Early in Terminator 2 we are privy to a view from the terminator’s perspective. Cast in villainous shades of red, it shows an augmented reality...
sci-fi
Brave New World: A 1931 novel, a 2020 television show…a 2022 reality?
George Orwell’s 1984 seems almost naive in retrospect, believing that a faceless government would strip all privacy, create a surveillance state,...
Real estate without the “Real”
Back in 2019 (in the "Before" time), fed up with losing 5 months of the year to cold weather and snow, my wife and I decided to move cross country...
One Pill, Two Pill, Red Pill, Blue Pill
Well, with the new Matrix movie out (no spoilers at all, perfectly safe to continue), it’s time to revisit the red pill, blue pill debate.I’m going...
Hear the Drums, Fear the Game
If you know Jumanji, you probably get chills just reading that drum beat. For those who don’t, Jumanji is a 1995 comedic adventure movie starring...
Soldiers on Ice
Sometimes ideas come to us at the weirdest times. The middle of the night is all too common. In my house, we refer to a shower as "Brain Rain" for a...
In a Few Years, This Will Feel Normal
Once upon a time, there were games you played with rocks on a table. Then carved pieces on a table. Eventually, people developed little cardboard...
Cowboy Bebop != Cowboy Bebop
Spoiler alert: Cowboy Bebop (Netflix and original animated versions)OK, so I’ve watched all of Cowboy Bebop, both the original and Netflix versions....
Poll: Imagine it’s 2065. “I believe robots will_”
Back when I first launched my Project Transhuman series (formerly Robot Geneticists), I posed this question to my email insiders. While my series...
No Robot Uprising in 2020
Not sure what my Author Scrapheap is? I introduce the idea on the Author Scrapheap archive page. This time diving into my Author Scrapheap, we're...
Poll: What’s it take to be the greatest bounty hunter?
Back when I first launched my Black Ocean: Mercy for Hire series, I posed this question to my email insiders. The main character, Esper, may be...
Good News, Everyone! It’s the best Sci-Fi show ever
While I hold onto hope that someday this title might get passed along to a Black Ocean adaptation, I just want to talk about the best sci-fi show...
Firefly: You can’t take this board game from me
I've never made a secret of Firefly being one of the main inspirations of my Black Ocean universe. And when it comes to themed board games, there...
2 techs I want to mash up
For me, the "present" is sort of permanently frozen in my mind as the mid-to-late nineties. As we drift ever onward into the future, we rob old...
Your DIY magic portal
One of my favorite seeds for story ideas is the notion of the crossover concepts. They've been big in comics since forever and huge in fan-fic. But...
NASA TV
Not sure what my Author Scrapheap is? I introduce the idea on the Author Scrapheap archive page. With SpaceX making news recently, I thought it was...
Poll: Long-term fate of humanity
Today, I want to gaze into a quantum crystal ball and predict possible futures for mankind, all of which remain possible until the probability wave...
Deep Space Mine
When Matt Larkin and I were first brainstorming ideas for Black Ocean: Astral Prime, one of our first sticking points was what to call the series. I...
Race for the Galaxy: the game I’ll never get sick of
I play a lot of board games. I love sci-fi. Where the two of these passions best overlap is a board game called Race for the Galaxy. This is my...
Fighting for Freedom
With Independence Day behind us in the USA, it's a good time to talk about rebellions and revolutions in fiction. Sci-fi and fantasy are rife with...
Fantastic Fathers
Back around Mother's Day, I made a list of the best mothers in sci-fi and fantasy. Fair's fair, so now we're having a look at the top fictional...
Are You Ready to Upload Your Brain?
So, who's ready for the robot revolution? Will you rise up and join our new robotic masters in a shiny new machine body? Or fight to preserve...
In Honor of Mother’s Day
In honor of Mother's Day, let's talk about the greatest mothers in sci-fi and fantasy. Sadly, thanks to cloning vats and a bias toward orphan...
I’m Giving You a Time Machine
I don't know when it will happen, but a time machine will be delivered for everyone to use. Someday, one will get invented, and I'll convince the...