Month: February 2015

  • This and That

    This and That

    Firstly, the reblog of today’s Mad Genius didn’t work on first attempt, so here’s the link. My mother, Kathleen Sanderson, was good enough to send me an article on her thoughts concerning animals in space. It’s pretty neat, and will be useful for future writing in science fiction for me – and others, I think.…

  • Selecting and Breeding Chickens for Colonists

    I asked my mother for her thoughts and ideas on keeping chickens and small livestock in space for a science fiction story. It’s very interesting that no-one seems to have addressed quite this topic in a tale.

  • Lessons Learned

    Lessons Learned

    I don’t think anyone is ever quite ready to become a parent. We try, read all the books, game out the scenarios of what we’d do when confronted with a certain situation. But when it comes down to it, you need two things: a sense of discipline, and a sense of humor. I’m going to…

  • Testing, Testing

    Testing, Testing

    *tap, tap…* Is this thing on? Because I’m not sure I have it working yet… Oh. Hi there! I’m just taking the new improved backend for a spin. That sounds bad, doesn’t it? Well, after spending a good part of my day moving the site over to a paid hosting account, and having a stressful…

  • Under Construction

    Under Construction

    I’m trying to move the blog to my hosting rather than WordPress. Unfortunately, that isn’t going smoothly.

  • Dragon Noir: Snippet Six

    Dragon Noir: Snippet Six

    And the book is done, off to beta readers, and feedback is already coming back. I will have a cover done this weekend, aided by potential bad weather that will trap me in the house so I have to work… or fool around. But I think I’ll at least get the cover done! As always,…

  • Be the Clapper

    Be the Clapper

    “But it is the only reason to write: for a moment, my mind becomes a bell that, in resonating, makes yours vibrate. It’s the closest we people of flesh can come to being in someone else’s mind, in that lonely space behind the eyes.” Read the rest at Mad Genius Club… 

  • Review: Hand of God

    Review: Hand of God

    I review a space opera over at Otherwhere Gazette, with a little more humor than usually slips into my reviews. I will also have a Friday review, as the long plane trip was good for my reading.

  • Science Fiction Question

    Science Fiction Question

    My mother and I have been talking about small livestock – it’s her specialty – and space colonization. She brought something up, and the only title that leaped to my mind was Dave Freer’s Slow Train to Arcturus. Only (it’s been a while since I read that) I think the segments of that generation ship that…

  • Guns in Fiction: More Useful Information

    Guns in Fiction: More Useful Information

    After I shared the link to my Mad Genius post on Saturday, Chris Byrne offered an assortment of articles he’s written on guns in fiction and real-life use over the years, and he gave me permission to put them all in one place to find again, and share with my readers. There is a lot…

  • Eat This While you Read That: Marko Kloos

    Eat This While you Read That: Marko Kloos

    And here’s the dish that began this series for me. Marko Kloos shared a lovely picture of his breakfast one snowy recent morning, and the First Reader looked at it and asked if we could find some of that jam and try it… As I was shopping online for it (it was snowy here, too!…

  • Dragon Noir is Finished!

    Well, mostly. I’m sending it out to beta readers this weekend, and it will go to the editors very soon, and there’s no doubt massive re-writing in my future… but it’s done, today. Put the last words on the story. I realized that it’s almost exactly a year from the same thing for Trickster Noir.…