Mark your calendar: Original flash fiction submissions open Oct. 1. Submission window closes Oct. 31.
Between the Mountain and the Sea
Olia is woken by the deep unearthly booms and sharp percussive snaps of the ice breaking up. She lies still in her bed, listening. So soon. She thought she would have more time. Another month, at least. But things aren’t like they were when she first became Tribute Keeper. They’ll be different still for Vali …
DC
Reading Time: 11 minutes A higher power watches a small group of primitive humans in the far future try to understand the alarms triggered by their presence in a long-abandoned city.
A Medieval Tale
Reading Time: 14 minutes A monk in a medieval priory faces the sudden appearance of aliens that seem strangely familiar, only to learn he was once one of them.
Chef’s Special
Reading Time: 4 minutes Davis was the species’ third victim on the Pathfinder XII. I liked Davis, he called me a Culinary Magician.
Past Due
Reading Time: 4 minutes In a world where holograms allow us to hang on even past death, a young man needs to make a hard choice.
Dead Nana, Walking
Reading Time: 3 minutes Old people don’t die, but slowly turn to stone. Joey needs to get her Nana to her grandfather’s statue.
Whispers Of Death
Reading Time: 8 minutes A teenager pushes another teenager into an abandoned well and leaves him there to die. But the victim has other ideas.
Pendulum
Reading Time: 5 minutes A woman researcher is her own test subject. Or is she the victim?
Deadbolt
Reading Time: 13 minutes Jess thought she’d left Derek behind, casting away his ring in the floods of a Seattle storm. But Derek was promised forever, and with another storm brewing, he’s going to remind her just how long forever is.
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REVIEWS
‘Dragonfall’ is an inclusive fantasy where the dragons have feathers
Reading Time: 3 minutes Come for the dragons, stay for the queerness.
Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for July 28, 2023
Reading Time: 15 minutes We read the first few chapters of each of the top ten free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes a box set of ten books in an epic fantasy series, a story of EMP survival, a time-traveling young lady of Regency society, and a sexy alien,
Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for July 21, 2023
Reading Time: 17 minutes We read the first few chapters of each of the top ten free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes two different box sets plus a military sci-fi adventure from a USA Today bestselling author.
Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for July 14, 2023
Reading Time: 15 minutes We read the first few chapters of each of the top ten free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes a circus troupe traveling through a fantasy world, a grim reaper who breaks the rules,
Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for July 7, 2023
Reading Time: 15 minutes We read the first few chapters of each of the top ten free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes witches, werewolves, aliens, and magic schools.
Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for June 30, 2023
Reading Time: 14 minutes We read the first few chapters of each of the top ten free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes four ghosts who murder bullies and take over their bodies and several fantasy romances.
Uranians by Theodore McCombs
Reading Time: 2 minutes Uranians — an anthology including four short stories and one novella — is the perfect marriage of sci-fi and queerness.
Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for June 23, 2023
Reading Time: 17 minutes We read the first few chapters of each of the top ten free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes a space opera about a man who watches all of humanity get destroyed by aliens.
ESSAYS
3 AI tools I use regularly that aren’t ChatGPT or Midjourney
Reading Time: 4 minutes I use Otter AI, Canva, and Notion nearly every day, and here is why other writers should, too.
The multiverse: how we’re tackling the challenges facing the theory
Reading Time: 5 minutes The idea of a multiverse consisting of “parallel universes” is a popular science fiction trope, recently explored in the Oscar-winning movie Everything Everywhere All At Once. However, it is within the realm of scientific possibility.
AIs ‘learn’ by creating mini-AIs and it’s super weird but also very cool
Reading Time: 3 minutes According to a paper released last fall by researchers from Google, Stanford, and MIT, large language models learn new information and concepts by creating new, miniature machine learning systems on the fly.
Distant star TOI-700 has two potentially habitable planets orbiting it – making it an excellent candidate in the search for life
Reading Time: 5 minutes NASA recently announced the discovery of a new, Earth-sized planet in the habitable zone of a nearby star called TOI-700.
NEWS
Google falling farther behind in AI race
Reading Time: 5 minutes Edge, Opera and Brave all now have AI built in. Google’s Chrome is not even in the race yet.
Adobe, Nvidia announce ethical AI image generation
Reading Time: 4 minutes Adobe and Nvidia both announced AI image generators today — Firefly and Picasso, respectively — that do not use artists’ work for training data without their permission. Both companies also promise to pay artists for work generated in their signature styles, as does Getty Images.
Study: Writing occupation will be most affected by AI
Reading Time: 3 minutes According to research released today, the more high-level and creative your job, the more likely it will be to be disrupted by AI. Top of the list? Writers and authors — with up to 100 percent of their jobs likely to be affected.
GPT 4, Claude, and Alpaca all went live this week and yes, we need to worry
It was a big week for AI news these past few days. GPT 4 was released on Tuesday, Midjourney 5 was released on Wednesday, and Alpaca — a $600 clone of ChatGPT — was released on Monday. Yes, you can now have your own large language model for less than the cost of new phone …
Midjourney 5 released with more aspect ratios, photorealism
Reading Time: 4 minutes The fifth generation of the super popular Midjourney app is out, and it’s more photorealistic and better at hands and faces.
AI work can be copyrighted, if human creativity was involved
Reading Time: 3 minutes The US Copyright Office issued a ruling today that AI-generated content can, in fact, be copyrighted — as long as a human being has contributed work to the end product.
Authors Guild proposes new AI training use clause
Reading Time: 2 minutes Authors Guild proposes contract clause to block AI training use without permission.
Flash Fiction Submissions Open March 1
Reading Time: 2 minutes The spring 2023 submission cycle for original speculative fiction begins on March 1 and closes at midnight on March 31.
ON WRITING
This week’s top writing advice from around the web for Aug. 20, 2023
Reading Time: 10 minutes I subscribe to more than 180 writing advice sites and YouTube channels and lovingly pick the best posts from this previous week for your edification. Lots of advice this week about AI.
This week’s top writing advice from around the web for Aug. 13, 2023
Reading Time: 8 minutes I subscribe to more than 180 writing advice sites and YouTube channels and lovingly pick the best posts from this previous week for your edification. Today’s list has 73 articles, podcasts and videos that cover pretty much anything an author needs to know, from staying motivated, to creating scenes, to marketing books.
This week’s top writing advice from around the web for Aug. 6, 2023
Reading Time: 9 minutes I subscribe to more than 180 writing advice sites and YouTube channels and lovingly pick the best posts from this previous week for your edification. This week, we’ve got advice about punctuating dialogue, writing scenes — and using AI for marketing and editing.
This week’s top writing advice from around the web for Jul. 30, 2023
Reading Time: 9 minutes I subscribe to more than 175 writing advice sites and YouTube channels and lovingly pick the best advice from this past week for your edification. We have 90 brand-new links this week to articles, videos and podcasts to help you be more motivated, more productive, and more successful.
Scalzi, other spec fic authors head for the X-it
Reading Time: 3 minutes Authors are leaving Twitter — rebranded today as just “X” — for other platforms. Many are landing on Threads.
This week’s top writing advice from around the web for Jul. 23, 2023
Reading Time: 9 minutes I subscribe to more than 175 writing advice sites and YouTube channels and lovingly pick the best advice from this past week for your edification.
Sci-fi author uses AI to promote new book about AI
Reading Time: 2 minutes Best-selling Brazilian author PJ Caldas used AI technology to release a book trailer for his first novel in English.
How to create a good author profile photo
Reading Time: 6 minutes Some free and easy ways to create good-looking author headshots and profile pics.