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…
Category: Book Inspiration
Images that inspire stories.
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…
Free chapters from author Drew Briney’s books (and a couple drabbles for good measure)
While the media steals the spotlight from groundbreaking inventions and incredible technologies, scientists continue to plow through new challenges with a vengeance. What’s new? Hmm.…
The Science Scientists predicted, observed, and proved the evolution of a Florida lizard – but they were shocked at how fast and how much they…
Photo by Hossein Zare Less is More “Less is More” is both the mantra of minimalists and authors. I believe there is truth in…
UpJourney just posted an article featuring me, myself, and I as one of 20 expert storytellers explaining the secrets of their craft. Check it…
On the eve of releasing my newest novella, Assassin Hunter, I’m excited to reveal the new cover. A few years ago, I began heavily studying…
As disturbing as it may be when you take time to investigate and think deeply about it, studies about the depth of inaccuracies we…
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…
I first started studying multiple personality disorders nearly twenty years ago. I was clerking for a small firm, trying to help a young woman…
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…
What do sea dragons, epigenetics, artificially intelligent cyborgs, and magic all have in common? You guessed it: Sea Dragon Apocalypse, my upcoming sci-fi/fantasy novel. Yes,…
Last fall, my family was featured on a reality tv program where we had to leave the state of Utah in a hurry. What…
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I originally posted this drabble in early 2014 but a reader recently brought it to my attention with the following comment: “I read your Falling…
Hey! After two years of hard work, Unproven is finally ready for launch and will be hitting Amazon and B&N on Tuesday, March 6. …
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…
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…
Richard Browning, a UK inventor, created a real life Iron Man suit he dubs “the Deadalus” and gave it a test flight in front…
The image is from an Ardella Cosplay When I started kindergarten, my teachers (including an assistant) suggested to my mother that I be advanced to…
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,…
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…
Hollywood (and book publishing) are possibly the only industries where an 80% failure rate qualifies you to be an unchallengeable authority. Then again, maybe that’s all…
I was more than a little shocked to see how Disney treated Cinderella in the newest film. They got so many things right with…
At long last, 5 Blades: Riveting Realms of Adventure is about ready for publication launch – and here is our sweet cover! I’ll…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
First, MIT came out with an unbelievably effective invisibility cloak and now, engineers from the University of California at Berkeley have created a new,…
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…
Lagiacrus, the flagship monster of Monster Hunter 3, deserves your attention – and not just because this picture is so boss! For some reason we…
Too often in SFF, the arts are blandly portrayed, as if the arts will never flourish in the future – or in fantasy cultures. Occasionally,…
Drew hangs out with all-time bestselling authors on a YA recommended reading list. Okay, it’s not a Hugo Award and it didn’t land me on Oprah but…
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…
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…
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…
Any great author must intimately confront the machinations of human nature in order to make characters believable. Sometimes, that means studying the thought patterns…
Breaking edge science can now create false memories, erase memories, and recover lost memories. Fascinating – and scary – scientific discoveries about memories abound…
I’ll keep it short and sweet: today, SciFi Fantasy Freak recognized me as one of their top 5 authors. Check out their tweet below and…
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…
Ten years from now, teenagers may not believe Jedi mind tricks were once fiction – and it may not matter whether or not you are…
Years ago, my then favorite cousin introduced me to this fun song: the Monster Rap by Bobby Pickett. It was a modern take on the…
Singing harmony by yourself is admittedly an exotic talent but Anna Maria Hefele can make it both exotic and … beautiful. Tuvan throat singing has…
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…
Scientists have developed a prosthetic that allows amputees to regain sensations from lost limbs. Cybernetics – communication between machines and biological tissue – received widespread…
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…
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…
Threespine Stickleback fish offer scientific reasons to beef up our movie monsters. They “evolve” fast. Really fast. Within ten years, these fish can move…
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…
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…
At FantasyCon 2014, an astute panelist brought up an idea that I’ve thought about from time to time but haven’t given serious consideration to ……
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Although he is one of my least favorite philosophers and although he has been credited with greatly influencing Hitler’s philosophies that led to the second…
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…
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…
One of my favorite roommates in college was a guy named George. As I recall, his mother was Irish and his father was Kenyan –…
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…
I’m an avowed UFC fan. Most of my friends find that revelation quite shocking but despite my very real fandom, I’ve been somewhat annoyed over…
Author communities often ask questions like: where do you come up with cool names? cool world-building ideas? magic systems? and clothing? To the latter question,…
Over two decades ago, I came across some similes that ignited my imagination – not because they were particularly poetic or because they were particularly…
In modern film, we usually find very bland, direct slams and insults. Occasionally, a marginally subtle and humorous attack is aimed towards a dense character…
Every once in a while, I come across an idea or image that seems to write a story for me. The above image is one…
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A what? A drabble. And that is ??? Drabbles are short stories that verge on poetry that last only 100 words long. I suppose…
Years ago, I began a lifelong juggling addiction (although I’m too stubborn to join any 12 step program to help me stop). In 2000 or…
I subscribe to David Farland’s blog “A Kick in the Pants.” It is dedicated to helping aspiring writers hone their writing skills but I read…
In keeping with my last post (about refined and beautiful things), here is one of several gestures from Grant M. Hansen who is painting the…
I co-own thebutterflystore.com. My partner and I have been working like crazy to do a huge butterfly display for BYU’s Bean Museum. The image above…
Here is Grant’s latest update on the cover. He got a bit shy about the swamp idea and went back to the field idea. What…
“You talk so sweet I bet you have to suck on salt for half and hour to get the taste of sugar out of your…
Strive not for success but to be of value. Albert Einstein Einstein is one of my favorite personalities – not because he was brilliant –…