At the same time, I hade family come to visit. We got out to the Egyptian exhibit at the museum and a couple of gardens. Oh, and we went on a hike. Driving to it, there was a sign saying bear country. Then one saying cougar in area. Then another saying wolf in area. 😳 Part of the trail was actually closed because of the cougar, I think more because the humans might bother the big cat than vice versa, in this case.

Next Saturday, I’ll be at a book sale at Tillicum. If you’re in the Victoria area, stop by. Maybe after you vote at Tillicum Elementary School.

A curious awesome bonkers fascinating thing

Hyenas. They are amazing creatures. What you thought you knew — well, I didn’t know.

When I listened to the Hyaenidology episode of Ologies, every few minutes there was another involuntary WHAT?! It at least doubled it’s nearest competitor in the ‘what’ count.

• They’re members of Feliforia, more closely related to cats than dogs. Though even more closely related to mongooses (which should be mongeese).

• There a two categories (though hyena is in its own genus) — the bone-crushers that eat, well, things with bones they can crush and th aardwolf, which eat termites, lots and lost of termites.

• Those bone-crushers? Their poop can be white because of the calcium in all the bones they eat. See — what?!

And you have to learn about hyena genitalia. WHAT?!!!

If you’ve gotten this far without going off to listen to the episode, here’s a baby aardwolf — which is a hyena, not a wolf:

Maybe I’ll incorporate a hyena inspired animal in my next story.

Books for your TBR shelf

Heather Texle has released an audio book for On Impulse, a book I enjoyed. Check it out if audio books are your jam — you can grab it direct from her store.

Happy reading!

— CR

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Where to find my books

If you’d like to read any of my sci-fi or urban fantasy books, you can find them at your favourite online retailers. Or you can buy them direct from me on the Armchair Alien store.

I wear size 7.5/8 shoes. This carrot is probably as long as my forearm from elbow to wrist.

Back to the writing, I realize I need to learn a bit more about crime scene investigation. Even if it’s sci-fi, I need a foundation to start with.

A curious thing

I often go off on how amazing science is at helping us unlock history, but one of my favourites is how they can show pre-Columbia contact between people of South American and Polynesia.

I’m amazed at the navigational abilities of the Polynesians. It’s mind-blowing to me how they were able to travel the vast stretches of the Pacific ocean and return to where they started. They didn’t just go out like dandelion fluff in the wind.

I admit I don’t understand all the science of genetics involved, but I almost understand it with this video by Stephan Milo, where he interviews a couple of the scientists involve in the recent genetic study.

I was actually first turned onto Polynesian navigation via a novel — Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse.

Books for your TBR shelf

I’m currently reading a book on fabric. No really, Fabric by Victoria Finlay. I also want to read Colour.

However, if you’re looking for sci-fi, I’ve got you. A couple of author friends have books included in the 2026 Space Opera Sisterhood bundle.

Never participated in a story bundle before? Pay what you can to get the first three books. Pay at least $30 dollars and get all books in the bundle.

I suppose I should plug my own book sometimes. Did you know if you buy A Dead Ship in the Deep Black directly from the Armchair Alien store, you get escalating discounts on the other books in the series?

Happy reading!

— CR

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Where to find my books

If you’d like to read any of my sci-fi or urban fantasy books, you can find them at your favourite online retailers. Or you can buy them direct from me on the Armchair Alien store.

A curious thing

Speaking of bees … well, honey actually. The world is full of wonderful things. As I was walking through that botanical garden this morning with a friend, I was commenting how I’d love to take a class on the history of plants, their evolution, and in particular how our food became our food. One of the books I bought after getting it from the library is Eating to Extinction, which tells the story of a handful of disappearing foodstuffs, including varieties of apples.

What does that have to do with honey? The book also contained the story of honeyguides and their relationship to people. Human honey hunters whistle to the birds, who guide them to beehives. The hunters get the honey and the birds get the larvae from the broken open hive. And apparently different regions have different dialects.

Writing update

I’m in the middle of drafting the next book. Progress has been up and down, given summer, but I’m happy with how it’s going. I definitely need to do more research into crime investigation. Why did I decide to write a sci-fi murder mystery?

Books for your TBR shelf

I’ve been reading a lot of books by other sci-fi authors I know. The latest is Encrypted Starpath by Peter J. Foote. Speaking of bees! Totally unintentionally, my favourite character in the book is Queen “Bee”. You have to read it to learn why.

Happy reading!

— CR

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Where to find my books

If you’d like to read any of my sci-fi or urban fantasy books, you can find them at your favourite online retailers. Or you can buy them direct from me on the Armchair Alien store.

Writing update

The last week has been a bit busy for some reason, so progress has slowed a bit on the next book, but progress is still being made. There’s a murder involved, so I need to do a bit of research on what that looks like. It’s still sci-fi so I don’t have to be exact but I still want to know what I’m talking about. In that research, I came across coronertalk.com.

A curious thing

After my post about the dangers of nostalgia, this is the flipside. I’ve read a few things lately about the more personal web, and more human experiences online. As part of that, I discovered wiby.org, a search engine for old school websites.

Using the “surprise me” function, I found a page on the colours of the elements - apparently, colourless, grey, and silver with a dash of yellow. Oh and copper and gold. You can also find information on the abundance of the elements in the universe and on earth. I love things like this, and it’s so hard to find nowadays.

I also found Global Grey eBooks, a source of public domain books.

Books for your TBR shelf

I recently finished The Dark of Light by Audrey Sharpe. If you enjoy sci-fi adventure, you might want to check it out. There’s a hint of romance but it’s definitely not sci-fi romance.

Happy reading!

— CR

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Where to find my books

If you’d like to read any of my sci-fi or urban fantasy books, you can find them at your favourite online retailers. Or you can buy them direct from me on the Armchair Alien store.

Does anyone else get that or something similar?

I have the fancy meds but they’re not always enough. I had the ice on the head earlier. I have a migraine toque, which is a toque I tried make for myself but it’s too small so it applies pressure … now that I think about it, maybe it’s the taking it off that helps, but it helps.

It’s the next day, and I have a bit of time before it comes back. So let’s continue….

A curious thing

I got so excited when scientists were first discovering exoplanets, and ones that could potentially be habitable. And I get excited by mentions of water and organic compounds on Mars. So when I found this story about how we’d tell life-created methane from geological methane, I had to check it out.

tl;dr we can’t.

But the science behind it is fascinating, and it uses chirality. Did you know snails also have chirality? Lefty-shelled snails can only mate with lefty snails, and righty-shelled snails with righty.

Writing update

I am making some good progress on the new novel. It’s rather different from what I’ve written so far. We’ll see if it stays that way.

Speaking of different, I have a new story running at Armchair Alien — That’s Not Salad.

Inspiration really can come from anywhere. This story was inspired by a discussion in a group of sci-fi authors about the things we call salad.

Books for your TBR shelf

One of the authors in that group is Heather Texle. Her book On Impulse is on sale for 99 cents until the end of July. I’ve picked up a copy for myself.

Happy reading!

— CR

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Where to find my books

If you’d like to read any of my sci-fi or urban fantasy books, you can find them at your favourite online retailers. Or you can buy them direct from me on the Armchair Alien store.

Admittedly, one of the reasons I bought the machine was because it’s almost 100 years old and it still works which is a good thing. We definitely, as a general rule, don’t make things like we used to. There’s no way my 10 year old modern machine will be working in 80 years, even if I had bought a more expensive model.

Apparently my grandmother had a similar black Singer. Which I also find cool. But I sew as a hobby — I hope for wearable results but it’s not the end of the world if they’re not. Given what I know of my grandmother, I expect sewing was necessary to clothe her family of nine.

The machine got me thinking about nostalgia and how it can be harmful (not my idea, I’ve heard this before). We tend to think of nostalgia as a warm blanket, but it can hold us back, individually and as a society.

For example, wanting your kids to grow up in a quiet residential neighbourhood. Seems great … but that results in car-dependent sprawl. The city I live in now had almost half the population when I was a child, and where I live was farmland. If we built enough of those neighbourhoods for everyone, it would mean paving over more farmland.

Another example: I used to watch homesteading videos. The idea of growing my own food appeals to me. However, I realized that the life that was being sold in those videos isn’t possible for most people. I grew up around farming families; I know how many of them had at least one partner working off the farm. And even if everyone could have a farm (and wanted to farm), well, that’s a lot of land in a world of 8 billion people.

I recently listened to a Stuff You Should Know episode on the middle class. Which is a good overview what middle class might mean these days and where it stands. Yes, there were positives during the heyday of the middle class in the US and Canada, but it wasn’t all roses.

Back to my grandmother. When I was born, she wouldn’t have been able to apply for a credit card in her own name.

It wasn’t great for women who wanted independence or found themselves in abusive marriages. It also wasn’t great if you were LGBTQ+. Heck, it wasn’t great if you had cancer or polio. Okay, it’s still not great if you have those things but one has many more treatments and the other we can vaccinate against. Wait, we can actually vaccinate against both — some cancers have vaccines now. (As an aside, science is awesome.)

That’s a whole lot of rambling, and not really book related. But it’s musing inspired by a sewing machine. It’s important not to look through rose-coloured glasses at a past that didn’t actually exist. We should see the good and the bad with open eyes.

Writing update

Wow, you’ve stuck around! I’ve started working on a new novel! I’m very excited. Though I enjoyed writing the short story I just finished — not so short at almost 10K words though. It’ll be starting on Armchair Alien later this week … or early next.

In the meantime, check out this guest post from Audrey Sharp.

Armchair Alien

A Guest at the Armchair: Audrey Sharp

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4 months ago · 2 likes · Jeannette Bedard

I read Audrey’s story in the sci-fi holiday anthology Now I Have a Raygun, Ho-Ho-Ho, and quite enjoyed it. I’ve picked up The Dark of Light, which I plan to read as soon as I get a replacement for my malfunctioning ereader.

Happy reading!

— CR

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Where to find my books

If you’d like to read any of my sci-fi or urban fantasy books, you can find them at your favourite online retailers. Or you can buy them direct from me on the Armchair Alien store.

However, something I didn’t expect was the mechanical marvels that came with it. It’s lovely what they can do, without computers, without software that goes end-of-life, without screen.

I mean, what even is this thing?! (Okay, it’s a ruffler foot. How different were people’s lives that they had a foot just for making ruffles? I didn’t have a need for ruffles but apparently I’m going to make them now.)

It also came with a pintuck machine. It sews the one tuck while also marking where the next one should go. And you can see the buttonholer box underneath foot.

This didn’t come with it but it makes better buttonholes that my modern machine with the built in buttonhole function.

But this isn’t just about my wonderful new machine. It’s gotten me thinking about what we’ve lost by computerizing everything. I was out for a walk with a friend, and she notice a metal bucket in a “free” pile. It had a built-in stirring attachment, and she picked it up to mix cement in. We found out later that it was a bread kneading machine.

Sort of related, a couple of posts came across my Bluesky feed that I thought I’d share.

One was a person using a antique / modern hybrid treadle sewing machine in New York to sew custom embroidery around the Knicks game.

The other was a mechanical sculpture that is just enchanting.

Writing update

I’m wrapping up edits on a long short story, which you’ll find on Armchair Alien when it’s done. Soon I need to figure out what to write next. Next book in the Lyra Cycle? New Juniper Keys space archaeology adventure? Something completely unrelated?

Books Authors for your TBR shelf

At the moment, I’m beta reading a book by a fellow author so I haven’t read new books I can share. Last time around, I shared Peter J. Foote’s new release. He was also a guest author on Armchair Alien this month.

Armchair Alien

A Guest at the Armchair: Peter J. Foote

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5 months ago · 2 likes · Jeannette Bedard

Hop on over and you’ll also find a new short story by Jeannette Bedard: Where there should have been apple pie. As an aside, there should always be pie.

Happy Reading!

— CR

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Where to find my books

If you’d like to read any of my sci-fi or urban fantasy books, you can find them at your favourite online retailers. Or you can buy them direct from me on the Armchair Alien store.

Writing update

Edits are underway on the latest short story. It’ll get posted on Armchair Alien in the next couple of months. Then I need to decide which of the many writing projects gets priority next.

If you’re in Victoria, my Armchair Alien co-conspirator and I will be at Island Fan Con next weekend. Stop by and say hi.

Personal update

I have a new addition to my household. Isn’t she beautiful?

And after some oiling and a few replaced parts, she works like a charm, despite being over 80 years old. She needs a name though. Something classic. Audrey? Beryl? Mabel? Any suggestions?

I picked her up at a local sewing store. I didn’t buy her because she’s beautiful; that’s a side benefit. I have two other sewing machines. One is a cheap modern machine that works fine — unless I want to sew more than two layers of fabric or buttonholes.

The other one is a beast of a machine … or it would be, if the 1970s plastic screw hole hadn’t stripped. That one has some sentimental value since I inherited it from my mom when she passed.

But that machine breaking was the straw that broke me. I decided I wanted to buy a machine where the critical parts are metal and which was designed to be repairable. There is one part that isn’t working as it should (I thought I had a good replacement for that bobbin positioning case oil wick spring) but the rest of it is great. It helps that so many of these were made, so there are replacement parts.

As a side note, this machine takes a Singer 66 bobbin but a class 15 needle. The other common bobbin type is a class 15 bobbin. Most modern machines take a class 15 bobbin and needle because early on Singer’s competitors decided they wanted to make it easy for sewists to switch from Singer (rather than every machine have their own unique charging port bobbin style).

Stay tuned for more sewing machine related thoughts (the feet! let me tell you about the feet!)

Books for your TBR shelf

I recently finished Platform Decay, the latest in the Murderbot Diaries. I was a little unsure at the beginning, but ended up enjoying it. I’ve fallen off my plan of recording all the books I read — I just have such a bad memory if I don’t.

Encrypted Starpath launches today. I really enjoyed Peter J. Foote’s entry Ho Ho Ho! Now I have a Ray Gun, so I’m looking forward to this start of a new series. Check it out at your favourite online retailers.

If you’re looking for something short to read, A Whisper of Shadows was recently published on Armchair Alien.

Armchair Alien

A Whisper of Shadows Part 1

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6 months ago · Rene Astle

Happy reading!

—CR

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Where to find my books

If you’d like to read any of my sci-fi or urban fantasy books, you can find them at your favourite online retailers. Or you can buy them direct from me on the Armchair Alien store.

In other news, I transitioned my other computer to Linux Mint, and even got Scrivener, the Windows and Mac only authoring software I use, working. I haven’t had much of a chance to use the computer yet, but so far so good. Have you tried Linux? What do think?

In between the farm and Linux, I am wrapping up a short story unrelated to anything I’ve written, but I think it should be fun … after I tear it apart in editing.

A curious thing

A thing that is both scif-i and curious. The Curiosity rover discovered the stuff of life on Mars.

This doesn’t not mean that Mars had life. But it had the organic molecules necessary for life as we know it.

Apparently there’s an ancient river channel in this compilation of photos (also from Curiosity). Maybe you can see it?

Anyway, I find it fascinating!

Books for your TBR shelf

I just finished my re-read of The Murderbot Diaries to date — just in time for Tuesday’s new release. In the interim, I’m reading Brigades & Breadknives by Travis Baldree. It’s light and fun, just what I’m looking for right now.

If you’re looking for books for your TBR shelf, I recommend Lost Orbit Stories by Jeannette Bedard, a collection of short stories starring Darla Oswiu. Darla is also the main character in The Lost Star Chart, one of my favourite books by Jeannette — so if you like Darla, just know there’s more.

I also love the cover of this collection.

Three jobs. Three disasters. One captain who keeps getting talked into doing the right thing.

Captain Darla Oswiu would rather talk to her holographic hippo than to actual people. It’s nothing personal. Humans cause trouble. Hippos don’t.

Unfortunately, trouble keeps finding her anyway.

Happy reading!

—CR

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Where to find my books

If you’d like to read any of my sci-fi or urban fantasy books, you can find them at your favourite online retailers. Or you can buy them direct from me on the Armchair Alien store.

Writing update

I’ve teased a project I was working on. It’s finally at the printers. I made a zine! Aside: how do you pronounce that — like magazine or like incline?

It combines my space archaeology story with some asides, graphics, and game-ish content. I have print copies on the way but will probably have digital copies available. It was a lot of fun to make so I think I’ll make more of these … even if no one else wants them (though I hope they do).

I’ve also been working on a new short story that will go up over on Armchair Alien. Which has had mean doing some research….

A curious thing

Some of that research involved learning a bit more about our insect neighbours. I really don’t know a lot it turns out.

For instance, I didn’t know how insects smell. Maybe I learned it at some point — at least some of them smell with their antennae.

I also need to know more about insect sight … which has led me to change a few things in the story. If you’ve ever seen the “insect sight” scenes in movies, where it’s the same image repeated — yeah, completely wrong.

I found this video which digs into insect vision in an accessible way.

Books for your TBR shelf

I’ve been re-reading the Murderbot series. I rarely re-read books — there are so many to read — but this has strangely become my comfort. I don’t know what that says about me.

If you’re looking for a comfort read — an escape to another planet with a dash of mystery and a heaping helping of hope — check out the latest book by my Armchair Alien co-conspirator, On the Edge of Night and Day, or the first book in the series, Hope is the Thing with Feathers.

Jeannette’s Newsletter

Mid-March 2026 - On the Edge of Night and Day is out!

Hi Everyone…

Read more

7 months ago · 1 like · Jeannette Bedard

Happy reading!

—CR

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Where to find my books

If you’d like to read any of my sci-fi or urban fantasy books, you can find them at your favourite online retailers. Or you can buy them direct from me on the Armchair Alien store.

I start a new day job this week, so brain will be full. Hopefully, I’ll still find some left over grey matter to write with. I’ve started a new short story that will show up on Armchair Alien at some point. (If you haven’t read the latest story, Juniper Keys and the Cube of Stars wrapped up last week).

My Armchair Alien co-conspirator also has a new book out, On the Edge of Night and Day. Technically YA, it’s very enjoyable by an adult, if my own enjoyment is anything to go by. It’s a sequel to Hope is a Thing with Feathers, but it absolutely stands on its own.

A curious thing (or two)

There were a few weird and wonderful things over the past few weeks.

Let’s start with the bone-eating snot-flower.

The BBC posted an article on the creatures that eat dead whale carcasses, but it really ended up being about some of the most weird and wonderful creatures of the deep — including the bone-eating snot-flower. Highly recommend reading (though be warned: some of the images are stuff of nightmares but that’s the deep ocean for you).

That’s hard to follow, but how about using gophers to rehabilitate volcano-blasted earth? Apparently it was a roaring (squeaking?) success — read all about it.

Happy Reading!

—CR

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Where to find my books

If you’d like to read any of my sci-fi or urban fantasy books, you can find them at your favourite online retailers. Or you can buy them direct from me on the Armchair Alien store.

Before I digress too far….

It’s space archaeology month on Armchair Alien. We’re running a story I wrote in same universe as The Lyra Cycle. Maybe it can distract you from ~waves hand at outside~ the world for a bit. I hope to write a whole series starring Juniper Keys and friends. And stayed tuned over there for a post on my series bible and how helpful it’s been.

Speaking of space archaeology, Jeannette Bedard, my Armchair Alien co-conspirator has a story in this fabulous Kickstarter anthology. TODAY IS THE LAST DAY! So if you like alien artefacts, support this anthology now (I just did).

Speaking of Jeannette, she has a new Wren Chronicles book coming out today! I was a beta reader for On the Edge of Night and Day, and really enjoyed it. This visit to a weird and wonderful world with a mystery to solve is a great distraction from ~waves hand at outside~ the world.

And if that’s not enough to read, you can still grab a free book or two from this gathering of sci-fi fantasy, and paranormal books.

Happy Reading!

—CR

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Where to find my books

If you’d like to read any of my sci-fi or urban fantasy books, you can find them at your favourite online retailers. Or you can buy them direct from me on the Armchair Alien store.

If you don’t know, I’ve done all the cover art for books in The Lyra Cycle. Book 4 is no different. Well, it is … kind of. This is the first cover I created almost entirely in Krita, as opposed to Photoshop.

I still have Photoshop but probably won’t this time next year. Has anyone else made the switch to Krita? Or always used it? Any tips? My covers are composites of images from Depositphotos plus a bunch of over-painting and layer effects, but I’d love to do more illustration in future.

The book is available for pre-order at (most) of your favourite online bookstores. Or, if you don’t want to wait, you can grab it now from the Armchair Alien store — use the code Lyra4Launch to save 25% on any of the books in the series, including this one.

A new story

Also coming this week is a new story over on Armchair Alien. It’s a spin-off from The Lyra Cycle starring Juniper Keys, the daughter of Rebeka Mino and Dustin Keys, as an archaeologist working in the Badlands. Near the edge of Dominion space, I describe it as Indiana Jones meets Firefly.

If you haven’t read Jeannette’s latest stories on Armchair Alien, I recommend checking them out.

The Trouble with Gravity

Case File #7 - The One with All the Elephants

A curious thing

A brief curious thing this time around. I was watching a Hank Green video on sunfish — the Mola Mola — and in the video, he showed a picture of sunfish larva. You know Maggie Simpson in her star snowsuit? It’s like that. They’re adorable (scroll down to the second photo in this article). And the video was really interesting. I have a new respect for this “dumbest of fishes”.

Books for your TBR shelf

I recently grabbed Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky from the library but after that I’ll need another book to read — I might see if I can discover some new to me authors in these free books.

Free February Fantasy and Sci-Fi

Free Sci-Fi, Fantasy, & Paranormal Books

Happy reading!

—CR

Where to find my books

If you’d like to read any of my sci-fi or urban fantasy books, you can find them at your favourite online retailers. Or you can buy them direct from me on the Armchair Alien store.

Writing update

Woot! Book 4 in The Lyra Cycle — A Lonely Ship in a Crowded Sky — should be up for pre-order soon. Watch this spot for the cover; I hope to post it next time.

The rest of this month I’m working on a couple of special project, including edits on a new space archaeology story in the Lyra Cycle universe that might launch a new series. ‘Cause, you know, I don’t have enough to write already I’ll let you know when the short story is up on Armchair Alien.

Books for your TBR shelf

Are you a print book reader or an ebook reader? Or, like me, both?

I’m about 50/50 in regards to whether I read print or ebook. But when I read ebooks, I read them on my Kobo ereader. I support us readers having choice in where get our books … which is why you can’t find my books in Kindle Unlimited. Did you know that most smaller authors can’t have their books in KU and have them available on other stores? Until recently, the author couldn’t even get them into libraries if they’re books were in KU (thankfully they changed that rule).

Which is why I’m going to try to highlight other stores any why you might choose them.

The spotlight today is Google Books. Yes, I know it’s another tech behemoth. But it’s available in over 75 countries, you get notified about deals on books by authors you’re interested in, and you can get deals on books in a series.

Here’s a few sci-fi books you can find on Google Books.

• On Impulse by Heather Texle

• Molting Queen by Peter J. Foote

• The Lost Star Chart by Jeannette Bedard (my Armchair Alien co-conspirator — check out the short stories she’s recently posted)

• Perihelion by Tami Veldura

• A Dead Ship in the Deep Black by yours truly

• Lightwave Nexus Station by AM Scott

• The Dark of Light by Audrey Sharpe

Of course, that said, I’m also a big supporter of my local independent bookstores, which is why I’m super excited to announce that you can find my ebooks on Bookshop.org — a portion of your purchase goes towards your chosen bookstore. Except for A Dead Ship in the Deep Black — because it is currently free, it can’t go up. Anyway, support your local bookstores if you can!

Happy reading!

— CR

Where to find my books

If you’d like to read any of my sci-fi or urban fantasy books, you can find them at your favourite online retailers. Or you can buy them direct from me on the Armchair Alien store.

If you liked this post from Curious Cat, Odd Duck and Author, feel free to subscribe and share.

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After that’s done, it’s on to tidying up a short story in the same universe that I had a lot of fun writing — I hope will start a new series (and the foundation of a special project).

Though I was distracted over the past few weeks finishing my first coat! This might be the most ambitious sewing project I’ve taken on.

I’m quite please with my red button solution for hiding the welt pocket disaster.

A curious thing

If you’re on Bluesky and you love wonderful, weird things, I suggest following @jeffontherock.bsky.social. I came across this person’s posts on lichen, nature, and, most amazingly, slime moulds. The picture that drew me in was one where the slime mould looked like grapes.

Slime moulds are also fantastic creatures — as in creatures of fantasy. Whether you consider the plasmodial slime moulds that can grow into a giant single-celled organism 10 metres across or slime moulds that seemingly navigate mazes. Some even appear capable of rudimentary memory and anticipation of periodic events.

Books for your TBR shelf

My first two (three?) books of 2026 where Mickey7 and books 3&4 of the Murderbot series (the last two were a re-read, which I don’t usually do, but I think Murderbot is now one of my comfort reads). Mickey7 was interesting, though one of my favourite things were the snapshots of other colonization efforts.

I just finished The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz. Again, an interesting take on terraforming, though I felt it was 3 books in one, and definitely an ideas book. It was very different from Automatic Noodle by the same author (which I really liked).

If you’re looking to stock up on sci-fi books, check out the Undercover Aliens bundle. Get 13 books for 25$ USD. That’s more than one book a month!

One of the books in the bundle is Eclipsing the Aurora by Peter J. Foote.

Happy reading!

— CR

Where to find my books

If you’d like to read any of my sci-fi or urban fantasy books, you can find them at your favourite online retailers. Or you can buy them direct from me on the Armchair Alien store.

If you liked this post from Curious Cat, Odd Duck and Author, feel free to subscribe and share.

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Despite events, I’m working hard to wrap up final edits on book 4 in The Lyra Cycle. This one has been delayed by personal events (and maybe not personal events) but I think I’m hitting my stride again. Hopefully, I’ll be able to share the cover and title soon.

Of course, I’ve had yet another idea for another series of books. So many ideas, not enough time.

2026 writing goals

Okay, I thought I’d share these to keep myself honest … but some of them don’t have a lot of detail.

• Publish book 4 in The Lyra Cycle.

• Publish the kickoff novella in the space archaeology spin-off of the above series (I’ll let you know when it’s up on Armchair Alien).

• Write more short stories in a secret shared universe project — I wrote the first two during “Not a Novel November” (which isn’t really a thing).

• Finish a zine pet project.

• Decide if I do anything with Shiny New Idea or Shiny New New Idea since both would take away from all of the above.

• And I might review a fantasy book — a romantic fantasy book — that I put aside years ago to see how far it is from being finished. Though I’m 100% sure I’d need to update the ending. But see the bit about taking away from above.

Space Station Unity

You are cordially invited to join Space Station Unity. If you enjoy talking about sci-fi (books, movies, memes) with other sci-fi nerds, this is the place for you.

Join Space Station Unity

Set up by a handful of authors who love all things sci-fi, this Discord server is still in its infancy but it’s gaining residents every day. If you haven’t used Discord before, no worries — the goal is to make sure everyone is welcome so there’s an entire channel dedicated to questions.

Books for your TBR shelf

I’m currently reading Enshittification, having had it lent to me. So far, it’s mostly shit I knew though there’s been some new nuggets. I’d recommended but gird yourself. As a palate cleanser between sections, I read books 3 & 4 of The Murderbot Diaries.

If you’re looking for some less of this world, check out Lightwave: Nexus Station by AM Scott.

Katryn of Cygnus knocks Tyron Phazeer off his feet—literally and figuratively. She’s got the net security skills Lightwave Fold Transport needs, she’s killer in a fight, and as a bonus, she’s beautiful.

Can Tyron help Katryn escape her enemies? Can Katryn learn to trust Tyron? Find out in Lightwave: Nexus Station, a Folding Space Universe standalone prequel.

Happy reading!

— CR

Where to find my books

If you’d like to read any of my sci-fi or urban fantasy books, you can find them at your favourite online retailers. Or you can buy them direct from me on the Armchair Alien store.

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Science Fiction — my jam

Murderbot Diaries (Martha Wells): I’m re-reading these and read the first four. Originally, I got the ebooks from the library but decided I wanted physical copies for the permanent collection … you can judge how much I love a book by whether it gets room in the limited shelf space.

Six Wakes (Mur Lafferty): This bordered on space horror for me. I enjoyed it but I like the Midsolar Murder Series better (they have space in the permanent collection, which reminds me that I need to pick up the latest).

Now I Have a Raygun Ho-Ho-Ho (multiple): Fun, quirky sci-fi stories. No notes.

Out of Tune (D.C. Greschner): Another quirky sci-fi book by an author local to me. I’ve told her she should write more in the universe. We’ll see if she listens to me.

Light from Uncommon Stars (Ryka Aoki): A quirky but heart-tugging book. I loved how the author handled letting us know that the main character was trans — it was so seamless.

Translation State (Ann Leckie): This was actually my first foray into this universe, and now I need to read the others.

The Folded Sky (Elizabeth Bear): Again, my first foray into this universe. I love the cats in space, and need to check out the other books in the universe.

The Last Gifts of the Universe (Riley August): Speaking of cats in space … and archaeology in space, this was an easy, comfy read that had both.

How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse (K. Eason): This book could just as easily go into fantasy as a fairytale retelling … but it happens in space, so here we are. I liked that combo and see myself reading more.

August Kitko and the Mechas from Space & Ardent Violet and the Infinite Eye (Alex White): I enjoyed both of these. They’re very Bowie-esque in my mind — bigger than life … but also very human.

Fractal Noise (Christopher Paolini): Apparently, it’s a prequel to To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, which I haven’t read yet but maybe now I’ll have to. This one bordered on space horror for me.

Ninefox Gambit (Yoon Ha Lee): This book had a really interesting premise and universe. A lot of people died.

The Water Knife (Paolo Bacigalupi): Stark but realistic version of the near future. Probably good to read books like this but they are not warm hugs of a read.

The City in the Middle of Night (Charlie Jane Anders): In a way, this could also be fantasy. It’s a very interesting world, being on a tidally locked planet.

Fantasy — the PB to my jam

Slayers of Old (Jim C. Hines): Okay, I’m not quite finished this but will be by the end of the year. I love it so far, and not least because I resonate with the creakiness of the characters. I would find room in the permanent collection for this but, unfortunately, I have to return it to the person who lent it to me.

Legends and Lattes & Bookshops and Bonedust (Travis Baldree): I thoroughly enjoy these books. If you like an occasional warm hug of a read, check this out. I definitely need to grab the new one.

A Pirate’s Life for Tea & Can’t Spell Treason without Tea (Rebecca Throne): I enjoyed to first one enough to read the second. Another warm hug series of books.

The Jasmine Throne (Tasha Suri): I loved the world in the book. It’s refreshing that we’re getting more fantasy that’s not Middle Ages Europe-esque. The other books are on the list.

Cinderella is Dead (Kalynn Bayron): An interesting and queer retelling of the Cinderella story.

So Let Them Burn (Kamilah Cole): Another fantasy that’s not Middles Ages Europe, more of an alt history with magic of the Americas. But it does have dragons!

Strange Practice (Vivian Shaw): A fantasy. A mystery. A romance. Also not Middle Ages but Europe.

Other genres

Apparently there was only one I made note of … The Death of Mrs Westaway (Ruth Ware). I need to continue to broaden what I read.

However, I do read more non-fiction.

Non-fiction

Eating to Extinction (Dan Saladino): This was actually a re-read. I’d originally gotten this from the library and decided I wanted my own copy for the permanent collection. If you’re interested in where our food comes from, check it out.

What’s Her Name: A History of the World in 80 Lost Women (Olivia Meikle and Katie Nelson): I listen to their podcast regularly so I already knew some of the stories but this book sat at a conflux of things I love — history, women who made their own way, and stories of people forgotten by time.

Undreamed Shores (Frances Larson): This is the story of 5 women anthropologists in the early days of anthropology. I had a love hate relationship with this book. I loved the stories of women making their own way in a world where women generally didn’t do that. But I also hated the patronizing attitude many of the women showed to the people they studied … and that society had towards them.

Before I go, I’ll give one final plug for the Countdown to 2026, where you can grab a free sci-fi book each day. Some of the books from earlier this month are still free, if you’re looking to fill a new ereader. Just saying.

See you in 2026. May it be less interesting times.

Happy reading!

— CR

Where to find my books

If you’d like to read any of my sci-fi or urban fantasy books, you can find them at your favourite online retailers. Or you can buy them direct from me on the Armchair Alien store.

If you liked this post from Curious Cat, Odd Duck and Author, feel free to subscribe and share.

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It seems to have passed but it means I’m only now reminding you of the Countdown to 2026 — get a free science fiction book every day in December. However, some of the previous days’ book will still be free.

Take Me to the Countdown!

On a personal note, I made a pair of pants that fit! Not only did I make the pants but I made the pattern (based on a pyjama pant pattern). I’m so proud of myself. I posted a pic on Bluesky. They might not look like they fit but they’re so much better than any I’ve made before — and they’re a good foundation for tweaking.

I’ve also picked up the paints again. I’d been so long I need to relearn how they work. Here’s some playing with gouache. Mostly I want paint alien insects.

Writing update

I’ve been busy working on a lot of different things:

• I drafted a couple of short stories during #NotANovelNovember (that’s not a thing). There’s a potential plan for them. I hope to be able to share more in the new year.

• I polishing the draft of the space archaeology spin-off of The Lyra Cycle, and it’s off with the beta reader now.

• Which means, I’m deep in finishing energy on book 4 in The Lyra Cycle. It’s been hard with some personal things going on the past few years, but it’s close.

What I’m reading

I recently finished Automatic Noodle (you can find more on the author’s website). I enjoyed it. It was comfy and cozy and heart-warming … and sometimes that’s just what I want. Like a bowl of noodles.

I’m just finishing The Folded Sky by Elizabeth Bear, which I’m enjoying. One double-edged sword of print books is that you can see how far you are from the end. But you can also seriously misjudge how quickly you can read that and end up staying up too late a couple nights in a row. I’ll be done tonight though, then it’s one to Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty before the library reclaims it.

Happy Reading!

— CR

Where to find my books

If you’d like to read any of my scifi or urban fantasy books, you can find them at your favourite online retailers. Or you can buy them direct from me on the Armchair Alien store.

If you liked this post from Curious Cat, Odd Duck and Author, feel free to share it.

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But first, reindeer. Yes, reindeer.

A curious thing

I’m jumping right into the curious … well, more interesting thing. I recently read an article on the Great Canadian Reindeer Project. This has nothing to do with the reindeer living in postal code HOH OHO.

No, it was a project to try to start commercial reindeer herds in Canada’s north to offset a decline in caribou (which are so closely related Wikipedia has one article for them). The project, bringing in reindeer from Alaska, where they’d already been introduced (which is a whole other story), probably went ahead without much input from the indigenous people.

An 18-month trip from Naboktoolik, Alaska, to the Mackenzie Delta turned into 5 years!

Once in Canada, there were ups and downs but in 2021, the remaining herd was purchased by the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation. If I recall correctly, with proper management they’ve finally been able to start “processing” reindeer.

However, when I first read the article, my main question was what happened to the Sami who had accompanied the original reindeer to North America. It sounds like at least some of them helped in the trek across the Arctic and stayed with those Canadian reindeer.

Writing update

I’ve taken a month off from finishing book 4 in The Lyra Cycle to work on a super fun project. Hopefully I can tell you more about that next year. But I’ll be back at final edits next week.

What I’m reading

I’m reading an appropriately themed book — Now I Have a Raygun Ho-Ho-Ho! It’s loads of fun so far. And you can grab a copy for free.

So many books for your TBR shelf!

Now for the special event. A bunch of sci-fi authors, including myself, have put together a month-long Countdown to 2026. Every day (yes, every day!) in December there will be a new free book.

Keep an eye on the countdown page — or follow me over on Bluesky, where I’ll try to post about the new book each day.

Happy reading!

— CR

Where to find my books

If you’d like to read any of my scifi or urban fantasy books, you can find them at your favourite online retailers. Or you can buy them direct from me on the Armchair Alien store.

If you liked this post from Curious Cat, Odd Duck and Author, feel free to share it.

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Speaking of which, Jeannette’s story A Forest of Shards is running on Armchair Alien … but I suggest you start with the preamble.

In other news, I’m trying to install Linux on an old laptop in an attempt to diversity my OS options. The installation actually went well — but my attempts to run graphics programs (that are supposed to run on Linux) are going less well. I think the computer might be a little too old. But if you know Linux, I’m open to advice.

Though I have been having fun in Krita on my Windows computer drawing borbs and insects…

What I’m reading

I just finished The Stars Too Fondly, a lovely sci-fi, found family adventure tale. I quite enjoyed it, and it was a random library selection. I’ve been getting a lot of DVDs from the library but haven’t picked up many books … except books on drawing borbs.

But what does this have to do with rayguns, you ask…

Books for your TBR shelf

This is my raygun an old-school photo filter, which might not have worked.

And this is the next book on my TBR shelf — and I think you should add it to yours. Now I Have a Raygun Ho-Ho-Ho is a festive collection of sci-fi tales from some authors I know. I mean, look at this cover! You know there’s good stuff inside.

Happy reading!

— CR

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Where to find my books

If you’d like to read any of my scifi or urban fantasy books, you can find them at your favourite online retailers. Or you can buy them direct from me on the Armchair Alien store.

If you liked this post from Curious Cat, Odd Duck and Author, feel free to share it.

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