What is a “planet”, anyway? A perhaps surprisingly contentious question, that extends far beyond the most recent flare-up of controversy, which centered around Pluto’s status in the planetary club, and despite the pretenses of the International Astronomical Union the jury’s still out on that one. … Continue readingWorldbuilding the Definition of Planet
When researching for my post “The Final Frontiers of the Periodic Table” it struck me how dull the names of most of the chemical elements are, “something-something-ium”, a trend of uncreativity that’s worsened with the more recent discoveries of the transuranic and superheavy elements. Now, … Continue readingOn Etymologies of the Elements
Ah, the periodic table of the elements: that ubiquitous chart in the realm of chemistry. In the heady days of the 19th century new elements were being discovered, filling in the table left and right, culminating with the last discovery of a naturally-occurring stable element, … Continue readingThe Final Frontiers of the Periodic Table
I’ve touched on this topic before on here, but I find my mind often wandering to what the development of drugs, especially medicinal drugs, might look like in a science-fictional alternate-history timeline like mine that diverges around 1900 and has had a century for all … Continue readingTherapeutics of my Alternate History
It’s kinda funny how brainstorming works. One day I’m watching the 2003 film “The Haunted Mansion” — a fun enough romp, with the main highlight being Chancellor Valorum (er, excuse me, Terence Stamp) playing an aged butler with a big secret — and it strikes … Continue readingA Slice of Life at the Dawn of the Space Age?
It must be the fall atmosphere these days compelling me to watch films like “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” more often, because I’ve been giving some thought to fodder for an interesting alternate history what-if: the Nazi concept for the “Alpine Redoubt”, or “Alpine … Continue readingAn Alternate History of the Alpine Fortress
I’ve been thinking a lot about the family trees of nobles, aristocrats, and old-money types lately; reading up on the TVTropes pages about Royal Inbreeding in particular has been fun. Under the wildly alternate-historical and implausible scenario I outline in my “Rules of Succession What-Ifs” … Continue readingReinhardts After Rapunzel
Sounds weird, I know. Like, catacombs? Music City? But over the course of the thought I’ve been putting into the world of the turn of the 22nd century, which will be featured for the first time in my next book “Heart of Proxima” (I’ve already … Continue readingCatacombs of Music City
I know just my last post was “A Beloved from the Stars”, covering my brainstorming for my next story, which I’ve decided I might title “Heart of Proxima”, but I’ve been doing some more work on it, enough to want to share it with all … Continue readingReturn from Thalassa: More Thoughts
Hmm. It doesn’t seem like so long since I wrote my thoughts on “After Thalassa: Squid Brains of Enceladus”, but it’s been almost four months! In the interim I’ve been focusing on other stories, but recently I’ve seen fit to flesh out the concept into … Continue readingA Beloved from the Stars