2022-04-14 12:00
Slime molds, a type of gelatinous amoebae, despite having no brains, have the capacity to form memories: Slime Molds Redefine Intelligence One species "can solve mazes, mimic the layout of m… Read More
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Alien Romances Blog
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A by-invitation group blog for busy authors of SFR, Futuristic, or Paranormal romances in which at least one protagonist is an alien, or of alien ancestry.
2022-04-10 19:25
The Elephant in the Reading Room is Amazon and its policies that hurt authors.Patricia Bates hosted a Zoom conference on Facebook titled "Storming The Castle" which I highly recommend. Well… Read More
2022-04-08 11:00
Writer's Craft Article by Karen S. Wiesner Do I Need a Professional Editor? From CPR for Dead or Lifeless Fiction {A Writer's Guide to Deep and Multifaceted Development and Progression of Ch… Read More
2022-04-07 12:00
At this year's ICFA, I heard a paper by folklore scholar Jeana Jorgensen and was so impressed that I immediately ordered her book FOLKLORE 101. This isn't a book OF folklore, but an introduc… Read More
2022-04-02 13:58
April is Earth Month. Earth Day is April 22nd.Intellectual Property week is April 25th - 29th (a very short week), and IP Day is April 26th. The CopyrightAlliance is also celebrating Ar… Read More
2022-04-01 11:00
Writer's Craft Article by Karen S. Wiesner Advice for New Authors From CPR for Dead or Lifeless Fiction {A Writer's Guide to Deep and Multifaceted Development and Progression of Charac… Read More
2022-03-31 12:00
At this year's ICFA (which I wrote about last week), one of the free goodies distributed at meals was a copy of the March/April 2020 ASIMOV'S magazine. It happened to include a provocative a… Read More
2022-03-27 12:21
That is, "Tail End of Women's History Month", which is much too long a title.https://womenshistorymonth.gov/With only five days remaining of March, there are still things to do and see… Read More
2022-03-25 11:00
Writer's Craft Article by Karen S. Wiesner Advance Your Career: Writing in Stages, Part 4 Based on CPR for Dead or Lifeless Fiction {A Writer's Guide to Deep and Multifaceted Dev… Read More
2022-03-24 12:00
This year's ICFA, our first live conference since 2019, had lower attendance than usual (down from the 500s to around 300), but the difference didn't appear obvious at a glance in most of th… Read More
2022-03-20 13:57
As with many terms of opprobium, "troll" is rather over-used. Some so-called trolls are mere nusiances who lurk on comment sections, and repeatedly make the same arguments or pitches. Others… Read More
2022-03-18 11:00
Writer's Craft Article by Karen S. Wiesner Advance Your Career: Writing in Stages, Part 3 Based on CPR for Dead or Lifeless Fiction {A Writer's Guide to Deep and Multifaceted Developme… Read More
2022-03-17 12:00
Happy St. Patrick's Day. The International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts is happening this week -- the first live con we've had since 2019! You can read about the organization here… Read More
2022-03-13 14:28
I like sex, science, copyright law and order, privacy, and words. Not necessarily in that order. I read a lot of legal blogs each week, and summarize what interests me as it/they relat… Read More
2022-03-11 12:00
Writer's Craft Article by Karen S. Wiesner Advance Your Career: Writing in Stages, Part 2 Based on CPR for Dead or Lifeless Fiction {A Writer's Guide to Deep and Multifaceted Dev… Read More
2022-03-10 13:00
Cory Doctorow's March LOCUS column discusses tech tycoons from the perspective of monopoly and world domination. Well, that phrase may be a bit exaggerated but not totally inapplicable, cons… Read More
2022-03-06 03:30
This week, Alex Ocampo of DMCAForce shared information about what is being called The Pirate Update (by DMCAForce).On February 8, 2022, Google stated “when a site is demoted [by the Pi… Read More
2022-03-04 12:00
Writer's Craft Article by Karen S. Wiesner Advance Your Career, Part 1: Creating Story Folders Based on CPR for Dead or Lifeless Fiction {A Writer's Guide to Deep and Multifacete… Read More
2022-03-03 13:00
The March-April issue of SKEPTICAL INQUIRER contains an article titled "The World's Most Deadly Animal," by Harriet Hall. The various candidates for this honor are ranked by the number of hu… Read More
2022-02-27 17:16
Deepfakery seems to have two faces, like the twin masks of tragedy and comedy, except those masks have been associated with the theatre/theater for 2,500 years, and deepfakery is new, and ex… Read More
2022-02-27 14:48
Word to the wise. Over the last month or so, this administrator has, with great reluctance, deleted approximately 400 apparently laudatory comments submitted to this blog. Thank y… Read More
2022-02-25 12:00
Writer's Craft Article by Karen S. Wiesner Arrested Development Based on CPR for Dead or Lifeless Fiction {A Writer's Guide to Deep and Multifaceted Development and Progres… Read More
2022-02-24 13:00
The final chapter of C. S. Lewis's STUDIES IN WORDS shifts from the narrowly focused topics of the rest of the book (each chapter delving into the history of a particular term and its relati… Read More
2022-02-20 23:04
“Ripped from the headlines” sounds sexy, but it has its dangers. Overtly suggesting that there is truth to one's fiction can expose one to problems. Logically, the blurb "r… Read More
2022-02-18 12:00
Writer's Craft Article by Karen S. Wiesner Deep, Multi-Faceted Development and Progression of Romantic RelationshipsBased on CPR for Dead or Lifeless Fiction {A Writer'… Read More
2022-02-17 13:00
I've just finished reading Dean Koontz's latest fantasy thriller, QUICKSILVER, which I like better than a lot of his recent novels. For many years, almost every book he's written has feature… Read More
2022-02-11 12:00
Writer's Craft Article by Karen S. Wiesner Based on Writing Blurbs that Sizzle--And Sell! by Karen S. Wiesner Blurbs Series, Part 6: Series Branding This is the last of s… Read More
2022-02-10 13:00
This is the name of a page on the TV Tropes site, referring to the countless works of fiction with authors, playwrights, screenwriters, journalists, or poets as protagonists, a not unreasona… Read More
2022-02-06 20:53
It's the time of the season... the football season that is, when obscene sums of money are spent on advertisements. Some advertisements will be entertaining, others will advocate for global… Read More
2022-02-06 20:52
Sauce for the gander... In other words, “Lube for the schlong but not so much for the cooch” (my words) is discriminatory and wrong, but it seems to approximate to the adve… Read More
2022-02-06 15:16
In Tudor England, the only relatively safe way to tell truth to power (to coin a phrase), was to be reliably and consistently amusing about it. Kings, Dukes, dictators and tyrants have been… Read More
2022-02-04 12:00
Writer's Craft Article by Karen S. Wiesner Based on Writing Blurbs that Sizzle--And Sell! by Karen S. Wiesner Blurbs Series, Part 5: Branding and Blurbs This is the… Read More
2022-02-03 13:00
Several years ago at a con session on the fantastic Pixar movie INSIDE OUT, starring personified emotions, someone in the audience asked why characters representing feelings had to be identi… Read More
2022-01-30 20:21
"Say again" and "Come again" can be synonymous, depending on the context. Only the first is a potential synonym for "restatement", but when it comes to a restatement of copyright… Read More
2022-01-28 12:00
Writer's Craft Article by Karen S. Wiesner Based on Writing Blurbs that Sizzle--And Sell! by Karen S. Wiesner Blurbs Series, Part 4: When to Write Your Blurbs This is the… Read More
2022-01-27 13:00
The January-February 2022 issue of SKEPTICAL INQUIRER includes an article by statistical ecologist Charles G. M. Paxton, narrating his experiment of creating an imaginary water monster to ma… Read More
2022-01-21 12:00
Writer's Craft Article by Karen S. Wiesner Based on Writing Blurbs that Sizzle--And Sell! by Karen S. Wiesner Blurbs Series, Part 3: Crafting Blurb Basics This is the thir… Read More
2022-01-20 13:00
Does anybody really like fiction narrated in the present tense? Apparently, to my bafflement, many people actually do, since that device seems to be a currently popular fad. Not only do auth… Read More
2022-01-14 12:00
Writing Craft Article by Karen S. Wiesner Based on Writing Blurbs that Sizzle--And Sell! by Karen S. Wiesner Blurbs Series, Part 2: Series Blurbs This is the second of six posts focus… Read More
2022-01-13 13:00
The term "Luddite" is typically applied to people who oppose technological advances. That's basically what I've always assumed the word to mean. Well, Cory Doctorow's latest LOCUS column cor… Read More
2022-01-09 20:17
Today, January 9th (Sunday) is a day to celebrate word-nerdiness. https://newsd.in/word-nerd-day/ Word to the wise: if you see some apparently verbose and pretentious use o… Read More
2022-01-07 12:00
Writer's Craft Article by Karen S. Wiesner Based on Writing Blurbs that Sizzle--And Sell! by Karen S. Wiesner Blurbs Series, Part 1: High-Concept and Back Cover Blurbs 'This will be the firs… Read More
2022-01-06 13:00
As I've mentioned before, I haven't done New Year's "resolutions" in a long time. Thinking of the coming year in those terms feels discouraging, a potential set-up for failure. What I like t… Read More
2022-01-02 15:23
Scams are all around us. Maybe mixed in with your Christmas cards is a tiny white postcard from Cochran et al v. The Kroger Co. Maybe don't toss it without more than a glance. Perhaps y… Read More
2021-12-31 12:39
Writer's Craft Article by Karen S. Wiesner Brainstorming: The Cure for Writer's Block Is writer's block an actual thing, or just plain laziness? Or, do you sometimes get to the middle of a p… Read More
2021-12-30 13:00
Researchers at Cortical Labs have designed "cyborg brains," composed of living human brain cells atop a microelectrode array in a petri dish, informally labeled "mini-brains." Brain Cells Pl… Read More
2021-12-26 22:02
Two advertisements being played all too frequently on cable tv this season drive me into Bah Humbug mode. One of them burbles about "the content we produce"."The content we produce..." said… Read More
2021-12-24 13:00
Writer's Craft Article by Karen S. WiesnerHOW TO SPOT DEAD OR LIFELESS CHARACTERS, PLOTS, AND RELATIONSHIPS (CPR), Part 3 Based on CPR FOR DEAD OR LIFELESS FICTION {A Writer's Guide to Deep… Read More
2021-12-23 13:00
You've probably heard of Krampus, the horned, hairy, bipedal monster from Austrian legend who prowls in December, mainly on Saint Nicholas Day (December 6), and stuffs misbehaving children i… Read More
2021-12-19 21:43
Here's a scientific riddle.Q: "When is a Bottom synonymous with Beauty?"A: "When it's a quark."I was thoroughly enjoying Mark Zastrow's piece on astrology.com about a newly discovered giant… Read More
2021-12-17 13:00
Writer's Craft Article by Karen S. WiesnerHOW TO SPOT DEAD OR LIFELESS CHARACTERS, PLOTS, AND RELATIONSHIPS (CPR), Part 2 Based on CPR FOR DEAD OR LIFELESS FICTION {A Writer's Guide to Deep… Read More
2021-12-16 13:00
Following the success of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES (2009), numerous mash-ups of public domain classic novels with horror creatures and tropes were published in the few years immediatel… Read More
2021-12-12 17:49
If my title suggests an uplifting song about seduction and reassurance by the British rock group FREE, check out the deliberate comma. Today's theme is urgency or immediacy.SUBMIT ASAP … Read More
2021-12-10 13:00
Writer's Craft Article by Karen S. Wiesner HOW TO SPOT DEAD OR LIFELESS CHARACTERS, PLOTS, AND RELATIONSHIPS (CPR), Part 1 Based on CPR FOR DEAD OR LIFELESS FICTION {A Writer's Guide to Deep… Read More
2021-12-09 13:00
Organic "robots" developed from frog cells have learned to reproduce: Self-Replicating Robots Formed from the stem cells of the African clawed frog, the "xenobots," as was revealed in 2020… Read More
2021-12-05 17:33
Imagine "Coals In My Stocking" rinsed and repeated to a refrain from Carole King's "You're So Vain", and you will share my earworm of the day.One cannot copyright a title, but one can tradem… Read More
2021-12-03 13:00
I Have Dreamed a Little Dream, Part 4 by Karen Wiesner "Believe in your dreams. They were given to you for a reason." ~Katrina Mayer As a writer, the question I get most often is where… Read More
2021-12-02 13:00
For the second year in a row, the Baltimore-area ChessieCon was held online instead of in person. (Not long before the scheduled date, we lost our hotel, which became a quarantine facility.)… Read More
2021-11-27 23:00
Apologies for the bathos to Hamlet and his existential question. I once wrote a review for my dentist. Then, I felt that I had to ask him to take it down. Reviewing your doctors and den… Read More
2021-11-26 13:00
I Have Dreamed a Little Dream, Part 3by Karen Wiesner"Believe in your dreams. They were given to you for a reason." ~Katrina Mayer As a writer, the question I get most often is where m… Read More
2021-11-25 13:00
Happy American Thanksgiving! I recently watched a fascinating episode of AMERICAN EXPERIENCE on PBS, about the Pilgrims' early years in Massachusetts, very enlightening in contrast to the si… Read More
2021-11-21 23:29
Immediate tease disclaimer: I blog about copyright-related issues. This is that.Sex Toys for boys but not for girls?How fair is that, in an advertising context, in the underground? Well, the… Read More
2021-11-19 15:10
I Have Dreamed a Little Dream, Part 2 by Karen Wiesner "Believe in your dreams. They were given to you for a reason." ~Katrina Mayer As a writer, the question I get most often is where… Read More
2021-11-14 15:31
Can you opt out of being pirated? Perhaps, if you act quickly... at least in one particular instance. "SFWA's Legal Affairs Committee is issuing an alert to inform members of a situat… Read More
2021-11-12 16:04
I Have Dreamed a Little Dream, Part 1 by Karen Wiesner "Believe in your dreams. They were given to you for a reason." ~Katrina Mayer As a writer, the question I get most often is whe… Read More
2021-11-11 13:00
I've been musing over the past couple of days about social taboos, particularly constraints on language. The latter especially affect writers; there used to be words that were labeled "unpri… Read More
2021-11-07 03:30
For years, I have been sitting on two ideas because I have two different breeds of occasionally-invisible heroes in my alien djinn romances series.My twin Djinn princes, Devoron and Deverill… Read More
2021-11-05 13:38
Writer's Craft Article by Karen S. Wiesner Tension and Twists, Part 3 Based on COHESIVE STORY BUILDING (formerly titled FROM FIRST DRAFT TO FICTION NOVEL {A Writer's Guide… Read More
2021-11-04 12:00
Cory Doctorow's latest LOCUS column tackles the issue of scenarios that are allegedly impossible to imagine: The Unimaginable The specific scenario he discusses here is the end of capitalism… Read More
2021-10-29 16:45
Writer's Craft Article by Karen S. Wiesner Tension and Twists, Part 2 Based on COHESIVE STORY BUILDING (formerly titled FROM FIRST DRAFT TO FICTION NOVEL {A Writer's Guide to Coh… Read More
2021-10-28 12:00
Recently I came across an ad for a book subtitled something like, "How to survive hard times by telling stories." I can't find it again, so I don't know the title, author, or specific subjec… Read More
2021-10-24 14:30
I have been sitting on some plans for quite a while. Floorplans, that is. Floor plans may not be a writer's issue, or are they? Whether one is a renter, a homeowner, a landlord, or a ho… Read More
2021-10-22 17:05
Writer's Craft Article by Karen S. Wiesner Tension and Twists, Part 1 Based on COHESIVE STORY BUILDING (formerly titled FROM FIRST DRAFT TO FICTION NOVEL {A Writer's Guide to Cohesive Story… Read More
2021-10-21 12:00
How do you feel about cliffhanger endings in novels? I've just finished reading the second book in a thrilling, very inventive dark fantasy series. (I suspect it will be a trilogy, but that… Read More
2021-10-17 21:12
Not all writers are Planners and Plotters. Some are Pantzers and some are Puzzlers. However, as some of us prepare for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), early October is also a good… Read More
2021-10-15 12:57
WOODCUTTER’S GRIM SERIES— Classic Tales of Horror Retold This is the final of eight posts focusing on my Woodcutter's Grim Series and the stories behind classic fairy tales… Read More
2021-10-14 12:00
I've just finished reading the ten Catherine Le Vendeur novels by Sharan Newman, mysteries set in twelfth-century Europe (mostly in France). Catherine begins as a novice at the Abbey of the… Read More
2021-10-10 16:26
Each week, I read dozens of USA and international copyright-related columns, including media law, trademark law, technology insights, art law, proceedings of the USPTO, music policy, writing… Read More
2021-10-08 13:48
WOODCUTTER’S GRIM SERIES— Classic Tales of Horror Retold This is the seventh of eight posts focusing on my Woodcutter's Grim Series and the stories behind classic fairy tales. Fo… Read More
2021-10-07 12:00
Amazon has invented a household robot called Astro, described as about the size of a small dog. It's "Alexa on wheels" but a bit more: Amazon Robot Astro can roll around the house with its c… Read More
2021-10-03 11:27
The Copyright Alliance is well worth joining. It brings creators together to support one another, so authors try to help out musicians, or photographers, or film makers, and so forth… Read More
2021-10-01 14:09
WOODCUTTER’S GRIM SERIES— Classic Tales of Horror Retold This is the sixth of eight posts focusing on my Woodcutter's Grim Series and the stories behind classic fairy tales. For… Read More
2021-09-30 12:00
The October 2021 issue of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC features a pair of lead articles about "green" power for aircraft and cars, mainly electric. The cover optimistically proclaims, "The Revolution… Read More
2021-09-26 14:27
This week's theme is either "ripped off" or "ripped from..."The copyrightalliance.org has a ripped-from-the-headlines (in other words "topical") question and answer page that currently discu… Read More
2021-09-24 12:43
WOODCUTTER’S GRIM SERIES— Classic Tales of Horror Retold This is the fifth of eight posts focusing on my Woodcutter's Grim Series and the stories behind classic fairy tales. For… Read More
2021-09-23 12:00
Here's an article by Stephen Graham Jones that cautions writers against falling into the habit of depending on "rituals" to start a writing session: The Case Against Writing Rituals By "ritu… Read More
2021-09-19 13:08
"No Trivial Matter" might be an example of litotes. When one aggrieved party takes the time, trouble, and expense to go before a judge, it cannot be trivial to them, can it?A slur could be T… Read More
2021-09-17 12:53
WOODCUTTER’S GRIM SERIES— Classic Tales of Horror RetoldThis is the fourth of eight posts focusing on my Woodcutter's Grim Series and the stories behind classic fairy tales. For… Read More
2021-09-16 12:00
Cory Doctorow's newest LOCUS column discusses the beginning writer's obsessive quest for tips from pros on how to get started in publishing. In particular, we love to read about how successf… Read More
2021-09-11 22:44
Today's topic is "Bad Calls" around the World: by an Australian Troll, by Apple in going after an allegedly notorious international trademark troll, by a Tobagoan mimic in the early morning… Read More
2021-09-10 13:22
WOODCUTTER’S GRIM SERIES—Classic Tales of Horror Retold, Volume II Collection by Karen WiesnerFour Supernatural Fantasy Romance Novellas This is the third of eight posts focusing… Read More
2021-09-09 12:00
"Prediction is hard, especially about the future." Over the past week, I've been rereading LIFE AND TIME, a 1978 collection of essays by Isaac Asimov (some of them written as early as the 19… Read More
2021-09-05 14:09
As America celebrates Labor on Labor Day, I'm reminded of the little red hen (who did all the work), and all her neighbors in the barnyard who did not want to share in the effort, but expect… Read More
2021-09-03 13:49
WOODCUTTER’S GRIM SERIES— Classic Tales of Horror Retold, Volume I Collection by Karen WiesnerFour Supernatural Fantasy Romance/Mild Horror Novellas This is the second of eight p… Read More
2021-09-03 13:47
WOODCUTTER’S GRIM SERIES— Classic Tales of Horror Retold by Karen WiesnerSupernatural Fantasy Romance/Mild HorrorFor the ten generations since the evil first came to Woodcutter's… Read More
2021-09-03 13:46
Author Karen Wiesner Creating realistic, unforgettable characters one story at a time… Just this past weekend I received an invitation and welcome from Alien Romances to join the pr… Read More
2021-09-02 12:00
To dispose of one point up front, of course we know the purpose of science fiction isn't literally to predict future technology and social structures. Its speculations typically explore hypo… Read More
2021-08-28 14:14
Puffery is like a fig leaf for writers. A vague or highly subjective assertion does not expose you, legally. Whether or not it is good writing is another matter entirely.Here's an example of… Read More
2021-08-26 12:00
In a computer language-learning experiment in 2016, a chat program designed to mimic the conversational style of teenage girls devolved into spewing racist and misogynistic rhetoric. Interac… Read More
2021-08-22 21:52
If you have a trademark, you can prohibit your competitors from buying it as a keyword. For advertsing law firm Cowan Liebowitz & Latman PC, legal blogger Allison R. Furnari di… Read More
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