Author: marylowd

Looking for Sentience

by Mary E. Lowd

Originally published in Luna Station Quarterly, June 2019

“I know you help robots prove their sentience, and I believe I’m sentient. I know I’m not a robot, but I can’t find anyone who helps people like me.”

Light glinted off the tips of the spires that rose from the rocky asteroid base of Kau Meti as Gerengelo’s shuttle approached.  The yellow sunlight caught the metal of the spires in just the right way to gleam enticingly, like a wink and the promise of a shiny, exciting future.  Gerangelo was not impressed.  He was familiar with the promises humans made to themselves and others — with words, with shiny buildings, even with contracts filled with legally binding language.  They made promises and broke them.  Sometimes, though, when they wouldn’t break their own promises, Gerangelo had to break their promises for them — fight his way through with a machete of righteousness. Continue reading “Looking for Sentience”

Twelve Days of Snow on Crossroads Station

by Mary E. Lowd

Originally published in Daily Science Fiction, May 2021

“It was as if an angel of winter had kissed the air inside the spinning wheel space station. So cold, so beautiful, so unexpected.”

When the snow began falling inside Crossroads Space Station, all of the aliens stopped what they were doing and held very still.  The snowflakes caught on long fuzzy manes and feathered wings; they pinged lightly against hard insectile carapaces and shimmering reptilian scales.  The white flakes hung in the air, stirred by the puffs of breath from snouts and beaks.  The breaths themselves crystallized in the sudden chill.

It was as if an angel of winter had kissed the air inside the spinning wheel space station.  So cold, so beautiful, so unexpected. Continue reading “Twelve Days of Snow on Crossroads Station”

Furry Fiction: The Squishy Edges and the Heart

by Mary E. Lowd

Adapted from threads written on Twitter, May 2021

The definition of furry fiction is really very simple: it is fiction featuring anthropomorphic characters.

Let’s talk about the squishy edges of the genre of furry fiction.

Why?

Because a lot of people clearly have no idea what the genre is.  And then, once we’ve talked about the squishy edges, let’s also talk about the heart. After that, we’ll take a brief tour through the most common sub-genres. Let’s get this whole question of the nature of furry fiction truly sorted out!

The first question I always get asked by people who’ve never heard of furry fiction before is, “What about lizards? Or fish?” Continue reading “Furry Fiction: The Squishy Edges and the Heart”

Melt Away by She & Him

The universe gave me a present today — I discovered that Zooey Deschanel’s group, She & Him, has a Brian Wilson tribute album, and the choices of tracks are largely deep cuts that I also would have chosen. It’s absolutely perfect and beautiful.

The best part, perhaps, is that this album probably opens up the rest of She & Him’s music to me, much in the way that the TMBG kids albums made it possible for me to connect to them and Taylor Swift’s pandemic releases opened up all her earlier albums to me.

This is exciting!

I’m still struggling with the downbeat sadness of She & Him… but maybe if I give it another try on a different day I can manage to push past that and acclimate my brain to the sound more.

The Christmas Tree Barn

by Mary E. Lowd

First published in Nature Futures, December 2021, by Springer Nature

“Our trees can recognize faces and everything. They’re approximately as smart as Labrador Retrievers.”

The concrete floor of the basement was freezing cold right through Becca’s socks, and the air smelled moldy.  She hadn’t properly aired the basement out since it had flooded most of a year ago, last spring.  Becca yanked on the corner of the old, beat-up cardboard box with the robotic Christmas tree in it, and the box scraped across the floor as it pulled out from under the tool shelves. Continue reading “The Christmas Tree Barn”

The Dreaming Arm

by Mary E. Lowd

A Deep Sky Anchor Original, December 2022

“The dreaming arm had doomed them all, urging them to spend energy they didn’t have to spare…”

One arm sagged.  Seven arms writhed and worked, puckering their sucker discs and pulling the joint-being they composed across the slippery rocks.  The gaspingly dry, slippery rocks.  But the sagging arm — as little as it helped with pulling, and as much as it acted like a dead weight needing to be pulled — had dreamed about crossing the rocks.  It had dreamed of wonders on the other side.  And seven other arms had listened to those dreams.  Been compelled by those dreams, drawn to explore the rocks at the top edge of the ocean. Continue reading “The Dreaming Arm”

Thoughts on “The Dreaming Arm” and Animorphs #4

If I didn’t know myself that I wrote “The Dreaming Arm” several months before reading Animorphs #4, I would’ve sworn it had been inspired by them finding Ax under the ocean.

Anyway, check out my all new, just released today flash fiction, The Dreaming Arm! Continue reading “Thoughts on “The Dreaming Arm” and Animorphs #4″