The Monster Makers
The spotlight last month fell on the special effects wizards who make SF monsters come to life. The crowning glory was the award of the Best Picture Oscar for Argo. This spy drama focuses on […]
Read More
Why Sorcerers Have Long Grizzled Beards
Ever notice that fictional sorcerers always seem to have long, grizzled beards? Ever wondered why? Well, probably you haven’t, but you’re about to find out. The sorcerer “look” originally comes from a real-life sorcerer named […]
The Science Fiction Fan’s Bucket List
I’ve been fortunate to be able to travel a lot and do many things I’ve always wanted to do. Some of my opportunities have been work related (e.g. using the Hubble Space Telescope, and helping […]
Sequential Wednesdays #2 – To Stand The Gap: The Secret Truth of S.H.I.E.L.D.
This is not how the World ends. This oft-spoken mantra, among others, repeated throughout the narrative of the Marvel comic S.H.I.E.L.D. is a tried and true indicator of how much I adore this work. Created by heralded […]
The Careful Writer: Some Notes on Composition
During my recent reread of Strunk and White’s “The Elements of Style”, this little book yielded more good advice that I wish to share with you. “The shape of our language is not rigid,” they […]
No.8 Isaac Asimov, Psychohistory, Robot Crimes, and Positronic Brains.
2013Feb24 Isaac Asimov, Psychohistory, Robot Crimes, and Positronic Brains. Isaac Asimov, aka: Isaak Yudovich Ozimov, aka: Исаак Юдович Озимов, is another member of the Big Four of the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Isaac Asimov […]
Return of the Robo-Insects
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have recently equipped moths with robotic skeletons. Why on earth would anyone do this? Not to create a tiny army of super-moths, but rather to glean clues into how […]
Publishing Primer
Contrary to what they tell you when you take “Author 101” in college, writing a book isn’t necessarily the most difficult part of producing a book. Publishing is a creative industry. What does that mean? […]
The Art of the Shaver Mystery
The Shaver Mystery is part of the history of Amazing Stories Magazine, but it is certainly not considered one of the magazine’s shining moments. Barry Malzberg touched on it briefly in his first blog post […]
The Difference Between Thinking Like a Scientist and a Science Fiction Writer
I was in graduate school for astronomy when I started taking writing seriously. The first stories I wrote that were any good and started to sell tended to be fantasy or science fiction with horror […]
Pulling Back the Publishing Veil: Return Reserves, Buy-in, and Sell-through
One of my plans for my posts here at Amazing Stories is to focus on some of the aspects about publishing that a new author may not be aware of. I hope to have a […]
Christopher Nolan’s Inception as Shamanic Psychodrama
A few weeks ago, a friend and I were discussing which films should be considered science fiction and which shouldn’t. He claimed comic book/superhero movies should not be called SF. I claimed that Inception isn’t […]
Amazing News Tuesday, Feb. 5th 2013
From one of our esteemed writing staff here at Amazing Central comes the happy news of another, a NEW, novel published! Take it away Grand Mal Publishing: Novel Breaks Barrier Between Fantasy and History San […]
Am I A Science Fiction Writer?
Now that’s an interesting question. We’ve just launched my first novel, Shh! It’s a Secret: a novel about Aliens, Hollywood, and the Bartender’s Guide, at Arisia. It got written up in both Publisher’s Weekly and the […]
Some Things Are Not As They Seem
Stories can become dated and lose their luster, but amazing stories have a tendency to shrug off changes over time and shine on with fresh wonder. Written in 1932, The Lost Machine by John Beynon Harris is one of those amazing stories.
“I Like Science Fiction, It’s Got Like Giant Robots and Stuff, Right?” Science Fiction’s Self-Esteem Problem Part III: Robots, Reboots and Remakes. How Hollywood Kills Serious Science Fiction
The only time the public pays attention to Science Fiction is when that great machine of mass marketing and “entertainment” called Hollywood inundates the collective consciousness with that most dreaded of phenomena: the Summer Blockbuster. But […]
Loving the Alien
Human beings have always had a fear of and, at the same time, a fascination with the “other”. Almost as soon as humans were able to make art on cave walls depictions of strange and […]
Synthetic Voices #13 – December 2012 Top Picks
This month has been a tumultuous one – travel, holidays, and illness. Podcasted fiction seems to have also had a hard time, December representing the weakest month for fiction that I have yet seen. Even […]
Five Military SF Novellas by Five Authors
Five by Five Aaron Allston Kevin J. Anderson Loren L. Coleman B. V. Larson Michael A. Stackpole WordFire Press electronic only $4.99 Kindle B&N Kobo Smashwords I thought I’d look at some good old fashioned […]
I Like Science Fiction, It’s Got Like Giant Robots and Stuff, Right?” Science Fiction’s Self-Esteem Problem Part II: You Actually Read That Crap?
“I Like Science Fiction, It’s Got Like Giant Robots and Stuff, Right?” Science Fiction’s Self-Esteem Problem Part II: You Actually Read That Crap? Science Fiction has never had an easy time with the literary establishment. […]
Thoughts On Amazing Stories, Part 1: Barry N. Malzberg
The following two essays originally appeared in Engines of the Night: Science Fiction in the Eighties by Barry N. Malzberg (Doubleday, 1982). Kindle Edition and is reprinted here by permission of the author. I Could Have Been A […]
Will Little Note, Nor Long Remember by Jack Clemons
The entropy lines of the time-transporter field bowed outward above the receiving platform, distorting the small room into a grotesque, carnival-mirror reflection of itself. The field lines collapsed, sending miniature dust devils dancing over the […]
Chain Mail 10: Book View Cafe
Chain Mail is a telephone tag by email round-robin interview session with authors from the Book View Cafe writers collective. Images are links, connecting to biographical information about an author or more information on their […]
Chain Mail 4: Book View Cafe
Chain Mail is a telephone tag by email round-robin interview session with authors from the Book View Cafe writers collective. Images are links, connecting to biographical information about an author or more information on their […]
TOOL DRESSER’S LAW
by Jack Clemons Wildcatter dropped onto Hawking a month ahead of perihelion. We slammed in after losing a brutal tug of war with the singularity that started when we closed to 60 klicks. I was […]
The Mirror of Our Dreams
There is a curious phenomenon not exclusive to science fiction fandom, it is prevalent in pop music worship and other places, by which those afflicted feel a need to establish rivalries. The Star Wars fan […]
I Dreamed I Saw the Silver Spaceships
When people think about science fiction the first thing they usually visualize are spaceships (or green skinned women in shiny bikinis, but that may just be me). The spaceship has been a ubiquitous part of […]
About Author
M. D. Jackson has been drawing since he could first hold a pencil. He has been writing for so long that he has, in fact, developed an alternate personality named Jack to handle the fiction.
His work has appeared in numerous magazines and on the front covers of many books as well as in the pages of Amazing Stories Magazine. You can also see a lot of it at his gallery.
Latest Posts
Recent Comments