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The Lowly Blurb

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Today’s question comes from QSFer Hank T. Cannon: “What goes into a good blurb? Are there different types of blurbs? What kind should be used for promotion? What kind should be used for submissions?” I hate writing blurbs. I hate writing summaries. Blurbs and summaries are like the Muzak of the fiction world. They take a (hopefully) vibrant, living story and wring out every last bit of life and color from them to create a sad approximation of a plot. When I have to write a blurb or summary, I always end up feeling like my story is the saddest, … Read more

Goodies from CES, Including Driverless Cars

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This week marked the return of the Consumer Electronics Show, the world’s biggest electronics and technology trade show. Spanning some two million square feet of exhibit space across Los Angeles, CES 2015 brought together thousands of exhibitors and dozens of giants in the tech, automotive, phone, computer, 3D printing, home entertainment, and virtual reality industries. Dji inspire 1With so much innovation and just plain fun on display, it can be hard to narrow things down to a top 10 list. But we’ll give it a shot with our Top 10 Tech Trends at CES 2015. This year’s CES was another … Read more

Announcement: Snow on Spirit Bridge, by Freddy MacKay

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Today’s announcement comes from QSFer Freddy MacKay: Snow on Spirit Bridge is an urban fantasy set in modern day Tokyo. Finni is an exchange student having trouble adjusting to the new culture and how people react to him. Mamoru took him in when Finni’s host family had to move. Both of them hold secrets close to the chest, and both of them are alone in the world: One of their own choosing, the other of their one making. Together they learn about acceptance, love, and family. Alone in Japan, Finni is struggling against the constant distrust, avoidance, and xenophobia he … Read more

When Casper is Your Protagonist

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Today’s topic comes from QSFer Angel Martinez: “Ghosts as protagonists – is it possible to have a happy ending that doesn’t feel forced?” We haven’t had a good paranormal topic for a bit, so I thought it was time. And I know what she means. I mean, to get the ghost together with someone else, like really “together”, generally either he/she has to come back to life, or maybe the other person has to die? So what are some fresh takes on LGBT ghost stories? And for romance, how does the ghost get the guy (or girl, or whomever) in … Read more

Amazing New Travel Posters From Nasa

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Those of you into collectible travel items and/or space travel will probably enjoy these stunning posters NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory created in honor of a few of the exoplanets they’ve discovered with the Kepler space telescope. An exoplanet, of course, is a planet orbiting a star other than our own. NASA’s description of the destination featured in the image at the top of this post: Experience the Gravity of a Super Earth Twice as big in volume as the Earth, HD 40307g straddles the line between “Super-Earth” and “mini-Neptune” and scientists aren’t sure if it has a rocky surface or … Read more

Announcement: Arrival, by Michelle Robbins

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Michelle Robins at Amber Quill Press has a new MM sci fi romance out, part of her Urilqii series: Life for Liam Sinclair used to be easy. Raves, work, sleep. Lather, rinse, repeat. Yet all of that changed with the arrival of the Urilqii…space aliens, technically, although they looked like everybody else. But if that wasn’t freaky enough, they arrived on Earth to thwart a global usurpation by beings they called The Targolt. Climate change, long-denied, was proof of the invasion. Although at first Liam was as skeptical as everyone else, he couldn’t deny one fantastic truth—those space-faring alien dudes … Read more

Me Me Monday!

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Welcome to ME ME MONDAY at our FB discussion group – your chance to pop in and tell us about your latest success. Have a new book or short story coming out? Let us know. Just sell something? Let us know so we can cheer you on. HOW IT WORKS: I’ll pin this topic to the top of our FB discussion page for the day. –Please post your announcement as a separate post, so I can also share it over to our FB page (as opposed to this discussion group). –If you want, send me your book announcement info at … Read more

Zzzzzzzzzz….

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OK, folks, sorry I’m a little late this morning. I slept in until 7:30 (my usual wake-up time is 5:30-6) and it felt GLORIOUS! Which inspired the topic for the day. What’s the future of sleep? More specifically, what new ways might we find to alleviate sleep problems? Could we find a way to get rid of sleep altogether, opening up more productive hours in the day (in either the good sense or the dark Big Brother you gotta work sense)? What other future incarnations might sleep take?

What Do Y’all Want to Talk About?

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Hey all, It’s that time again – time to fill up the topics well for the next month or so. We’ve done a lot of sci fi lately, so I’d like to see some fantasy and paranormal topics as well. Also, some more topics from a reader’s perspective. So what do y’all think? Share your ideas below – one per comment to make it easy on me – and if we use them, you’ll get the credit! xxoo –Scott

Announcement and Giveaway: Iron Axe, by Steven Harper

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QSFer Steven Harper has a new fantasy book out – we’re giving away two copies, so comment on this post with your name and email, and we’ll pick the winners on 1/12: Although Danr’s mother was human, his father was one of the hated Stane, a troll from the mountains. Now Danr has nothing to look forward to but a life of disapproval and mistrust, answering to “Trollboy” and condemned to hard labor on a farm. Until, without warning, strange creatures come down from the mountains to attack the village. Spirits walk the land, terrifying the living. Trolls creep out … Read more