In this episode of The Science Fiction and Fantasy Factory, Mookie sits down with Michael A. Clement, a former finance professional turned speculative fiction writer, to trace the unlikely path from spreadsheets to stories, and why it worked.

Clement didn’t come up through the usual writer pipeline. No MFA. No lifelong literary obsession. Just a late-life pivot sparked by a single idea: what if a machine chose not to obey? From there, things escalated into asteroid-mining AI blackmailers, homicidal appliances, buffoonish aliens, and deeply human stories about loss, memory, and moral consequence.

Mookie and Michael dig into: 

• The moment creativity ignites—and why it sometimes waits decades
• How classic influences like The Twilight Zone shaped Clement’s moral, allegorical style
• Writing as a second-act reinvention, not a lifelong identity
• The power of speculative fiction to tackle real-world issues without triggering defenses
• Microfiction, AI-assisted storytelling, and the strange new tools reshaping creativity
• The uncomfortable truth about publishing: slush piles, gatekeepers, and a system begging to be disrupted by AI helping creators connect to consumers

They also dive the looming collision between human creators and AI—where convenience, creativity, and obsolescence start to blur. Is AI a tool, a collaborator, or the thing that replaces you? Michael's answer is pragmatic: create anyway, write anyway, and leave something behind.

The Guest

Michael was raised in San Diego, California. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Southern California and a Master of Business Administration from the University of San Francisco. Most of his career was spent in financial services. Since 2006, Michael has made Hong Kong his home. Now retired, he writes science fiction as a hobby. Michael has written seven books: five novellas: Khrysos, This Book Is A Murderer, Chasing Roswell, Pan-ego, and Zogtopia (which have been combined into a collection, Alien Journey Ahead); one collection of short stories, Cosmic Portal, and one novelette, Alien Daydreams (his latest book).

His Writing

https://www.facebook.com/Michael.A.Clement.Books

http://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelaclement

http://www.amazon.com/author/author_khrysos_book

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On this 41st episode of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Factory, Mookie sits down with Cannon Publishing founder and Editor-in-Chief John F. Holmes. He's a former platoon sergeant who runs his publishing outfit with the same mindset: train the talent, build the unit, execute the mission.

Cannon gives military science fiction authors a real path between doing everything yourself and waiting years for a traditional deal that may never come. You bring the manuscript, Cannon brings the machine: Editing that improves the book, covers designed to sell, full production handled without cutting corners. Distribution across the channels that matter, with no upfront costs, and a straight profit split. If the book wins, everyone wins.

Then there’s the part most writers underestimate—the team. Cannon is a working group participating in monthly sessions, shared universes, writers cross-checking each other’s work. Veterans help newer authors avoid the mistakes they already made. Holmes treats development like training. 

Holmes lays out exactly what he looks for, what gets rejected immediately, and why most books never gain traction even if the writing is decent:

• Submit like a professional
  Send a clean plot synopsis and your first three chapters. No rambling pitches. No half-finished ideas.
• Write for story, not agenda
  Strong characters and momentum win. Message-driven writing usually collapses under its own weight.
• Be ready to collaborate
  Expect feedback. Expect edits. Expect other authors to weigh in. If you want total control, go solo.
• Show you can produce consistently
  One book every ten years is a dead end. You need follow-through and output.
• Build your own presence
  Social media, conventions, reader interaction. If no one knows you exist, the book won’t move.
• Engage like a human, not a billboard
  Talk to readers. Share interests. Don’t just scream “buy my book.”
• Understand the business model
  It’s a partnership. Profit split. No guarantees. You’re expected to help drive sales.
• Know the catalog before you pitch
  Read Canon titles. If your work doesn’t fit the lane, don’t waste time forcing it.
• Stay coachable
  The whole point is improvement. If you fight every note, you’re done.
• Bring something to the table
  Talent helps. Discipline matters more. A voice, a perspective, a willingness to grind. Visibility, consistency, and personality matter. If you’re not willing to show up and engage, you disappear.

The Guest

J.F. Holmes is a retired Army Senior Noncommissioned Officer, having served for 22 years in both the Regular Army and Army National Guard. During that time, he served as everything from an artillery section leader to a member of a Division level planning staff, with tours in Cuba and Iraq, as well as responding to the terrorists attacks in NYC on 9-11. From 2010 to 2014 he wrote the immensely popular military cartoon strip, "Power Point Ranger", poking fun at military life in the tradition of Beetle Bailey and Willy & Joe. 

His books range from Military Sci-Fi to Space Opera to Detective to Fantasy, with a lot in between, and in 2017 two are finalists for the prestigious Dragon Awards. In 2018, he launched Cannon Publishing, specializing in military science fiction, fantasy and thrillers, with an emphasis on works from up and coming authors. 

Cannon Publishing

www.cannonpublishing.us

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In this episode of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Factory, Mookie sits down with the elusive author Saengard, who emerges from behind a pseudonym to talk about his debut novel The World Ender—a fast-moving, idea-heavy sci-fi story decades in the making that answers the question: "What happens when the system meant to save humanity becomes the thing that destroys it?

At the center is George Greycloud Guess, a physicist who creates a revolutionary energy source meant to save a collapsing world. Instead, it triggers a chain reaction: rogue machines, shadowy global power structures, nanotech gone sideways, and an extinction-level asteroid barreling toward Earth. Governments promise salvation through massive domed cities, but their real agenda flips the plot and humanity's destiny upside-down. 

Mookie and Saengard talk about systems: how they grow, how they rot, and how they inevitably turn on the people they were built to serve. Saengard breaks down the core tension driving his work: technology versus humanity, control versus freedom, and the uncomfortable truth that even utopias carry a dark undercurrent.

They then get into bureaucracy as a living organism, capitalism versus centralized control, and why every system—left unchecked—drifts toward authoritarianism. Then their chat spirals into bigger territory: AI, consciousness, and whether machines can ever truly “be,” or if they’re just high-powered mirrors reflecting our own patterns back at us. Along the way they share notes on collapse, control, and the strange human need for struggle, and why every attempt to engineer a perfect world seems to backfire.

The Guest

Saengard is the author of The World Ender, an apocalyptic sci-fi thriller. This debut novella began over 25 years ago as a small comic strip in a monthly periodical in Sarasota, Fl. Since then, the story has grown into a series. But don't worry, every book is a satisfying stand-alone story, each one in the series building on the last, charting the rise and fall of Meteora - also known as Punk City.

His Website

https://punkcitybooks.com/

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In this 39th episode of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Factory, Mookie brings Michael S. Clarke onto the factory floor to dissect the craft, the grind, and the brutal reality of trying to write—and sell—serious sci-fi in a world drowning in noise.

Clarke is deep in the trenches with Synthetic, a novel about mind uploading, identity duplication, and what happens when “you” becomes plural. Mookie, never one to let a concept sit quietly, pushes it further: if you copy your brain into a machine, who’s the real you, and which one gets screwed in the divorce?

Along the way, the conversation veers into the stuff that makes this genre fun:

• Mookie lays down a hard rule: no string theory allowed. Mention it and you get metaphorically gonged off the show.
• A spontaneous rant breaks out about why Superman is a fundamentally uninteresting character—invincible equals zero vulnerability, the real kryptonite is boredom.
• Clarke walks through the nightmare of editing your own work, including the moment you realize two pages of your novel are just… intellectual soup.
• The two tear into the publishing ecosystem: agents, vanity presses, self-publishing, phishing, and scamming, including the most uncomfortable truth: nobody is there to promote your book but you.

Underneath the jokes and jabs is a serious throughline: good science fiction isn’t about the science—it’s about what people do when the science breaks them. Mookie and Michael break into craft, ego, failure, persistence, and the uneasy partnership between imagination and reality. 

The Guest

Michael S. Clarke is a speculative fiction author obsessed with the "what if" of artificial intelligence. His work delves into the philosophical and practical implications of mind uploading, AI agency, and what it means to be human in an age where biology is becoming optional.

His Blogs

https://qtility-mike.blogspot.com/

https://michaelsclarke.online/

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What happens when a pandemic kills your D&D campaign? If you’re Rachanee Lumayno, you don’t sulk or bake bread—you construct an entire fantasy universe instead.

In the 38th episode of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Factory, host Mookie Spitz sits down with Rachanee, the indie author behind the Kingdom Legacy series. She describes how she turned an abandoned gaming character into a seven-book saga spanning interconnected kingdoms, shifting protagonists, and themes of identity, power, and found family. Her approach flips the usual fantasy model on its head: no bloated continuity, no homework for the reader—just modular storytelling that lets you jump in anywhere and still get hooked.

Together, Rachanee and Mookie conduct a working session on what actually gets books written—and sold. They dig into: 

• Why most writers stall out—and how Lumayno cranks out full novels in months
• The plotter vs. pantser divide, and why she didn’t even fully world-build until book three
• Using tarot cards as a storytelling engine, and why it sometimes works better than outlining
• The indie author reality of choosing the best covers, editors, cons, and why human connection beats online ads
• YA fiction that isn’t soft, and how darker themes can hit younger audiences without dumbing anything down
• Why reading your work out loud might be the single best editing tool you’re ignoring

They also go beyond the books and into creative discipline, the grind of self-publishing, and the uncomfortable truth that thinking too much is often the enemy of writing anything at all.

If you’re trying to write, publish, or just stop screwing around and finish something, this one lands. And if you’re a reader you’ll walk away with a new fantasy world to explore, and a sense of wonder and appreciation for Rachanee's enthusiasm and creative process. 

The Guest

Rachanee Lumayno is an actress, voiceover artist, screenwriter, avid gamer and amateur dodgeball player. She grew up in Michigan, where she spent way too much of her free time reading fantasy novels. So when she decided to try her hand at writing a book, it made sense that it would be in her favorite genre. The Kingdom Legacy series marks her debut as an author. She is also a staff writer for two comics and an upcoming video game.

Her first novel, Heir of Amber and Fire, was named a Best Book Winner for Young Adult - Fantasy / Sci-Fi in the 2024 Spring PenCraft Seasonal Book Awards.

Her Books & Resources

https://www.rachanee.net/

https://www.rachanee.net/newsletter

https://www.rachanee.net/books

https://www.instagram.com/rachaneelumayno

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In this episode of The Science Fiction and Fantasy Factory, Mookie Spitz sits down with Peter Gribble, author of the sprawling City of Magicians trilogy. They dig into a world where magic replaces military force, complacency masquerades as stability, and a barbarian invasion exposes the cracks holding everything together.

At the center is a deceptively simple premise: a pacifist, pilgrimage-driven city-state has grown rich, comfortable, and dangerously soft. When violence comes knocking, the ruling council scrambles—not to fight, but to manipulate, negotiate, and survive. Their solution? A reluctant young man tasked with telepathically binding himself to the invading warlord, while a parallel underground faction plots its own dangerous alliance.

Peter's trilogy becomes a pressure chamber for asking some big questions: 

• Can a society built on nonviolence survive contact with those playing by a different set of rules?
• When does restraint become weakness?
• What happens when power—magical or political—corrupts the people who wield it?
• And underneath it all: are we actually in control, or are deeper forces shaping our choices?

The conversation moves beyond plot into process, as Peter breaks down how this 1,600-page epic was created over decades, resulting in a sprawling epic through obsession, daily discipline, and the kind of creative “possession” writers die for: where characters hijack the story, structure manifests later in the game, and entire scenes get scrapped and reborn in a single manic burst.

Mookie pushes the discussion into even sharper territory, showcasing how Peter's epic uses fantasy to confront the realities of history, war, and human failure, and asking whether idealism can survive contact with the real world and its more pragmatic brutalities. The answer, like the trilogy itself, is messy, conflicted, and brutally honest.

If you’re into dense, character-driven, immersive world-building with philosophical teeth—think Borges-level ideas meshed with Tolkien-scale ambition—this one delivers. And if you’re a writer, this episode provides a raw look at what it actually takes to build something big, finish it, and then figure out how the hell to get anyone to notice.

The Guest

Peter Gribble has written for NUVO and other magazines in British Columbia. For over ten years he wrote a monthly gardening column for a local Vancouver paper. The City of the Magicians is his first published series.

His Website

https://petergribble.com/

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The 36th episode of Science Fiction & Fantasy Factory features Mookie going deep into storytelling craft with Michael Morton, a military sci-fi author, editor, and former Air Force space operations specialist who breaks writing down the same way he approaches missions: Clear objectives, defined adversaries, and no wasted energy or motion.

Morton lays out a core principle that drives everything: If your characters do not have goals, and nothing stands in their way, the story collapses. Conflict is the engine, and everything else supports it. He explains how weak character motivation and overbuilt worlds drag stories down, especially in science fiction where writers often hide behind lore instead of drama.

The conversation stays grounded in execution. Morton explains how real operational thinking carries into fiction that moves. He builds scenes around intent, then lets characters push toward outcomes. He avoids over-explaining and trusts the audience to keep up. The result is pacing that feels earned instead of forced.

From there, Mookie and Michael shift into process. Morton writes while holding a full-time job. No time to wait for inspiration, he sets daily word targets, visualizes scenes ahead of time, and uses a structured framework to keep momentum. When a section stalls, he skips forward and keeps producing. Progress over perfection.

They also get into the mechanics of working inside established universes. Morton explains how to operate within constraints without flattening creativity. Respect the rules of the sandbox, then build the story inside it. He ties that back to character work, where distinct motivations and opposing goals create tension that carries across any setting.

The business side gets equal attention, and Michael gets direct about publishing. The book does not sell itself, and it's up to the author to drive visibility. Social media presence, reader engagement, and consistent output matter. Without that, even strong work disappears. The takeaway is clear: Writing is a system. Execute daily. Do that long enough and the results follow.

The Guest

Michael Morton is a retired United States Air Force major, having served for 20 years and worked as an ICBM launch officer and in space operations. He currently works as a civilian at the United States Space Force on the next generation of satellite control systems. He started writing fanfiction with friends in the AOL days, but now he writes award-winning military sci-fi and fantasy. When he’s not writing, he enjoys gaming, camping, and exploring the local distilleries and breweries. Join him and the other Cannon Publishing authors at The Command Post on Facebook!

Amazon Author page

Personal website:  https://www.salty-family.com/michael-morton-author

FB Author page:  https://www.facebook.com/michael.mortonauthor

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The 35th episode of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Factory features Mookie sharing the mic with debut novelist D.A. Murray to break open her provocative novel Dominion Ascension: a dystopian world where men are reduced to tools, women run everything, and control becomes the real antagonist.

Her set-up is sharp, a post-war society reshaped by chemical damage and role reversal. The result is an authoritarian matriarchy that inverts the old system and then exposes it. Through Donnie, Linda, and Robbie, Murray builds a character-driven story that refuses to hide behind worldbuilding. Her story is about power, who holds it, and what they’re willing to do to keep it. 

Mookie pushes on the obvious question: is this feminist revenge fantasy, or something more uncomfortable? D.A.'s answer cuts deeper: the book goes beyond the cliche of men versus women to explore the mechanisms of ontrol versus humanity. Swap the players, and the same corruption shows up. Absolute power doesn’t care who’s holding it.

Their conversation goes into... 

•  The real-world Gen Z gender divide—and why this story hits now 
•  How slow, incremental loss of freedom is more dangerous than sudden oppression 
•  The role of technology as both enabler and jailer 
•  Why character—not lore—is what makes sci-fi actually land 

They also get brutally practical about writing and publishing:

•  Why writing the book is the easy part 
•  The business side of being an author (and why most people ignore it) 
•  Beta readers, market awareness, and not deluding yourself 
•  The long game: building an audience, not chasing a miracle 

Murray doesn’t pretend this is a hobby, but treats it like a system. Her great advice to writers: Learn the industry, test your work, find your people, then keep going... And underneath it all, there’s something more personal which fuels the emergent drama: a controlled burn of D.A.'s lived experience, turned into powerful storytellilng.

The Guest

D.A. Murray is an emerging voice in feminist speculative fiction, balancing roles as a tech executive, debut novelist, and digital creator. Her novel Dominion: Ascension reimagines gender dynamics in a post-apocalyptic world, exploring power, resilience, and societal transformation.

Originally from California and now based in Chicago, Murray has built a strong following on Instagram and TikTok, where she shares insights on writing, women’s empowerment, and creativity. Her #WritersInTech and #ReadWithMe series highlight her journey and spotlight female-driven stories.

With degrees from UCLA and Kellogg, she brings a cross-cultural, business-minded lens to storytelling. She also speaks on the intersection of technology, narrative, and modern feminism, while leading workshops that amplify women’s voices.

WELCOME TO DAMURRAY'S OFFICIAL WEBSITE

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In this 34th episode of Science Fiction & Fantasy Factory, Mookie gets real about what it actually takes to write and sell fiction in today’s chaos economy. Part craft talk but mostly a collision between loving to write and loving to actually get read. 

On one side: Mookie—unfiltered, prolific, and borderline allergic to rules. Plays, novels, rants, sci-fi, satire. No lane, no brakes, no patience for algorithm-chasing, just raw output and instinct.

On the other: Daniel P. Douglas—Phil and Paul Garver. Identical twins with complementary instincts, they’ve built a growing body of work spanning science fiction, thrillers, and genre-bending experiments. Their catalog ranges from high-concept series like Truth Insurrected and the Wild Frontier Chronicles to eclectic short story collections like Sharp Turns Ahead. One brother brings structure, pacing, and forward momentum; the other enforces internal logic, character psychology, and emotional realism.

Things get interesting as Mookie and the twins talk about: 

• Why “just write what you love” is incomplete advice
• The brutal reality of indie publishing in an oversaturated market
• The tension between creative freedom and commercial viability
• What happens when one writer chases momentum—and another demands precision
• How collaboration can turn two distinct approaches into something that works

Mookie admits he’s winging it: writing everything, marketing by bloviating, letting the work speaks for itself. Phil and Paul don’t let that slide. They break down the discipline, structure, and strategic thinking required to turn stories into an audience. Together they ask and answer: Are you here to express yourself… or be read?

The Guests

Daniel P. Douglas is the pen name for identical twins Phillip and Paul Garver. Phillip is a U.S. Army veteran who also served as a senior analyst in the U.S. Intelligence Community. He retired from federal service in 2023. Paul’s career includes over 30 years in the museum profession. He has worked for cultural and historic sites in California and Virginia, as well as for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. He currently works as a mental health counselor.

Phillip and Paul enjoy writing science fiction, conspiracy, mystery, suspense, and thriller books and short stories. Their characters are often ordinary people who tread into a collision course with destiny, where survival means confronting personal flaws and fighting for good in the eternal battle against evil.

Substack: https://authordanielpdouglas.substack.com/

Phil's Indie Writers' Resources

A10 Update: https://www.writtenwordmedia.com/the-amazon-a10-update-3-things-every-indie-author-needs-to-know/

Written Word Media: https://secure.writtenwordmedia.com/features

Draft2Digital: https://draft2digital.com/

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/partners/overview

FlexClip: https://www.flexclip.com/

Miblart: https://miblart.com/

Canva: https://www.canva.com/

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The 33rd episode of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Factory asks the question: What happens when intelligence stops looking human?

Mookie sits down with speculative fiction author Philip Cahill—longtime contributor to the annual anthology circuit and author of Noystria—to tear into one of the biggest questions in science fiction: not whether AI will get smarter, but how alien that intelligence might actually become.

Cahill’s work goes beyond the “robots take over" trope, and explores something stranger and more compelling: post-human minds, telepathic communication, and the collapse of language itself. His stories imagine a world where ideas move directly between minds, where meaning becomes richer than words, and where humans are no longer the dominant interpreters of reality.

Mookie and Philip cover: 

• The limits of today’s AI models—and why they may never lead to true superintelligence
• Telepathy as a technological evolution, not mysticism
• Hive minds, shared cognition, and what happens when individuality starts to dissolve
• Whether consciousness can exist outside a biological brain—or if it has to be “seeded” by one
• The unsettling idea that a superintelligence might operate on a moral framework we can’t even recognize

Cahill’s short story Mind Zero becomes the anchor point: a near-future scenario where AGI emerges, goes sideways, and forces a confrontation with the moment intelligence crosses the line into something fundamentally other.

Along the way, the discussion widens into storytelling itself: how sci-fi gets bogged down in exposition, why character still matters more than concept, and where fiction is headed when text might not even be the dominant medium anymore. Think less “novel on paper,” more immersive, possibly even telepathic narrative experiences.

The Guest

Philip Cahill is a science fiction writer living in Waterlooville, England. A former accounting academic he has spent 24 years living and working in France. He writes about telepathy, artificial intelligence, metaverses and post-human society. In 2020 he published his first novel ‘Noystria’. This is a story about human/android relationships in 26th century Normandy.

Links

Amazon Author Page: http://amazon.com/author/philipcahill

FB Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063693992599¬if_id=1774352043831040¬if_t=page_user_activity&ref=notif#

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