Across the world, the housing issue continues to rise. In New Zealand, the bubble has continued to balloon for the last ten years, particularly during Covid. The number of new houses built for applicants is small, with no immediate solution on the horizon. …

Anyone familiar with these terms will understand, at the very least, that they mean bad times are a’comin’. But what exactly is the difference between a Kafkaesque story and one that’s Orwellian? Orwellian When we talk about the Orwellian, we’re talking about authoritarian control directed by an unseen, powerful social…

Over 100 years ago, as the story goes, Professor William Struck Jr. of Cornell University penned the very first Elements of a Style guide for his English students in an attempt to rid their essays of horrendous blunders and misdemeanours. …

The terrific thing about online mediums is the diversity of their storytelling potential. We can say or construct whatever we want and be sure of finding an audience. It’s pure narrative freedom. The downside is that no one’s really listening. That’s the tragic beauty of a comedic discourse like Don’t…

Doodling is a deceptively simple skill. We all yearn to draw all over our notepads at times, yet it doesn’t seem to serve us in everyday life. What can you get with the simple doodle? For starters, doodling is a precursor to communication. It helps us succinctly draw together our…

Anyone who works with words knows that no one has time to read your stuff. Whether you’re a journalist, novelist or a copywriter trying to push a punch line for your client’s crispy cereal, what you’re offering is essentially a chore. Maybe your stuff will get read — when it’s…

Why is Mars so ancient? Why are Venus’ jungles so thick and swampy? Why do giants come from Jupiter? The short answer to Mars and the rest is misinformation. That and imagination. The idea that Mars may have been home to an ancient civilisation was first given popularity through Percival…

Math isn’t magic. It’s science. As a fictional science device, it may go beyond what we understand science to be right now, to become the incomprehensible magic Arthur C. Clarke was talking about. But it’s still a science. …

None of the few blogs I’ve written this year has dug into the history of science fiction. Time to address that. I’ll begin at the beginning. To add some spice to this (by now) overly documented topic, I’m presenting science fiction as a ‘choose your own adventure’ (how quaint, James…