Prose and Cons: A Plagiarist Faces the Judge

By day, Tiffanie Rushton teaches schoolchildren. By night, she steals authors’ work and sells it as her own. Now, this brazen plagiarist is being held accountable for her actions in Federal court. Read more…

Embracing the Apocalypse

From the oracles of ancient Rome to modern shows like Doomsday Preppers, history is littered with failed predictions about The End Of The World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI, in prepper parlance). What’s the appeal of these apocalyptic fantasies? Read more…

Facebook Page Moderators, Stay Out Of Jail

Facebook Jail

I attempted to log on to Facebook today and discovered that I had received the Edmond Dantès treatment, unjustly cast into the Facebook dungeon and left to rot.

Sure, I was only banned for a week, but that didn’t stop me from voicing my displeasure with a few inventive epithets and some paint-blistering profanity.

You can avoid my sorry fate by following these seven simple rules. Read more…

Bok-Bok-Bockulus Rift

Virtual Reality poultry

An assistant professor at Iowa State University has proposed a solution to the inhumane overcrowding of chickens in factory farms: virtual reality headgear that convinces the birds that they’re in a free range environment. Read more…

Read/Write: Book of Poisons

Like many authors, I’d probably be held for questioning if the FBI searched my bookshelves. My reference library includes books on knives, books on explosives, books on improvised anti-personnel devices, books on hacking computer security, and books on building nuclear devices in your bathtub. But I think the one book that would raise the most eyebrows at Homeland Security would be The Book of Poisons, by Serita Stevens and Anne Bannon. Read more…

Language Is The Key To Being Alien

Ack ack AAACK! ...We come in peace!

There is no aspect of a culture more pervasive and more influential than language. Language is a reflection of thought, and in turn influences thought. It separates us and unites us. And for writers exploring new species and new cultures, it ultimately defines what is alien. Read more…

10 Books I Loan To Friends and Never See Again

I’m a bit of a story evangelist. Throughout the years, I’ve cornered many a friend and, brandishing a dog-eared copy of a novel that’s caught my fancy, demanded to know if they have accepted the author as their prophet and savior. If the answer is no, I thrust a copy of the book into their hands with the stern admonition to give it back when they’re done, because it’s my only copy.

They rarely do. Read more…