Originally published in Tri-Galactic Trek, November 2021
“At home on Ursa Minuet, Grawf had been a commander, but in the Tri-Galactic Navy exchange program, she was an ensign.”
Grawf awoke from her long sleep, yawned widely, and lumbered out of her cot and over to the window. Her Ursine reflection hovered ghost-like over the black field of space, a bulky, brown-furred bear in plaid pajamas, dotted by pinpricks of starlight. She wondered where the starship Initiative had flown to, what wondrous places had been explored without her, during her hibernation. Continue reading “Skin of Reflection”
My book, “The Otter’s Wings: A Labyrinth of Souls Novel,” has now been nominated for all three of the furry literary awards — Cóyotl, Leo Literary, and Ursa Major Award!!!
Thanks so much to ShadowSpinners Press for taking a chance on my adventure story about a squirrel and then letting me turn it into a whole trilogy! Also, especially to Christina Lay for her wonderful editing and Matthew Lowes for creating the delightful game that inspired these books. These stories wouldn’t exist without you. ❤️
Theresa made it almost to nineteen. Her last two years felt like a complete bonus, every day extra beyond what we’d expected. She ate so much tuna, stole so much pork from fried rice, and constantly begged us to leave the faucet running like a waterfall. Goodbye, Theresa. ❤️ Continue reading “The End of Theresa’s Reign”
“…he felt the upgrade chip click into place. And instantly, everything grew a million times more complicated.”
Engleine hesitated with the upgrade chip mere millimeters from the docking port in her beloved Hansel’s head. His mechanical ear flicked, and he said, “You stopped. Why?”
“Are you sure you’re ready for this upgrade?” Engleine asked. Her own conical ears — a biological mirror of his mechanical ones — had flattened behind her long head. She shuffled her hind hooves on the floor, and her keratinous hoof-fingers tightened on the upgrade chip that would push Hansel — her dance partner and best friend — from the seeming-sentience that had fooled her into believing he was fully his own person into an actual sentient robot. Continue reading “Clever Hansel 2020”
Originally published in Exploring New Places, July 2018
“Captain Jacques hoped these spires were the remnants of a long-ago civilization. He longed to search for signs of that civilization and learn about what kind of creatures could have once lived here.”
Captain Jacques sniffed the air on Planet 227. It was dry and sweet, very still in his whiskers, and chill on his bare pink skin. None of his science officers had mentioned being cold, but then Captain Jacques was the only Sphynx cat in his crew. Everyone else had fur under their Tri-Galactic Navy uniforms.
“It’s exhilarating!” Captain Jacques said, eliciting a polite but distracted nod from the nearest officer, a junior scientist tabby who was busy scanning the unusual red-brown rock clusters with a uni-meter. Continue reading “The Rocky Spires of Planet 227”
“S’lisha sang to the arachnids in the guttural, bellowing tones of her native language — a sound that the humans onboard had compared to a giant frog dying.”
S’lisha traced her scaly claw over the transparent metal surface of the incubator. It was the most complex cargo crate that she’d ever seen — heating and cooling coils all around the sides, a humidifier built into the base, and brackets inside to hold all of the eggs carefully in place. It had come with detailed instructions for all the settings — cool at first, but warmer and moister over time. Continue reading “Many Tiny Feet”
“Because even malicious AIs want to be liked. And people like cats.”
They Might Be Cats: A Lecture on the Prevalence of Simulated Cats in Media (Social and Otherwise!) by renowned feline expert and AI trainer, Professor Andrea Middon
(Closed captioning provided by Mew Mew Twinklepaws.)
Back during the summer when I first got access to some of the AI art programs, I spent hours and hours putting together illustrations for as many of the upcoming Zooscape stories as I could manage.
My spouse brought me a little cup of peanut M&Ms and black jelly beans, labelled with a post-it reading, “10 WORDS EACH,” because he knew I was struggling with getting started on my writing tonight.