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 …
Tag: Science fiction
About a Story, Maybe
Let me tell you a story... about a story. Or maybe it's about a writer. Seven years ago I started to write a story. It grew like topsy. I was squeezing an epic series spanning thousands of years into a single novel. So I found break-points and spread the tale over three, then four, books with yet …
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 …
A Winter’s Tale
February I look out the window at the storm-wracked forest beyond the rainsoaked fields and long for Spring. My personal "writing place" is my garden patio in the sunshine with rock music on my headphones and coffee within reach. Sitting in my attic office with artificial lighting to compensate for the all-day, gray-sky dullness outside …
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 …
Getting Hissed
Can you hear that? No, you probably can’t. But I can. Tinnitus: ringing or buzzing in the ears. That definition just does not do it justice in my case. A concentration-shattering, perpetual whistling, more like. A shrill, hissing, sibilant, headache-inducing screeching that eases off to a whispering susurration at times. Or maybe you can hear …
Rocking Space!
Welcome, dear reader, to the latest in the hugely successful "BEYOND THE STARS" anthology series: Rocking Space. And one of the short stories is mine! I'm proud to be a member of this elite group of sci-fi authors:- * One Last Gig (Cain V. Hopwood) * Camp Kids (Patrice Fitzgerald) * First Contract (Julia …
Onward and Upward
It's a sunny day here in Luxembourg. The heatwave has eased, the rain has stopped, and it's perfect weather for sitting out on the patio and pouring thoughts and words into my laptop. I started looking through my Scrivener folder of "Unfinished Works". More accurately, it should be called, "Started and Stalled". Some authors struggle …
Mid-Year Thoughts
Here we go again, sliding past the year's halfway point - the longest day (or the shortest day if you're Down Under). The Earth just clocked-up another 470 million km (282 million miles) - a half orbit of the sun - since a cold and snowy December 31st. And what's changed? Well... the UK is …
Andy McKell, Speculative Fiction Author 
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