by Esther Scherpenisse | J Mar 2026 | No category
I violently dislike using a cliche to convey my feelings. It doesn’t seem right for an author to rely on expressions that have been so thoroughly chewed on, rehashed, worn to death. But in this case, I have no other resource but to say: I can’t believe...
by Esther Scherpenisse | J Feb 2026 | No category
AI slop is everywhere. A YouTube video recently informed me half of the content on the internet is now created by AI instead of humans. And it’s good enough that we can’t always tell the difference between things generated by AI and generated by a human....
by Esther Scherpenisse | J Dec 2025 | No category
People say that writing is an act of defiance. And though I hear it often, the sentiment still sits a little oddly with me. Most writing probably pushes back against something—silence, confusion, the absence of a story you’d like to hear. But when I think about...
by Esther Scherpenisse | J Oct 2025 | No category
Somewhere between the cultural obsession with “harder punishments for crimes” and the flood of female fantasy characters who all know how to wield a sword, I started asking myself a question: is this really what we were going for? We’ve made progress, sure. Women now...
by Esther Scherpenisse | J Oct 2025 | No category
Some of science fiction’s dustiest paperbacks have become blockbuster blueprints. With the Dune films leading the way—and a third on the horizon—it’s clear that the genre’s classic era still casts a long shadow. That’s part of what drew me to the old stories in the...
by Esther Scherpenisse | J Sep 2025 | No category
Have you ever felt like you missed your moment? Like everyone else got handed a purpose and you’re just… here? I’m talking about that deep-down ache that maybe your life was supposed to mean something more. That if you just found the right job, or read the right...
by Esther Scherpenisse | J Sep 2025 | No category
Everyone has them—books that don’t wear out. The evergreens you can pluck off the shelf, open halfway through, and instantly drop back into, as if you’d been reading from the start. They are different for everyone, but these are mine, in no particular order. Stephen...
by Esther Scherpenisse | J Sep 2025 | No category
Some magic systems make your head spin with rules. Others drift more like a feeling—quiet, atmospheric, and hard to pin down. As a reader, I enjoy both. But the ones that stay with me, the ones that feel real, all have one thing in common: they mean something....
by Esther Scherpenisse | J Aug 2025 | No category
I read a book recently where the so-called “morally gray” love interest made me want to root for a potted plant over him. He was creepy, stalkerish, and every time he showed up, it set my teeth on edge. (No, I won’t name names.) The wild part? He was meant...
by Esther Scherpenisse | J Jul 2025 | No category
Every story is about something. That might sound obvious, but you’d be surprised how often I come across stories that feel like they’re not. Especially in writing contests, where I have at times helped judge entries, I still encounter that rare breed of story...
