Torchwood's matter-of-fact use of gay sexuality this science fiction drama sets the bar for how mature entertainment should handle the subject. Why don't we see this in American productions? [Continue]

I’m rattling around back here in the cyberdust getting ready to resuscitate my regular blogging schedule. Not quuuiiiiite there yet but just came across this I wanted to share: Science Fiction and Fantasy Dominate the 2009 Prime-Time Dramas [Continue]

Anthony Trollope's overlooked classic "The Fixed Period" is a proto-science fiction work worth looking at today. Its premise? That the elderly are euthanized society-wide when they turn age 68. [Continue]

Life on Mars was a re-working of the hit BBC series of the same name. I thought it creative, unique, challenging - until the last 15 minutes of the series finale. In a heavy-handed act of juvenile storytelling, the creators managed to pull the rug [Continue]

This is the second of a 2-part post about the role cities play in Sa’adani thought and society.  That’s Sa’adani as in the human (but not Earth-human) culture of the eponymous Empire, the backdrop of my science fiction novels. You [Continue]

Science fiction often portrays how people live in the future, but rarely gets into the decisions or urban planning processes that got them to that point. I've had to think about Sa'adani urban planning philosophies lately in order to better [Continue]

In writing my novel, I came to a speed bump when it came time to describe symbols used in intel work. Neither colors nor icon forms have symbolic associations such as we are accustomed to in our own Earth-based culture. For instance, the color [Continue]

Aliens in fiction need to be more than humans in rubber suits. Growing complex aliens means rethinking their psychology from the ground up. [Continue]

As I'm working on Splintegrate, the world of Lyndir is very present in my mind. Lyndir is mentioned in my book Mainline and is the frenetic hub of culture and business in this sector. Writing about this region brings up some interesting questions [Continue]

I'm a woman and a U. S. Army veteran. That puts me in a small class of authors who, like Elizabeth Moon and Sandra McDonald, have military experience and also write military science fiction. McDonald's and Moon's works are intriguing - and [Continue]