You might have heard that imagery is pivotal to writing a story. It truly makes a scene come alive, but many sources I’ve seen that talked about imagery have just said “Use the five senses!” and then moved on. The five senses are touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing, but writing imagery isn’t just using … Continue reading How to Add Imagery to Your Speculative Novel
Somehow I always end up coming back to Heinlein's work. This week was no different with Between Planets, another one of Heinlein's "juvenile" books. It's been especially interesting to see how the young adult genre has changed over time. Let's get into the review. Robert A. Heinlein wrote and serialized Between Planets in 1951. The … Continue reading Between Planets Book Review
intro I thought I would do something a little different for this post. Recently, I started working on some sci-fi horror-related short stories, mostly because I wanted to branch out with my writing projects. So I decided to look for literary journals that would want to publish this kind of work. Here are six literary … Continue reading 6 Literary Journals Looking for Horror
I stumbled across The Fifth Head of Cerberus a while back, and it rather unexpectedly ended up on my TBR. I had heard of Gene Wolfe, but I hadn't read any of his works up until now. But going down my list of books to read meant reading this one next. Let's get into the … Continue reading The Fifth Head of Cerberus Review
Note: How to Write Ancient Fantasy Settings first appeared in MetaStellar's Writing Advice of the Week column on April 12, 2026. Fantasy, high and epic fantasy in particular, introduces lots of unique settings through vivid description and fascinating characteristics. But some fantasy settings are older than others. Much older. When you’re working on your own … Continue reading How to Write Ancient Fantasy Settings
I thought I would read something different this week. I ended up reading M. P. Shiel's The Purple Cloud, which came out in 1901. The premise honestly sounded really interesting, and it was on my TBR anyway. Let's get into the review. The Purple Cloud is a novel in the "last man" genre and received … Continue reading The Purple Cloud Book Review
If you aren't familiar with solarpunk, the genre appears in fiction earlier than you might expect. The subgenre of science fiction exhibits a rich history, which I'll go into detail in a minute. In the meantime, how do you go about writing the genre? If you enjoy writing sci-fi and want to experience solarpunk, check … Continue reading Solarpunk: A Definition
Up until now, I hadn't read anything by Roger Zelazny, though I do have Lord of Light on my TBR. I figured, on a whim, that I should read his short story "A Rose for Ecclesiastes" since I had the time. In the end, I really enjoyed it, but I won't get ahead of myself. … Continue reading A Rose for Ecclesiastes Review
I thought I would do something different for the Saturday post this week. Mostly because I updated my author site and completely forgot to make an announcement! So that's the post for today: I recently updated my author site/portfolio, and I want to share it all with you. For starters, I included the link below: … Continue reading My Author Site Is Up!
I did a review of Isaac Asimov's short story "The Last Question" some time ago. (If you want, check it out through here!). However, I decided to also finally read his follow-up short story, "The Last Answer." Let's get into the review. This story first appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact in 1980. The … Continue reading The Last Answer Short Story Review
