An e-zine about spaceships, aliens, science, memory, motherhood, magic, and cats.
Watching Friends was how I made it through the end of college, after my actual friend group crash and burned around me. It made such a difference.
Also, I have a plush frog named Chnandler (that’s not a typo; it’s a deep cut) sitting on my bed right now.
by Mary E. Lowd
An excerpt from Otters In Space 3: Octopus Ascending. If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.
Jenny and Ordol were suited up and ready in Brighton’s Destiny, but the two-man Whirligig vessel was still parked on the floating roof of the Europa base. The Imperial Star-Ocean Navy otters and their five ships were already in low-orbit, but Ordol hadn’t even powered the Whirligig’s engine up yet.
Jenny couldn’t start the vessel without him. Too many of the controls were designed to be used by an octopus on the shoulders of a biped. Jenny couldn’t see Ordol’s eyes with him perched on her shoulders — but she could see the color of his tentacles through his translucent spacesuit. His flesh was bone white. He was terrified. Continue reading “Otters In Space 3 – Chapter 10: Jenny”
It’s looking increasingly clear that my problem with dairy is specifically AI casein, so I’ve become a really big fan of goat’s milk, sheep’s milk, and A2 cow’s milk products.
I can eat cheese and yogurt again! This is VERY exciting. I really, really missed cheese.
by Mary E. Lowd
An excerpt from Otters In Space 3: Octopus Ascending. If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.
Kipper hadn’t expected the submarine to feel so cramped. There was plenty of space on the Jolly Barracuda — why should a submarine be any more cramped than a spaceship? They’re both airtight vehicles, and if anything, space seemed like a more foreign and dangerous landscape than the ocean. The ocean is at least on Earth.
Well, a spaceship has to hold an atmosphere for its occupants to breathe. Whereas, a submarine has to be built to withstand the extreme water pressure created by the weight of miles upon miles of ocean water pressing downward on it. Continue reading “Otters In Space 3 – Chapter 9: Kipper”
by Mary E. Lowd
An excerpt from Otters In Space 3: Octopus Ascending. If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.
Petra had lots of plans. None of them were working out the way she wanted them to. No one would cooperate with her. She’d been sent from one end to the other of the beautiful but archaic, ancient human building that was the seat of the Uplifted States’ government — the White House.
Sure, it had been renovated to suit the needs of dogs and cats who were on average much smaller than humans, but if you asked Petra they’d be much better off with an entirely new building with fewer beautiful columns and more properly proportioned rooms. Continue reading “Otters In Space 3 – Chapter 8: Petra”
Me: This story I’m writing is missing something…
Friend: Fire elementals? Continue reading “The Difference Between Sci-Fi and Fantasy”
by Mary E. Lowd
An excerpt from Otters In Space 3: Octopus Ascending. If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.
Jenny wanted to push all the buttons. So far, her science officers — Felix and Amoreena — had only let her press one. After a lengthy discussion where Ordol helped translate the language on all the newly-flooded Europa base vid-screens, Amoreena had figured out how to turn the base’s heaters on. And only just in time. Europa’s oceans were no longer covered in ice, but they were frigidly cold. Much longer and they’d have had to improvise space heaters or begun wearing their spacesuits which would have been ungainly and clumsy underwater. Continue reading “Otters In Space 3 – Chapter 7: Jenny”
by Mary E. Lowd
An excerpt from Otters In Space 3: Octopus Ascending. If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.
Kipper followed Tamantha down a path between two of the towering buildings. Red and gray-furred squirrels passed by, their movements sudden and jerky. The way they moved — stopping and starting — made Kipper feel twitchy. Yet, their tails flowed smooth as rivers.
Behind the row of buildings that faced the street, there was a pedestrian square, surrounded by cafe awnings and outdoor seating. Squirrels in wicker chairs chattered and dined on crunchy-looking pastries. Ladders and open-air skywalks laced through the space above them. Continue reading “Otters In Space 3 – Chapter 6: Kipper”
Twenty years ago today, I stayed up all night talking with my spouse about whether we could afford for me to quit the horrifyingly bad coffee shop job that I’d had for one day and instead write full-time.
We walked around Green Lake at dawn, and I dropped off my resignation letter at 6am. I haven’t quite written full-time during the twenty years since then, because I’ve also been parenting two kids, now sixteen and ten.
During the last twenty years, I’ve written: Continue reading “Twenty Years”
by Mary E. Lowd
An excerpt from Otters In Space 3: Octopus Ascending. If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.
Kipper packed a few clothes and pictures of her littermates, nephews, and niece inside plastic sleeves to protect them. It wasn’t much, but it was more than she’d taken with her the last time she went away. She was in more of a hurry this time, but it was less hectic. More purposeful. More planned.
Trudith drove her to the airport. It had been hard saying goodbye to her family. It was awful saying goodbye to Trudith, her best friend on Earth. There’s nothing like a sad black lab mutt with melting brown eyes to crumble your heart to pieces. Even three cute kittens couldn’t compare. Continue reading “Otters In Space 3 – Chapter 5: Kipper”