Snow used to be something that fell during the night and melted away before you got up in the morning.
Now snow is something that falls next week in the weather app and melts away before you actually reach that day.
Author: marylowd
Ecto-Busters One
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in Midwest Furfest 2019 Conbook, December 2019
Sunny’s belly gurgled, and she adjusted the heavy weight of the techno-ecto-pack on her back. The hardworking yellow Labrador hadn’t been able to grab a meal all day long. Not even a snack. Her ecto-busting team was too busy dissipating ghosts, exorcising possessed buildings, and laying ghouls back to rest. It had been one haunt after another, non-stop, ever since the first phone call that Halloween morning. But what were they supposed to do? Who else were the good dog and cat citizens of Dogotham City gonna call? Continue reading “Ecto-Busters One”
Heart of an Orca, Grace of a Cat
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in Furvana 2019 Conbook, September 2019
Jamie watched the roiling waves, searching for unicorns in the white spray. She sat on the golden sand of the freezing Oregon beach, clutching her favorite book, The Last Unicorn, to her chest. Her toes were red and numb from wading. The water was too cold for swimming.
Otter in a Raft
That feeling when an otter in a raft shows up to save a bunch of cats who’ve been slowly drowning in the middle of a lake while arguing with each other about the best way to swim.
Goodby to a Legend
Spaceship log: an ancient star we used to steer by has gone dark. The maps in the database must be reconfigured.
Mike Resnick wrote one of my favorite books — A Miracle of Rare Design. It’s the ultimate transformation book, and it meant a great deal to me in high school, because it told me that no matter how I changed in the future, I would always still be myself.
RIP Mike Resnick.
Maybe Baby
Sixty years ago, Buddy Holly rhymed “maybe” with “baby,” “funny” with “honey,” and “glad” with “sad,” and I’m still listening to it today.
Don’t overthink your art. Just make it.
And Trudy Howls…
Me: calls to elder dog at top of my lungs
Elder dog: nope, can’t hear, definitely deaf, gonna keep nosing around the furthest corners of the backyard in the rain
Later… Continue reading “And Trudy Howls…”
Galactic Garden
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in Furvana 2019 Conbook, September 2019
Ariadella chose a cozy corner of the universe where the velvety blackness was thick with a rich, fizzy soup of hydrogen and helium. She settled into the lonely void and began gulping up the fizz, letting it process deep in her belly, until she had enough dark matter to begin spinning.
With her thousands of legs, Ariadella pulled silk from her spinnerets. The gravitational lines of silk brought tension, structure, and form to the swampy darkness. She spun from a central point outward, choosing a spiraling pattern as she went. Continue reading “Galactic Garden”
Fiction by Mary E. Lowd in 2019
Okay, theoretically, this is an Awards Eligibility Post… except, I had so much fiction published this year that thinking of it that way will probably melt people’s brains. So, instead, here’s a guide to learning about the fiction I had come out this year, in case you want to read it. If when you get to the end, you can still remember that awards exist, then I’d absolutely be honored by any award nominations my fiction might receive.
First off, my books…
Nexus Nine, published by FurPlanet, counts as a novel for the Ursa Major Awards and Cóyotl Awards, and a novella for the Leo Literary Awards.
Tri-Galactic Trek, Jove Deadly’s Lunar Detective Agency (co-written with Garrett Marco), and ROAR 10 were all published by FurPlanet and count as Other Literary Works for the Ursa Major Awards and as Anthologies for the Leo Literary Awards and Cóyotl Awards. Continue reading “Fiction by Mary E. Lowd in 2019”
Roomba Whispers
It’s REALLY creepy when the Roomba starts saying, “Please charge Roomba,” in the other room in the middle of the night — just loud enough to hear it’s a voice you don’t recognize in your house, but not quite loud enough to make out the words.