Regrets. Everyone has them. I should have. I would have. I could have. These phrase have shown up in countless stories because nearly everyone can relate to them and because nearly every author can "write what they know" when writing regrets.
In science fiction this often takes the form of time travel stories. What if you could go back and change whatever you regret? What if you just had five more minutes? 
There are the big names of course. Dr. Who is based on this concept. Quantum Leap is too. But nearly every science fiction franchise has done an episode, a chapter, a book on time travel. 
One of the classics is "A Sound of Thunder" that uses the imagery of the butterfly effect to illustrate the concept of changing time. But the trope of wanting five more minutes go back even further. There is the ancient tale of the lover who ventures down into the underworld to retrieve a lost mate (and ruins it for the rest of us).
So what is your favorite take on getting five more minutes? 

A good story, like a flowering tree, should broadcast a simple beauty at a glance, but on further inspection be comprised of increasing layers of complexity. 

While this author was away at NorwesCon39 spring happened in her little corner of the Willamette Valley. There is a broad spread of spring colors from last winter's berries to the first pale blush of pink cherry blossoms. It really makes one want to get out and write some poetry under a tree. But this is the Pacific Northwest. There was a hard frost last night and it took a roaring fire to get rid of that lingering bite of winter. So wear those stylish knitted sweaters Norwesterners! 

With the murderer behind bars and the innocent priest vindicated as far as his congregation was concerned, legally it would take a bit longer, only one question remained for Detective Inspector Fisher. What had the red haired socialite been doing on top of the telephone booth in the first place? 

Well NorwesCon 39 has come and gone for 2016 and boy did it generate some memories. 
(On a side note hiding in the corner and talking cats with cat people counts as networking as long as you give them a card afterwards.)

Guess who bought a new SD card? Remarkably enough the little shop here at the Doubletree Inn actually has a very reasonably priced 16gig SD card. Actually a micro SD card and an adaptor...
Anyway, PICS! 
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So Camra armed and ready to go into the fray once more!

So after a decently long drive. (Don't really like driving.) I stopped to pick up some new clothes because my wardrobe was starting to .... well I needed new clothes. (Really detest clothes shopping.) The salesman was attentive. (WHY do they do that? I am in the store to buy clothes. You don't have to convince me. GO AWAY PLEASE.) I made it to NorwesCon. The registration line was much, much shorter. (When they are super long for a guest of honor you really rather dislike it is annoying.) 
So anyway. Meeting lots of new people, reconnecting with some old friends, and tagging all the money eating things that I want to get. (But won't purchase till my budget is set at the end of the Con.)
I have lost my SD card...went to buy a new one and the lady at the shop couldn't find them....ah well. The hippogriff will still be sipping espresso tomorrow.
Met my first Broney.... at the leather working booth....
​Be proud of me. I made no comments. 

Given how deeply canines have wormed their way into every known human culture it is not a surprise that there is not only an entire genre devoted to stories about dogs but that they pervade every other genre from romance to science fiction. 
If I had to pick a favorite it would probably be "Whitefang". What's your favorite dog story in honor of National Puppy Day? 

Today is #WorldWaterDay. For as long as science fiction has turned its gaze to the stars the necessity of water has played both central and supporting roles in the genre.  Going to the moon? You had better find a source of ice. Mars? Best land your ship near those icecaps. Water filtration is critical on spaceships and the mass of the water needed for keeping humans healthy, and the fuel needed to move the mass of the water and the volume of the container needed to hold it all need to be taken into account when designing a spaceship. 
Of course a drought is a massive problem in any genre, as is a flood, but with science fiction an author has the pleasure and challenge of dealing with comets and icetroides. (icetroides, they are a thing, totally). So while any of the problems that face the world today can be picked up and told as stories IN SPACE there are worlds of other possibilities for science fiction authors to explore.
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