May 4, 2026
Astronomers have discovered 27 new potential planets that orbit two stars, like the fictional desert planet Tatooine from the Star Wars universe…
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/may/04/scientists-discover-27-potential-new-planets
And now you know what a “Circumbinary planet” means. Happy Star Wars Day!
March 12, 2026
“As a science fiction author, I’ve always loved hearing from fans of my fiction,” [US based author Jason Sanford] tells the Guardian. “But now when someone emails saying they loved one of my stories, my first thought is that this is yet another scammer setting me up for the kill.”
Yet another reason I hate AI.
I, too, have been contacted repeatedly by people claiming to be literary agents, or to have connections with major publishers or bookstores.
I don’t trust any of them. And that’s sad.
All I want is for people to read and enjoy my work. Not steal it, scrape it, resell or repackage it. And certainly not to think I’m eager to give them thousands of dollars for horrible AI-generated videos.
It’s impossible to make a living as a writer.
August 8, 2025
- This group comprises millions of individuals who are deeply interested in our space programme
- The name “Enterprise” is tied in with the system on which the Nation’s economic structure is built.
- Use of the name would provide a substantial human interest appeal to the rollout ceremonies scheduled for this month in California, where the aeronautical industry is of vital importance.
It is really too bad that the shuttle looked nothing at all like the Enterprise (Constitution class).
And an odd coincidence that the original name chosen by NASA was…
…Constitution…
August 5, 2025
🧾 Conclusion
Adam’s Stepsons takes the core questions of Blade Runner and distills them into a tight, character-driven drama. It lacks the sweeping visuals of Villeneuve or the noir cityscape of Scott — but it delivers something arguably more intimate:
A quiet horror — and quiet triumph — in the collapse of identity, where the artificial doesn’t just mimic life…
It replaces it.
Over the weekend (my first with no student work to grade — finally! — since April), I decided to ask our “old” friend ChatGPT if it could analyze my sci-fi novella Adam’s Stepsons. Really, I was just curious what it would say.
It said…a LOT.
It correctly interpreted the title (something that many readers apparently didn’t get). It correctly identified the main themes as part of a “post-humanism” sub-genre of science fiction. And once I gave it three short excerpts (from the near the end of the story), it gave a frighteningly accurate thematic and symbolic analysis of the entire novella…just from three short excerpts of a total of about six pages.
I won’t copy all it gave me (you all can go try on your own and see what it says!). But let me share what the program thought were key themes:
Continue Reading
September 2, 2024
Haven’t posted anything in about five or six weeks. Sorry!
I was going to initially post something about the Boeing crew that got stranded on the ISS, but NASA kept delaying their decision to use SpaceX. It was a given that they’d have no choice.
Boeing, quite obviously, cannot be trusted to spend millions of taxpayer’s dollars and make a proper spacecraft.
Anyway, I’ll start posting something more interesting soon.
In the meantime, here’s a Star Trek TOS selfie by Catwoman. I mean Lee Meriwether. (S3:14, That Which Survives)
May 6, 2024
One of my SciFi short stories has been shortlisted for an award (newly created category).
More details when they are available!
(FWIW I referenced the short story in the beginning of Bringer of Light, when Overseer Martin Velasquez asks about the results of a “Marshall” game. Worldbuilding…)
April 1, 2024
The story of the last 20 years of pop culture is, in many ways, the Victory Of The Nerd: Comic book films, gaming adaptations, the general adoption of deeply nerdy genre trappings like time loop stories, superheroes, and more, all making billions of dollars at the box office as geek obsessions infiltrate the body mainstream.
https://www.avclub.com/dune-other-great-unfilmable-sci-fi-novels-1851370740
AV Club suggests these five:
God Emperor of Dune (book 4)
The Caves of Steel (Isaac Asimov)
The Left Hand of Darkness (Ursula LeGuin)
The Sirens of Titan (Kurt Vonnegut)
The Player of Games (Iain Banks)
One of the main problems that some “classic SciFi” doesn’t get made into movies is that their plots are, frankly, often ridiculous or cheesy.
What would you want to see on the big screen finally?
April 1, 2024
April 1, 2024
Bringer of Light holds appeal for its imaginative setting and thought-provoking themes. Readers who appreciate a blend of speculative technology and introspective musings on the universe will find this book a stimulating read…For fans of science fiction, M. Thomas Apple’s novel offers a glimpse into a future filled with wonder and complexity.
— 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Literary Titan
Bringer of Light is a highly recommended read for fans of gripping sci-fi with a deeper, more resonant meaning at its core.
— 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟K. C. Finn for Readers’ Favorite
March 27, 2024
You don’t write for success. That takes part of your attention away from the writing. If you’re really doing it, that’s all you’re doing: writing.
Frank Herbert, “When I Was Writing Dune”
Writing Fanfiction in the worlds of Tolkien and Beyond!
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