Stuff authors can use to up their game, usually inspiring ideas, technologies, etc.
I’m not such a dedicated Debbie Downer that I’m going to argue that fine literature will disappear in 2019, but I do believe we are at the cusp of creating an environment where fine literature will become dusty fodder for...
Don’t Overthink Whatever you say is up to you. Fans regularly ask what they should say in a book review. Most of the time, they are overthinking the process. They see fancy reviews dissecting books into particulate blocks of thematic...
I’ve wanted to spotlight Jason Chan for many months – he’s one of my absolute favorite living artists – but something keeps coming up that is more pressing so for now, enjoy his Servant of the Panther Queen as the...
The Science Scientists predicted, observed, and proved the evolution of a Florida lizard – but they were shocked at how fast and how much they changed. Within fifteen to twenty generations, green anole lizard feet dramatically changed in size and...
Photo by Hossein Zare Less is More “Less is More” is both the mantra of minimalists and authors. I believe there is truth in the statement from both perspectives but I believe this message of minimalism can be more...
UpJourney just posted an article featuring me, myself, and I as one of 20 expert storytellers explaining the secrets of their craft. Check it out and let me know in the comments below which advice seemed most helpful to...
As disturbing as it may be when you take time to investigate and think deeply about it, studies about the depth of inaccuracies we inadvertently create in our memories is quite fascinating. Julia Shaw’s recent book The Memory Illusion shows...
Westworld season 1 left me feeling lost (geek allusion intended) most of the season, which was undoubtedly J.J. Abrams’ fault (he wrote/directed Lost) but Westworld’s season 1 finale was so good and the payoff was so unexpected, I trudged all...
I first started studying multiple personality disorders nearly twenty years ago. I was clerking for a small firm, trying to help a young woman escape a cult. Things happened to her but she wouldn’t remember the details. Occasionally, she’d...
My fans know I’ve been writing a screenplay for my latest novel, Unproven, because various networks have expressed interest in purchasing it for either an animated movie or a 54 episode animated series. What fans don’t know is how awesome...
I’ve written a number of posts about memory implants, memory erasure, and mind control. Scientists have inserted a brain into a robot and done several other unbelievable things in the recent past so I thought I should write a little...
Many modern authors write while listening to music soundtracks. I’ve been doing that for a number of years now. “Cornered” from Salt has pushed me to write faster paced scenes and nothing has deluged me with a sense of fantasy more than...
In one of the more poignant philosophical scenes in Westworld, William decides to stop holding himself back from the park and decides to love Dolores despite his commitment to his fiance back home. He passionately tells her: I’ve been pretending...
Richard Browning, a UK inventor, created a real life Iron Man suit he dubs “the Deadalus” and gave it a test flight in front of a TED conference last month. Even though the suit can fly around 200 mph,...
Whether you’re aware of it or not, artificial intelligence is all around us and what constitutes “artificial intelligence” is becoming as definitionally nebulous as … well, whatever. Should we call your thermostat artificially intelligent because it regulates temperature in your home...
Long before Shelley’s Frankenstein, we were sharing stories about changelings, transmutations, and various forms of magic that create new forms of life. As real science has contemplated the possibilities of real life Frankenstein breakthroughs, various transhumanist experiments in 2015 more than humbly suggested...
I just finished reading the first volume of Game of Thrones. I know – I’m really behind the times here – but to be fair, most Game of Thrones fans haven’t read the books either … and it isn’t too...
I was more than a little shocked to see how Disney treated Cinderella in the newest film. They got so many things right with this film adaptation that I nearly left the theater dumbfounded, wondering if I’d mistakenly heard...
Jetman Dubai recently released a jet pack that has been lauded as the modern day Iron Man suit … and while that’s only marketing hyperbole at this point in time, there is little doubt that the real Iron Man suit...
While tattoos are all the rage, I have to wonder why they are so prominent in sci-fi fantasy art lately. Okay – maybe I’m a bit stodgy (none of my friends got tattoos when I was growing up because...
I had a near death experience (NDE) years ago. I find it somewhat amusing that NDEs continue to ignite such intense controversy but recently, some German scientists determined the controversy wasn’t brewing hot enough so they made it boil over....
When Terminator first came out, the ideas behind it would have been laughable but for Arnold Schwarznegger’s boss appearance. Time travel and cyborgs were so far from realistic science ventures that we all watched the movie with our reality regulators...
In a day when safety from political incorrectness and psychological trauma are nearly universally esteemed as inalienable rights, it is occasionally difficult to imagine a world where public executions and talionic (physical) punishments are the norm. After all, we’re half way across...
Science Fiction has inspired many innovations over the past few decades. Cloaking devices, chameleon-esque camouflage, memory manipulations (including erasures and implants), suspended animation, artificial intelligence, underwater breathing without tanks, Jedi mind control (almost), total immersion gaming, mind controlled prosthetics, personal...
First, MIT came out with an unbelievably effective invisibility cloak and now, engineers from the University of California at Berkeley have created a new, very thin and flexible chameleon like artificial skin. Okay – it might not make you...
Dr. Denys Makarov would have Marvel fans pretty excited if they were paying attention. He’s recently invented a new “magnetic sensor, which is thin, robust and pliable enough to be smoothly adapted to human skin, even to the most flexible...
Lagiacrus, the flagship monster of Monster Hunter 3, deserves your attention – and not just because this picture is so boss! For some reason we can all probably relate to, fire breathing dragons hog the press – and maybe that’s...
Too often in SFF, the arts are blandly portrayed, as if the arts will never flourish in the future – or in fantasy cultures. Occasionally, in quasi-visionary movies, we see glimpses of creative new ideas for the arts but they...
How is it that our PC saturated culture has created so few disabled protagonists in modern literature? After all, aren’t our heroes supposed to have some weaknesses that they have to overcome so they don’t become a stale character? Hat tip...
Suspended animation conjures images of a frozen Hans Solo, Avatar-esque space travel, and Star Trek’s infamous Khan. Doctors have been seriously experimenting with possibilities since the 1950s when space travel was first becoming a reality. Sixty years later, we’re still waiting for...
The rise of artificial intelligence is no longer science fiction. Scientists have replicated the machinations of a round worm’s brain and have given it a robot body. Okay, so watching the robot move is just about as boring as watching a...
Any great author must intimately confront the machinations of human nature in order to make characters believable. Sometimes, that means studying the thought patterns and habits of children, psychopaths, naive onlookers, cannibals, animals, and serial killers. There are several ways...
Recently, I’ve reviewed the D&D alignment systems for the purpose of looking at characters from a different angle. Simultaneously, I found myself looking at a quote I have on my bedroom wall: “I will always maintain a true principle even...
Breaking edge science can now create false memories, erase memories, and recover lost memories. Fascinating – and scary – scientific discoveries about memories abound lately. Fairly recent research from MIT discovered that memories are not stored in synaptic tissue as...
Star Wars depictions of diving technology may have been prophetic … so forget Harry Potter’s invasive spell for fish gills – that’s just uber unnecessary! The University of Southern Denmark has been developing crystals that absorb oxygen and then release that...
Gollum may well be the most interesting non-protagonist character ever developed but I have to wonder who is more to blame for that fact in light of the recent LOTR franchise? There is a strong argument that Peter Jackson may...
The most erroneous stories and those we think we know best – and therefore never scrutinize or question. Often, great quotes grab my attention only to fall into the trash bin the more I think about them. That is,...
Ten years from now, teenagers may not believe Jedi mind tricks were once fiction – and it may not matter whether or not you are weak minded. I mentioned in previous transhumanist posts how mind controlled prosthetics are becoming surprisingly sophisticated,...
Have you ever wondered why countless fantasy books offer little more than bland descriptions of a “dense forest” for elves to dwell in? If you’re lucky, the author may throw an extra bone into the pot by describing a...
Singing harmony by yourself is admittedly an exotic talent but Anna Maria Hefele can make it both exotic and … beautiful. Tuvan throat singing has been an Inuit (Mongolian) tradition for … who knows how long (not even Wikipedia knows). Even...
Gamers who play violent 3D living room gaming report higher levels of anger than gamers who only play 2D systems, regardless of screen size. The study found a strong correlation between levels of anger (as guaged by participants) and gamers’ perception...
Scientists have developed a prosthetic that allows amputees to regain sensations from lost limbs. Cybernetics – communication between machines and biological tissue – received widespread attention when the Empire Strikes Back hit the silver screen. Luke Skywalker received a prosthetic hand...
Scientists have successfully used light to erase unpleasant memories in mice. You’re next! Sounds scary? Well, maybe this sounds scary if you’re a conspiracy theorist or if you have enjoyed a blissfully happy life but if you suffer from PTSD and...
Increasingly savvy movie goers are demanding that Hollywood learn an important lesson: we can tell when your aliens are using bad grammar! Really? Scoff all you want but it’s true and sci-fi/fantasy authors ought to take note because fans are starting...
Most mythological creatures have very interesting real life counterparts, whether they be cyclops, unicorns, giants, or anything else. I’ve seen a number of real “dragons” in my life: winged lizards from Borneo, 1,000 pound alligators, komodo dragons, uber cool and supposedly real spine...
Proposals to produce a Jetson-esque flying car have flooded the industry but we’re just now receiving promising proposals. The European Union is now focusing on “MyCopter” as a solution to the world’s traffic congestion problem. Designing a flying car...
Verdict: Guilty by reason of brain waves. Sound implausible? Not for long. Science Daily reports that preliminary data from the Association for Psychological Science is hoping to keep us from ever lying again … well, at least they are hoping...
Threespine Stickleback fish offer scientific reasons to beef up our movie monsters. They “evolve” fast. Really fast. Within ten years, these fish can move from salt water to fresh water, change their skeletal system in a massive way (just...
Are you looking to buy an invisibility cloak? Do you want to hide something really well? You might need to wait a few years but the technology to create outrageously effective camouflage is at our doorsteps. The key? Mother nature...
As usual, the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival was a blast – and it was packed like never before. That said, it never ceases to surprise me how few people attend – considering the size of the potential draw. I’m especially...
About fifteen years ago, I was wowed while traveling in Hong Kong – we rode on a hover craft ferry from one destination to another as if riding a normal boat. At that time, it seemed imminently inevitable that land...
Looking for inspiration for an especially exotic destination? I’ve frequently said that sci-fi/fantasy authors need look no further than our own beautiful planet to find inspiration for unbelievable locations custom fit for any work of fiction. Take Cano Cristales...
Microraptor was a four winged dinosaur that provides clues as to the origins of birds. I was particularly interested in the above documentary for at least three reasons: (1) many of literature’s best loved monsters come from real creatures and/or...
I once read that a word smith is a creature to be feared above all others. I suppose there is a good deal of historical precedent to support that assertion – just consider Thomas Paine’s Common Sense if you can’t...
Sometimes it is easy for sci-fi/fantasy authors to write about exotic people without really understanding different cultures of their own world. They write about primitive people who are superstitious and usually … well, inept. I ran across this video by...
For a brilliant moment, the movie Lucy was gathering an enormous amount of attention. Since I’ve been researching topics surrounding transhumanism, it caught my eye as well. I saw several discussions about the 10% brain myth but I liked this...
Like most authors, I follow blogs and people who are interested in the technical faux pas that grammar police love to impose upon persons of lesser educated-ness. Too bad … they don’t teach as well as Weird Al:
Lately, I’ve been watching several videos about breaking edge technology, transhumanism, and the like. Among the several video tutorials and documentaries that I’ve been watching, this video by Michio Kaku caught my eye. In high school, I was admittedly...
So you think Legolas was cool? Robin Hood? Well, check out Lars Andersen – the world’s fastest archer. For all of you authors out there writing about archery, you need to check this out. Do you want your character to...
Last year, at WorldCon, I read Nexus by Ramez Naam. His presentation for Nexus was my first exposure to the concept of transhumanism and it was both thrilling and revolting at the same time. I suppose the same can be...
Where else can you find a Borimir-esque cosplay changing a baby’s diaper on a changing table while talking on a cell phone? These bizarre things only happen at the world’s best cons! As promised, I’m writing a little on...
Today couldn’t come with more exciting news for every true sci-fi fan: NASA has announced plans to build a space ship that literally warps time and avoids Einstein’s relativity problems with space travel. Want to visit another solar system?...
The U.S. Army has announced intentions to change rules to enlistment: 25% of all applicants must be robots! Well, that isn’t quite the story but you can click on the image above for the full story. The gist...
One of the things that regularly grabs my attention when reading fantasy books/magazines/articles/pitches/short stories is the utter lack of creativity that I see from magicians/wizards/mages/witches when casting spells. Okay, I admit, when I played D&D as a kid, fireballs were...
Alright Sci-Fi fans – here is another reason to be excited about the future: shark skin swim suits! 3D printing has now replicated shark skins – a feat that scientists have failed to accomplish for many years now. Thanks to...
Every once in a while, a great storyteller comes up with a fresh approach to a character. As I think back to some of the most refreshing and unique characters I’ve read about or watched onscreen, one character really...
One of my lease favorite composers (Arnold Schoenberg) penned these words: “Well borrowed is well composed.” He is indisputably right. Modern viewers almost undoubtedly prefer the Matrix to Plato’s Cave despite the fact that Plato came along much earlier than...
I woke up grumpy today so today’s authorial inspiration comes from H.P. Lovecraft, one of the great masters of scary fiction: The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear...
In Asia, if you have a great product, you are very likely to be successful in selling your product – word of mouth and reviews is everything. In the U.S., advertising is the true king for large businesses – I...
Over two decades ago, I came across some similes that ignited my imagination – not because they were particularly poetic or because they were particularly profound … they ignited my imagination because they are particularly creative in their use of...
I found this Guatemalan sinkhole image on a site that seemed to suggest that it came from the Associated Press. Here is another one from New Zealand: Given the immediate drama of these photographs, it surprises me that sinkholes have...
Attending various “Cons” can be quite an eye opening experience in many ways. Everywhere you turn, you can expect to see celebrities, die-hard fans, outlandish costumes, amazing artistry, pathetic artistry, bad humor, good humor, and just about anything a fantasy...
Obsessively, I collect names for future characters, categorize them (male/female; exotic/common, etc.), and keep them safe for future use. One day, I was looking over names based upon nouns (Canyon, Meadow, Candle, Kale, etc.) and was trying to think of...