Tag Archives: future

In the Future, Bulls Have Goofy Colored Horns

classroom

PHOTO PROMPT © Jennifer Pendergast

“We can only stay a few minutes. Give me your impressions about this room,” said Professor Clark.

Twelve-year-old Jimmy was disappointed. He thought going fifty-four years into the future would be about flying cars and Moon bases.

“Well, Sir, I guess this is some kind of school. The games and paints look familiar.”

He kept scanning the classroom. “I have no idea about WiFi or PW. The Labels poster is probably not talking about soup. What the heck is a Terf and why does the bull have goofy colored horns?”

“I forgot,” said Clark. “In 2020, everyone wears masks. Here.”

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Tunnel Visions

dales-tunnels

PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson

Hill always came to places like this when he couldn’t sleep. He needed the dreams but without sleep, there were only visions.

In his visions, he’s alone usually by choice. People made too much noise. When he couldn’t sleep, it was because his own brain made too much noise and because he couldn’t let go of the world’s noise.

This one was better lit than most. It was quiet, but a little cold. He heard his footsteps on crumbling concrete. It was like a science fiction dystopia.

At the end of the tunnel, could he rest in a better world?

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My Novelette “Ice” is FREE from January 20-25, 2024! Download NOW!

ice

Cover art for my fantasy novelette “Ice”

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi.

Here it is. My 2021 SciFi fantasy thriller “Ice,” is a FREE download from Amazon onto your kindle device from Saturday, January 20th to January 25th, 2024 Pacific (USA) Time. That’s right, FREE.

It’s certainly been cold enough in a lot of places lately, but not as cold as the world of Ice.

In the far future, the battle between the gods of fire and ice has long concluded. Fire won and all of the ice across the entire Planet Earth has melted creating strange coastlines and inner seas filled with danger and excitement.

It is in this world that Captain Ki-Moon Jong and his sailing merchant ship the Star of Jindo ply their trade up and down the eastern coast of what was once known as South America.

But then, another ship violates the sacred code of the sea by abandoning one of its crew at the seaport Puerto Gallegos and then making for unknown waters, disappearing from existence.

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Being Superversive in a Subversive World

fantasy

Found on Richard Paolinelli’s blog. No image credit given

Richard Paolinelli has named me on a list of superversive authors (scroll down, the list is in alphabetical order by last name).

Now you may be asking yourself what is “superversive?”

According to Urban Dictionary:

Nurturing; supportive, building up — opposite of subversive

The superversives decorated the object with daisy chains, linked their arms around it and sang “Jerusalem.”

Seems a bit “flowery”.

So how does that translate into writing superversive fiction, and particularly science fiction? Back in 2016, Russell Newquist crafted an answer in What is Superversive Fiction? (I should say that he hasn’t posted anything on his blog since September 2019):

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Future Tension

marigolds

Photo by Surachai Piragsa – Bangkok Post – 2017

Adam had to look up the word Hemmablind to find out what his wife meant. Yeah, it described him pretty well. He just didn’t notice all of the little imperfections in and around the house. The tear in the back screen door, the weeds growing in the flowerbed, they were all the same to him, and her constant pestering about them was a pain in his pinfeathers.

Yet, as oblivious as he was to all the chores she set before him each morning, he was able to carry himself in a decorous fashion, even when she said the leaf-filled rain gutters and the clogged bathroom sink were the final straw.

Oh, he had attempted to summon up a token effort or two, but it wasn’t enough to draw her attention away from his overall pattern of inactivity. He used his bad back as a crutch, but that didn’t hold up as an excuse, and certainly did not hold their marriage together.

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How Lofty Are Dreams

moon over lake

© Ted Strutz

They enjoyed the view from the deck of the yacht just like the other families who were visiting the summer resort that week. Jim held his little granddaughter in his arms and they admired the moon together.

“Moon, Gampa! Moon!”

“That’s right, Danielle. It’s the Moon. Someday maybe you can live up there.”

“You’ll just confuse her, Dad.”

“Well maybe, son. But what about you, Landon?” He looked down at his eight-year-old grandson. “Would you like to live on the Moon someday?”

“I don’t know, Grandpa. People haven’t even walked on the Moon since 1972.”

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