An e-zine about spaceships, aliens, science, memory, motherhood, magic, and cats.
This is my round-up of original fiction I had released this year. I’d be honored if readers would consider these works for award nominations, but I’d also be really happy if people simply read and enjoy them.
Novels
My novel ENTANGLEMENT BOUND was published by Aethon Books in December, 2020. Continue reading “2020 Awards Eligible Work by Mary E. Lowd”
Here’s the thing about Jack O’Neill and Samantha Carter in Stargate SG-1: he loves her — she doesn’t have long hair or tight clothes; doesn’t babble, do emotional work, or soothe egos — he just loves her for the brilliant, awkward human she is. Continue reading “Jack O’Neill and Samantha Carter”
Merry holiday season!
It’s been a long, hard year for a lot of us, so we’re sharing three stories today as a Christmas present for anyone who needs one. These three flash fiction stories fit together, following the voyages of a starship carrying scientists from world to world, making first contact with alien species, bringing small touches of hope and connection from the stars. Continue reading “A Small Present in Three Parts”
by Mary E. Lowd
A Deep Sky Anchor Original, December 2020
The short, stout, furry alien stared out the starship’s curving bridge window at the star-studded black sky. His black fur blended into the sky like a shadow, but the blaze of white over his forehead stood out like a brand. His rounded ears splayed, and he curled his heavy claws into fists. “I don’t belong here,” he muttered, and the ship’s computer translated it. “None of my people do.” Continue reading “Treasure in the Sky”
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in Boldly Going Forward, March 2020
A’loo’loo swam eagerly back and forth, impatient for the spaceship above her, floating on the ocean’s surface, to open its hatchway. There had been so little warning — A’loo’loo had only discovered the burst of radio waves coming from her planet’s orbit three tides ago. Everything had changed since then. Continue reading “Somewhere Over the Ocean”
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in Typewriter Emergencies, June 2018
Rerin jostled the control panel while rubbing it down with a rag. The raccoon-like alien didn’t know how the day-crew got the bridge controls so sticky. They were supposed to be searching the oceans on this world for signs of sentience — not snacking and boozing on Eridanii brandy. Rerin had expected janitorial detail on a starship full of human and s’rellick scientists to be an easy job. Instead, the naked-skinned primates partied all day, and the s’rellick shed scales everywhere — not to mention the extra work involved in tending to their live food. Ugh. Terrarium after terrarium filled with scuttling insects and rodents. Rerin would not be signing on with this ship again. Continue reading “The Night Janitor and Alien Oceans”
Writers are taught not to write wish-fulfillment—it’s too easy, boring, or low stakes. But that reasoning is wrong. It only seems that way because we’ve all already read thousands of wish-fulfillment stories about cis het able-bodied white males, so they’re very… predictable.
For every other demographic? Continue reading “Wish-Fulfillment”
I am so burned out. I’ve been writing at a breakneck pace for more than a year, and I’ve had the kids home, bouncing off the walls, dealing with loss and fear caused by the pandemic for nine months.
But I keep dragging myself forward on the novel I’m writing.
I keep wondering if I should take a break. Surely, after writing three novels in fourteen months, I’ve earned a break?
And yet, writing is what holds me together. Believing the books I write matter is what pulls me forward. And I need to be held together and pulled forward.
Apparently, today is the day that I can’t take it anymore and start ranting wildly about Universal Basic Income.
Years ago I was asked while on a panel at a convention, how can a writer best go about making money with their book?
My answer remains the same: put your book aside, go into politics, and fight for Universal Basic Income.
Writing is a terrible, awful, horrible way to make money, and it always will be. Continue reading “Universal Basic Income is Tenure for Writers”
I’m so glad to have Grey’s Anatomy & Station 19 back after all these months. They’re such a bright spot in my week.
The thing about great art is that it helps the chaos of life make sense. And when you find a piece of art that can do that for you… it’s like a friend, a teacher, a warm comforting blanket, and a place where you can go to feel safe all at once.
I know every episode of Grey’s Anatomy hasn’t been brilliant. But many of them have been, and it’s grown over the years
And there simply are stories you can tell after 16 years (+ 6 of Private Practice & 3 of Station 19) that you just can’t tell without that kind of history. Continue reading “The Value of Longevity as Demonstrated by Grey’s Anatomy and Baby Yoda”