Blog Posts

  • The Right Stuff

    The Right Stuff

    Someone said that a Science Fiction story was one that wouldn’t work if you removed the science element I was struck by this watching an…

  • Live Notes and Archives

    Live Notes and Archives

    Suppose every year I plan a birthday party for my good friend, Jean Petite. I have separate notes containing lists of presents, guests, food and…

  • The Path of a Story

    The Path of a Story

    There’s a story that turns up every so often where one of the characters wonders what things would have been like if x hadn’t happened.…

  • Todos and Agenda Views

    The following post is part of my new Emacs Writing Setup. You can find the complete setup here on GitHub: https://github.com/ballantony/emacs-writing On my original Emacs…

  • Cargo Cult Science Fiction

    Cargo Cult Science Fiction

    There’s too much Cargo Cult Science Fiction.  The term “Cargo Cult Science” was first used by physicist Richard Feynman in 1974. It focuses on the…

  • The Machine Stops

    The Machine Stops

    Then she generated the light, and the sight of her room, flooded with radiance and studded with electric buttons, revived her. There were buttons and…

  • The Professional Side

    The Professional Side

    I’ve written a lot about the tools I use to handle the creative side of writing. But what about the professional side? It’s a principle…

  • Capturing and Refiling Notes

    The following post is part of my new Emacs Writing Setup. You can find the complete setup here on GitHub: https://github.com/ballantony/emacs-writing Capturing Notes Like any…

  • Why Doom Emacs?

    Way back in September I posted about my new Emacs Writing Set Up: Productivity Overview Things might have appeared to have gone a little quiet…

  • The Lobster Pot

    The Lobster Pot

    The Lobster Pot appears in the January/February 2022 Issue of Analog The story continues the Human Way series that has been appearing in Analog over…

  • The Muppets Christmas Carol

    The Muppets Christmas Carol

    As anyone who has seen it will attest, the Muppet’s Christmas Carol is the definitive version of the story. Dickens’s version, whilst competent, fails in…

  • Guest Post: Stephen Palmer

    Guest Post: Stephen Palmer

    I suppose Brian Eno is best known for his contribution to music; and a lot of it is great music. I always think of him…