#fiction

"Not exactly," Chet interrupts. His smile has that practiced startup-founder quality, the one they teach you at Y Combinator, the smile that says I'm about to violate the social contract but in a disruptive way. "We're actually transitioning to a fully autonomous development pipeline. Claude Code Enterprise will be taking over the majority of engineering tasks."

"No," I say. "It chose 'stone' because statistically, in the petabytes of training data scraped without consent from the internet, the word 'stone' appears in proximity to 'lump in throat' with a probability of 0.04 percent, which is higher than 'wet creature.' It isn't a choice. It's a math problem. It is a predictive text algorithm on steroids. It doesn't know what a throat is. It doesn't know what fear feels like. It is predicting the next token based on mediocrity."

Bold. Brief. Beautiful. Fiction in Fewer Words.

The notification appeared at 3:47 AM: FINAL CONSCIOUSNESS BACKUP COMPLETE. Amara stared at her phone, hands trembling. Tomorrow—today, technically—she will undergo the procedure. Her biological brain, riddled with an inoperable tumor, would be replaced with a neural substrate. The doctors promised it would be seamless. She’d wake up still being Amara, just in a different medium. But which Amara?

Causality is a new kind of writing app where you develop your story visually, giving you an incredible overview of even very complex stories.

It is not a taskmaster, telling you what to do in order to achieve some foreign goal. It always tells you what will make you happiest. If it would make you happiest to succeed at your work, it will tell you how best to complete it. If it would make you happiest to do a half-assed job at your work and then go home and spend the rest of the day in bed having vague sexual fantasies, the earring will tell you to do that. The earring is never wrong.

"The friend-guild shows up for all kinds of people in need. We're visiting nurses. We're aid advocates. We're often first responders. My grandma lost her legs to a mine in the Horrors, and there wasn't enough medicine to keep it from getting a lot worse. I volunteered when I was sixteen so I could be the one appointed to feed her and bathe her, because she found it more dignified when it was family. She spent her last years in pain, but the guy who laid the mine? Who knows if they'll ever think about it? What would it change, if they did? The mine was laid. We can disarm the mines, we can demolish the munitions factories, we can even abolish war itself, but there was no restoring her. We have to live with the damage. We have to live in reality."

GigaNotoSaurus (the webzine, edited by LaShawn Wanak) publishes one longish fantasy or science fiction story monthly. Longish meaning longer than a short story, and shorter than a novel.

A tool for generating some characters and a situation using tarot cards.

Ficdown is a set of standards using the Markdown formatting syntax that can be used to create choice-based interactive fiction.

Ficdown is a set of standards using the Markdown formatting syntax that can be used to create choice-based interactive fiction.

The Dark Wheel is a 48 page short novel (novella) which was included with the original Elite versions.

SCP-524 is a common white rabbit, of the species Sylvilagus bachmani. It can be identified by its white fur with symmetrical black markings on its body. SCP-524 has shown the ability to be able to consume any material, regardless of edibility.

Now maybe you can see how science could have a successor: thalience would use objective truth as an artistic medium and merge subjectivity and objectivity in a creative activity whose purpose is the re-sanctification of the natural world. To believe in an uplifting and satisfying vision of your place in the universe, and to know that this vision is true (or as true as anything can be) would be sublime. Thalience would be an activity worthy of post-scientific humanity, or our own biological or post-biological successors.

Under the new PayPal policy, Mark Corker of Smashwords told all the Smashwords authors they would also have to remove paranormal romance that included shape-shifters - if the shape-shifters were to have sex in their non-human forms.

Prolific novelist Kevin J. Anderson has made no secret of his love for prog rock — and now he's taking his prog-rock fixation to the next level. He announced on his Facebook page that he's writing the novel version of Rush's new album, Clockwork Angels. Writes Anderson: After dropping hints for a while, finally the big announcement, a new project unlike any other I've ever done...and something that I consider very cool. Most of you are aware of my long-standing friendship with Neil Peart, the drummer and lyricist from the legendary rock band Rush, as well as how much Rush has influenced my work. My first novel Resurrection, Inc. was closely inspired by the Rush album Grace Under Pressure, and I can point to dozens of other novels and stories that bear a clear Rush influence. For more than twenty years, Neil and I have wanted to collaborate on something MAJOR, a way we could tie together our imaginations, and at last that's happening. I'm writing the novelization of Rush's forthcoming album Clockwork Angels, their first new CD in five years. Imagine if someone had written the novel of The Wall, Tommy, or Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band when those classic albums were released. For Rush fans, CLOCKWORK ANGELS is that project. I worked together with Neil to flesh out the epic story told over the course of the music, as well as the artist Hugh Syme whose paintings fill the CD booklet. In a young man's quest to follow his dreams, he is caught between the grandiose forces of order and chaos. He travels across a lavish and colorful world of steampunk and alchemy, with lost cities, pirates, anarchists, exotic carnivals, and a rigid Watchmaker who imposes precision on every aspect of daily life. To whet your appetite, Rush released the first two tracks, Caravan and BU2B - listen to those songs to get an idea of the story's beginning. I'm writing the chapters now, incorporating the lyrics into the narrative, and having a fantastic time. More details to come, but for now-to quote a line from Caravan: "I can't stop thinking big." [via Vintage Vinyl News]

Before I tell you this story, I should introduce Rachael Webster. The trouble is, I’m not sure how to do that. Was she a friend of mine? Sure. A great friend. We spent nine months together as tight as Siamese twins. But she wasn’t family, and I never really met her in person. I could say she didn’t exist, but that’s a copout: she obviously existed, and had a life, and friends, and a career, at least until her budget ran out and I had to write her out of this world.

"For me, if it even remotely looks like interactive fiction, then I see it as having value. I see inclusivity, I see intent, I see passion, I see unity, I see beauty, I see power, and I see love. Deep inside, I hope that never changes."

"This wiki is a catalog of the tricks of the trade for writing fiction. We dip into the cauldron of story, whistle up a hearty spoonful and splosh it in front of you to devour to your heart's content. "

"Personal Effects: Sword of Blood is a free podcast-exclusive novella written by J.C. Hutchins, author of the 7th Son trilogy. It is a prequel to Hutchins’ print novel debut, Personal Effects: Dark Art."

"Like a phoenix from the ashes, something new is in the process of being born. I give you ficly."

"Because of these two books I came up with my current working explanation of death: when you die, you become a fictional character."

I really wish this question had not been asked. Mu, dear god, mu! "Does Obama / McCain slash fiction exist? If so, where can I find it and what are the major themes in the genre?"

"Athens failed in Syracuse – and doomed their democracy – not because they fought in the wrong place and at the wrong time, but because they weren’t ruthless enough."

"The show I was imagining had never aired. But why couldn't I write episodes for it? Why couldn't I write fan fiction for a show that didn't exist?"

"I fell for hours. This is not hyperbole. I was not in space. Not technically."

"At around 1000 characters, these one-shot stories are attracting a growing audience."

"Damn, but these creepy critters are picky."

"Tell me, then: Why are we not drunk on a rooftop tonight?"

"An active e-zine of one shot short stories, around 1000 characters in length, set in near contemporary times but with scifi tendencies. "

"Now, you’re not an actor. You’re not a movie director. But you’re more than capable of creating creative, compelling, “authentic” content, because you are a creative, compelling, authentic individual. Be confident in your abilities. I have abso

"the amplificathon is a points-based podfic-creating challenge. podfics, in case you haven't heard, are audio recordings of fanfic."

"Flash fiction is fiction with its teeth bared and its claws extended, lithe and muscular with no extra fat."

"Gruen was on the sixty-first master, and while his wisdom had grown steadily, he had worn very little. He was incredibly well-preserved–the palms of his three-fingered hands still sported the deep, swirling ridges that had worn to nothing in most peopl

"Twitfics are extremely short stories that I've been writing on Twitter. The maximum length of a Twitter message is 140 characters; however, the maximum length of a twitfic is 131 characters, because each one begins with the word TWITFIC! and a space."

"Below we'll explore some start ups that take creative writing into the Web 2.0 era."

"He should not have called me a piece of crap."

"Do: Leave at least one hatch interlock open while on EVA."

"A ficlet is a short story that enables you to collaborate with the world. Once you’ve written and shared your ficlet, any other user can pick up the narrative thread by adding a prequel or sequel."

"Several times a week Mr. Sigler, 37, steps into a walk-in closet in his San Francisco home. He reads into a microphone that connects to his computer via a sound mixer. Hanging shirts envelop him, masking ambient sound."

"Therefore, I must be the center of the universe. Everything does revolve around me."

"We are going to build the tower again, but this time things will be different."

"The spore had crash landed in his eye, and people were emerging."

"The same tricks I used to make mice more readily eaten by cats make you reach out and explore, try new things."

"THERE IS AS YET INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR A MEANINGFUL ANSWER."

"Did it ever occur to you that simply no one’s interested in what you have to say?"

"Fired from a job he hated at a company he loved, videogame designer Paul Reynolds is drowning his sorrows in late-morning margaritas when he meets an alluring, pink-haired conwoman named Chloe..."

"We become I and I decide we should do something about the battle."

"The purpose of writing prompts is to give yourself ideas to write when you don't have any - either to start off a short story or to get yourself unstuck in the middle of a story when you don't know where to go."

"The writing prompts can even help you come up with creative content for blogs and blog stories."

"Whatever you do, don’t buy DRM’d ebooks. You are just ripping yourself off in the long run." Amen to that. I've bought a few ebooks with DRM, and it was all a waste.

"It seems like it’s been forever since I stopped at an abnormally long traffic light in my hometown and wondered why the internet has daily blogs, daily webcomics, and no daily fiction."

"You can't buy weather like that. Somewhere, its always sunny and its always summer. The trick is to find that place and build a house."

"Microfiction is very short fiction, usually around 300 words long."

"I have a saved game! I want to go back to the save point! Fuck! You can't stop me from resetting!"

"Well, we may not have big stars anymore, but now we've got thousands of them, constellations. Now weve got the whole night sky."

"It took nearly a year to reach her house, by which point, Alba had aged almost twenty minutes."

"The second person's big strength is that it lets you show by doing, and it renders infodumps ... transparent."

"We're looking for innovative, exciting stories that use the tools of speculative fiction to examine contemporary issues and take a look at what's just around the corner."

Imagine Paris Hilton with a brain implant conscience.

"Incidentally, the folk tale that if you put a frog in a cool kettle and apply the heat gently, it won't notice the water temperature rising is apparently untrue. But it's a neat metaphor for gradual intensification of stress, so I'm going to keep using

"There was a guy at the bar who had purple leopard spots that cascaded down his back like rain. That's how I knew he wanted me."

"He could barely hear them over the colors and shapes of the room. "...a new vision thanks to sight based on""

"You are willing to follow a recipe? So many chefs of your caliber think themselves above the direction of others." Awesome story of cooking as alchemy.

"Girls like assholes."

"...biological sub-life are using true-life as uncompensated slave labor..."

"Most women had their children early and put them in stasis until they had enough savings to provide for housing and education."

“I see you like the quality footwear. Well, our going price is five million credits.”

"Like someone ripping through your brain, tossing shit around, tearing things up."

"If I could write as well as Ted, I'd be (even more) insufferable."

Oh well, I liked her books while they lasted: "I promised," she says, "that from now on I would write only for the Lord."

This totally sounds like a side-story in the Firefly universe

""No! It's not just the breathing! Its everything! I can feel her pulse. I can hear her stomach gurgling. She eats! Its disgusting!""

"It’s about a world that’s forced to destroy itself every 18 months to keep everyone employed through the rebuilding process. I wrote it to better nail down the themes of The Economic Opportunity of Destruction. If you like/hate it, send some feedback

"All I had to do was stop taking the big one, the one with the odd lump in the middle and the diamond shape."

"In a series of unsent letters to her mother, a theoretical physicist meditates on her life, examining how her work and her personal life both mesh with and obstruct each other. Taking a highly original approach to science writing, Levin reveals herself a

"Gödel didn't believe that truth would elude us. He proved it would."

""Thank you," the subject said. Thank you for fixing me."

"Do... do you have blue?" "No." "Then I don't want to talk to you."

"At fourteen, I had never before been exposed to the idea that people, young people, could die and not be fixed."

"How many times have you finished reading a novel and said, “I could have written that book.”"

"We will not learn the lessons necessary for the proper use of what those ships have brought back."

“Would you like to touch it?”

Emergent behavior amongst household appliances.

"My one comfort was knowing that Abby's life would soon be taken over by her molar."

Lost fingers, rings, and girlfriends

Compost magic and urban blight

"Also known as Christians vs. Children's Books" Those nutty Christians.

"In this futuristic tale, Mike Villas is good at playing games. He's about to find out if he's any good at playing people"

Mmm... branes

"I am a woman with glass in my head."

superstring dna