My critique group seems to believe that if there’s a winged-otter in the first act, it will be explained in the third. (a.k.a. Chekov’s Winged Otter) Unfortunately, that’s apparently not necessarily how my stories work… Because winged otters?
Author: marylowd
Elephantine Daydream
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in Fantasia Divinity Magazine, July 2017
Jeko stared out the window at the asteroids and curled her elephantine trunk. She didn’t want to be in class with a bunch of dumb Heffen kids and newly sentient robots. The Heffen kids acted like stereotypical canine aliens and kept to their packs, and the robots weren’t really kids like her… They showed up one week super-naive and talking all stilted, like computers, and a few weeks later they were smarter than… well… computers, and they graduated out.
Relative Leveling Speeds Changing Over Time
The Horde alt I started a few months ago is now the same level as the Alliance main I’ve been playing for more than a decade. I’m not sure what to make of that.
Xeno-Nativity
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in Fantasia Divinity Magazine, November 2017
Maradia was working on the specs for a free-flying, zero-G maintenance unit when she heard a customer come into her storefront. She was glad to put the work aside — it was almost entirely a hardware job with barely any creativity to it. She left the workshop area and entered the storefront to see a tired looking woman with bags under her eyes and a perfect, golden-haired child nestled on her hip.
“You’re back,” Maradia said. Continue reading “Xeno-Nativity”
Toy Restaurant
5-yr-old: “Can we go to a toy store?”
Me, trying to redirect: “We were thinking of going to a restaurant for dinner.”
5-yr-old: “A… toy restaurant?”
Thoughts from Watching Tomorrowland
If I had watched Tomorrowland when it came out, I absolutely would’ve gotten myself a red NASA hat. I guess, by coming to it late, I’m saved from having a hat I can’t wear.
I wish this went without saying but it really, really doesn’t — not only does Tomorrowland center on a little girl robot & teenage girl chosen one, it does not sexualize them AT ALL. Think about that — girl robot & girl teenager who are allowed to simply BE AWESOME. Continue reading “Thoughts from Watching Tomorrowland”
That
That feeling when you’ve almost worked through all of the novel critiques you’ve received, and then one of them says, “Do a global search for ‘that’ and delete as many as possible.” And it turns out there are more than 1000 of them in your manuscript.
An Aldebaran Sugar Cookie for Star Shaker
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in Fantasia Divinity Magazine, May 2017
The asteroid amphitheater rocked with applause as the suspended final note of Star Shaker’s encore vibrated the atmo-bubble over everyone’s heads. The reptilian pop-star bowed and spotlights shone off of her rainbow-colored scales, making her glitter like the stars all around.
Chirri had loved Star Shaker’s music since she was a little kitten. Once, she’d even shaved off her fur and drawn little Vs all over her naked skin, hoping they’d make her look like she had scales. It had looked awful, but she’d been too young to care. All she knew was that it had made her feel closer to her hero. Continue reading “An Aldebaran Sugar Cookie for Star Shaker”
My writing progress so far tonight:
–arrange toys around my computer
–scroll through twitter
–google galaxies
–tweet about googling galaxies
–describe a planet as being like a honeydew melon bobbing on the ocean
That’s a good amount of work, right?
Happy Unicorn Day!
Apparently, today is Unicorn Day. So here’s a fresh hot cup of unicorn stories, newly available here at Deep Sky Anchor:
- Hot Chocolate for the Unicorn — The Dragon and Unicorn come calling. [~1,000 words]
- Feral Unicorn — Janie’s in over her head when her pet unicorn’s horn comes in, and he starts working mischievous magic around the house. [~4,800 words]
And if you need some more, we do have a few stories that have been rattling around the site a bit longer:
- Cyclops on Safari — A normal day on safari, in a different world. [~800 words]
- The Carousel of Spirits — When Artie finds a ghost haunting his carousel, it’s time for him to build a new horse. [~3,700 words]
Enjoy!
And Happy Unicorn Day!