Preamble Caveat right up front: The author, Urna Semper, is the pen name for my friend Parrish Baker, a mentor and one of our editors at Tender and Tempting Tales. We have appeared and are set to appear in anthologies together, so what’s good for that gander is obviously good for this goose. I also beta-read quite a few of Parrish’s stories before he submits them to anthologies these days—both Rac and T&TT—so I’m fairly familiar with the range of his work. So why am I reviewi

Odyssey always has homemade curry for lunch before game begins, since we run out of my house, and I like to make different versions over the course of the year. We have an established Thanksgiving curry with sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce, and we serve it over stuffing instead of rice. That’s an old favorite. This year, I wanted to try my hand at some Christmas Curry.

Introduction: On the Holiday Hallmark Movie Two disclaimers: I received this novella as an ARC, requested specifically because I like Suzy, we’re in anthologies together, and I wanted to provide her with a review. Second disclaimer being that I don’t like holiday Hallmark movies. I know. You’re shocked. What, the girl who writes merc stories, radioactive murders on space cruises, and long weird romances in cyborg loony bins hates Hallmark romances?! Le shock. I can’t write a

The cover for Star Groomsman, created by me by layering and altering assets in the stock library on Canva, and the Starship Valkyrie logo. Release day is here! Mercs and Mayhem with my story "Power Play" released last week, and hit No. 1 in SFF anthologies on Amazon. You can get it here for some real merc action: Amazon.com : Mercs and Mayhem (Raconteur Press Anthologies Book 64) eBook : Nethery, Nick, Burke, Spearman, Stone, Dean, Malory, Lizzi, Ken, Hathaway, Ross, Gibson,

Introduction Seldom has my life been so different between one year and the next. A few standouts come to mind: the stark difference between October of my seventeenth year and October of my eighteenth were particularly different, given the total upheaval to my life and family in that time. 2019 and 2020 were so very different for so many of us that it barely bears repeating. In September of 2022 I was pregnant and a PhD candidate; by September of 2023, I had my PhD and my firs