The Batavia was a merchant ship which set sail on its maiden voyage in 1628 from the Netherlands to Java under the command of Dutch East Asia Company official, Francisco Pelsaert. The ship, for its […]
Month: September 2020
(Art) The Celestial Visions of Julie Dillon
Julie Dillon (born in 1982) is an American artist specializing in science fiction and fantasy art. A freelance illustrator, Dillon has created images for games, book and magazine covers, and covers for musical albums. Dillon’s […]
The Social Dilemma
We watched The Social Dilemma on Netflix last night, which is totally worth the time. At one point, Tristan Harris plays off a quote from Steve Jobs, who famously remarked that computers should be “a […]
(Fiction) The City of the Dead
Six hours along the coast from Incomium, where the Comi River makes its spectacular leap to the sea, rests an inlet at the far edge of the Western Expanse. There, nestled amid the cypress trees […]
(Fiction) Mosque of the Jinn
The weak yellow light from the headlights flickered slightly as the car idled, but they shone bright enough to reveal the small placard near the door: SERPENT MOUND PARK. “What is this place?” I stopped […]
Western Gothic
My parents have been binge-watching the Paramount show Yellowstone, which is not about the infamous National Park but rather is a kind of cowboy Game of Thrones in the modern American West. I can’t stomach […]
(Fiction) PermaPuppies
With the new puppy, of course I have to share this chapter from ZERO SIGNAL.
(Art) The Heavy Metal Dragons of Brock Grossman
This blog’s been a little quiet lately. Unfortunately, I had to say goodbye to my best friend last Friday. In a cruel twist of fate, that was less than 24 hours before we were scheduled […]
The Burden of Insight
As my mother, a counselor and clinical social worker of 30+ years, often notes: Most people are not burdened with insight. I love that observation and have quoted it often, but of course it’s a […]
(Art) The Enduring Mystique of Qistina Khalidah
A few of these paintings have appeared on this blog before, especially as cover images to snippets from my urban fantasy novel, and for good reason. The works of Malaysian cover artist Qistina Khalidah, AKA […]
