#sciencefiction

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Chapter 50 of Stone Prophet is available to read on : https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/108234/jigsaw-city

Olyna begins to lose herself in the future, while Ogomid finishes his discussion with Reason, convincing him to turn against the painted witch. That leaves her unable to think at all clearly, turning her mind fully illogical.

Meanwhile, the six pieces of the sage meet...

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2026.01.07 — What’s your MC’s family like?

Bolt was a stubborn child. Though most day angels fledge by age 3, Bolt continued walking level ground when she was already 10. It frustrated her mother and uncle no end, as well as school flight instructors and a few paid-for flight tutors. One day, when Bolt strayed too close to a cliff—she liked to open her wings and feel the breeze lofting from below buzz through her feathers—her uncle shoved her over the edge.

Well, we know Bolt survived that. Turned into a right talented aerial athlete—with no scholastic interest, zilch, in anything save the kinesiology of training and anatomy. Nothing that could make a living. A bit of a hellion, she got into constant trouble at school, often with one muscly boy or another; yes, what you were thinking, that too. The tension between her and her …

Ebook and paperback: https://books2read.com/FeyFighters

Two soldiers on opposite sides, pixie Commander Stargazer Candleflash and human Sergeant Edwin Harris, find their fates forever entwined, first by revenge, but as they crash together in a dangerous rainforest, they’re forced to work together, just to survive. Will they make it or will their bickering get them killed?

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(Left) The cover of Fey Fighters, by Owen Tyme. The background is the stars of space, with nebula-like clouds, in blue. This has been divided into jigsaw puzzle pieces by dark lines marking the lines between pieces. The foreground features an enormous, stylized phoenix, which is composed of fire. The phoenix looms over an Earth-like world heavily obscured by cloud cover. (Right) The same world from the cover orbits a purple gas giant, with a stream of flame above it, which may be the phoenix, with the following text over the top: “We’re in a human-made, goblin-enchanted spacecraft, powered by a dryad that’s under the mistaken impression she’s a nuclear reactor, half-piloted by a pixie and half-piloted by a human.” “Is there anywhere we can go we won’t be shot on sight?” (Bottom) https://books2read.com/FeyFighters

2026.01.06 — If your antagonist played video games, what would be their favorite kind?

What Rainy Days does is essentially something from The Sims catalog every day. Has for uncounted centuries. One could accuse her of eugenics, but it is on such a global macro population scale that her people wouldn't even notice it. Of course, one doesn't necessarily want to play a game that mimics their work. In one of the WIPs, she starts a war by invading a nearby autonomous region. She might like something that simulates war games, I suppose. My knowledge of current video games isn't good enough to fill in the blank here, but she would not object to a first person shooter, an activity her military guards when she is on a military adventure try to keep her from participating in IRL, often failing.

However, the people in the reluctance …

Ebook and paperback: https://books2read.com/JigsawCity

Nicole’s brain is slowly being taken over by an ancient, magical artifact, a small fragment of a magic city. She seeks a cure, before the city can destroy her sanity and then eventually, take her life by replacing her mind. Racing against time, she gathers pieces of the city, hoping to find an answer among them.

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(Left) The cover of Jigsaw City, by Owen Tyme. The background is a futuristic city of sky scrapers covered in greenery, with water ways in place of some streets. The background has been divided by dark lines that cut it up, into a jigsaw puzzle. The foreground is a hexagonal coin with an indentation in the center that follows the same shape, with raised lines forming a hexagram in the center, which has a smaller one turned at a ninety-degree angle inside the hexagon at the center of it. The smaller hexagram has another inside it, a pattern that repeats until the lines become so fine and indistinct, they blend together. (Right) There's a pool of lava at the base of a rocky slope, with some sharp rocks sticking upward out of it and the following text over the top: “I’m immune to heat and fire. I can easily carry and protect one of you…” “That’s suicide! Ye’d need to deliver an army to make a difference, not one person!” “I *am* an army.” (Bottom) https://books2read.com/JigsawCity

Historical of update: lots of holiday coding for a small benefit, but pseudonyms are now handled better. You can look up e.g. Andrew North or Will Atheling, and get those as well as x-r's to Andrew Norton and James Blish. Still adding more; feedback welcome!

Chapter 49 of Stone Prophet is available to read on : https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/108234/jigsaw-city

Dalmas finds Vision staring through a window that flickers like a television surfing channels, but everything seen through it is a future event in Nicole's life.

Vision explains that his duty is to select the best possible future, but Dalmas sees nothing but flaws in that...

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2026.01.03 — Write instructions from the perspective of someone who has never done the thing they're giving instructions for.

Writing from the perspective of someone who has never done the thing is something as an author writing in first person I must do often. I've had to rewrite chapters recently because I am writing in the 1st person perspective of a winged woman capable of self-powered flight. Convincingly. Yes, not the prompt, but an author who's writing from a character's perspective is both an alien entity from the character's POV and the character they are relating the experiences of. We as authors are imposters. When I write of a day angel instructing a friend how to fly tandem, I'm really stretching my imagination because not only can't I fly, I don't have wings and I've never piloted an airplane.

[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]

2026.01.05 — How do you choose the point of view for a new story?

I was going to say I always write in 1st person and that settles that question. I love uncensored possibly snarky POVs telling their story. It feels natural and it's very flexible since I write heavily character-centric stories. But, in 2025, I wrote a Mars dystopian satire, Mars Needed Women, and quickly realized 1st person wouldn't cut it. Even though the story is primarily from one character's point of view, the issue was that I needed to insert information the MC could not know. One chapter, for example, is a "newspaper" article. Another tells the story of a character who dies in a disaster. The epilogue is in the POV of one of the supporting characters. Thus, I chose to write in 3rd person close POV, which both provided POV …

Ebook and paperback: https://books2read.com/TheNextHorizon

Amelia and The Book of Newts are in conflict. She wants to explore her feelings. It wants to explore space, taking back the gift for mathematics and piloting it gave her. She’s left unable to plot a direct course home. She’s desperate to see the man she loves, lest she lose him forever and The Book is in her way…

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(Left) The cover of The Next Horizon, by Owen Tyme. The black silhouette of a man and woman hugging and kissing. The woman has lifted one leg, while the man leans toward her. They stand atop the dark side of a planet or moon in space, which has a slim crescent along the right side. The background in the stars of space, but some have been highlighted with a heat shape that surrounds the kissing couple. Everything is in shades of blue. (Right) Deep space, displaying the edge of an orange and blue gaseous cloud from a nebula, while most of the stars appear golden in color. Floating in space is a square, red leather book with the image of a newt stamped on the cover. Over the top of everything is the following text: “You can back down and cooperate, right now, or Marta will hit you so hard, you should reach a tenth the speed of light…” “No one will ever find you again, but even if someone does, there’s no way they’ll have the capacity to safely slow you down, before you’re gone to them!” (Bottom) https://books2read.com/TheNextHorizon

2026.01.04 — Describe an uncomfortable situation a character experiences. CW: Somewhat spoilery.

Here's the setup for a scene from Reluctant Courier: Bolt, the MC, is a mob courier, often delivering dunning reminders to no-pays. Never a comfortable situation. Worse, the day angel is quiet and non-confrontive, apathetic, always trying to be invisible. Recently, starting with the events in the first chapter, she's assigned to shadow an anomalous daemon who stepped through an interstellar gateway into Home City. The teenager interests The Boss. Bolt sees she's insanely strong and "magically" powerful—and the mob boss uses Bolt's intel to frustrate her getting a job. When the mob boss arranges an involuntary "employment interview" and mentions a name that makes the daemon cringe, Bolt understands the daemon's demeanor and realizes the mob boss does not.

Bolt acts to prevent disaster. Uncomfortable situation indeed.

[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]

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