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Author: S.M. Carrière

When S.M. Carrière isn't brutally killing your favourite characters, she spends her time teaching martial arts, live streaming video games, and cuddling her cats. In other words, she spends her time teaching others to kill, streaming her digital kills, and cuddling furry murderers. Her most recent titles include 'Daughters of Britain' and 'Skylark.' https://www.smcarriere.com/
In Defence of the “Romantasy Girlies”

In Defence of the “Romantasy Girlies”

Comments 9 comments
A typewriter with paper with the phrase “words have power” typed on it.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Good afterevenmorn, Readers!

So, once again I have entered the world of TikTok. This one is very old now, in the lightning fast news cycle that is that particular platform, so I’m rather behind the ball on commenting on it. For a few reasons for this. One, I’m old (ish. In internet terms, I mean). I simply cannot move at the speed TikTok seems to demand. Two, the one really got under my skin, despite not being one of the group targeted. So I wanted to take the time to calm down before approaching it. And third, I feel like I’ve covered this topic more than once, and I’m very annoyed that I feel compelled to tackle it once again. But here we are.

It is, of course, the weird, irritating, and erroneous snobbery between genres.

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Once Again, Writers…

Once Again, Writers…

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A white sign with the word “No” sticks up above a crowd.
Image by Niek Verlaan from Pixabay

Good afterevenmorn, Readers!

Not too long ago, I broke my long absence from video-format social media, which is just a very wordy way of saying I’m back on TikTok. I had abandoned it in the middle of the year when life slammed into me pretty hard and I needed some time and space for grieving (I lost my beautiful cat rather suddenly and unexpectedly). It wasn’t a deliberate decision, I just couldn’t handle much at all, so a lot of things just got abandoned while I worked through my stuff.

Two or so weeks ago, I returned, and ho boy, the tea is tea-ing. There’s so much drama on BookTok, specifically. There are currently three major dramas going on at present that I’m aware of, one of which really got under my skin, but I’m not touching it at present. I’m too annoyed, and I’m not even the audience that was directly insulted. Instead, I want to address writers very specifically on reviews, reviewers and review spaces.

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The Many Faces of Epic Fantasy

The Many Faces of Epic Fantasy

Comments 19 comments
The head of a roaring black dragon emerges from fire and smoke.
Image by MythologyArt from Pixabay

Good afterevenmorn, Readers!

I have been (over)thinking about the panels I participated in during this year’s Can*Con. What I can remember of them, anyway. I get so nervous before any kind of public speaking that the events often just get blanked out in my memory. But I am remembering some stuff that has me thinking more on the topics discussed. Since few folks were able to attend, I thought maybe I’d bring some of our discussions to you here.

One of the panels I was on was The Continuity of Epic Fantasy, and I was fortunate enough to be sat between Suyi Davies Okungbowa and Anuja Varghese, two incredibly brilliant folks with wonderful minds. Moderated by Y.M. Pang, this was a fascinating discussion about what epic fantasy was for us, and why we love it or hate it, and why it has been so enduring in genre.

The question of what epic fantasy is has been the one the stuck with me, because my fellow panellists brought up some things that have really stuck with me.

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And of Course, I Lost My Glasses – A Can*Con 2025 Report

And of Course, I Lost My Glasses – A Can*Con 2025 Report

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Good afterevenmorn, Readers!

I am writing this the day after returning from my favorite genre literary convention ever with a report. Can*Con is the kind of SFF convention I will try very hard to never miss. I went to my first in 2011 (I think? It’s been so long), when I was a little baby writer with one self-published anthology and a couple of sketches to my name. Despite having no clout, no idea what I was doing, and absolutely no connections to anyone or anything in the scene at all, I was warmly welcomed and made to feel like I was an actual real writer with something of value to offer the world.

This is going to sound really corny, but for the anxiety-ridden, personally struggling young me, that was an enormous deal.

I have not missed a Can*Con since.

I figured since not everyone can make it, be they countries or provinces away, and the costs of… well… everything making travelling often prohibited, I thought I’d bring the experience to you. As best I can, anyway. However well I make my report, it’s not the same thing as the experience.

Sorry.

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We Are Not Commodities (Modern Marketing Scares Me)

We Are Not Commodities (Modern Marketing Scares Me)

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An old woman standing in an empty dorm points a shotgun at the viewer. On the wall behind her is scrawled the words “We are not things”
A still from Mad Max: Fury Road

Good afterevenmorn, Readers!

You’ll have to excuse me as I’m currently on holidays, and the absence of the routine of heading into the office daily has thrown off my brain a little. Today, I wanted to muse about something quite personal to me. I had, for  quite a while, taken myself off most social media — I was still on Facebook a very little, and continued to watch YouTube videos — but the rest of them were used only to post a link to my blog post (such as BlueSky), or not at all (TikTok, looking at you). But I have since returned, albeit slowly and distantly.

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Merlin: A Retrospective

Merlin: A Retrospective

Comments 7 comments

Good afterevenmorn, Readers!

I have been rewatching a few things as I move through this last part of 2025. I’m not sure why I’m feeling nostalgic, but I am. Part of that rewatch is BBC’s Merlin. I watched this as it aired, all the way back in 2008. I adored it then, and I adore it now. No doubt, part of the adoration now is very much tied to how much I loved it as I was discovering the series for the first time. A not insignificant part, however, is because this show is just good.

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Back Into the AI Debate

Back Into the AI Debate

Comments 5 comments
Image courtesy of Pixabay, found under the “authentic only” search (not AI)

Good afterevenmorn, Readers!

This post is going to be a little “old lady yells at clouds” today, so prepare!

With the news that Anthropic, the AI company behind Claude Chaptbot, was sued and settled for their large-scale theft of books in order to train its AI model, I have been reading a glut of articles both for and against the use of AI, specifically to write fiction novels. Naturally, not being AI (I swear!), I’m firmly against. The theft of creative works to train these programs, and the environmental damage required to get the up and keep them running aside (and those two reasons alone are strong enough, I feel, to abandon AI) I don’t think AI belongs in creative fields; some aids, perhaps, some tools, yes. But I don’t think creating AI that can “write” a novel is in any way valuable.

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K-Pop Demon Hunters: A Lesson

K-Pop Demon Hunters: A Lesson

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Good afterevenmorn, Readers!

If you haven’t heard of Netflix’ surprise movie sensation, I almost envy you. This movie is everywhere. It’s a phenomenal hit; becoming Netflix’ second-most viewed movie and has its songs everywhere on the Billboard top 10. The song Golden has hit the charts at number 1 in many places. It even, this weekend just passed, did something I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. It enjoyed a theatrical release just over two months from its initial release on the aforementioned streaming platform. I learnt about it too late to acquire tickets, and I’m quite sad about it.

I watched it. I loved it. I have already reviewed it, so you won’t be getting a rehashing of a review from me here. Instead, I want to talk about what K-Pop Demon Hunters says about original content, audiences, and how wrong some decision makers are about both.

There may be some spoilers. There definitely is at least one piping hot take. Let’s go.

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The State of Heroes

The State of Heroes

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Courage

Good afterevenmorn!

I am still thinking about Superman. This is largely because I liked one image and the various algorithms on every platform have since decided that it’s all I get to see. I have, therefore, seen almost every possible take on the character, and it has me thinking a great deal about the heroes in fiction and why we consider them so. Why are the heroes heroes? What about them or their stories make us believe they are? And are they really?

Let’s dive in.

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A Date With Superman

A Date With Superman

Comments 13 comments

Good afterevenmorn, Readers! And also watchers, this case.

It’s been a bit of a rough time for me of late and so, deciding that staying home and moping was not going to help me at all, I took myself out on a date. I went to the movies to watch the newest Superman. I loved the movie, but I’m not here to provide an in-depth review, rather, I’d like to reflect on the core of the character of James Gunn’s Superman and how it was, surprisingly, precisely what my heart needed in this moment.

Let me go pour myself a whiskey and settle in.

Okay. I’m good. Let’s go.

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