Category: DSO
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Novel Changes 💩
During June, I collected some critiques of A Star Apart second draft. That’s when I understood I had a big problem, or multiple big problems. After years of short story critiques on critters.org, I knew the process and how valuable it could be. I was prepared to receive constructive criticism on issues. I wasn’t prepared…
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Solum Timeline ⌛
The Solum timeline begins with their first civilization about twenty-four thousand years ago. They refer to this period as the First Civ, which lasted almost nine thousand years before a catastrophic collapse. First Civ achieved industrialization and averted many wars during this time due to the positive influence of the Five Ways of Community. However,…
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A Star Apart Glossary 🪱
A Star Apart is intended to be an immersive experience. It takes place on worlds alien to humans. The main character is not human, has a non-human perspective, speaks a language we have never heard, and exists in a unique culture. Viewed from the perspective that alien lifeforms are completely Other, such a story might be difficult…
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Whalefall Review
Before I get into this issue’s book review, I’ve made some changes to my plans for A Star Apart. That book will still be the first novel in the Alloyed series, but I’m starting the series with a story collection. Becoming Alloyed tells how the human-quantum, chimeric biotechnology came to be. Once that backgrounder is…
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Science Fiction Emojis 💩
Where are the Science Fiction emojis? Mundane emojis are everywhere. Target, Safeway, Home Depot, Domino’s, Wheel of Fortune, Sprouts, and even Unsplash use them in email. OK, maybe you never heard of that last one. That’s OK, but Unsplash is a great place to get images for social media posts or a fictional-family vacation album. The point…
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Solum Body 🪱
Here are some fun facts about protagonist Marella Trasp’s Solum body from my upcoming novel, A Star Apart. The Solum body is fleshy, with ten segments, like an oversized annelid worm with evolved enhancements. Each of the six rear segments, known as aft segments, have a pair of short legs with wide toe-pads that stick to…
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Being Solum 🪱
It’s tough being Solum. Two hundred ten thousand light years away from the Swyrl galaxy, the Solum inhabit the planetary system circling the star Waol. These blue-blooded, six-eyed, four-armed, twelve-legged, sentient, segmented worms evolved on their home planet, Halm. We humans know that galaxy as the Milky Way. When the Solum view Swyrl, they see…