#scifi nerds, I need your help identifying an #SF novel I read decades ago.
The main characters each possess some sort of device which gives them essentially infinite power. They use it to create and destroy whatever they want, to travel all over the planet, basically anything.
They don't understand how the devices work. Turns out they're connected to giant machines—maybe originally for terraforming?—that are starting to break down, and the knowledge of how to fix them has long since been lost.

#scifi nerds, I need your help identifying an #SF novel I read decades ago.
The main characters each possess some sort of device which gives them essentially infinite power. They use it to create and destroy whatever they want, to travel all over the planet, basically anything.
They don't understand how the devices work. Turns out they're connected to giant machines—maybe originally for terraforming?—that are starting to break down, and the knowledge of how to fix them has long since been lost.

Glennis Cochrane did well from the divorce from Chuck. Despite his wealth, he had decided to represent himself, and, well, you know what they say about that. That he also decided to represent himself in the criminal assault case resulting from what happened outside the court was just icing on the cake. Court officials do not take well to being punched. 10-15 years before any chance of parole.

She sold the house, and purchased a charming heritage building near the CBD. A two story house with an attic. The estate agent said he was obliged to disclose that the house was haunted. Glennis laughed it off..

The reality was that the house really was haunted. She hadn't seen the ghost, but she'd heard it, and seen the effects.

Most noticeable was that the ghost was obsessive about the way the kitchen was set out. The pots and pans had to be just so. The crockery stacked the right way. And the pantry organised by date.

Once she'd figured that out, the ghost started on the bathroom. Then the living room.

The ghost had strong opinions about art. A Mondrian print ended up on the floor, but a Pollock reproduction stayed. Family photos were safe, but often got rearranged. Sometimes in different ways - it seemed that the ghost had moods. Her own paintings were untouched.

And that brought on the studio. Glennis had cleaned out the attic, and had a skylight put in, and set up the area as a studio. Every morning, her brushes would be cleaned, and but any work she'd covered would be uncovered.

Gradually, she started to feel someone watching her as she painted. Just the edge of a shadow out of the corner of her eye. A flicker of movement. So she started talking to the ghost.

About her day, about the divorce, about the current painting, the day's news. Just talking. When she told the presence about Chuck getting dogpiled by the court security team, she was certain she heard a hint of a giggle. And saw the hint of a figure.

---------------------------

Next we have the most famous work by Glennis Cochrane: "Past and Present" where you can see a ghostly outline of a young woman in formal late Victorian clothes on an IKEA lounge chair, illuminated by a shaft of dusty sunlight.

The artist always insisted that it was painted from a live sitting, but no attribution for the model has been found.

What am I bid?

#SF #SFF #UrbanFantasy #ghost #art #SciFi #microfiction #microfic #tootfic #IAmWriting

Glennis Cochrane did well from the divorce from Chuck. Despite his wealth, he had decided to represent himself, and, well, you know what they say about that. That he also decided to represent himself in the criminal assault case resulting from what happened outside the court was just icing on the cake. Court officials do not take well to being punched. 10-15 years before any chance of parole.

She sold the house, and purchased a charming heritage building near the CBD. A two story house with an attic. The estate agent said he was obliged to disclose that the house was haunted. Glennis laughed it off..

The reality was that the house really was haunted. She hadn't seen the ghost, but she'd heard it, and seen the effects.

Most noticeable was that the ghost was obsessive about the way the kitchen was set out. The pots and pans had to be just so. The crockery stacked the right way. And the pantry organised by date.

Once she'd figured that out, the ghost started on the bathroom. Then the living room.

The ghost had strong opinions about art. A Mondrian print ended up on the floor, but a Pollock reproduction stayed. Family photos were safe, but often got rearranged. Sometimes in different ways - it seemed that the ghost had moods. Her own paintings were untouched.

And that brought on the studio. Glennis had cleaned out the attic, and had a skylight put in, and set up the area as a studio. Every morning, her brushes would be cleaned, and but any work she'd covered would be uncovered.

Gradually, she started to feel someone watching her as she painted. Just the edge of a shadow out of the corner of her eye. A flicker of movement. So she started talking to the ghost.

About her day, about the divorce, about the current painting, the day's news. Just talking. When she told the presence about Chuck getting dogpiled by the court security team, she was certain she heard a hint of a giggle. And saw the hint of a figure.

---------------------------

Next we have the most famous work by Glennis Cochrane: "Past and Present" where you can see a ghostly outline of a young woman in formal late Victorian clothes on an IKEA lounge chair, illuminated by a shaft of dusty sunlight.

The artist always insisted that it was painted from a live sitting, but no attribution for the model has been found.

What am I bid?

#SF #SFF #UrbanFantasy #ghost #art #SciFi #microfiction #microfic #tootfic #IAmWriting

#WordWeavers 2026.01.21 — If in the middle of the book your MC discovered a foundling, what would they do with it?

Bolt works for the mob. A primary motivator for how she deals with the civilians trying to enter her life is not letting them get hurt by her employers. Discovering a child needing care, but whom has no parents she can find, would send her into a tail spin (figuratively only, since she's a day angel that can fly). Becoming attached would be catastrophic for her and the kid. There are few things she would go to the constabulary to deal with, but she'd risk the coppers for the sake of a child. No way is she keeping it; no way would she walk away, leaving it on the pavement either.

[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing

#gender #fiction #writer #author
#Cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion

#WordWeavers 2026.01.21 — If in the middle of the book your MC discovered a foundling, what would they do with it?

Bolt works for the mob. A primary motivator for how she deals with the civilians trying to enter her life is not letting them get hurt by her employers. Discovering a child needing care, but whom has no parents she can find, would send her into a tail spin (figuratively only, since she's a day angel that can fly). Becoming attached would be catastrophic for her and the kid. There are few things she would go to the constabulary to deal with, but she'd risk the coppers for the sake of a child. No way is she keeping it; no way would she walk away, leaving it on the pavement either.

[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing

#gender #fiction #writer #author
#Cozy #mystery #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion

Runderen die in de winter gereedschap beginnen te gebruiken... ren voor je leven!
#Helliconia #brianaldiss #sf #sciencefiction #fantasy #Holdhornshigh
https://mastodon.online/@NOSRSS/115928731769374451

Maintaining an interstellar community is extraordinarily hard. Even within the human worlds, it is difficult.

The hardest part is disease.

Not so much massive plagues - they are easy to quarantine. The tricky thing is the endemic bugs of each world. The things that could run riot in other biospheres.

Smoothing the spread of such bacteria and virii is initially handled by the scout service, who introduce the most common microflora and fauna to new worlds in a well controlled way. They also manage the outward spread of the new world's biome to neighbouring worlds.

But what about after that? How do you maintain a biome that is not going to kill travellers across tens, let alone hundreds or thousands of worlds?

The answer lies in one of the least formal parts of any major interstellar community.

The tramp trade network.

Small independent traders that move from world to world in small ships, moving relatively slowly, and almost always visiting the surface. Picking up the latest mutations in the local microflora and fauna as an incidental, and releasing the latest from the nearest neighbours.

Keeping the local group more-or-less in sync. And the trade routes overlap, and operate in overlapping spheres.

Yes, if you were to catch a fast ship from one end of a large polity and travel to the other end, you might well get very sick. But if you did it slowly, you would get gradually adapted.

The downside is that most travellers over large distances tend to spend much of their time vaguely unwell.

"Space Flu" they call it, and it is something that affects many long-distance tourists. People discuss solutions for it on the news boards almost constantly, and new treatments are always being touted.

What only a few very well informed people know is that this travelling malaise is a sign that things are working as expected. There will never be a complete cure for it, and it would be a disaster if one were found.

#SF #SFF #SciFi #SpaceOpera #microfiction #tootfic #microfic #IAmWriting

Maintaining an interstellar community is extraordinarily hard. Even within the human worlds, it is difficult.

The hardest part is disease.

Not so much massive plagues - they are easy to quarantine. The tricky thing is the endemic bugs of each world. The things that could run riot in other biospheres.

Smoothing the spread of such bacteria and virii is initially handled by the scout service, who introduce the most common microflora and fauna to new worlds in a well controlled way. They also manage the outward spread of the new world's biome to neighbouring worlds.

But what about after that? How do you maintain a biome that is not going to kill travellers across tens, let alone hundreds or thousands of worlds?

The answer lies in one of the least formal parts of any major interstellar community.

The tramp trade network.

Small independent traders that move from world to world in small ships, moving relatively slowly, and almost always visiting the surface. Picking up the latest mutations in the local microflora and fauna as an incidental, and releasing the latest from the nearest neighbours.

Keeping the local group more-or-less in sync. And the trade routes overlap, and operate in overlapping spheres.

Yes, if you were to catch a fast ship from one end of a large polity and travel to the other end, you might well get very sick. But if you did it slowly, you would get gradually adapted.

The downside is that most travellers over large distances tend to spend much of their time vaguely unwell.

"Space Flu" they call it, and it is something that affects many long-distance tourists. People discuss solutions for it on the news boards almost constantly, and new treatments are always being touted.

What only a few very well informed people know is that this travelling malaise is a sign that things are working as expected. There will never be a complete cure for it, and it would be a disaster if one were found.

#SF #SFF #SciFi #SpaceOpera #microfiction #tootfic #microfic #IAmWriting

Totally bonkers #sunset tonight in the #sunsetdistrict in #sf. Check out the rainbow opposite the setting sun over the #farallones

Totally bonkers #sunset tonight in the #sunsetdistrict in #sf. Check out the rainbow opposite the setting sun over the #farallones

My partner has one of the Percepterol implants. She uses it to tag names to faces, so we got it on PBS.

Anyway, I was scrolling my news feed, and saw an alert about a manditory product recall on Percepterol implants, so I asked "Hey, sweety, have you had a ping from Percepterol about the recall?"
"No, I've not seen anything."
So I showed her the article. That was when things got weird.
"It's great to see that Percepterol is doing so much to help war refugees" she said.
I looked over her shoulder, and I saw the recall notice.
That's why I'm calling 000. My wife needs to have the implant updated or removed immediately, and is not able to request it for herself.
"Thank you for your call, but triple zero is not the correct number to call to complement a private company for their compassionate works."
Fuck.

#SF #SFF #Horror #IAmWriting #microfic #tootfic #microfiction #scifi

Inspired by a comment by @NanoRaptor about AI screwing with people's perceptions.

My partner has one of the Percepterol implants. She uses it to tag names to faces, so we got it on PBS.

Anyway, I was scrolling my news feed, and saw an alert about a manditory product recall on Percepterol implants, so I asked "Hey, sweety, have you had a ping from Percepterol about the recall?"
"No, I've not seen anything."
So I showed her the article. That was when things got weird.
"It's great to see that Percepterol is doing so much to help war refugees" she said.
I looked over her shoulder, and I saw the recall notice.
That's why I'm calling 000. My wife needs to have the implant updated or removed immediately, and is not able to request it for herself.
"Thank you for your call, but triple zero is not the correct number to call to complement a private company for their compassionate works."
Fuck.

#SF #SFF #Horror #IAmWriting #microfic #tootfic #microfiction #scifi

Inspired by a comment by @NanoRaptor about AI screwing with people's perceptions.

Halfway through this Canadian SF anthology and every short story/poem so far has been great. Highly recommend, available from Bakka Phoenix Books dot com on Harbord or fine booksellers near you. @pluralistic has a contribution as well 😊 #Canadian #Toronto #SF #CurrentlyReading #SciFi #Fantasy

Halfway through this Canadian SF anthology and every short story/poem so far has been great. Highly recommend, available from Bakka Phoenix Books dot com on Harbord or fine booksellers near you. @pluralistic has a contribution as well 😊 #Canadian #Toronto #SF #CurrentlyReading #SciFi #Fantasy

If you're looking for some hopeful stories to read in 2026, I've got some free #SF novels & short stories for you to check out...
https://susankayequinn.com/free-books-2

a #solarpunk short story
a #hopepunk #scifi novel
some YA SF, some fantasy #steampunk
even my gritty #cyberpunk serial...

If you're looking for some hopeful stories to read in 2026, I've got some free #SF novels & short stories for you to check out...
https://susankayequinn.com/free-books-2

a #solarpunk short story
a #hopepunk #scifi novel
some YA SF, some fantasy #steampunk
even my gritty #cyberpunk serial...