Mary Sues Linked to Suicide

Ubiquitous and unfailingly dull Strong Female Characters™ aren't just deadly to the waves of expendable male villains they routinely slaughter in today's Narrative-driven books, movies, and video games. Author Dawn Witzke speculates that SFCs may pose a threat to their readers' life expectancy. Whether we realize it or not, fictional…
March 29, 201715 Comments
Regency Romance Authors Must Disavow Jane Austen

Regency Romance Authors Must Disavow Jane Austen

First it was cartoon frogs, then milk. Now the New York Times informs us that celebrated British author Jane Austen has become an insidious symbol for the dastardly alt-right. From the article: Nicole M. Wright, an assistant professor of English at the University of Colorado, describes finding a surprising Austen fan…
March 29, 201710 Comments

Corroding Iron Fist

On this week's episode of Geek Gab, I regale our listeners with the real-life epic saga of The Corroding Empire. Then, Daddy Warpig goes on a rampage over Netflix's new Marvel series Iron Fist. You do not want to miss this one!  "Like the Sistine Chapel ceiling, this book takes…
March 27, 2017
Powers of the Earth

Powers of the Earth

Morlock Publishing is proud to announce that the Kickstarter campaign for their upcoming novel Powers of the Earth is now fully funded. The Aristillus Series is a pair of science fiction novels about anarchocapitalism, economics, open source software, corporate finance, social media, antigravity, lunar colonization, genetically modified dogs, strong AI…and really,…
March 24, 2017
Let’s Try This Again

Let’s Try This Again

It is truly a delight to announce that at long last, Corrosion, The Corroding Empire Book 1 is available in the Kindle Store! Followers of this blog will know that Johan Kalsi's debut novel had a long and difficult road to publication. Saboteurs within KDP quality control didn't want you…
March 23, 201710 Comments
Amazon’s Civil War

Amazon’s Civil War

The controversy over The Corroding Empire just gets stranger and stranger. Amazon KDP has given Castalia House's new science fiction parody more green and red lights than a drag racing track. First it was thought that the book had been pulled at the behest of Tor Books, publisher of The Collapsing…
March 22, 201714 Comments
Lyonesse

Lyonesse

Author, editor, publisher, and all-around Renaissance man Russell Newquist proudly announces the launch of Lyonesse. What is Lyonesse, you ask? Ever since elitist New York editors destroyed the sci-fi short story market by foisting their lit-fic tastes on readers, enterprising publishers have sought a way to revive the once-dominant short…
March 21, 201710 Comments
Tor Gets Desperate

Tor Gets Desperate

Today I'd intended to do a post signal-boosting the launch of The Corroding Empire from Castalia House. But when I clicked on the link in CH's newsletter, a dog informed me that the book is not to be found on Amazon. I did some digging and found out that failing publisher…
March 20, 201732 Comments
Major Updates

Major Updates

There's a lot going on today, so I'll make this quick. Audio is for closers First, a big update to my audiobook post. That one may have been my most controversial non-Puppy-related post. Lots of folks are passionate about getting the Soul Cycle in audio, and they've suggested ways that I could make…
March 17, 201714 Comments

A Metaphysic of Beauty

A recent debate on Twitter about whether "good" science fiction is a matter of subjective taste or objective value reminded me of this essay I wrote a few years back. It's remained unpublished until now. Is there such a thing as an objective standard of beauty? Some people insist that…
March 16, 20179 Comments