A special, exclusive short has just been released for free! Unjustified Nostalgia, a short story written just for my most loyal fans, is out now. Check out a brief summary below:

Fiona takes Lance out on a special birthday date to see one of his favorite bands perform live, but the fun’s put to rest when Unjustified Nostalgia reveals that it might be their last show. After a trip backstage, the band’s famed cyborg drummer has a request: help find out why the record label they were planning to sign with has suddenly gotten so aggressive. Can the band’s future be saved, or will they fade out once and for all?

If you’re already a subscriber to my mailing list, you should’ve received instructions on how to download it straight to your inbox last night. If you aren’t subscribed yet, no problem! click here and sign up; once you confirm, you’ll get the details, too, no matter when you’re reading this. It’s a permanent freebie! And don’t worry if you haven’t read The Arcology or Eidolon yet; this story’s relatively free of spoilers, so if you like it, you can always go back and get caught up.

Enjoy the story, and if you have any problems or comments, feel free to let me know!

My readers, to celebrate the release of Eidolon, I’ve decided to make The Arcology free for a limited period of time. If you haven’t read it yet, this is your chance! You can pick it up for FREE this weekend from a number of retailers.

But if you’ve already bought The Arcology, never fear; I’m not the only one participating in this promo. Dozens of other ebooks from my fellow independent authors are also available, in all kinds of sci-fi and fantasy subgenres. They’re all free, almost everywhere in the world, and who knows? You might find a new favorite author who you’d never have heard of otherwise. Just click the image below, select your preferred retailer and look over the list to see what strikes your fancy. I hope The Arcology is one of them!

Defiance moved into its third season by making some huge changes to the status quo. Some turned out way better than expected, while others were more of a letdown. With the finale feeling like it may very well be the end of the series, how did Defiance shape up overall? New storylines, new characters, even a new race of Votans… but was it well executed, or did many things end up being rushed to fit this apparent finale?

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If you’re not into Defiance quite yet, but you’re wondering what the deal is, you’ve come to the right place. While the official site does indeed contain brief overviews, they’re a bit dated, and not as comprehensive as they could be. And after all, it’s the well-developed backstory that really gives Defiance its potential; it’d be a shame to bury it all. So, I’d like to take a moment to introduce any newcomers, or even those casual viewers wondering about the background of Defiance, to the various alien species we’ve come to know collectively as the Votan.

UPDATED: Season 3 Information added!

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This is a little something I’ve been working on in celebration of the release of Age of Ultron tonight. By using footage from the various TV movies Marvel put out in the 1990’s, I’ve assembled an alternate set of Avengers–well, minus Hawkeye. Sorry Hawkeye! See the video description to find out which movies I used exactly. Black Widow isn’t really Black Widow, unfortunately, but rather a character that’s very clearly based on her from one of the Hulk movies. Hawkeye and Iron Man had no such counterparts, so this ended up being the best way to do it. This is just for fun, so I hope you enjoy it!

Season 2 concept art, shared on twitter.

I know I don’t usually do news, but with as much focus as this site’s start had on Defiance, it felt important to get the news out there. As reported here and confirmed on Twitter, Defiance was successfully renewed for Season 3. I gotta say I’m rather relieved; as irritating as the show can be at times, I’m still pretty invested in it, even if I don’t (yet) love the characters as much as the crew of the Enterprise-D or the gang aboard Moya. I’m only so harsh because I care, really! The show has so much potential and I want to see it through, however it develops. And now, no more will we have to worry about the last hanging plotlines being resolved in game, for those of us who don’t play the MMO.

But just reporting the news that it’s returned isn’t very exciting. What can we expect from Season 3 of Defiance, then? Here are some plot teasers that Kevin Murphy, Defiance‘s showrunner (who will indeed be returning, according to the article), said he’d like to see next season:

• Stahma’s new handmaiden, Andina, will get some focus next season.
• Return of Indogene-doppelganger Kenya.
• Flashback episode set during the Pale Wars-era New York. Double confirmed?
• Reappearance of the present-day Connor Lang, too?
• Potential introduction of a trans or “gender-nonbinary” character. Implication of more Gulanee here, too.
• Heating up of tensions between E-Rep and Votanis Collective.
• More of Doc Yewll’s dark and terrible past?
• Possibly more of the Amanda and Berlin investigation team?
• Berlin drifting away from the E-Rep after being put in front of a firing squad?

That’s all I’ve been able to dig up as far as season 3 related tweets go. Obviously the show would pick up with some of the running plot lines, like Pilar and Quentin, and presumably they’ll have to dig Nolan and Irisa (and Sukar!) up somehow. And keep in mind these are just tweets, speculating about possibilities; that doesn’t necessarily mean all these things will happen. But it gives us an idea of what might lie ahead, and had the show gotten canceled I’d probably have used these to make a “What Could Have Been” post for Defiance. I’m glad I don’t have to, though.

The second season of Syfy’s Defiance has ended, with a pretty good two episode finale. While I tend to focus on small moments in my reviews of each episode, I’d like to stop and look back now at the season as a whole. I feel this is the best way to gauge the quality of it, as things that didn’t really seem to contribute much before may have more to offer in hindsight. So, let’s take a look at some of the running storylines of the season and the new things that were added to try to see what worked and what didn’t.

Needless to say, this is 100% spoilers. Proceed only if you’ve finished the season!

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So Defiance‘s San Diego Comic Con panel was earlier today, and we got a few glimpses of the future, and some very mixed signals about whether the show will continue. Spoilers of varying significance for the rest of season 2 ahead.

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As a character-focused episode, the events of Defiance‘s Season 2 Episode 5, “Putting the Damage On,” give us an interesting glimpse into the psyches of three of the main characters. Since this is likely to have big ramifications moving forward, I thought it’d be interesting to take a look at just what these revelations mean for each of them.

Spoilers for episode 5, if that’s not already obvious.

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