The Revenant of the Gaol

The Revenant of the Gaol

Reading Time: 4 minutesJournalist Ellen Carter investigates ghostly rumours at the old Frontenac County Gaol and uncovers the buried story of Samuel Larkin, a man wrongfully executed. As she digs deeper, revealing the truth may free his spirit—or awaken something far more sinister.
One Kiss Will Set You Free

One Kiss Will Set You Free

Reading Time: 4 minutesAngie and Dan kiss in a graveyard, inadvertantly unlocking an ancient curse. They free trapped souls, who then inhabit the lovers’ bodies and condemn them to the grave, in limbo between life and death. Now only ‘one kiss’ will set them free.
Oceans Away

Oceans Away

Reading Time: 16 minutesA young woman invents a telescope that allows her to see Mars as it appeared in the distant past, revealing an ancient secret with staggering implications for present day Earth.
Renna’s Crossing Chapter 10: Some Overdue Emotions

Renna’s Crossing Chapter 10: Some Overdue Emotions

Reading Time: 18 minutes“That sounds like something your teacher would say. We know what we’re doing, thanks to that book you’re holding there, and thanks to an excellent teacher of our own. You’re still new to this side of the world, Renna. And right now you’re just listening to what one person tells you.”
A Scratching at the Door

A Scratching at the Door

Reading Time: 6 minutesDuring a visit to confront her estranged boyfriend, Nikki discovers his family’s dark secret.
Hacker Chess

Hacker Chess

Reading Time: 11 minutesJerry is used to brushing off teen hackers, but this one is in a whole different league.
The Reckoning

The Reckoning

Reading Time: 4 minutesSent by her husband to kill the draelings that threaten their village, a woman drives them from their burrow. She does not expect the draelings to speak to her. When they reveal an uncomfortable truth, she is forced to reconsider her actions.
The In-between

The In-between

Reading Time: 7 minutesAfter dying in a brutal past life, a soul awakens with vivid memories of betrayal, agony, and unfinished business. Bound, tortured, and abandoned, they curse the fate that left them forgotten. Now, caught between worlds, they must confront their past, seeking closure and revenge, to break free from the abyss.
Renna’s Crossing Chapter 9: The Katzarov’s First Gambit

Renna’s Crossing Chapter 9: The Katzarov’s First Gambit

Reading Time: 27 minutesThere would be no winner, however this battle ended. Renna squeezed her eyes shut, not from fear, but from desperation in trying to find a way to end this chaos.
In the Dark

In the Dark

Reading Time: 6 minutesZoey is about to wake up to face a darkness she can’t escape in this tale of desperation and hope when she realizes she’s been buried alive.
Law Enforcement

Law Enforcement

Reading Time: 2 minutes“He told me to go f**k myself, which is a function I am not programmed to perform. However, thanks to a certain maverick engineer…”
A Solitary Poison

A Solitary Poison

Reading Time: 3 minutesA lonely lighthouse keeper dreams of falling, a familiar face, and a sinister flower as he is forced to confront his past.
Renna’s Crossing Chapter 8: Words of the Sage

Renna’s Crossing Chapter 8: Words of the Sage

Reading Time: 18 minutesThere was so much there—it was in prose, poetry, puzzle and picture. The sage’s wisdom couldn’t be confined to a single medium. All of it was laid out before her, insisting that it be known. Demanding to be understood.
Perfect Mother

Perfect Mother

Reading Time: 14 minutesAfter suffering a miscarriage at a professional conference, a young mortician becomes a surrogate mother to a deathless and extremely hungry entity.
Time’s Up

Time’s Up

Reading Time: 2 minutesA fabled figure tries to keep humanity off the path to self-destruction.
The Revenant of the Gaol

The Revenant of the Gaol

Robin KersApr 25, 2025
Reading Time: 4 minutesJournalist Ellen Carter investigates ghostly rumours at the old Frontenac County Gaol and uncovers the buried story of Samuel Larkin, a man wrongfully executed. As she digs deeper, revealing the truth may free his spirit—or awaken something far more sinister.
One Kiss Will Set You Free

One Kiss Will Set You Free

Mark BilsboroughApr 24, 2025
Reading Time: 4 minutesAngie and Dan kiss in a graveyard, inadvertantly unlocking an ancient curse. They free trapped souls, who then inhabit the lovers’ bodies and condemn them to the grave, in limbo between life and death. Now only ‘one kiss’ will set them free.
Oceans Away

Oceans Away

Maria CarvalhoApr 23, 2025
Reading Time: 16 minutesA young woman invents a telescope that allows her to see Mars as it appeared in the distant past, revealing an ancient secret with staggering implications for present day Earth.
Renna’s Crossing Chapter 10: Some Overdue Emotions

Renna’s Crossing Chapter 10: Some Overdue Emotions

Geordie MorseApr 22, 2025
Reading Time: 18 minutes“That sounds like something your teacher would say. We know what we’re doing, thanks to that book you’re holding there, and thanks to an excellent teacher of our own. You’re still new to this side of the world, Renna. And right now you’re just listening to what one person tells you.”
A Scratching at the Door

A Scratching at the Door

Jon AdcockApr 21, 2025
Reading Time: 6 minutesDuring a visit to confront her estranged boyfriend, Nikki discovers his family’s dark secret.
Hacker Chess

Hacker Chess

Robert RunteApr 18, 2025
Reading Time: 11 minutesJerry is used to brushing off teen hackers, but this one is in a whole different league.
The Reckoning

The Reckoning

Malina DouglasApr 17, 2025
Reading Time: 4 minutesSent by her husband to kill the draelings that threaten their village, a woman drives them from their burrow. She does not expect the draelings to speak to her. When they reveal an uncomfortable truth, she is forced to reconsider her actions.
The In-between

The In-between

Gloria OgoApr 16, 2025
Reading Time: 7 minutesAfter dying in a brutal past life, a soul awakens with vivid memories of betrayal, agony, and unfinished business. Bound, tortured, and abandoned, they curse the fate that left them forgotten. Now, caught between worlds, they must confront their past, seeking closure and revenge, to break free from the abyss.
Renna’s Crossing Chapter 9: The Katzarov’s First Gambit

Renna’s Crossing Chapter 9: The Katzarov’s First Gambit

Geordie MorseApr 15, 2025
Reading Time: 27 minutesThere would be no winner, however this battle ended. Renna squeezed her eyes shut, not from fear, but from desperation in trying to find a way to end this chaos.

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REVIEWS

Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for April 25, 2025

Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for April 25, 2025

Reading Time: 10 minutesWe read the first few chapters of each of the top five free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes sexy aliens, eco-terrorists, and magical librarians.
A Case for Folk Horror in Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

A Case for Folk Horror in Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

Reading Time: 4 minutesFolk horror resists urbanization and punishes what’s not wild and of the earth. Ottessa Moshfegh’s Lapvona exists in this space of wilderness and nature.
Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for Apr. 18, 2025

Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for Apr. 18, 2025

Reading Time: 8 minutesWe read the first few chapters of each of the top five free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes a space opera box set by a USA Today bestselling author.
No Life but Immortality Review: The Dangers of Uncontrolled AI

No Life but Immortality Review: The Dangers of Uncontrolled AI

Reading Time: 2 minutesThe novel is deeply immersive with many layers and vivid, absorbing writing. There are faint echoes of William Gibson’s Neuromancer, though in mood only.
Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for April 11, 2025

Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for April 11, 2025

Reading Time: 10 minutesWe read the first few chapters of each of the top five free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes time traveling baseball fans, sexy orcs, and spaceship-flying alien bears.
Hammajang Luck Review: A Diverse Heist with Lovable Characters

Hammajang Luck Review: A Diverse Heist with Lovable Characters

Reading Time: 3 minutesYamamoto’s book shines particularly bright in the diversity department. Most characters are culturally Hawaiian, and the queer spectrum is in full display.
Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for Apr. 4, 2025

Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for Apr. 4, 2025

Reading Time: 11 minutesWe read the first few chapters of each of the top five free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes space operas and a romantasy by a New York Times bestselling author.
Gate to Kagoshima Review: Just a Girl Living Life in Japan

Gate to Kagoshima Review: Just a Girl Living Life in Japan

Reading Time: 3 minutesThe book plays with a sense of nostalgia for two eras. It has romance, a little glimpse at the past, and a main character that is easy to project into.

Writing Advice of the Week

Word Count By Genre: A Guide for Novelists

Word Count By Genre: A Guide for Novelists

Fallon ClarkApr 20, 2025
Reading Time: 5 minutesMake sure your book is appropriately sized for your chosen audience before you submit your manuscript for consideration.
Overcoming Story Submission Fatigue

Overcoming Story Submission Fatigue

Fallon ClarkApr 13, 2025
Reading Time: 5 minutesDon’t let submission fatigue force you to stop and consider whether writing stories is worth the effort. Instead, overcome that showstopping submission fatigue with these tips.
When To Stop Revising

When To Stop Revising

Fallon ClarkApr 6, 2025
Reading Time: 6 minutesKnowing when your story is done is a writing superpower. Learn how to define and hit that critical “done” point so you can move onto the next piece of writing.
POV Deep Dive: The Objective Person

POV Deep Dive: The Objective Person

Fallon ClarkMar 30, 2025
Reading Time: 7 minutesAlso called the fly-on-the-wall perspective or the cinematic perspective, the objective POV uses neutral narration that doesn’t reveal the thoughts or feelings of any character. Instead, the narration presents the story events through observation, leaving it up to the reader to infer emotion and intention.

ESSAYS

SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission will push space travel further than any private mission has before

SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission will push space travel further than any private mission has before

Chris ImpeySep 6, 2024
Reading Time: 5 minutesPolaris Dawn pushes the envelope of civilian space travel in 2024, but at what cost?
Studying lake deposits in Idaho could give scientists insight into ancient traces of life on Mars

Studying lake deposits in Idaho could give scientists insight into ancient traces of life on Mars

Robert PatalanoJul 19, 2024
Reading Time: 4 minutesWhile NASA researchers are directly combing the surface of Mars for signs of life, scientists are also using a site here on Earth to approximate ancient environmental conditions on Mars.
ChatGPT and the movie ‘Her’ are just the latest example of the ‘sci-fi feedback loop’

ChatGPT and the movie ‘Her’ are just the latest example of the ‘sci-fi feedback loop’

Rizwan VirkJul 12, 2024
Reading Time: 5 minutesScience fiction and technological innovation feed off each other in an ongoing back-and-forth that can play out over decades.
Everything a writer needs to know about AI (for now, at least)

Everything a writer needs to know about AI (for now, at least)

Maria KorolovMar 21, 2024
Reading Time: 6 minutesI want to know what’s really going on with AI. And, as a writer and journalist, I have a personal stake in figuring out what’s happening because I have a strong feeling that my whole career is on the line.

NEWS

Spring 2025 Original Fiction Submission Period Opens March 1st!

Spring 2025 Original Fiction Submission Period Opens March 1st!

Geordie MorseFeb 27, 2025
Reading Time: 2 minutesThe fall 2025 submission cycle for original speculative fiction begins on March 1 and closes at midnight on March 31. We’re looking for your best enthralling, imaginative, or bone-chilling original fiction stories of 1,200 words or fewer.
No, you can’t submit AI stories to us

No, you can’t submit AI stories to us

Reading Time: 2 minutesMetaStellar does not accept works of fiction written with the help of ChatGPT or other generative AI tools. Our next submission window for original fiction opens March 1, and we accept reprint and excerpts any time throughout the year.
Fall 2024 Original Fiction Submissions Period Opens October 1!

Fall 2024 Original Fiction Submissions Period Opens October 1!

Geordie MorseSep 20, 2024
Reading Time: 2 minutesThe fall 2024 submission cycle for original speculative fiction begins on October 1 and closes at midnight on October 31. We’re looking for your best enthralling, imaginative, or bone-chilling original fiction stories, as long as they’re 1,200 words or fewer.
Shadow the Hedgehog, bathed in red light. Image source: Paramount Pictures

Sonic The Hedgehog 3 Looks To Fully Embrace Its Video Game Source

Terrence SmithAug 28, 2024
Reading Time: 2 minutesThe trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is taking a darker approach than the previous two films, but still boasts quite a few laughs and Easter eggs for long-time fans of the blue hedgehog.
Hugos awarded, Emily Tesh and Ann Leckie take top honors

Hugos awarded, Emily Tesh and Ann Leckie take top honors

Maria KorolovAug 12, 2024
Reading Time: 5 minutesEmith Tesh’s Some Desperate Glory and Ann Leckie’s Imperial Radch won this year’s Hugo Awards for best novel and best series.
Sci-fi tractor beam comes closer to reality

Sci-fi tractor beam comes closer to reality

Maria KorolovAug 2, 2024
Reading Time: 3 minutesIn a breakthrough that sounds like it’s straight out of a science fiction novel, researchers have successfully created a tractor beam using twisting light beams.
Hugo awards votes disqualified

Hugo awards votes disqualified

Maria KorolovJul 23, 2024
Reading Time: 2 minutesThe Hugo Awards, set to be awarded on August 11, has disqualified nearly ten percent of the votes cast this year due to fraud.
All images for this post have been created with Adobe Express, which only uses fully licensed images for training data and pays artists for their work.

16 best love stories from MetaStellar

Benji BlackwellMay 8, 2024
Reading Time: 8 minutesDive into 16 enchanting tales of love that transcend time, space, and even the boundaries of reality, plucked right from the pages of MetaStellar.

ON WRITING

No, you can’t submit AI stories to us

No, you can’t submit AI stories to us

Reading Time: 2 minutesMetaStellar does not accept works of fiction written with the help of ChatGPT or other generative AI tools. Our next submission window for original fiction opens March 1, and we accept reprint and excerpts any time throughout the year.
How creatives can survive AI — lessons from a $1 trillion industry that’s fully at risk

How creatives can survive AI — lessons from a $1 trillion industry that’s fully at risk

Maria KorolovMar 30, 2024
Reading Time: 9 minutesThere’s a $1 trillion industry that is about to be decimated by AI, and they’re spending billions to figure out how to survive. Any writer, artist, or editor can use their strategies.
Why Adobe Firefly is the only AI image app I recommend — and how to use the latest features

Why Adobe Firefly is the only AI image app I recommend — and how to use the latest features

Maria KorolovMar 28, 2024
Reading Time: 9 minutesAdobe Firefly, which is only trained on fully licensed images and pays artists, has added some new features that make it even easier for authors to create illustrations.
The best free* books to help you battle procrastination

The best free* books to help you battle procrastination

Maria KorolovFeb 11, 2024
Reading Time: 10 minutesHere are nine books on Amazon with tons of positive reviews that will help you finish your writing project — and are free to read with a Kindle Unlimited subscription.
The Do’s and Don’ts of building a book trailer in the age of AI

The Do’s and Don’ts of building a book trailer in the age of AI

PJ CaldasJan 7, 2024
Reading Time: 5 minutesHow to steal Hollywood’s marketing tricks and develop trailers for print novels.
Claude AI doubles reading length, ups accuracy

Claude AI doubles reading length, ups accuracy

Maria KorolovNov 21, 2023
Reading Time: 2 minutesAnthropic’s Claude can now read texts up to 150,000 words in length, double its previous limit — and its accuracy is now better, as well.
Adobe upgrades Firefly for better images, vector graphics

Adobe upgrades Firefly for better images, vector graphics

Maria KorolovOct 10, 2023
Reading Time: 6 minutesAdobe announced a new version of its Firefly image generation tool today at the Adobe Max 2023 conference.
Canva sets up a $200 million artist compensation fund

Canva sets up a $200 million artist compensation fund

Maria KorolovOct 5, 2023
Reading Time: 8 minutesCanva announces a $200 million fund to compensate artists for AI, adds new AI features.

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