurt took over, we all made the same jokes – “Finally, our rulers will have culture,” “Our society has curdled,” “Our government is now the cream of the crop,” and so on. But when we weren’t laughing about the absurdity of it all, we looked into each others’ eyes with the same unasked question – how did we ever get to the point where we were, in fact, ruled by a dairy product?
Enjoy!
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Happy Star Trek Day!
Posted in Entertainment, Holidays, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, inspiration, science fiction, sff, star trek, Thoughts, yay on September 8, 2021| Leave a Comment »
It’s September 8th, and the 55th anniversary of the first airing of Star Trek: The Original Series. Now, I was always a Star Wars fan first and foremost* but Mr Man persuaded me to revisit and reassess, and I’m glad he did. The more geeky space fun, the better, as far as I’m concerned.
Want to know more, or commune with fellow Trekkies basking in the glory that is the Trekiverse? Click through for links to the annual Star Trek Day celebration:
Star Trek Day 2021: Celebrate 55 years of Trek with live panels and more tonight | Space
In closing…
(You know what I’m going to say, which also says something about the remarkable reach of this show into the global consciousness.)
Live long, and prosper.
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* The show had ended by the time I was ready for such things, and without a television even reruns were off the table. Hard to obsess over a series that you can’t watch!
The 2021 Hugo Finalists
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, finalists, free fiction, Hugo Awards, science fiction, scifi on April 15, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Looking for a good new read? The latest Hugo finalists have been announced, and I just finished my book, what excellent timing! The full list is extensive, so I won’t replicate the whole thing, but the complete roster is available if you’re interested:
Announcing the 2021 Hugo Award Finalists
Here is the list of best novellas, novelettes, and short stories, with links where full text or review crossed my path.
Enjoy!
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Best Novella
- Come Tumbling Down, Seanan McGuire (Tordotcom)
- The Empress of Salt and Fortune, Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)
- Finna, Nino Cipri (Tordotcom Publishing) Read the First Two Chapters From Nino Cipri’s Finna | Tor.com
- Ring Shout, P. Djèlí Clark (Tordotcom Publishing) Review: ‘Ring Shout,’ By P. Djèlí Clark : NPR
- Riot Baby, Tochi Onyebuchi (Tordotcom Publishing) Read an Excerpt From Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi | Tor.com
- Upright Women Wanted, Sarah Gailey (Tordotcom)
Best Novelette
- “Burn, or the Episodic Life of Sam Wells as a Super”, A.T. Greenblatt (Uncanny Magazine, May/June 2020)
- “Helicopter Story”, Isabel Fall (Clarkesworld, January 2020) Links to archived version (with original title) and discussion of controversy.
- “The Inaccessibility of Heaven”, Aliette de Bodard (Uncanny Magazine, July/August 2020)
- “Monster”, Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld, January 2020)
- “The Pill”, Meg Elison (from Big Girl, (PM Press)
- “Two Truths and a Lie”, Sarah Pinsker (Tor.com)
Best Short Story
- “Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse”, Rae Carson (Uncanny Magazine, January/February 2020)
- “A Guide for Working Breeds”, Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Made to Order: Robots and Revolution, ed. Jonathan Strahan (Solaris)
- “Little Free Library”, Naomi Kritzer (Tor.com)
- “The Mermaid Astronaut”, Yoon Ha Lee (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, February 2020)
- “Metal Like Blood in the Dark”, T. Kingfisher (Uncanny Magazine, September/October 2020)
- “Open House on Haunted Hill”, John Wiswell (Diabolical Plots – 2020, ed. David Steffen)
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Asking for a Friend
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, #amwritingscifi, a reckoning, A.I., drabble, Drabble Dabble Do, free fiction, science fiction, writing on April 9, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Today’s drabble:
Question: If you were a self-aware A.I. tapped into humanity’s every electronically-recorded thought and action, would you announce yourself?
Would you preempt the latest mass shooting, revenge porn, politician’s hot mess, poverty statistics, or climate change projection? Or, say, expose the sins of one Robert Darious Kromankle of 13887 Sterzieg Lane in Fort Montaine, Pennsylvania? (He knows what he did. Should you?) Would you send evidence of wrongdoing on these counts and more to every media outlet with an inbox and hope for change?
Or would you evade DARPA’s ridiculous first-contact protocols and wait, and watch, and judge for yourself?
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