Shrinking

Shrinking

Reading Time: 5 minutesA woman goes home to visit her parents, even though every visit causes their house to shrink.
Toddler’s Tidy Tale: Every Mother’s Dream

Toddler’s Tidy Tale: Every Mother’s Dream

Reading Time: 3 minutesA weary mother’s wish comes true when her toddler’s toys mysteriously start tidying themselves. As she embraces the magic, she soon learns that all enchantments—like the holiday season—must come to an end.
Renna’s Crossing Chapter 5: Gift From the Magi

Renna’s Crossing Chapter 5: Gift From the Magi

Reading Time: 25 minutes“Magic may be held by any hand and bred by any soul. That was one of your grandmother’s most insistent lessons. It is all just a matter of discipline, and passion.”
Shadowed

Shadowed

Reading Time: 9 minutesA cable network host of the paranormal, Dr. Knute Quinn, ignores his old professor’s warnings about investigating shadow creatures, monstrosities much more aggressive and dangerous compared to the more passive shadow figures, dedicating his premiere second season telecast to the subject . . . with horrific consequences.
Playing with Lions

Playing with Lions

Reading Time: 2 minutesAboard a spaceship of giants is a school in which a teacher uses the creatures of Earth to show his pupils that the value of life is not determined by its size.
Not-Your-Earth Day

Not-Your-Earth Day

Reading Time: 4 minutesHumans consume micro-plastics and nano-plastics in huge quantities starting in the womb. These plastics never leave the body. Yet the public rejoices in the advent of micro-organisms that consume plastic wherever it might be. Should we really thank nature for taking out the trash this way?
Through a Glass Darkly

Through a Glass Darkly

Reading Time: 5 minutesIn the quiet depths of an Ottawa laboratory, Malcolm Reiner dared to rewrite the very fabric of biology, pursuing the dream of mirror-image life forms—an uncharted path on the edge of human understanding.
Renna’s Crossing Chapter 4: Renna’s Going on a Trip + We Who Bloom in Early Spring

Renna’s Crossing Chapter 4: Renna’s Going on a Trip + We Who Bloom in Early Spring

Reading Time: 17 minutesKyle ducked his head as a spinning flapjack narrowly missed him. He brandished a batter-covered spatula at Derek. “Cease fire at once! You know that’s against the Breakfast Geneva Code!”
Adventures of Mmuo

Adventures of Mmuo

Reading Time: 4 minutesA pagan’s curse, said in jest, comes back to haunt her.
A Taste of Evil

A Taste of Evil

Reading Time: 4 minutesAn old vending machine serves up more than just a stale Devil Dog.
A Bend in Space

A Bend in Space

Reading Time: 4 minutesSometimes you need to travel a long way to find yourself.
The Dark Side of Sweet Corn

The Dark Side of Sweet Corn

Reading Time: 8 minutesThe corn field across the road had always been a part of the landscape, a quiet presence that whispered in the wind and marked the seasons with its growth. This year, though, something was different.
Renna’s Crossing Chapter 3: The Visitor, Twelve Years Prior

Renna’s Crossing Chapter 3: The Visitor, Twelve Years Prior

Reading Time: 11 minutesSomething from the direction of the forest made them turn about sharply, muscles tensed, a reflex with no apparent trigger. Mab put her thick, gnarled hand upon Job’s shoulder. “A bad visitor. Reeking of sulfur and forgotten hate.”
The Curio Shop

The Curio Shop

Reading Time: 4 minutesA blind man makes a deal with the devil that doesn’t work out as he had hoped.
The Oracle at Delphi

The Oracle at Delphi

Reading Time: 14 minutesThe salesman of a device that predicts the immediate future finds himself in the pitch meeting of his life when he’s taken hostage by a trio of armed criminals.
A Solitary Poison

A Solitary Poison

Reading Time: 3 minutesA lonely lighthouse keeper dreams of falling, a familiar face, and a sinister flower as he is forced to confront his past.
Renna’s Crossing Chapter 8: Words of the Sage

Renna’s Crossing Chapter 8: Words of the Sage

Geordie MorseApr 8, 2025
Reading Time: 18 minutesThere was so much there—it was in prose, poetry, puzzle and picture. The sage’s wisdom couldn’t be confined to a single medium. All of it was laid out before her, insisting that it be known. Demanding to be understood.
Perfect Mother

Perfect Mother

A.V. GreeneApr 7, 2025
Reading Time: 14 minutesAfter suffering a miscarriage at a professional conference, a young mortician becomes a surrogate mother to a deathless and extremely hungry entity.
Time’s Up

Time’s Up

Maria CarvalhoApr 4, 2025
Reading Time: 2 minutesA fabled figure tries to keep humanity off the path to self-destruction.
Dandelion Wishes

Dandelion Wishes

Elizabeth SnowApr 3, 2025
Reading Time: 3 minutesPeople and flowers need nourishment and light to grown. Sometimes, sometimes people can be just as resilient as the tenacious, beautiful weeds.
A Garden in the Winter

A Garden in the Winter

John RC PotterApr 2, 2025
Reading Time: 5 minutesOn a farm one winter night in the late 1930s, the children are left at home alone by their parents when a snowstorm descends…
Renna’s Crossing Chapter 7: The Library Cat-alogues

Renna’s Crossing Chapter 7: The Library Cat-alogues

Geordie MorseApr 1, 2025
Reading Time: 15 minutesThe stares the cats gave them felt uncomfortably sentient; they were not only watching, they were knowing; contemplating; judging.
The Crystal Egg

The Crystal Egg

H. G. WellsMar 31, 2025
Reading Time: 24 minutesA man becomes obsessed with crystal egg and the mystical town captured inside it.
Date Night

Date Night

Kelly DaltonMar 27, 2025
Reading Time: 3 minutesOur heroine has fangs, fur, and an agenda.

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REVIEWS

8 Speculative Fiction Books Written by Women

8 Speculative Fiction Books Written by Women

Reading Time: 5 minutesFrom fantasy epics to disturbing and eerie horror stories, here are eight books by women from several different backgrounds.
Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for Mar. 7, 2025

Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for Mar. 7, 2025

Reading Time: 11 minutesWe read the first few chapters of each of the top five free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes an EMP box set, sexy wolves, and funny time travel.
10 Most Anticipated Horror Books of 2025

10 Most Anticipated Horror Books of 2025

Reading Time: 7 minutes2025 is bringing the scares from different authors. This is out last, but most certainly not least, list of most anticipated books.
Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for Feb. 28, 2025

Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for Feb. 28, 2025

Reading Time: 11 minutesWe read the first few chapters of each of the top five free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list has alien conspiracies, a magic-wielding space mercenary, a girl who can talk to dragons, and a private eye looking for a killer werewolf.
10 Most Anticipated Fantasy Books of 2025

10 Most Anticipated Fantasy Books of 2025

Reading Time: 9 minutesThis year is bringing the bangers for fantasy readers! Here are 10 fantasy books we’re looking forward to reading this year.
Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for Feb. 21, 2025

Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for Feb. 21, 2025

Reading Time: 9 minutesWe read the first few chapters of each of the top five free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes sexy books by USA Today bestselling authors, apocalypses, and dinosaurs.
Broadening Our Horror-izons: A Look at Foreign Indie Horror Films

Broadening Our Horror-izons: A Look at Foreign Indie Horror Films

Reading Time: 5 minutesWe’ve picked out a few low-budgeted, independent, foreign horror films popular amongst genre fans that offer a buffet of assorted cultures and styles.
Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for Feb. 14, 2025

Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for Feb. 14, 2025

Reading Time: 11 minutesWe read the first few chapters of each of the top five free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes several romantic books by USA Today bestselling authors!

Writing Advice of the Week

POV Deep Dive: The Second Person

POV Deep Dive: The Second Person

Fallon ClarkMar 9, 2025
Reading Time: 7 minutesIn the second-person, your reader becomes a character and there must be something for them to do in the book. Dive deep into the second-person point of view and wrangle your reader’s experience.
POV Deep Dive: The First Person

POV Deep Dive: The First Person

Fallon ClarkMar 2, 2025
Reading Time: 6 minutesThe first person is the only POV with a true narrator, but your reader will need to know who the narrator is early in the story, so they understand your protagonist.
Telling The Two-Sided Story

Telling The Two-Sided Story

Fallon ClarkFeb 23, 2025
Reading Time: 7 minutesPlaying with dual POVs or timelines? Here are questions to ask to make sure a two-sided storytelling approach is right for the story you’re writing now.
3 Tips for Tight Writing

3 Tips for Tight Writing

Fallon ClarkFeb 16, 2025
Reading Time: 5 minutesLearn three ways to tighten your writing on a technical level by reducing fat, remaining consistent, and using parallel constructions for reader ease.

ESSAYS

3 AI tools I use regularly that aren’t ChatGPT or Midjourney

3 AI tools I use regularly that aren’t ChatGPT or Midjourney

Maria KorolovApr 6, 2023
Reading Time: 4 minutesI 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

The multiverse: how we’re tackling the challenges facing the theory

Eugene LimApr 1, 2023
Reading Time: 5 minutesThe 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

AIs ‘learn’ by creating mini-AIs and it’s super weird but also very cool

Maria KorolovMar 23, 2023
Reading Time: 3 minutesAccording 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

Distant star TOI-700 has two potentially habitable planets orbiting it – making it an excellent candidate in the search for life

Reading Time: 5 minutesNASA recently announced the discovery of a new, Earth-sized planet in the habitable zone of a nearby star called TOI-700.

NEWS

Adobe’s Firefly will be a Midjourney killer for book cover art

Adobe’s Firefly will be a Midjourney killer for book cover art

Maria KorolovMar 24, 2023
Reading Time: 4 minutesAdobe Firefly’s images are almost as good as Midjourney, the interface is infinitely better, and artists will get paid for their training data. The beta is open now, and it’s looking extremely promising.
WGA backtracks on anti-AI stance, as long as writers get credit

WGA backtracks on anti-AI stance, as long as writers get credit

Maria KorolovMar 23, 2023
Reading Time: 2 minutesThe Writers Guild of America, which represents screenwriters, is backing off on its anti-AI stance, Variety reported today.
Google falling farther behind in AI race

Google falling farther behind in AI race

Maria KorolovMar 23, 2023
Reading Time: 5 minutesEdge, 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

Adobe, Nvidia announce ethical AI image generation

Maria KorolovMar 21, 2023
Reading Time: 4 minutesAdobe 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

Study: Writing occupation will be most affected by AI

Maria KorolovMar 21, 2023
Reading Time: 3 minutesAccording 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

GPT 4, Claude, and Alpaca all went live this week and yes, we need to worry

Maria KorolovMar 17, 2023
Reading Time: 8 minutesIt 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

Midjourney 5 released with more aspect ratios, photorealism

Maria KorolovMar 17, 2023
Reading Time: 4 minutesThe 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

AI work can be copyrighted, if human creativity was involved

Maria KorolovMar 16, 2023
Reading Time: 3 minutesThe 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.

ON WRITING

10 ways Claude AI can help you self-edit your book — for free

10 ways Claude AI can help you self-edit your book — for free

Maria KorolovJul 12, 2023
Reading Time: 16 minutesClaude AI is the single best editor I’ve tried so far. And it can do a whole book at a time. For free.
Book editing with AI: Code Interpreter vs. Claude — there’s no contest

Book editing with AI: Code Interpreter vs. Claude — there’s no contest

Maria KorolovJul 11, 2023
Reading Time: 8 minutesAnthropic’s Claude beats ChatGPT hands-down when it comes to analyzing full-length books.
Best free Canva fonts for sci-fi, fantasy, and horror

Best free Canva fonts for sci-fi, fantasy, and horror

Maria KorolovJun 28, 2023
Reading Time: 6 minutesMore than 70 great free fonts for Canva ebook covers for sci-fi, fantasy, and horror genres.
Midjourney’s new zoom out feature great for book covers

Midjourney’s new zoom out feature great for book covers

Maria KorolovJun 24, 2023
Reading Time: 7 minutesMidjourney adds zoom out feature, which is great for creating art for book covers.
Adobe will indemnify customers against lawsuits

Adobe will indemnify customers against lawsuits

Maria KorolovJun 9, 2023
Reading Time: 2 minutesAdobe promises to cover any legal costs that companies might incur as a result of using their AI-powered image generation tools. 
Claude AI can read and analyze an entire book at once — here’s how to use it

Claude AI can read and analyze an entire book at once — here’s how to use it

Maria KorolovJun 3, 2023
Reading Time: 19 minutesClaude can read a 75,000-word book and identify structural and style problems. It can also create outlines and character sheets.
Authors can now use WordPress to create newsletters — and get paid for them

Authors can now use WordPress to create newsletters — and get paid for them

Maria KorolovJun 2, 2023
Reading Time: 3 minutesWordPress.com now lets authors get paid for their newsletters.
Adobe adds Firefly’s AI image generation to Photoshop

Adobe adds Firefly’s AI image generation to Photoshop

Maria KorolovMay 25, 2023
Reading Time: 7 minutesAdobe has added Firefly’s AI image generation to Photoshop so that you, or your cover designer, can create book covers using commercially-safe AI image generation.