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Will Bee Deaths Be the Death of Us?

The crisis could be spreading: Wild bees are at risk of catching diseases from their struggling domesticated brethren, according to a recent study published in The Journal of Applied Ecology. The study, led by evolutionary geneticist Lena Wilfert of the University of Exeter, adds a new layer to the crisis known as colony collapse disorder (CCD), which has precipitated an alarming drop in honeybee populations worldwide. … [T]he use of pesticides isn’t the only anthropogenic driver behind the transmission of pathogens into the wild. Wilfert’s team also found that many commercial beekeepers are creating ideal conditions for virulent diseases to … Read more

Announcement: Terrance, by DJ Manly

Today’s announcement comes from MLR Press and DJ Manly: Terrance is happy with Alex, and for the first time, the voices in his head seem low and far away. Then they begin again, horrifying images fill his mind, as a small boy calls to him. No matter what, Terrance needs to follow that voice. But can he trust it? Is it really the voice of a small boy in trouble, or the voices from hell itself? Terrance’s communication with the dead leads him to some surprising discoveries. Excerpt “You look like hell,” Wes announced as Alex picked at the napkin … Read more

Exploring Moral Absolutes Through Sci Fi

Today’s topic comes from QSFer Jim Comer: “Heinlein is often misunderstood as an individualist. He once said, however, that “moral behavior is survival behavior above the individual level”. Is this true in the societies that we create? What moral absolutes work in stories? Which ones do not?” Broadining this out a little, one of the main roles of sci fi has been to look at the morality of the culture. Fiction does this in general, but sci fi has a special function here, in that it can create an alternate culture/future/society that shines a light on the morals of our … Read more

Announcement: Taliasman, by Anastasia Vitsky

QSFer Anastasia Vitsky has a new FF Fantasy out: Born to a destitute woodworker who wanted a son to carry on the family business, Talia grew up with one phrase on her lips: “If I had been born a boy.” If she had been born a boy, she would have been cherished, supported, and launched into the world with her father’s legacy. As only a worthless girl, she toils all day long to earn her handful of inferior grain. Far away in the heavenly palace, Queen Vina receives a mysterious coin necklace from Nicodemus, teller of stories. Compelled by the … Read more

The Best Writing Tools?

Hey all, For all of our writers in the group, after you’ve been writing for awhile, you discover things that make your writing life easier. Maybe it’s a site that you use for researching real-world locations for your next novel. Maybe it’s a writing app that just helps the words flow a little better. Maybe it’s an app that helps you turn off the online distractions and just write for a bit. Or maybe it’s a piece of something in the real world – a chair, a sound machine, a pad and paper – that for you makes the writing … Read more

A Near Miss…

[Yesterday] morning, an enormous space rock missed Earth by a narrow margin of 745,000 miles, or about three times the distance from the Earth to the Moon. With a diameter of 550 meters and a velocity of about 35,000 miles per hour, the asteroid, known as 2004 BL86, will be so bright in the evening sky that it will be visible through binoculars. Scientists don’t expect another object of this size to pass so closely to Earth until August 7, 2027. By Becky Ferreira – Full Story at Motherboard

Announcement: Shirewode, by J. Tullos Hennig

QSFer and DSP author J. Tullos Hennig has a new book out in the Wode Series: The King of the Shire Wode. That is what they will call you… Home razed by Church edict, loved ones struck down by treachery, Rob is left for dead. Taken by the old druid master into the deeps, Rob survives to emerge as driven leader of a band of tight-knit outcasts, claiming the forest as their own and wielding the Horned Lord’s vengeance with silent, deadly arrows. Gamelyn has fled England, only to return after finding new identity and purpose–but no absolution–on Crusade. When … Read more

Crossing the Line

Today’s topic comes from QSFer Beth Brock: “How do people handle age of consent in scifi and fantasy? Hell, even in the US of A we have differing ages of consent depending on the state you’re in. How do people feel when a 13 year-old character in a fantasy setting is having sex, or a 14 year-old alien is selling their body on the streets (when adulthood for those aliens is at a younger age). Where’s the line in spec fiction? How about how this relates to current LGBT issues (see Portland Mayor Sam Adams and Beau)? What if you … Read more

Announcement: First Love, by Andrew Q. Gordon

Andrew Q. Gordon has a new free fantasy read out from Dreamspinner, a prequel to his book “The Last Grand Master”: On a visit to Yar-del with Grand Master Heminaltose to celebrate his age of majority birthday, Farrell catches the eye of Lieutenant Cameron, a handsome young officer in the Queenʼs Guard. But having spent most of his life cooped up at Heminaltoseʼs school for wizards, Farrell is clueless as to palace intrigue. He is unaware that his access to the queen is something others would greatly prize. When the queen points out that his suitor is the son of … Read more

Making Organs

Today’s topic comes from QSFer Cari Zee: “My husband’s been working on making cell scaffolds in bioreactors, the sort of thing you could use to make new joints and organs if you seeded/implanted them right. I love the concept of meta-materials, both organic and inorganic–how one base can become many different things depending on placement and stimulation.”. There are so many possibilities here – both positive and negative. Think of the diseases we could curer? Or think of the abuses we have made against animals (see the photo above) in the name of the advancement of the medical sciences. So … Read more