Andrew Moore's Blog, page 87

Success in Marketing

Don't forget to have a bunch of porn made of your series before you publish it. And memes. And a wiki.

Big Aliens

The reason we haven't seen any evidence of intelligent alien life in the universe is that they're too big to fit in a spaceship. It's a real problem.

Mayvember Is the Month for Spooky Merriment

"Think we'll get a lot of scares, Durg?"
"Doubt it, Gevins. Mayvember is here, so everybody's steeled against it." Durg set about securing the connections between the two halves of the dragon costume. "But we'll scare the people who are ready to be scared, and they're the ones who matter. There."
But what was this? The joined costume fused together and absorbed the two young men wearing it by Mayvember magic! This was the birth of the invincible hero, Draconic King Gevidax!
"What's happening, Gevins?"
"I don't know, Durg! It feels like I've . . . like we've become a real dragon! Maybe we'll scarea few more than we thought."
Gevins and Durg mastered Gevidax's basic movement just in time, for when they returned to their village, the scaring had already begun! But not harmless Mayvember pranks. It was Ur-Sphinx Keptet that attacked! Fight, Gevidax! Rake the enemy, Dragon Claw! Roast him, Dragon Blast! The world's peace is yours to protect. Heaven's Anger Wyrm Sword!
Finis

An Alternate Earth

What if the land were sea and the sea land? Not enough water, for one thing. The Panama Bridge would still be pretty good.

Addendum

Actually those all lead to mechs. Pranked!

Turning Points in History to Consider for Alt History

Stamford Bridge
Jugurthine War
Ferdinand and Isabella (make both women)
Alexander the Great (dies earlier)
Alexander the Great (dies later)
Alexander the Great (still alive)
Isaac Newton (discovers anti-gravity; leads to mechs)
Christopher Marlowe (wins bar fight, becomes emperor)
Pyramids (much bigger; aliens show up)

Science Fiction Worldbuilding 2

Second question! Aliens? Third question! How good computer? Fourth question! What must a heart that loves justice do in this universe? There is no fifth question. Everything follows inexorably from the previous answers.

Science Fiction Worldbuilding

Here is what you have to figure out first in your science fiction setting. Do your spaceships land on planets or not? Some of you might believe you first have to decide whether there are spaceships. A prison cell is waiting for you.

I Used to Know This

What do you call that kind of magic that gets stronger the more autographs you have in your signature book? I can't believe I forgot.

Awakens the Scourge

Dread Aklakoth sits in his tomb, sipping his terrible tea. Once he slew hosts and threw down nations till he tired of it, for one crown is much like another under a heavy enough foot. There he will remain till some delver in search of ancient secrets and weapons of power unseals the tomb and enters, which is unlikely, because nobody even uses swords these days. He has a bow too, but competitions will certainly ban it if some scamp shows up with that thing. And so he sits, never to stir again.
"Do you really think there's an exotic tea interred in this ancient grave?"
"No, I funded this expedition because my wallet felt heavy. Hey, somebody got in here before us!"
At last dread Aklakoth stirs.
Finis