Author: marylowd

St. Kalwain and the Lady Uta

by Mary E. Lowd

Originally published in ROAR Volume 4, June 2012

“My own deeds have made me a saint. The faerie queen made me a beast.”

Snow bent the boughs of the karillow trees, and ice silvered the soft buds at their tips.  Spring had come too early this year, and all the eager young plants would pay a price for their enthusiasm.  Flowers killed by frost.

St. Kalwain didn’t mind the snow.  His black fur was thick and warm.  He found it insufferably so whenever he kept the company of humans.  Their houses were always warmed by raging hearth fires.  Their walls held in the heat.  And they insulated themselves with layers of cloaks and clothes.  They expected him to layer himself with clothes too.  He remembered a time when he chose to wear clothes out of modesty.  Now, he preferred to sleep in the wild.  In the snow.  Alone and far from humans. Continue reading “St. Kalwain and the Lady Uta”

The Best and Worst of Worlds

by Mary E. Lowd

Originally published in Dogs of War, January 2017

“Cats loved conquest; dogs needed adventure. But Cetazed otteroids were happy splashing about and playing.”

Five officers of the Tri-Galactic Navy and one exchange officer from the planet Cetazed teleported down to a clearing on Planet 328’s surface.  The cats and dogs of the Tri-Galactic Navy were good people, and Consul Eliana Tor didn’t regret leaving her homeworld to become an exchange officer.  Not exactly.  But she missed the flavor of the sunlight on Cetazed, and not only did her empathic abilities make her a fish out of water around these cats and dogs with their non-empathic minds, but they let her read the cats’ and dogs’ emotions — especially their feelings about her — constantly. Continue reading “The Best and Worst of Worlds”

Writing While Watching a Four-Year-Old

*summons the willpower and concentration to tune out the singing socks on Sesame St. and instead work on writing my Tri-Galactic Trek tale*

I’ve failed to tune out the Sesame St… This message is brought to you by the letter W and the number 0, representing my word count.‬ Continue reading “Writing While Watching a Four-Year-Old”

So Much Flash…

Reading these flash fiction stories will be more fun than falling into a supernova! Really! It’s not a high bar!

At the end of 2016, we had big plans for publishing a lot of flash fiction this year.  Well, we have good news and bad news…  Obviously, it’s September, and we haven’t published a lot this year.  However, that’s because the stories we were going to publish have instead been picked up by other markets — many of them by Daily Science Fiction! Continue reading “So Much Flash…”

Hidden Intentions

by Mary E. Lowd

Originally published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, March/April 2017

“S’lisha wanted to claw the child’s little face off, but the captain wouldn’t like that. And she needed this job.”

S’lisha drew a deep, calming breath through her scaly nostrils.  She didn’t understand why humans brought their children on spaceships.  Her species kept their larval offspring in caves on their home world until they matured and their adult scales grew in.  Continue reading “Hidden Intentions”

Visiting the Oregon Air and Space Museum…

The kids think the Oregon Air and Space Museum — a small, eclectic airplane hangar filled with planes and mannequins — would be a good setting for a Doctor Who episode.‬

‪The four-year-old likes the planes but is creeped out by the mannequins. The ten-year-old is now completely lost in recounting episodes of Doctor Who.‬ Continue reading “Visiting the Oregon Air and Space Museum…”

The Hand-Havers

by Mary E. Lowd

Originally published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, October 2014

“Ebbence, as a bachelor who’d birthed all hands and no children, was understandably uncomfortable around babies.”

A wise parent would never leave her one-handed child alone with a six-handed bachelor.  A relationship between such unequals would only lead to heartbreak, or worse.  Neither of Delundia’s parents, however, was especially wise.  They’d met, married, and mated at the foolish young times after first-birth for Londe and second-birth for Arendell, soon leaving them with two young babies and only three hands between them. Continue reading “The Hand-Havers”