WRITER FUEL: Sci Fi Christmas Presents (That Might Kill You)

Welcome to the latest installment of “Writer Fuel – cool real-world stories that might inspire your little writer heart. Check out our Writer Fuel page on the LimFic blog for more inspiration. Today:

Hyundai-owned Boston Dynamics has released a holiday video featuring its dog-like Spot robot, and it’s turned out as creepy as ever.

Happy holidays and many thanks to everyone who helped drive Spot's success this year! We're excited to see where you can take our robots in 2022. pic.twitter.com/wnIZKAuhbF
— Boston Dynamics (@BostonDynamics) December 21, 2021

The video, posted to Twitter, starts innocuously enough — there’s a large present of the type anyone would be happy to see under their tree, sitting in a courtyard.

Then, the gift stands up and walks off-screen, kind of like Metal Gear’s Solid Snake moving through a jungle disguised as a cardboard box to stalk a private military contractor.

Full Story From the Verge

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Word Count: Click here to reveal370000 (Click here to hide)

Summary: The Small Things trilogy omnibus contains all three books in the Small Things trilogy (Small Things, Threads, A Pattern of Shadows,) a previously-published short story (Smoke), a brand new story (Dowd) and a never-before-published Small Things novella, Sundown Rising. The stories are presented in the order in which they are meant to be read. The Small Things trilogy omnibus totals 1,450 pages/370,000 words and includes all covers, artwork, and a few surprises as well! Small Things: It’s a hot June morning in a small Midwestern town when fifteen-year-old Shawn Spencer arrives at the church for his best friend Tanner’s funeral. Though his drowning was officially ruled an accident, Tanner’s sister Jenny swears she saw something rise up from the Carthage Lake to pull the struggling teenager beneath the surface. Shawn doesn’t believe in monsters… but he will…The real threat, however, lies in the man behind the monster, a mysterious old man who has vowed to settle an old grudge and regain something that was stolen from him decades earlier. To survive the dark days and nights ahead, Shawn must not only decipher what the man is after, he must move past his own grief, fears, and insecurities, and learn to trust in Jenny, the disgraced town sheriff, and, most importantly, in himself. A small town horror, fantasy, paranormal, and coming of age romance. The Small Things trilogy spans forty years and three generations in a tale of murder, betrayal, corruption, sacrifice, love, redemption, faith and magic that culminates in a showdown that will pit the very forces of heaven and hell against Shawn and his family in a battle for the future of mankind and the world itself. Sundown Rising: When Shawn and Jenny decide to visit a traveling carnival, will they find more than they bargained for? And why are Mr. Kingfisher and Mr. Quarry in town? Threads: History is changing around nineteen-year-old Ben Spencer, and he’s powerless to stop it. His sister has disappeared, his family thinks he’s schizophrenic, and, worse yet, the girl he’s madly in love with won’t give him the time of day. Enter the mysterious Michael, who, years earlier, helped Ben’s parents defeat a powerful sorcerer bent on destroying them and reclaiming a relic stolen from him years before. With Michael’s help, Ben will travel back in time, to 1977, and attempt to set the past straight. But will he undo himself and the woman he loves in the process? Threads is a coming of age time travel adventure complete with murder and magic, and also a magical realism love story. The Small Things trilogy spans forty years and three generations in a tale of murder, betrayal, corruption, sacrifice, love, redemption, faith and magic that culminates in a showdown that will pit the very forces of heaven and hell against Ben and his family in a battle for the future of mankind and the world itself. Smoke: Can humans and ghosts work together to figure out what’s behind deadly and destructive fires…when they can’t even communicate? A Pattern of Shadows: Five years ago, the demon Azazel tricked Ben Spencer into giving him possession of his body. After countless frustrating and heartbreaking dead ends, Ben’s family and his girlfriend Katy Ruskin have finally located him. Will their daring rescue attempt work, and will they be able to free Ben from the demon? And with Ben free, is everything truly over…or is it only just beginning? A Pattern of Shadows brings the Small Things trilogy to a stunning conclusion that pits Ben and Katy and their families against the very forces of heaven and hell itself in a battle that will decide the fate of humanity. Who will survive? Redemption: Can a former villain truly change his ways?