Author Perspectives: Emma Burnett on Writing Style, Catharsis, and Her Upcoming Novella. Grace Kielstra interviews Emma Burnett, one of MetaStellar's authors, on the impact her academic research has had on her fiction writing, the conversations she hopes her upcoming novella will bring about, and…

Spell Check Episode 39 Springtime!

Humanity’s Last First Hope Apollina was born with the head of a fly, and otherwise normal. 

Writing the Future A fortune teller writes the future for her AI android clients, etching lines onto their palms. A bureaucrat visits, assuming the worst.

The Catalyst Installment 14 “I’m sorry, what? How do you download DNA?”

How to Write Fantasy Settings that Feel Ancient If you’re writing a story with deep worldbuilding, you want to make your story feel much older than it seems.

Revisiting the Classics: Black Destroyer by A. E. Van Vogt The story represents some of the very best of Golden Age sci-fi as it's both beautiful and hostile.

Watch the MetaStellar team talk about today's top five FREE bestsellers in sci-fi and fantasy on our YouTube channel! www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW8P...

Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for Apr. 10, 2026 We read the first few chapters of each of the top five free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes werewolves, a magic school, and a space opera by a USA Today bestselling author.

Spell Check Episode 38: Glasses Wiz sees the world through a whole new perspective.

Lady Meara’s Lullaby Not all coastal sirens pull their prey from the sea.

The Catalyst Installment 13 Mimi gave me a thorough once over, the kind of look that made me feel dirty. “Woof,” Mimi said.

3 Ways to Make Your Writing More Concise Learn to cut down words you don’t need and elevate the words you do.

Immigrant A woman's intolerance gets challenged by an unlikely hero.

Red Sword Review: Secrets and Action Come into Play The choices the author made while writing this story paid off, as the readers come to slowly know well the main characters and their backstories, and what makes them tick.

Watch Maria, Emma, and Regina talk about today's top FREE SFF bestsellers! www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd5U...

Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for Apr. 3, 2026 We read the first few chapters of each of the top five free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes an alien invasion, an EMP apocalypse, a cozy magical mystery, and a kick-ass vampire slayer.

Spell Check Episode 37: Awesome The brightest stars burn the fastest, then come back as a reanimated skeleton.

The Children Who Walked Out of the Sea Grief and guilt always linger just below the surface, waiting to emerge.

MetaStellar's spring submission cycle closes at midnight! It's your last chance to submit your original, never-published sci-fi, fantasy, and horror stories of up to 1,200 words in length, and we pay 10 cents a word for accepted stories! www.metastellar.com/write-for-us...

The Catalyst Installment 12 He’d been having a lot of odd memories and dreams too. He remembered Mary, the splash of blood on her . . . her tragic expression of utter horror.  'No, no. That didn’t happen to me.'

Hard Sci-Fi VS Soft Sci-Fi I’ve always been intrigued by sci-fi books because they often involve space travel, cool alien creatures, and new ways of looking at the world. But the fact that it’s called science fiction intimidates me because I’m not that good at science (I almost failed physics in…

It’s Not Wrong to Make Your Novel Dark (Here’s How to Do It) There’s dark fiction, dark fantasy, grimdark, and straight up horror. All of these genres carry dark and potentially disturbing elements. Some readers like it and others don’t.

Blood Sacrifice Review: A Dystopic Portrait of Current Affairs The novel’s implications are clear and evident—there’s not much need for interpretation because the world and politics in the novel parallel pretty much the current state of our world.

We tell you about the top five FREE sci-fi and fantasy bestsellers on Amazon -- the top one is a romantasy by a USA Today bestselling author! Another is about a guy hunting the vampires who killed his wife. youtu.be/eyFvnAzEVlk

Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for Mar. 27, 2026 We read the first few chapters of each of the top five free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes a USA Today bestselling author and a box set of books about a professional ghost hunter.

Driving at the Speed of Light: Recent Warp-Drive Developments Show Promise Science fiction has catalyzed scientists and mathematicians to prove, disprove, or improve travel through space-time, though it may seem like a fanciful idea, thereby making fiction reality. How far have they gone? And are…

Spell Check Episode 36: Patience Good things come to those who wait.

WOLF-DAUGHTER Once wolf-daughter had been a small girl.  A tiny thing. Her wolf-mother had named her Lali, the one who is red, because the infant had been found wriggling beside her dead mother’s torn belly, covered in blood. Wolf-mother had unrolled her tongue, grabbed Lali, and shoved her deep…

Cold Revenge A boy's accidental discovery that he possesses a rare power results in disastrous consequences.

The Catalyst Installment 11 It seemed like an anemic light shone on the day, almost bright enough to expose some clues before it disappeared, leaving me swimming in unanswered questions. Questions I knew I’d spend the rest of the night exploring.

3 Quick Steps for Writing Weird Science Fiction Ever wanted to write weird science fiction? Follow these three steps to see just how weird you can get!

Yes, Wednesday Season Two Was Woefully Inadequate (but I Have a Way to Make It Better) The key question: What would have made season two better? Here’s how I would build a grand conspiracy, insert some twists, and have it all come together.

The team here at MetaStellars reads the first few chapters of the top five FREE bestselling sci-fi and fantasy books on Amazon! (And we really liked one of them!) www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooiM...

Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for Mar. 20, 2026 We read the first few chapters of each of the top five free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes a bit of everything. Epic fantasy. Aliens... EMP survival. Werewolf romance. And a woman…

The latest MetaStellar author interview video is up on our YouTube channel! Author Perspectives: Andrew Akers on Collaborative Storytelling and Predicting the Future www.youtube.com/watch?v=53CT...

Spell Check Episode 35: Payday Guess what day it is!

Author Perspectives: Andrew Akers on Collaborative Storytelling and Predicting the Future MetaStellar's Grace Kielstra interviews author Andrew Akers on writing a novel through collaborative gameplay, how science-fiction explores and attempts to predict the future of humanity, and the evolution of…

Vacuum Cleaner Instantaneous teleportation is a myth. Modern science doesn’t offer that level of control yet. The matter will get where it needs to go in its own time. But the basics—the molecular transfer—that’s definitely doable. You just need to start from a perfect vacuum.

The Seduction of Cyrynda Strong An alien is desparate to return home, but it will cost the life of his lover.

The Catalyst Installment 10 The mess of bloody body parts made it tough to tell where one creature ended and the other began. One section looked like matted fur, and another had scales, so I figured that was as good a place as any to start.

Luck of the Irish On Saint Patrick's Day a distraught young woman who can't get over being unceremoniously dumped by a lover clicks on a pop-up promising gold, drinks, or luck . . .

Character Vs Circuitry: A Deep Dive into Robocop’s Answer to a Better Future Classic sci-fi movie, Robocop, raises an important philosophical question: What must be prioritized to create a better future?

How to Make the Most Out of Your Second Draft When you begin your second draft, you need to work on everything from worldbuilding to writing techniques to editing. But it doesn’t need to be overwhelming.

Phantom Relics of Cheswick Hall Review: A Glimpse into the Afterlife The novel tells more than it shows and either jumps the gun or is unsure as to how move the plot forward.

Today's top 5 FREE sci-fi and fantasy bestsellers! (2are by USA Today bestselling authors!) Romantasy, EMP apocalypse and a new author debut that launched at the top! Check out this video, where we talk about what we think of the beginnings of each of these books: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m_P...

Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for Mar. 13, 2026 We read the first few chapters of each of the top five free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes romantasy, EMP survival, and a debut fantasy -- and two of the books are by USA Today bestselling…

Spell Check Episode 34: Visiting Greg and Frog Prince visit Wiz on the job.

Ophelia, The Chosen One The Council of Mages clustered near the portal. Some of the mages wrung their hands. The first retrieval mage stepped through the portal, his hair standing on end, un-mage-like. Tired creases hugged the bottoms of his eyes. Head Mage Canelon stepped forward. “Have you…

Finding Abraham “How do you know? It’s been two thousand years since the Great Catastrophe and the Leaving. . . . And now you’ve found Old Earth? You bring us this miracle?”