Inside Writing Science Fiction/ Fantasy

Take a deep dive into the realms of imaginative science fiction, including eight brand-new stories by award-winning author Alison McBain. Diving into Nebulae brings you over two dozen of McBain’s most popular SF stories, including her award-winning and nominated shorts “Pillar of Salt,” “What Are Friends For?” and “Asylum.”So, grab your mitt to play some baseball in space, punch your ticket for the first traveling circus at the Milky Way station, and prepare to delve into a future that’s sometimes dark, sometimes hopeful, but always full of adventure!

In a future where corporations own everything—including people—one murder could ignite a revolution.Twenty years from now, the United States is completely privatized. The Big Six syndicates own schools, roads, police departments…even human beings.When a young immigrant woman—51% owned by the syndicates—is brutally murdered, NYPD, Inc. Detective Juke O'Keefe and his partner, Crime Marketing Consultant Haylee Navarro, catch the case. Pregnant and broke, Haylee knows they can’t crowdfund enough from a dead immigrant to pay for basic forensics, let alone their paychecks. But Juke, with his old-school sense of justice, is determined to find the killer.

A Crimson Void: Hellhound Series, Book OneAn obsolete ship. A disgraced captain. One chance at redemption.For a hundred and fifty years, an uneasy peace has endured within the Ballenverse—a hundred-light-year sphere centered on Sol. But now Corporate forces have launched a ruthless surprise attack, leaving the United Earth Alliance fleet shattered and Earth, along with her allies, desperate and reeling.Disgraced Jumpship captain Tarak Draeger has spent three long, bitter years languishing in jail for war crimes after destroying a civilian ship. But now he’s dragged from his cell, placed in command of an obsolete cruiser known as Hellhound, and given a deadly mission in the heart of enemy territory.For Draeger, facing a hostile crew, doubting his own abilities, and dealing with a murderous traitor onboard, the vicious Corporate commander determined to annihilate him and his ship is almost the least of his problems.Witches and Wings: Part 1 - WitchesThe year is 1584. Covens from across England andScotland gather around sacred sites, offering homage totheir pagan gods on the night of nights, but everythingseems lost when those in power intervene.With the magical mysticism of Samhain tainted bybloodshed, a great quest is undertaken in hopes ofpreventing future catastrophes. A lone warlock and hisunlikely companion set out to discover the whereabouts ofa witch who legends claim can put an end to the unjustviolence sweeping across the land.Shadowed by a man tainted by family history, theunsuspecting witch must flee for her life across the Isle ofSkye’s rugged landscape. Hounded by King James’ menand a notorious witch hunter harbouring a secret of hisown, the witch finds she is unable to trust those who shouldhave her back, and her fate hangs in the balance.In this timeless adventure, the fate of three realms teeter onthe edge of a claymore as the goodness of mankind wageswar against the inherent evil present in our world.

The solo debut from the New York Times bestselling coauthor of Widow's Point: The Complete Haunting, a post-apocalyptic/survival horror novel written in the bestselling traditions of Stephen King’s The Mist and Josh Malerman’s Bird Box.A top-secret government project hits upon a revolutionary idea for transporting matter across the vast reaches of the universe, and it succeeds in bringing something back. Something alive. Soon, mankind’s reign comes to an abrupt halt when a truck hauling a very special shipping container overturns and rolls off the highway, unleashing an otherworldly horror upon an unsuspecting New England countryside, where it cannot be contained…Several years later, an unidentified man emerges from the rubble of humanity, seeking other survivors and a shred of hope amid an eerie and lonely landscape. He travels by night up the rural East Coast, discovering Americana ruins and encountering monsters the likes of which no one has survived. Scarred and molded by the cruel horrors of this new natural order, he must face his own dwindling humanity and pray that any others out there have not become monsters themselves…

Under the Buldrick Empire’s rule, Owena finds herself fighting alongside a rebel force. Her aptitude for strategy and swordsmanship come to the fore. When she meets Galen, not only does she fall in love but also becomes even more determined to join the fight to restore the rightful King to the throne.

“Robert J. Sawyer is one of the most prolific and celebrated modern authors of science fiction.” —John ScalziDrawing on a lifetime of insight, passion, and exploration, this 225,000-word collection brings together Robert J. Sawyer’s most compelling articles, reviews, and speeches about science fiction.From talks at the Library of Congress and Cambridge University through articles for Science and Slate to columns for SF magazines and fanzines, Sawyer examines the field he loves so much from every angle, including its history, creators, ideas, and future.With his candid voice and signature humor, Sawyer on Science Fiction invites readers to consider not just what science fiction is but also what it might yet become.“Rob is the real deal.” —David BrinRobert J. Sawyer has won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novel of the Year, as well as the Robert A. Heinlein Award and the top SF awards in Canada, China, France, Japan, and Spain. The ABC TV series Flashforward was based on his novel of the same name. A member of the Order of Canada, he lives near Toronto

Known equally for his chart-topping work as a contemporary saxophonist and his acclaimed science-fiction novels, Joyner operates at the intersection of sound, story, and emotional truth. Where many artists spend a lifetime refining one voice, Joyner moves fluidly between disciplines—composer, producer, performer, and author—allowing each to inform the other.Over the course of a nearly two-decade career, Joyner has quietly built a résumé that commands respect: three Billboard #1 hits, eight Top Five singles, international touring across more than 30 countries, and collaborations with legends including Angela Bofill, Najee, Jean Carne, Ronnie Laws, Keiko Matsui, Peter White, and the late George Duke. Yet accolades have never been the destination. Evolution has.That evolution comes into sharp focus with Every Part Of Me, Joyner’s debut release for Shanachie Entertainment, arriving January 16, 2026. Entirely written, produced, and largely performed by Joyner himself, the album is less a collection of tracks than a fully realized narrative—drawing from funk, soul, R&B, rock, and contemporary jazz to create a body of work that unfolds with the pacing and emotional arc of a novel.The record marks a turning point. More personal, more transparent, and more deliberate than anything he has released before, Every Part Of Me reflects an artist no longer interested in editing himself for comfort or convention. Themes of fatherhood, belonging, resilience, and renewal are woven throughout the music—not as confession, but as clarity.“People often see the results, not the rebuilding,” Joyner says. “This album is about allowing every part of myself to stand in the light—the artist, the father, the dreamer, the man still becoming.”That sense of authorship—creative and personal—is what ultimately defines Jackiem Joyner. Whether through a saxophone line or a sentence on the page, his work invites listeners into something deeper than genre: an experience shaped by honesty, craft, and the courage to keep moving forward.

The Rose Queen was a fantasy finalist for 2019 IAN Book of the Year, and also a finalist for the 2019 Literary Classics Book Award. In addition, it was named as one of the best books of 2018 by the reviewer website Bookshine and Readbows. What makes it so intriguing? Perhaps it's because the Beast doesn't always wait for Beauty. Sometimes, Beauty IS the Beast. Princess Mirabella is betrothed to a repulsive old man a year after her mother's death. She refuses the marriage, only to find out her betrothed is a sorcerer as well. He takes his revenge by transforming her into a savage and frightening beast, giving her an ultimatum: she has three years to solve the mystery of her curse—or die. Exiled to her mother's estate to hide the scandal, Mirabella learns that the sorcerer was not alone in keeping secrets. Her grandfather was murdered before Mirabella was born, and her mother's death is looking less and less as if it came from natural causes. The only point in common to all their ruined lives: her father, the king. Faced with a conflict between saving her family and saving her own life, the choices Mirabella makes will change the future of the kingdom—and magic—forever.

An alien warrior. A human woman in hiding. In the snowy wilds of Utah, prey and predator are about to fall in love.Lena Harper thought escaping to her family’s remote cabin would bring peace. Instead, she finds herself haunted by memories she can't outrun—and stalked by something far more dangerous than the mountain lions her uncle warned her about.Draeken is a Xar’nok hunter, on Earth for what was meant to be a routine expedition—a thrill-seeking escape with his battle-bonded brothers. Hunt. Track. Conquer. No attachments. No complications. But when an ambush leaves him wounded and alone, he stumbles into the one thing he’s never trained for: a human with fire in her eyes and sorrow in her soul.She should be prey.He should be a monster.But fate has other plans.As snow blankets the mountains and danger draws near, trust blossoms where fear once lived. Lena must decide if she's ready to fight for herself—and for a creature not of this world. And Draeken must choose between duty, survival... and a woman who sees past the predator to the heart beneath the armor.Action-packed, steamy, and full of aching tenderness, Prey Bound is a sci-fi romance for anyone who ever dreamed the alien might be the one to save you—and maybe even love you.