Fun ways to Weave Sci fi into your Paranormal Tales

by Sam Cheever

One of the best things about the birth and explosion of Indie Publishing is the ability to gender mash. I’m the queen of gender mashing. So much so that I probably never would have gotten traditionally published if I’d continued to try. And one of my very favorite mashes is the combination of adventure, sci fi (futuristic and space opera-ish), romance and paranormal fiction. To my way of thinking, this particular mix has it all and it’s as much fun to write as it is to read. So how in the world (or out of it) does one accomplish this meshing of paranormal and sci-fi? Here’s how I’ve done it:

In the gay Bloodhound bounty hunter series I write as Declan Sands, the main characters are all shifters that originated from other planets and other galaxies. These characters aren’t simply magical creatures of the Earth. They’re magical creatures whose magic is borne of differences between their planets and ours. My main characters (Bloodhound shifters) are from the planet Eninac, which is a planet of dog shifters. Secondary characters include a snake shifter (he’s a ton of fun!) a Hell-hound shifter, and an Earth Fairy. The books are a mix of battles fought on Earth and in outer space, which gives me a wide range of fun world building opportunities.

In my Apocalyptic series, written as Sam Cheever, I’ve meshed time travel, a post-apocalyptic world with zombies, witches and warlocks, adventure, romance and sci fi (yeah, that would go over well in New York. LOL) The main characters themselves are mostly not alien, but they’re able to time travel to the future and utilize tech that allows them to travel between planets and galaxies.

My Sangui: Alphas of the Blood series is based on a race of vampires from another planet/galaxy, who relocate to Earth because their planet is dying. While most of the first book in the series is based on Earth, with the vamps trying to learn their way around in a world that is amusingly confusing to them, the second book took them back to their home planet in a rescue operation.

My recently re-released, Bedeviled & Beyond series incorporates other planets and their inhabitants as secondary characters, each planetary representative having different personalities, physical attributes and cultural oddities. It’s a fun way to flesh out your character list while creating a deep, richly detailed world that is unending in its surprises and delights.


These are just a few ways to intermingle paranormal and sci fi into one great story. I’m sure many of you have used others. However, if you’re a purist and have never mixed any other sub-genre with your sci fi, you might want to tuck the idea away in the back of your brain. In case you get a wild hair someday and yearn to branch out!

The views expressed in this blog post are solely those of Sam Cheever and not the SFR Brigade.　 
 

She’s on the side of good in the war between good and evil, but there’s this one bad guy…


Astra Q Phelps is on the side of the good guys in the war between good and evil. Unfortunately for her, the bad guys have been making inroads on her soul. And when a particularly dark and sexy dark worlder fixes his heated gaze on Astra, the lighter side of her nature quickly finds itself kicked to the curb by her slut-monkey side. But Astra doesn't have time to deal with her love life. She's in the middle of a war between two dark factions...a war that just might mean the end of the human population...and it seems the fate of the world rests uneasily on her shoulders. It's a lot of pressure to put on one feisty halfling...but Astra Q Phelps is definitely...erm...certainly...ahh...possibly up to the challenge.


Currently on sale for only $0.99 – FREE if you’re on Kindle Unlimited!
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0145TLCN0/?tag=wwwsamcheever-20

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Website page with excerpt: http://www.samcheever.com/bedeviled&beguiled.html




Author Bio
 
 
USA Today Bestselling Author Sam Cheever writes romantic paranormal/fantasy/sci fi and mystery/suspense, creating stories that celebrate the joy of love in all its forms. Known for writing great characters, snappy dialogue, and unique and exhilarating stories, Sam is the award-winning author of 50+ books and has been writing for over a decade under several noms de plume.

If you haven't already connected, Sam would love it if you Liked/Followed her wherever you enjoy hanging out online. Here are her online haunts:

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SFRB Recommends #32 - My Name is A'yen by Rachel Leigh Smith #sfrom #scifi #paranormal

They've taken everything from him. Except his name.

The Loks Mé have been slaves for so long, freedom is a distant myth A'yen Mesu no longer believes. A year in holding, because of his master's murder, has sucked the life from him. Archaeologist Farran Hart buys him to protect her on an expedition to the Rim, the last unexplored quadrant.

Farran believes the Loks Mé once lived on the Rim and is determined to prove it. And win A'yen's trust. But she's a breeder's daughter and can't be trusted.

Hidden rooms, information caches and messages from a long-dead king change A'yen's mind about her importance. When she's threatened he offers himself in exchange, and lands on the Breeder's Association's radar. The truth must be told. Even if it costs him his heart.

Rachel Leigh Smith's début novel, this book stands head and shoulders above many I've read in the last year, in with a very select group of excellent tales. It tells the story of A'yen Mesu, a Loks Mé slave, as he discovers a considerable amount about who he is, who his people are, and how his future is intricately entwined with those of his people.

The vision of this book is immediately vast, with interspecies conflict, vast empires, and natural, human fear. Humanity doesn't get let off lightly in this story, and neither do the slaves, viciously enslaved by another race. The way in which the Loks Mé are controlled by their masters/mistresses/humans, by magnetic ink tattoos, is a very intriguing part of this universe. Rachel will likely have you in tears and wishing certain people were DEAD before the end of the book. 

By no means an easy book to read, the end is very satisfying and clearly there is more to come. Excellent stuff.

Author site: Rachel Leigh Smith | Romance for the Hero Lover

Guest Post by Michelle Browne (SciFiMagpie)--Continuity: The Devils Are in the Details

Hello hello!

A big and very gracious thank-you to the SFRB for letting me guest-post once again today. Today's post has been inspired by a bugbear I've been dealing with lately: continuity.

Those of you who are fans and bloggers might shrug when I mention continuity. Writers, on the other hand, are probably feeling a shiver down their spines that has nothing to do with the ice-bucket challenge. To explain why this induces muttering dreams and sleepless nights, it wouldn't hurt to have a definition.

Source. Pictured: a reader unhappy with continuity errors.

Continuity: what is it, and why does it matter?

"Continuity" refers to self-consistency through descriptions, action, storylines, and development in a creative work. In a nutshell, good continuity means adhering to your own rules. A work should be congruent and not vary too much throughout its existence. "Discontinuity" happens when errors are made or the lore is changed; "retroactive continuity", or "retcons", are made to reconcile early errors with later events, details, or changes. You can also manipulate continuity in order to make the narrator unreliable. Inception, American Psycho, Memento, and other films and books have made use of this. An unreliable narrator is great when it's done on purpose, but inconsistent details can also make a writer look sloppy.

 For instance, your distraught loner character might develop into a compassionate and friendly, even optimistic person through a series, but she probably shouldn't too perky and resilient right away if she's recently lost her entire family, dog, boyfriend, and ship in a single fell swoop. This usually happens when a series has been left alone for too long and the author's forgotten how to write for a character, or when the author is getting bored of a character's traits.


Character continuity is important, and the same goes for plot details. Something that one character says happened two years ago should not suddenly have happened ten years ago when it's mentioned again. We'll go deeper in a second.

Why is this important for sci fi? 

Everyone knows about the fan outcry that happened when George Lucas created the first Star Wars movies, but retroactive continuity issues also played a role in the first trilogy. Entire blogs have been written and based on examining errors in the series, so let's talk about a different example--Doctor Who. With so many writers, the story of the Time War has been bent and twisted and changed in ways that can seem self-contradictory. This also affects the characters and their journey, of course, because the plot never functions in isolation. (If it does, get an editor to look over your book, stat, because something is broken.)

As writers of fiction, it's important to learn from failures and make sure that our worlds are consistent. A tiny detail that was mentioned and thrown away earlier can be mined for plot purposes later, or, conversely, can break the plot. Farscape had a wonderful episode called "The Locket", but the mechanism their ship Moya used to escape a time-freezing zone, a "reverse starburst", unfortunately was never mentioned again. The eagles in The Lord of the Rings or the many, many plot devices used in the Harry Potter series are examples of dropped plot devices and throwaway details that accumulated to create some improbable and silly situations for the characters. The worst case I've seen was probably in The Sword of Truth--there were so many throwaway plot devices in this series that the author had to go nuclear on the ending for the last book in order to reconcile them all.

When plot devices are forgotten or tossed aside from continuity, characters' situations can end seem silly to the audience. Just because the author has forgotten something doesn't mean our readers will, unfortunately!

Source. 

How do we fix it?

It wouldn't be a SciFiMagpie post without a solution. In this case, it's simple, but a lot of work: KNOW THY WORLD. Chuck Wendig has a particularly wonderful affirmation card (posted above). The way I'm coping with continuity in The Meaning Wars is by re-reading And the Stars Will Sing and The Stolen: Two Short Stories.  Unfortunately, it's also brought a few flaws and typos in the books to my attention, but that's part of the process. You can't be a better writer unless you know your flaws.

"How can I smooth over that exposition? How can I change things so I can avoid that head-jump--can I imply things, perhaps? Maybe do a short scene from the other character's perspective? Did I just change the location of this world by accident? How can a luxurious Southern California/Ireland-like region exist in a warzone? Should I move it?" These are just a few of the questions I've been asking myself, and while painful, it's also really satisfying to know when I've gotten something right. After all, readers love to niggle, but even the ones who miss continuity errors appreciate smooth, consistent stories. This is also the reason why editors are very, very useful people to know.


And the better you do at maintaining continuity, the less sleep you'll lose at night after you accidentally change a character's name, make them three inches taller than they were in the first book, and give them a peanut allergy that would have killed them in the first scene in the second book.

*****

Thanks for dropping by the nest once again. Don't miss any of the phuquerie. Find Michelle on Twitter, Facebook, and on Tumblr, and find her work on Amazon. Check back on the blog to see when one of the irregular posts has careened onto your feed. This is the one and only SciFiMagpie, over and out! 

SFRB Recommends #20: Aopato by Margaret Afseth #scifi #romance

Aopato by Margaret Afseth

Book Description

Sonia appears to be a typical grandmother at seventy-five. She thinks her worst fears have been realized when she is forced to move into a city senior complex.

She has always felt she was different. When a tiny sphere appears out of empty space, informs her she belongs to a lost race, she is not surprised. As the device knocks her in the forehead, a whole new reality opens up, and Sonia finds herself responsible not only for the welfare of dysfunctional family, but also holding the lives of a rag-tag inter-racial band of survivors. She calls these the invisible ones: Aopato (Ah-or-atos in Greek).

Sonia's life goal will forever be the safety and happiness of those in her care. Why should it be any different now?

But there are those who oppose her, believing she has neither the skills or qualifications to carry out her function. Added to a contentious daughter and jealous brothers is the fact that the species has a natural vicious predator intent on eliminating all of their kind.

How could agape love be sufficient to conquer such hurdles? Will this struggling new remnant die at its birth?

Why we recommend Aopato

This book is very interesting. I found that while it did not really grab me at the beginning, it must be said (primarily due to the opening being set in the "present day" on Earth), the complexity of the alien civilisation that is developed is what is intriguing about this book. The worldbuilding is plausible and very well-structured. Although quite complex in terms of relationship structures, Afseth handles this aspect very well, gradually building up the picture of how the race survives. I especially appreciated the red herrings that surrounded the climax of the story.

The characters are realistic and sympathetic, in that the reader can easily identify with their pitfalls and aspirations. This enables one to buy into the story even as it is complex. Some sequences are repetitive in nature, but Afseth avoids it becoming boring.

And of course, there are surprises along the way.

This book is for readers of all ages.

This book is available from

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Author info: Margaret Afseth profile on Smashwords

SFRB Recommends #19: Starheart by Greta van der Rol #scifi #romance #spaceopera

Starheart by Greta van der Rol

Book Description

Freighter Captain Jess Sondijk thought she had her life under control until Admiral Hudson's Confederacy battle cruiser stops her ship to search for contraband. His questions reopen matters she had thought resolved. What if her husband's death during an official boarding wasn't accidental?

Hudson has his own questions. Who in the Confederacy is trading with the Ptorix? And what price is high enough to pay for starhearts, the prized jewels the aliens call the windows of the soul?

Jess and Hudson's interests collide in more ways than one as they follow a shadowy trail of deceit and corruption in search of the truth. But while Jess is more than willing to put her life on the line to protect what's hers, Hudson must balance the risk of inter-species war at worst and the end of his career at best, in a deadly game of political intrigue, murder and greed.

***

It took me a while to get around to reading this book after I bought it on Amazon. Let me tell you one thing: don't do it. You buy it, you read it. It's that good.

A real page-turner, I really struggled to put this book down. The world-building is excellent, with just a snippet here or there that reveals more of the setting as one gets deeper into the book. The characters are vivid and well-rounded, and there's plenty in here to keep you guessing about... well, a lot.

Overall, an excellent read, and highly recommended.

Find it on Goodreads HERE.
Find it on Amazon US HERE.

Author site: Greta van der Rol - writer, photographer, animal lover, space nut

Technowank vs. Character Drama: Which One is King?

Hello hello!

So, along with the massive inequality issues heating up the field, a new subgenre of sci fi has emerged to stir the pot further. Meet science fiction romance, or sci-fi romance: it's exactly what it sounds like. And honestly, it's the only kind of romance I can read, on the rare occasions that I do read romance.

 If you think about it, it was a natural progression. It's not like we haven't had a history of romance in sci fi before. Ursula Le Guin, Orwell, and Zamyetin all had romance in their books. In We, the first dystopian book, the romance drives the plot--as it does in 1984. And do we need to mention the frequent romances in television?  Movies aren't short on it either. "I love you. I know." Of course, Farscape has a fantastic romance--more than one of them--and Doctor Who has, too. The Trek was never short on romances either. So why are people compulsively vomiting and complaining about icky girl germs with sci-fi romance?

I don't like romance.

Well, okay, that's not entirely true. I like love stories a lot. I like a bit of bittersweetness or tragedy in there, too, because I think it's more interesting, but there's no getting away from the fact that I didn't cry my way though The Fault in Our Stars just because of kids with cancer. And I edit a lot of romances, and sometimes, I do really enjoy them. A good human story is always appealing, and that's where the hook comes from, for me at least. Other people like the escapism and the heady feelings and the 'happily ever after' thing, and I can't complain about those, really. But for some reason, female-coded escapism (romance, etc, etc) is seen as 'worse' or 'icky' compared to male-coded escapism, such as technowank and space ships and that sort of thing.

A brief digression on technowank

I also don't have a ton of patience for books where the author inserts a technical manual in the middle of the action. I've ranted and raved about exposition dumps on many occasions, and so I'll try to keep this short.
As much as I like sci fi, the hard stuff can turn into a very technical description of nuts and bolts and can actually lose sight of the plot. Some people love it when authors get carried away, others fall asleep.

Robots are awesome, but what makes them interesting is all the transhumanist arguments and the 'where does humanity lie', ghost in the machine stuff. It's not about the titano-carboridium alloys. We don't like C-3P0 because of his blank expression or the six thousand known languages in his database, we like him because he flies off the handle and acts as straight man to R2D2. Moya is a great ship, but as much fun as it is to run around her corridors with Dutch-angled camera work, it's the stuff that happens on her and to her that keeps our attention.

Shiny is good. 

I think visual formats do have an easier time of it because they can get away with just showing, rather than telling us too much--the 'show/tell' thing can be a bit tricky when it comes to the description end of things. We do need to know what things look like and have some idea of how they work, but finding the balance can be hard. And there is room for those lovely sweeping descriptions of xeno panoramas, big shiny ships, and all that good stuff. And, yeah, I rarely tire of reading about a well-written, gritty spaceport and the delicious food in it. One of the things I loved about the short Star Wars anthologies that came out was that they described Tatooine and the new Jedi Academy in fine detail. It was nice to hear about the little things and the students' person effects and the bacta tanks and 'shimmersilk' robes of dignitaries. The 'shiny' stuff and the worldbuilding are fun for both readers and writers.

Why do we need to fuss about characters?

Now that you know I'm not an opponent of worldbuilding or lyrical digressions, listen carefully when I say: it's all worthless with crappy characters. I've seen it mentioned in a few writing guides, and it's true--characters are what a reader remembers. Sure, Giger is amazing and the alien is gorgeous, but we remember Ripley and Ash and even that cat. That's why Prometheus sucked compared to Alien (s). It's also why many fans bemoan the Dune sequels and Star Wars prequels--all the king's gorgeous visuals and all the king's men couldn't make up for weird, constrained acting from most of the performers and characters that most of us just didn't like. (Phantom Menace, apart from the horrible racist caricatures, was the strongest of the three because it had the best portrayals of the characters, and I will fight you on that.)  The classics of sci fi have endured because they have fantastic human stories, not because of their settings alone. Sure, settings spark the imagination, but it's the people we relate to, cheer for, scream at, and develop messy childish crushes on that keep us going.

So, what does this have to do with sci fi romance again?

Well, sci-fi romance is ultimately only as strong as its characters. It's why diversity is so important in media, and it's why those of us defending that get pretty up in arms about it. Some sci fi romance is probably not that well-written, but the same is true of the 'old-fashioned', 'traditional' technowank stuff that relies on shiny bits rather than character development. Ultimately, one or two or even ten bad books do not merit discarding an entire genre. Sci-fi romance needs a little more time to grow up and branch out, sure, but it's a very new subgenre. Ultimately, the potential of more explicitly character-driven sci-fi is really exciting. We can take the settings and the shiny stuff for granted, because sci-fi is established as a genre. It knows what its doing now.We don't have to set up and describe every damn space ship because readers know what they are. That means we can push some boundaries. And ultimately, pushing boundaries while we envision the future is the heart of gold that drives this genre forward.

*****

Thanks for dropping by the nest once again. Don't miss any of the phuquerie. Find Michelle on Twitter, Facebook, and on Tumblr, and find her work on Amazon. Check back on the blog to see when one of the irregular posts has careened onto your feed. This is the one and only SciFiMagpie, over and out! 

SFRB Recommends #13: Cosmic Tentacles by Heather Massey #scifi #sfromance #sfr

This week's SFRB Recommends comes to you from Sabine Priestley.

Cosmic Tentacles: A Love Story - by Heather Massey

The distant future. Lydia, a pastry chef working on an elite space station, is looking forward to a scorching sexual encounter with Ricardo, the hot shuttle pilot she'd been lusting after for months. But the appearance of a mysterious asteroid changes everything.When the research group sent to study it loses contact with the station, Ricardo flies a rescue team to the asteroid. Hours later, he returns--as the lone survivor.With the tragedy seemingly behind them, Lydia and Ricardo meet for a date despite regulations forbidding all contact. In a dark room, she discovers Ricardo is more than the man he used to be. Dare she surrender to his raw, otherworldly passion?

This was a fun, fast read. I enjoyed the characters, although we don’t really get to know Ricardo well. It’s wonderfully twisted. You’re going to want to push that Suspension of Disbelief button down hard on this, and just enjoy the ride.

This is for adults only. Adults who like to be filled in every way, and everywhere possible.

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US.

Author site: Heather Massey

Hurts So Good: How to Break Your Heroes

Hello hello!

So, as an editor, a lot of stories cross my desk every month. I'm also a writer, though, and that means that writing a good story isn't just a matter of being a spectator. I mentioned in a recent post  that sexual assault is often used for female characters as a sort of plot device--an easy way to give them a tragic backstory and offer a motive for being both defensive of themselves and prickly. However, that post also outlined the issues with it. On reading it, my partner challenged me, "okay, so how can most writers craft a good character without using that as a plot device?"

Disclaimer

That's what I'm going to talk about today. Obviously, I've already covered one base, but I really think we can get more creative with ways to give your character that challenge. Before we get going, just a note--I'm going to keep saying "heroes", but all of this applies equally to heroines or nonhumans/non-binary heroes as well! I'm also going to focus a bit on fantasy and sci fi in particular, so keep in mind that you may have to adapt things based on your setting and genre a bit. And obviously, they're not set in stone, but do read them before you run off to break them.


So, why should your character "be programmed with the most tragic backstory ever written"?

Rule 1--They Don't Have To

Shocking, right? You can always give your character a surprisingly healthy history and then just load the tragedy and conflict on as events play out through your story. Never be afraid to hurt your characters on stage! They can't be too precious. Conversely, if you find yourself wanting to smash your heroes' hearts a bit too often, maybe pull back on a a bit. If I had a dollar for every time a manuscript had gone overboard on the tragedy department, I'd have a solid gold computer.

Rule 2--Know the Difference Between Pathos and Bathos

Hyperbole is *not* your friend in a serious manu--unless other characters poke fun at your character's unfortunate circumstances or there's inherent absurdity to the tragedy. It worked for Lemony Snicket, but I wouldn't call tragedy-overload a recommended style. It's hard to use. Pathos is, simply, an appeal to your audience's emotions. Bathos is transitioning from the exalted to the absurd. While Christopher Moore is a master of bathos, and can actually make some moving stories from the contrast, but it's not easy to do. I keep pressing the yellow 'caution' sign to make it light up here, but it's important to know when your backstory is so sad it's gone all the way to being silly. There's a balance point between tragic, heartbreaking, and tragedy overload--at 'tragedy overload', the audience's brains shut down and can't handle any more sadness. They have to giggle to deal with with things. (This is the same part of your brain that thinks Holocaust jokes and other offensive, tragic subjects are funny.) Be aware of that when you're writing.

Rule 3--Mind Your Cliches 

I mentioned sexual assault above. It's one of the gender-bound cliches; however, it's seldom used for male characters. Cliches are actually quite fine to use as long as you spice them up a bit. Consider gender-swapping them, for instance. Losing a mother motivates quite a few sons to seek revenge, but that's fine for a girl, too, instead of losing her father. Brothers and sisters are great targets, and lovers are traditional. Friends are less often used, and that's a shame, because I think we all know that in real life, friends can be as close as family, too. Adopted siblings are a good one. However, do be aware that they are cliches, instead of turning a blind eye.

Rule 4--Gender-Swapping Is Your Friend

If you are using a cliche, try to do something different with it. Heck, this goes for less-overused ideas as well. Put a character in a situation that would not necessarily conform to their gender or cultural expectations. If you're in a fantasy or sci fi setting, this is doubly true. Don't limit yourself to Terran norms! If readers can suspend disbelief enough for dragons and magic and interstellar travel that's faster than light, they can handle having a sister rescue her brother, a mother rescuing her child, or a father who's been captured. Remember to think outside the normal box of boy-save-girl or girl-gets-hurt-by-boys-automatically. Your readers will love you for it.

Rule 5--Go All the Way

If you're going for a cliche, don't be half-hearted. This goes for any sort of tragedy, really. Mind Rule 2, but a lot of readers do like it when authors amp up the sadness. Oh, sure, subtlety is important, but it's okay for something to wreck your character's life. After all, tragedies don't just conveniently come back whenever you need to talk about them. They keep characters up at night. Maybe your hero has flashbacks and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Triggers are a convenient way to add to tension and realism--the smell of whiskey or Martian flowers or the colour octarine might remind your character of that fateful night in a way they can't forget. Addictions are a 'fun' way to add consequences, too. Remember--tragedy doesn't exist in a bubble.

Rule 6--Motivation Does Not Equal Reactions

Is your hero doing what they have to as a result of someone else's tragedy? How do they feel about it? Maybe they're annoyed because it's not really their war and they just want to go home. That ambiguity is great for having your character switch sides or even switch back! Is your hero inclined to forgive the person who hurt them, but feeling forced to go through with their revenge? Honour works both ways. What if the character's heart just isn't in it? Conversely, you can have your character go to some really dark extremes for revenge, even go overboard, but if you do that, make sure other characters (and not just a single, often female, token) criticize their choices. Just because your character has a motivation, doesn't mean it will determine their reaction. People change over time and consider their personal tragedies differently.

Rule 7--Sympathy For the Devil

Maybe your character understands why her commanding officer left her family to be devoured by the ravenous space wolves on the mine orbiting Betelgeuse--because it meant saving thousands of people in the colony ship. Just because your character is driven to revenge, doesn't mean you should hate on your antagonist or villain all the time. That leads to boring antagonists, and lack of conflict. Furthermore, making your villain/antagonist sympathetic will create distress in your main character. Distress is your friend! A strong villain is almost more important than a strong lead. Make sure their motivations make sense.

Rule 8--Why?

Why is your character's backstory important? Does it really add to the story, or is it cleverly-disguised filler? Is it exposition, clogging up the beginning, or is it revealed slowly? If you're stumped, it's okay to be mysterious. Sometimes it's good to discover your character's motivation along with the audience. And for a first draft, well, anything goes. You're going to fix it anyway. You can also map out multiple possibilities for the background if you're not sure about it. Above all else, make sure your character's tragedy adds to the story rather than clogging it up or slowing it down.

So, that's my list of recommendations! Hopefully it's set your plot bunnies to chewing at the lettuce in the garden. If you're feeling doubt over your story's direction, that's okay too. Remember, no-one's going to judge you for rewriting or playing with things.

*****

Thanks for dropping by the nest once again. Don't miss any of the phuquerie. Find Michelle on Twitter, Facebook, and on Tumblr, and find her work on Amazon. Check back on the blog to see when one of the irregular posts has careened onto your feed. This is the one and only SciFiMagpie, over and out!