Space Napkins: Science Fiction and Realism

by Karin Cather | Feb 5, 2018 | science writing, Writing

Mr. Spock! Your prescription is ready! Science fiction fans often have to suspend disbelief, despite efforts by the writers to explain why their ships can travel across the galaxy as fast as we can travel across town, and why their crew can talk to alien humanoids...

The Cahoon Chronicles: Memoir and Story

by Karin Cather | Jan 27, 2018 | Writing

Memoirs are deceptive. It seems like such an easy thing to tell people about your life. Just start at the beginning, right? No, don’t. Haven’t you ever been trapped in That Conversation before? The one with the coworker or in-law or uncle? Or coworker...

Dental Cleaning at the Galactic Rim

by Karin Cather | Jun 5, 2017 | Editing, Writing

I had a conversation recently with an author about realism and genre. Their book was a police procedural, so there was a murder and detectives and even a search warrant, but it also took place on another planet. The author wanted to know why they should care about...

True Facts about the Space Tarsier

by Karin Cather | Apr 9, 2017 | Editing, Research, Writing

Do you want people in the criminal justice system to read your book or throw it across the room with great force?[1] Maybe your book has criminal justice stuff in it and you know that the stuff in it is fake but you keep it that way because you think the “story”...

In Defense of Science in the Badlands

by Karin Cather | Jan 25, 2017 | Client Relations, Plain Language, Research, science writing, Writing

I am taking a risk by saying this: Science, medicine, and education are essential elements of a civilized society and the free exchange of ideas is an essential element of democracy. Trump is preventing government scientists from sharing information with the public....

Watch Your Language

by Karin Cather | Jan 19, 2017 | Editing, strong language, Writing

Women, watch your language. That seems to be the message of a lot of articles on social media, lately. The penalty in polite society for a woman’s saying the right things in the wrong way is to be dismissed personally and professionally. (Polite society is where...