Shape-shifting aliens make for fun art.

Some things shouldn't be eaten. The bright side is that this author can now write a realistic case of food poisoning. 

Mystery from Saturn Via NASA. What IS that flash? 

The Hubble Telescope has pulled another amazing  image from the sky. This dwarf galaxy,  a slightly less organized version of a universal neighborhood than your typical spiral,  offers yet another spate of world building and dreams for writers. 
​What do you think resides there? 

How does an author get published?
It is asked over and over again, and the answer is always the same. Persistence; submit, submit, submit! It is a little like wining the lottery, except an author earns every penny. Of course there are the bits about making sure to have a story worth submitting, and making sure to follow the submission guidelines, but like tiny ants building a massive structure just taking that one small project in your jaws and moving it to the end of the tunnel as the queen commands will soon assure an unassailable fortress form which your warriors can sally forth to do battle with the plant eating pests that trouble the land and even the mightiest human will call you blessed!
Hmm, that analogy might have gone off the tracks a bit. Thresher ants are awesome people. Respect!
But focusing on the topic at hand. If you want to get published you have to submit; again and again and again! 
Also keep records of who you submit to and when. That will come in handy later. 
Does anyone else have a nice inspiring animal analogy? This author might need a new one...

Qulix'tch, nutritional anthropologist. 

One of the hardest lessons in writing, at least for this author, was the concept of the rough draft. Being a detail orientated person means that getting it right the first time is incredibly important. But in real life writing it isn't. Things change and the story has too as well. It can be painful when the teacher forces you to sit down and pour out your ideas in an ungrammatical mess in a brief 15 minuets and then cut it up and do it all over again and again. But the results can't be argued with. 
What was one of the hardest lessons in writing for you? 

The depths of the ocean have always been, and will continue to be, sources of mystery and wonder. But what of aliens oceans? How much more do they provide fodder for storytelling? given that the simple presence of any water on a planet, let alone an entire ocean would be game changing from the life prospective an ocean couldn't fail to tantalize writers. Or what about the concept of an ocean world? A giant sphere of water without a rocky core? What would exist at its center? 
​#WorldOceanDay

 Travel features in more than one of the seven origonal story-lines. In fact, depending on which list you read, 'The Journey' is one of the seven (or eight, or nine). Many of today's stories center on travel of some sort. It can symbolize change in the protagonist or set a backdrop of beauty or simply keep the protagonist constantly on edge because everything is new. 
What is your favorite travel centered story? (No choosing "There and Back Again" either!)

In the case of "Dying Embers" a boy and his shape-shifting alien mentor.  It is a classic plot that runs through every genre and sub-genre. A young person befriends something out of the ordinary and they have adventures together. It was "E.T.", "Old Yeller", and "Real Steel".
What's your favorite classic, "A Boy and His X" story?