Hi! Back again! I know some of you have missed me these past few months. Apologies. Heard of Long Covid? It's a long-term after-effect of Covid-19 infection. For about a year, I suffered apathy, lethargy, head-and-eye pain, and brain-fog. Not good for a writer. I came to a dead stop. During that year I lost …
Category: Signs of the Times
SPACE: The next frontier!
Space exploration. Space settlement. Space empires. What’s the fascination? It's in our bones, or rather our genes. Our ancestors and their precursors were not satisfied with the place they grew up in. Sub-Saharan dwellers spread out to occupy every habitable place in Africa. Their cousins headed north into Arabia, then Europe (where the Atlantic Ocean …
Empires Fall
Last time, I ended with, "But that's another story, for next time." And here we are, so... I was always fascinated by the way empires fall. Gibbons' tale of the Roman Empire and Asimov's Foundation series (inspired by Rome's collapse) sparked my interest. In older days, the empires of Rome, China, Persia, Egypt, Huns, Mongols, …
Waking Up?
Well, that's been a weird few weeks. Groundhog Day all over again every morning. "What day is it, today? Is it yesterday or tomorrow?" The writing community seems to have fallen into two camps. Some were fired up, churning out thousands of words a minute, mainly about fictional global virus infections, it seems. (Good luck with sales.) …
March On
So here we are, heading for the Ides of March and the world is in the grip of Corvid-19, the rebranded Coronavirus. First off: my sympathies go to all those affected and their families. A flowery writer could spout about fear-filled streets, but I'll avoid that. My personal and very selfish focus is on the …
Almost February?
Wow, time flies! I am SO glad I renamed this an "occasional blog" a while ago. Luckily, the world ducked Father Time's scythe as December slipped into January, despite Middle East issues, although China's upcoming New Year of the Rat (starts January 25, 2020) is plagued with spreading Coronavirus problems and Australia is still beset …
April & May
BSFA Ytterbium Chocaholics and parents might have noticed it was Easter again last month. To me, that meant eating chocolate at the British Science Fiction Association's Annual Convention! Code-named Ytterbium, it was held this year at London Heathrow's Park Inn. As always, I rolled up ready to meet old friends, make new ones, and …
Mothers, Conspiracy, Frustration
Conspiracy To Steal Time From Mothers? The handover from March to April 2019 didn't go too well in the UK. The clocks went forward the night before UK Mothers' Day. A nationful of mothers had an hour trimmed off their special day! Some conspiracy theorists think this was planned by a man! The theory is …
Andy McKell, Speculative Fiction Author 
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