Benthamidia uncurled her pale, four-petaled pink flowers and drank in the sunshine. It was a perfect spring day–the air was warm and sweet, and the stream beneath her cool and swollen with melted snow. A human scrambled up her trunk, scraping her bark with his fingernails. Benthamidia shuddered under […]
Jamie
The Center for the Study of Science Fiction has a two week short story workshop taught by James Gunn every summer, and I’m planning to go this year! I will be spending two weeks in July in Lawrence Kansas. I’m really excited about this opportunity. Writing workshops are great ways […]
Call for Donations
Alison crawled between the boards over the abandoned house’s broken window and picked her way across the bare, dusty floor. The winter air was cold and still and smelled like rotting plaster, but Alison caught the faintest hint of lilacs. The kitchen door swung open at Alison’s touch and she […]
The Unicorn’s Gift
The captain locked her baby in the FTL for the jump. "Ma’am, human souls are the only thing strong enough to break the laws of physics." The robot dismantled his mistress for his freedom. But freedom was boring, so he rebuilt her. Soon, everyone would serve […]
Twitter Stories
The world reminds me of Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, and Miéville thanks him in his acknowledgments. That said, while the setting is similar, it doesn’t feel derivative. The world of UnLondon is a marvelous place, full of imaginative twists and interesting characters, and Miéville’s other London serves as a fascinating […]
Review of Un Lun Dun by China Miéville
A woman in a red sweater stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and started to cry. One second, she was like everyone else, carefully expressionless and plugged in to her headphones, then she burst into noisy tears. People didn’t do that. Michael’s steps faltered. He wanted to […]
Prohibited Comfort
I always have a hard time buying dystopias. They just don’t mesh well with my optimistic outlook. I still enjoyed The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. A generation or two before the story starts, as the oceans swelled from global warming and the oil ran out, western calorie companies created […]
Review of The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
She ran the razor over her scalp, feeling lighter and lighter as snakes plopped to the floor. They’d grow back. She’d done this before. She pulled on a stocking cap and a pair of dark sunglasses and went out for coffee. She flirted with the boy who […]
A Date with Medusa
I went to Laurel Caverns yesterday with Paul, Amy, Diane, her son, and one of his friends. We did their guided family tour. We were in the cave for just under an hour, then we did Kavernputt, which is their indoor, cave-themed putt putt course. My favorite part of the […]
Laurel Caverns Adventure!
Clarkesworld Magazine is an online magazine that prints two stories per issue. One of those stories is from the slush pile, and as a slush reader, it’s my job to help look for it. It’s a very prestigious market. The magazine has won or been nominated for many impressive awards, […]