Steven M. Moore's Blog, page 50
April 9, 2020
Computer games…
I once played bridge and chess, the latter even on a computer, but found they took too much time away first from courses, then work, and finally my writing. I dabbled in Mystalso time consumingand maybe too much like writing a novel! But the Fearsome Four in The Secret Lab are into RPGs. Howd I pull that off? (Im speaking to the first edition. A. B. Carolan, who wrote the previous short story, rewrote and reedited it for the second edition as the first entry in his ABC Sci-Fi Mysteries for...
April 8, 2020
ABC shorts: Nicking the Dog…
[A.B. was watching the world go to hell from his little home in Donegal, so he needed a distraction and wrote this story. We both thought it might be a distraction for you too.]
Nicking the Dog
Copyright 2020, A. B. Carolan
Alan McCormicks dog-sitting duties included walking old Prince and scooping up his poop when the dog cleared his tubes. Alan once had a dog who died, and his ailing mother didnt want another onehis father had done most of the dog-walkingso Alan thought that the job was his...
April 7, 2020
Recognizing similarities and celebrating differences…
Sometimes I watch shows from the major networks, preferring mostly dramas over sitcoms (what you might expect). I often end up criticizing how badly written the screenplays aremovies are often worse thoughbut I read so much that late at night my eyes focus better on the TV screen than on my Kindle page.
So I noticed when the Asian actors disappeared from Hawaii 5-0 a while ago (maybe thats why the series ended last Friday?)I hadnt watched it much since that happenedand when FBI didnt choose...
April 2, 2020
Originality and nostalgia…
[A message to readers: I hope these blog posts inform and entertain you during these troubling times. I will keep writing them as long as I can. Considering our tri-state area is the COVID-19 epicenter now, I believe its not if but when most everyone around here, including me, becomes ill with this damn virus. Everyone is in danger. A large percentage of cases here are less than forty-four-years-old. We still dont know much about the virus, how it affects different ages and genders, but its...
April 1, 2020
Steve’s shorts: Passing the Divisive Torch…
Passing the Divisive Torch
Copyright 2020, Steven M. Moore
My daughter, my princess, and your next president!
The old man stepped aside from the lectern and offered the mike to the much younger woman, dressed in a famous designers gown, not from one of her own brands.
You have been blessed to have my fathers steady hand at the tiller of the ship of state, she began. I will continue his work to make America great again! There were cheers and thousands of nodding red hats in the crowd.
One...
March 31, 2020
Pompous titles…
Not long agowith COVID-19, it now seems like eonsI was amused when a local Montclair, NJ paper had an ad for an event at the local university here. An Information Designer and Data Humorist was going to give a lecture at the business school. My kneejerk reaction? Hey, thats me! Im an information designer and data humorist now. I write novels! (Generally I dont write comedic stories, but a new title will be a sci-fi comedy.)
I suppose some people were impressed by that womans title. And I...
March 26, 2020
Road trips…
The movie Thelma and Louise is the quintessential road-trip flick that has some important themes to give it some meaning. So is John Christophers No Blade of Grass, although its sci-fi. It inspired me to write No Amber Waves of Grain, which isnt a road trip; and The Last Humans and its sequel, which are, for the most part.
However, my most meaningful road-trip novel might just be Son of Thunder. Like some 3X-matches youll see political candidates offer for your donations, Son of Thunder...
March 25, 2020
Steve’s shorts: End Game…
[Scientific fact: The same rules now in place for COVID-19 also work to slow down climate change, as recent evidence shows. The virus is our immediate enemy; climate change is the long-term one that will affect all our descendants. I debated posting this little sci-fi story, but it seemed like a good time to do so. Neither likely presidential candidate has a clear environmental policy. People and politicians need to get smart to be safe and do their jobs of protecting society. And they need...
March 24, 2020
News and Notices from the Writing Trenches #179…
A bit late. Thats me for this month. I have two excuses. One is preparing our house for COVID-19, something that now seems like a day-to-day affair. Weve changed our habits. Most people will have to do so. Ill be brief with my recommendations: Be smart, be responsible, be safe, and follow the guidelines and rules. Remember, even if your reaction to the virus is minimal, you can still infect others where their reactions wont be minimalstay at home and, if you must go out, stay away from...
March 19, 2020
Death…
The eternal questions about death and life are present in fiction because we have to face them in our daily lives. Thats part of being human, and Im sure if ETs are out there, they ask the same questions. Pandemics are common in sci-fi stories that are post-apocalyptic. They often deal with death on a massive scale, which everyone hopes COVID-19 wont causethe numbers are startling until you consider theyre like the flu (the difference being that theres no vaccine and it seems about ten times...
