Category: Blog

Celebrating the fact that Zooscape re-opens to submissions in a few hours by finally getting around to watching Zootopia 2.

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Okay, I love Pawbert, but hiring Andy Samberg to voice a feline? He’s clearly a labradoodle. Continue reading “Zootopia 2”

I finally finished converting Brunch at the All Alien Cafe into a soundtrack album! It’s 48 stories long, so this is no small feat.

This is exciting, because it means I now get to test the album out by just listening through it… Continue reading “Different Story Collections, Different Album Vibes”

As a kid, I used to do my homework in front of the endless Star Trek: TNG reruns — if I timed it right, I could catch three a night.

Now I’m writing Tri-Galactic Trek stories with Heartland playing in the background — extremely sincere people taking care of lots of horses.

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It’s weird to me that I find it easier to write with a low-commitment TV show on in the background, but hey, work with the brain you’ve got. Continue reading “Heartland, Shrinking, Star Trek, and Progress”

I wrote an essay on furry fiction a few years back (‘22) that was very well received (even won a Leo Literary Award and nominated for an Ursa Major).

Here’s a line from it:

“Arguably, every android character ever written is furry, because androids are anthropomorphic machines.” Continue reading “Furry and AI”

My 12-year-old tried to claim we can’t put them to bed, because it’s noon not midnight. I asked what happened to the sun.

Their answer? “The same people who stole from the Louvre stole it… by pretending to be planets.”

It’s the final detail that really makes it.

Originally, my idea was that “Breathing the Air at Wespirtech” would be my first novel… but the idea was way too hard for my writing skills back then. Eventually, twenty years later, I managed to write it as a short story. I absolutely love the song version.

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Since I turned my story, “Slug Time” (about a far future scientist trying to make a universal translator), into a catchy 80s-style song, my kids have started using the phrase “slug time” to mean mindless relaxation, which is kinda cool. Continue reading “Insipid Liner Notes – Welcome to Wespirtech”

My story “Fetching Asteroids” is only 300 words, but as a song… oh my god. Just oh my god. I can’t believe it’s real I can make songs like this exist now. I’ve been doing it for the last 2.5 months straight, and I still just can’t really believe it.

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The main character in “A Real Stand-Up Guy” is like if Stephen Colbert were a pug dog in the Otters In Space universe. I love him so much. So the song had to get him just right, and, ugh, when he stops singing to say the “I don’t care” line… so perfect. Continue reading “Insipid Liner Notes – Paw Prints Beyond the Moon”

I was okay with the end of Stranger Things, but I’m definitely looking forward to the fan made Conformity Gate alternate ending that will almost certainly come out some time in the next few years when AI video gets a little easier to control.

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Me: sets out to write a story inspired by The Manchurian Candidate after watching the relevant Star Trek episode, both movie versions, and reading the original book Continue reading “A Confluence of Trek”

Next month, I’m gonna be selling my books at the Oregon Author Fair, and I have several other book-selling events coming up later in the year! So, far, I’m scheduled to have a table at both BayCon 42 in July and ST-LV: Trek to Vegas in August!

I haven’t been to a Star Trek convention in a while, but they were basically my favorite thing as a kid. So, I’m pretty excited! Continue reading “Upcoming Events and Plans”

I’ve got a full first draft of the soundtrack for Maradia’s Robot Emporium!

I’ll have to listen to it a few times through to be sure it’s done, but wow. That will not be a chore! It blends 80s weird synth pop with 60s do-wop aesthetics in just the best way.

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Between the 3D-printer we just got and the advances in music two months ago, I’m having the best week. Every day, I can print myself new toys and create new 60s/80s sci-fi songs. Continue reading “Toys and Songs”