Caffeine and Opinions

Things Fall Apart: Chapter 55

Newer York, 8 Tammuz 2541 AS Singer had briefly considered staying to see all the crew processed, but several factors made her reconsider. For one, she did not want to give any impression of distrust between herself and the local authorities. For another, the point of having Alexander come over

Things Fall Apart: Chapter 54

Newer York, Botanical Gardens; then Boarding Lounge 42, Aft Docks; 7-8 Tammuz 2541 AS The time spent in the gardens had been as restorative as the museum had been disturbing. Singer was aware that it had not been anyone's intention—least of all Ellison, who had proposed the

Things Fall Apart: Chapter 53

Newer York, The Starfall Museum, 7 Tammuz 2541 AS The Starfall Museum proved to be like the administration building, a structure within the core. This was explained easily enough when Ellison, who of course knew the place well, pointed out it predated the buildout of the rings. "They started

Things Fall Apart: Chapter 52

Newer York, 7 Tammuz 2541 AS With everything that had happened in the last two days, and everything still waiting to be discussed, Singer had not expected to sleep soundly. That she fell asleep quickly did not surprise her—she'd been exhausted, without doubt. That she stayed asleep

Things Fall Apart: Chapter 51

Newer York, 7 Tammuz 2541 AS The rest of dinner was not nearly so fraught with personal revelations. The fact that there were no fewer than four trained diplomats at the table, combined with the collective good will of the entire group, served to move the conversation out of what

Things Fall Apart: Chapter 50

Newer York, 6-7 Tammuz 2541 AS Wayra Cadotte was not really much for social occasions, and current events had required them to spend a lot more time around people and not doing their job than they were comfortable with. They were fairly itching for time alone that was not also

Things Fall Apart Meta: The perils of serialization

I'm not always sure how much I should write about the process of writing this series. I love reading other authors when they write about writing, but I wrestle with how much I should do it. But, here, I'm going to do it, and show you

Things Fall Apart: Chapter 49

This chapter is double-length. I considered breaking it up, but hey, I skipped last week, so you get one big chapter to make up for it! Newer York, en route to Briefing One; 6 Tammuz 2541 AS, midday The ride to Briefing One began much as the ride to the

Things Fall Apart: Chapter 48

Newer York, Ellis Ring, TCTO Embassy; 6 Tammuz 2541 AS, morning Singer had been concerned that anxiety over the coming day might keep her from sleeping well, but exhaustion won that battle handily. It had been a long, emotionally draining day, after all, and she had not slept well on

Things Fall Apart: Chapter 47

Newer York, Ellis Ring, Embassy of the Tau Ceti Treaty Organization, 5-6 Tammuz 2541 Rachel had found Singer and Cadotte still sitting on the veranda, and looked to Singer's eye like she might simply join them on the bench and let dinner wait. Truth told, Singer was more

Things Fall Apart: Skip Week (11 August 2025)

I had not originally planned to honor my impending natal anniversary by skipping this week, but this weekend was ultimately full of other rabbit holes, and the coming week is going to have various things that eat my brain and/or time. I don't completely rule out a

Things Fall Apart: Chapter 46

Newer York, Ellis Ring, Embassy of the Tau Ceti Treaty Organization, 5 Tammuz 2541, late afternoon The briefing went even more poorly than Singer had feared. At first it hadn't been so bad. The parlor was as comfortable as the name made it sound, with well-upholstered furniture and