About a month ago, I started seeing a therapist. I had anticipated, with a certain amount of enthusiasm, that he would listen to my blather and then produce a list of all the things that make me an asshole. I am four sessions in and have yet to see the much awaited list—despite the poor man’s absorption of an inordinate amount of blather. He responds to most of it with, “Hmm.” Occasionally I drop a

  Robert Jackson Bennett isn’t the first fantasy author to describe magic as a way of manipulating creation’s source code, but he is the first I’ve read who overlays the idea with an artificially intelligent villain. In Shorefall, the second installment to his Foundryside series, he imagines a world where sorcerers have hacked into the subroutines of reality so effectively their magic has developed a mind of its own. Great writers weave social commentary into

Don Mewha’s debut novel Bishop’s Crossing comes out next month. We got together to discuss the story, family dynamics, and the importance of diversity and inclusion. You can join our conversation here: For more about Don and his work, visit his website, or check out his publisher, Fyresyde Publishing, where you can pre-order his novel.

Once upon a time I worked with an awful person. I’ll spare you the details because, probably, you’ve worked with someone just like her. She’s the one who knows what the boss had for breakfast but can’t remember your name. She can recite the company mission statement but can’t answer a simple question. She has the annoying habit of misplacing her knives in the middle of your back. And she gets promoted. A lot. I

Niki Kamerzell is the author of The Last Time She Died, an imaginative take on reincarnation and a story of love and revenge that spans dozens of lifetimes. You can watch our conversation about her work here: . For more about Niki and the characters in The Last Time She Died, visit her blog, or check out her publisher, Dark Stroke Books, to buy her novel when it becomes available in early 2021.