Deep Sky Anchor – Page 134 – An e-zine about spaceships, aliens, science, memory, motherhood, magic, and cats.

Wing Day

by Mary E. Lowd

Originally published in Daily Science Fiction, October 2018

“She had no reason not to be excited — she’d known all along that the wings she’d grow were vestigial and would need to be removed.”

Lee-a-lei had never been to a Wing Day party, much less thrown one herself. The butterfly-like alien crossed her uppermost pair of fuzzy exoskeletal arms and watched her clone-daughter scurry around their quarters, excited, sugar-crazed, and impatient for the guests to arrive.

Am-lei flapped her new wings, throwing herself into the air — she bounced off the ceiling and landed awkwardly on newly-long, spindly legs. A month ago, Am-lei had been a pudgy green caterpillar-babe. At least, Lee-a-lei had thought of her as a babe, even though she was nearly ten years old. Continue reading “Wing Day”

Dragon Clocks and Lamps

Friend: I’m looking for a new clock

Me: Here’s a link to a dragon clock on Amazon!

Friend: It needs to be silent… Continue reading “Dragon Clocks and Lamps”

Revisiting Old Playlists

One of the nice things about working on a sequel to The Snake’s Song is that it gives me a reason to listen to the playlist I listened to while writing it again. It’s a good playlist, and it helps get me back into the characters and world.

Happy Kitten –> Happy Writing

How to write:‬

‪—get kitten‬
‪—dangle feathers‬

‪Look, if you measure in word count, sure, this strategy may not be the MOST effective. But if you measure in HAPPY KITTENS, it’s much better.‬ Continue reading “Happy Kitten –> Happy Writing”

Chaos Sundae

My life has been a bowl of chaos ice cream during this pandemic, and then my dog died, so we got a new kitten… Basically, we put some chaos whipped cream, chocolate sauce, cherries, and sprinkles on top of the chaos ice cream to make a chaos sundae.

Zoom meetings with a kitten…

Me: Here! See my new kitten!

*tilts camera down*

Kitten: plays charmingly on my lap Continue reading “Zoom meetings with a kitten…”

Impossible Choice

The kitten wants scritches. The keyboard needs typing. You must choose.‬

‪Kitten or writing?‬

‪You only have enough hands for one…‬

Research

The thirteen-year-old comes in to find me watching the forest fire scene from Bambi. Specifically just the forest fire scene. Looks at me quizzically.

Me: “Research. For the novel.”

Thirteen: “Ah. I wondered.”

Bridging the Span Between Shelties

The book I started writing yesterday is about a squirrel going to rescue a big, jolly otter she loves; he nearly died at the end of the last book but instead ascended into the heavens.

She will bring him back, but he’ll be changed. Continue reading “Bridging the Span Between Shelties”

Trilogy Finished!

It’s been less than a year since I signed with Aethon Books for my Entangled Universe trilogy – which at the time was just one book & some vague ideas – but I just sent off the manuscript for the final book! Continue reading “Trilogy Finished!”