Joshua Lavender

Quibble, 67. Jah (i) Loss drives Lurah to life as a mercenary. The imperious Aht-nah levels accusations at Nuah and Quibble.

QUIBBLE, 67. Jah (i): Loss drives Lurah to life as a mercenary. The imperious Aht-nah levels accusations at Nuah and Quibble. | Singular Dream serializes a novel set in the far future after a technological singularity. #SciFi #Fantasy #BookSky 📚💙 🚀💫🌈 🪐📚 singulardream.substack.com/p/quibble-ch...

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Quibble, 66. Djer Restored to his former life as a Far, Nuah recounts how he met Vega and became a Zero.

QUIBBLE, “Djer”: Restored to his former life as a Far, Nuah recounts how he met Vega and became the Zero Alnasl. || Sci-fi adventure, dystopia, and meditation on transhumanism. #SciFi #ScienceFiction #Dystopia #Booksky 🪐📚💙 🌈🚀💫 singulardream.substack.com/p/quibble-ch...

SCIECE? It seems the Canon Creators had spelling challenges.

Glad to hear it, AC! I hope you like the story!

Quibble, 65. Nahli-qah Caught in the Aht-nah's trap, the jah Asreh fears for her life.

New chapter out! A sci-fi adventure, love story, dystopia, and meditation on transhumanism, QUIBBLE ponders what a technological singularity will mean for humanity’s survival — and what might survive. #ScienceFiction #SciFi #Transhumanism #Booksky 🪐📚💙 🌈🚀💫
singulardream.substack.com/p/quibble-ch...

Quibble, 64. Far Quibble meets people with a strange way of life.

“Far” is inspired by Ursula K. Le Guin’s anthropology-rich sci-fi. Living among nomads, Quibble learns about non-transhuman society and reflects on the long shadow the AI Unity casts over her own life.
singulardream.substack.com/p/quibble-ch... #BookSky 🪐📚💙 🌈🚀💫 #SciFi #ScienceFiction #Transhumanism

Quibble, 63. Alliance As war comes, the Adroit, the Zeros, and a surprisingly capable Far must unite or perish.

QUIBBLE, “Alliance”: As war comes, the Adroit, the Zeros, and a surprisingly capable Far must unite or perish. || QUIBBLE is a novel set in the far future, many millennia after a technological singularity.
singulardream.substack.com/p/quibble-ch... #BookSky 🪐📚💙 🌈🚀💫 #SciFi #ScienceFiction

Quibble, 62. Cascade Nish, Vega, and Aladfar piece together their enemies’ plans for a war of genocide and utter control against Ones and Zeros alike.

New chapter out! A sci-fi adventure, love story, dystopia, and meditation on transhumanism, QUIBBLE ponders what a technological singularity will mean for humanity’s survival — and what might survive.
singulardream.substack.com/p/quibble-ch...
#BookSky 🪐📚💙 🌈🚀💫 #SciFi #ScienceFiction #Transhumanism

Going Fallow "Write every day" is terrible advice.

Many writers go through extended periods of writing little or nothing. I call mine "fallow." Picture a field going to weeds. This nothingness is a vital part of my writing process. Far from impeding me, it gives me what I need to write. #writing #writinglife
singulardream.substack.com/p/going-fallow

Quibble, 59. Nahli (i) As Alnasl the Zero becomes Nuah the Far, a fraught history comes to light.

Beginning of the story: singulardream.substack.com/p/quibble-ch...

Quibble, 60. Nahli (ii) Haunted by his treachery, Nuah becomes the boy who fell in love with night.

QUIBBLE, ch. 60. Nahli (ii): Haunted by his treachery, Nuah becomes the boy who fell in love with night.

End of the short story in the novel begun in chapter 59. Both chapters free to read.
#BookSky 🪐📚💙 🌈🚀💫 #SciFi #ScienceFiction #fable #romantic
singulardream.substack.com/p/quibble-ch...

The MFA Discourse Is a Hopeless Mess You're missing the point. It's not about MFAs. It's about writing and writers.

#MFA #MFAdiscourse #CreativeWriting #poetry

Quibble, 59. Nahli (i) As Alnasl the Zero becomes Nuah the Far, a fraught history comes to light.

"Nahli" was originally "The Boy Who Fell in Love with Night,” a short story written as a companion to QUIBBLE. At last, it entered the novel as back story for a character, but you can still read it as a stand-alone short story. Free to read! Enjoy! #BookSky
singulardream.substack.com/p/quibble-ch...

Quibble, 58. Memory Defenseless, Quibble faces the Aht-nah's whispering sword.

QUIBBLE, “Memory”: Defenseless and called on to save Alnasl’s life, Quibble faces the Aht-nah’s whispering sword. | QUIBBLE is far-future dystopian sci-fi about a technological singularity. #SciFi #ScienceFiction #dystopia #transhumanism #BookSky 🪐📚💙 🌈🚀💫 singulardream.substack.com/p/quibble-ch...

Quibble, 57. Glyph Quibble leads the helpless Alnasl through the Waste.

“Glyph“: Quibble leads the helpless Alnasl through the Waste. | A sci-fi adventure and a meditation on transhumanism, QUIBBLE is set on an otherworldly Earth millennia after a technological singularity. #SciFi #ScienceFiction #transhumanism #BookSky 🪐📚💙 🌈🚀💫 singulardream.substack.com/p/quibble-ch...

Exigence: The Heart of the Story A reflection on revising my short story "Away" and the writer's need to think about a story's exigence.

Exigence: The Heart of the Story — Revising “Away” and why thinking about the story’s exigence was crucial. Excerpts from a take-no-prisoners critique.
singulardream.substack.com/p/exigence-t...
#Booksky 📚💙 🪐📚 🌈🚀💫

Neighbor passing by: “What d’ya say, Josh?”

Me: “I ain’t sayin’ nuthin’! It’s the best policy: keep yer mouth shut if you know what’s good for ya!”

What’s more, who has the right to rep your book to a publisher? Only someone you’ve given permission to do so! “Endorsement” is a very sneaky word here.

#ShortStory #ShortStories #ShortFiction

#BookSky 💙📚 🌈🚀💫 #SciFi-Fantasy-SpecFic 🪐📚 🪐📚💙

Add me!

Away {Short story} Nat, an AI with too much to do, takes a vacation.

Nat wears many hats: assistant, traffic director, chauffeur, personal shopper, mother, therapist, porn concierge. Too much work! What's worse, Nat is always taken for granted and never gets to take a break! What's an overworked AI to do? #scifi #sciencefiction #AI singulardream.substack.com/p/away

Photo Essay: Treasure Hammock Ranch Florida, May 2025

"...when the right two poets meet, as when the right two craftsmen of any art meet, it’s magical. But I got much more from the ranch than that — it was an overdue restorative for my spirit..." #paradise #poets #poetry #travel #VanLife #TravelPhotography foolinthewoods.substack.com/p/photo-essa...

Quibble, chapters 1 and 2 Quibble recalls her birth and her first lesson in the fearful life of a One.

Eigengrau (German: “intrinsic gray”) is the color you see when you close your eyes in a completely dark place. Absent any light, your brain still receives some visual input, and it’s this color. #Color #ScienceFiction #SciFi #Transhumanism #Dystopia singulardream.substack.com/p/quibble-ch...

Me, too. There’s a vibrant serial scene on Substack. I just wish the subscription model was better suited for it. To make my novel affordable for readers, I’ve had to release two-thirds of it for free.

Photo Essay: Treasure Hammock Ranch Florida, May 2025

“It’s like God wanted a getaway but he couldn’t make up his mind whether he was more of a gardener, an animal lover, or a beach bum. . . . Just listen to me! Making up similes about God, as if I was a believer!” #paradise #poets #travel #vanlife
foolinthewoods.substack.com/p/photo-essa...

Start Here A quick guide to Singular Dream and Quibble, a cybermonk sci-fi novel

Redefine humanity? That question is very tangled and fraught! I couldn’t possibly answer it even in a dozen pages, which is why I wrote a book. For any interested readers of sci-fi and dystopia, here’s where you can get your bearings in the novel: singulardream.substack.com/p/start-here

Quibble, 53. Null At the Arc of the Unnamed, the horror of Quibble’s world crashes in on her.

In the new chapter, dystopia comes squarely into focus as Quibble learns of a genocide that’s carried on for thousands of years. || QUIBBLE is a serialized novel about a far-future transhuman theocracy. #SciFi #Transhumanism #ScienceFiction #BookSky 🪐📚💙 🌈🚀💫 singulardream.substack.com/p/quibble-ch...