Category: Blog

You made it to 2021!  Congratulations!

What better way to start the year than by reading a pair of space opera stories about new beginnings? Continue reading “Happy New Year!!!”

When I was a kid, I loved the beginning of Adventures In Babysitting where Elisabeth Shue dances to the Crystals’ song “Then He Kissed Me”:

I also loved The Beach Boys and was excited to find they’d covered the song “Then He Kissed Me”… but bewildered by the way they changed the lyrics in gender-flipping it to “Then I Kissed Her.” Continue reading “Two Ways to Gender-Flip Songs”

This is my round-up of original fiction I had released this year.  I’d be honored if readers would consider these works for award nominations, but I’d also be really happy if people simply read and enjoy them.

Novels

My novel ENTANGLEMENT BOUND was published by Aethon Books in December, 2020. Continue reading “2020 Awards Eligible Work by Mary E. Lowd”

Here’s the thing about Jack O’Neill and Samantha Carter in Stargate SG-1: he loves her — she doesn’t have long hair or tight clothes; doesn’t babble, do emotional work, or soothe egos — he just loves her for the brilliant, awkward human she is. Continue reading “Jack O’Neill and Samantha Carter”

Merry holiday season!

It’s been a long, hard year for a lot of us, so we’re sharing three stories today as a Christmas present for anyone who needs one.  These three flash fiction stories fit together, following the voyages of a starship carrying scientists from world to world, making first contact with alien species, bringing small touches of hope and connection from the stars. Continue reading “A Small Present in Three Parts”

Writers are taught not to write wish-fulfillment—it’s too easy, boring, or low stakes. But that reasoning is wrong. It only seems that way because we’ve all already read thousands of wish-fulfillment stories about cis het able-bodied white males, so they’re very… predictable.

For every other demographic? Continue reading “Wish-Fulfillment”

I am so burned out. I’ve been writing at a breakneck pace for more than a year, and I’ve had the kids home, bouncing off the walls, dealing with loss and fear caused by the pandemic for nine months.

But I keep dragging myself forward on the novel I’m writing.

I keep wondering if I should take a break. Surely, after writing three novels in fourteen months, I’ve earned a break?

And yet, writing is what holds me together. Believing the books I write matter is what pulls me forward. And I need to be held together and pulled forward.

Apparently, today is the day that I can’t take it anymore and start ranting wildly about Universal Basic Income.

Years ago I was asked while on a panel at a convention, how can a writer best go about making money with their book?

My answer remains the same:  put your book aside, go into politics, and fight for Universal Basic Income.

Writing is a terrible, awful, horrible way to make money, and it always will be. Continue reading “Universal Basic Income is Tenure for Writers”

I’m so glad to have Grey’s Anatomy & Station 19 back after all these months.  They’re such a bright spot in my week.

The thing about great art is that it helps the chaos of life make sense. And when you find a piece of art that can do that for you… it’s like a friend, a teacher, a warm comforting blanket, and a place where you can go to feel safe all at once.

I know every episode of Grey’s Anatomy hasn’t been brilliant. But many of them have been, and it’s grown over the years

And there simply are stories you can tell after 16 years (+ 6 of Private Practice & 3 of Station 19) that you just can’t tell without that kind of history. Continue reading “The Value of Longevity as Demonstrated by Grey’s Anatomy and Baby Yoda”

One of the best things about Gilmore Girls is that it normalizes the possibility of being a fantastic mother while not cooking AT ALL or even knowing how.

I know how to cook. I can cook. But most of the time, I don’t want to. It’s easier, quicker, and more fun to order out.

So, I think about Lorelei Gilmore a lot. Because she’s the best possible mother for Rory, and they only ever seem to eat at Luke’s diner or get pizza. Continue reading “Lorelei Gilmore and Not Cooking”