The Unification of Worlds

by Mary E. Lowd

Originally published in Arcana: A Tarot Anthology, November 2017

“The final piece of the puzzle might be here, hidden underneath the pale pink snow.”

Diamma’s scaly green tail curled to one side, then the other, swaying uneasily, as she stood in the open hatch of her spaceship.  Crystals of pink snow caught in her fiery, leonine mane as the flakes drifted down from the powder blue clouds of this world.  Snomoth.  For years, it had been a number in the registry on her ship; somewhere she would eventually go.  For the last few weeks, it had been a dot of light on the main viewscreen.  Now it was a faintly pink snowball, the color of cherry blossoms in the early spring, stretched out before her, waiting to freeze her toes when she stepped down from the hatch.

The final piece of the puzzle might be here, hidden underneath the pale pink snow. Continue reading “The Unification of Worlds”

The Moon Like An Unhatched Egg

by Mary E. Lowd

Originally published in The Symbol of a Nation, June 2017

“Jenn tried not to think about the cardinal and the bluebird, the seagull and the peacock — all of them gossiping and judging her. She knew they all expected Kiley the bald eagle to win.”

The moon stretched out in front of Jenn like an unhatched egg.  Full of possibility.  Full of portent.  In a few moments, the four pod capsules, including hers, would be ejected from the USS Fledgling, and the final competition would begin.  The winner would secure the continuation of their genetic line and be the first live astronaut to Mars.  All of them were uplifted birds, designed especially for this purpose, but only one would win. Continue reading “The Moon Like An Unhatched Egg”

Tidbits from the Highest Heights of Word Count

Part of me wants my novel-in-progress to wrap up in the next 4k words, because then I’ll be done sooner; part of me wants it to drag out for another 11k, because I’ve never been this close to hitting 100k words before.

Hit 90k on my space opera novel-in-progress. Too tired for exclamation points. But yay. Continue reading “Tidbits from the Highest Heights of Word Count”

Tidbits from Hanging Out with a Four-Year-Old

GAH! I forgot to have the gravity change appropriately to match the scene change AGAIN. This problem is going to haunt me for as long as I write space opera, isn’t it?

Four-year-old: “We’re on an alien planet!”‬

‪Me: “Are they nice aliens?”‬ Continue reading “Tidbits from Hanging Out with a Four-Year-Old”

Assessing and Setting Goals at the Turn of the Year

Just broke 80k on my space opera novel-in-progress! That’s 80k in TWO MONTHS.

My accomplishments in 2017:

  • 3rd novel in my Otters In Space trilogy published by FurPlanet Productions
  • sold my novel The Snake’s Song to ShadowSpinners Press
    —sold 42 short stories, including 17 to Daily Science Fiction & 1 to Analog
  • wrote 80k of a novel in 2 months (that ties into all 18 of the pro-level story sales)

Continue reading “Assessing and Setting Goals at the Turn of the Year”