*sneaks after it, metalvore firelizard considering it for food*

Don't eat it too fast there Friend. That Micro Singularity reactor might give you a tummy ache if it's broached suddenly. Think of it like spitting out a peach pit.

*shall nibble carefully around the reactor core*
*is only 2ft snout to tailtip, so is more the 'gnaw hole and climb inside to eat it out*
*leaves a few tasty bits for foxie as thanks*

Hee Hee Hee! I had the image of this probe eaten like an orange with the smoking shell left behind like the rind pop up in my head. Foxy would surly make a nice profit selling that energy core on the sly.

Looks like a lot of stacking ^.^

Yes. I was trying to imply t had the ability to unfold out into several forms when needed.

I'm reminded of the old sci-fi mags/novels.

Yeah. In 1997 the Internet thing hadn't quite caught on, and fanzines, magazines and APAs were the big thing among artists, writers and Science Fiction fans. So yes, I had intended this to be in a magazine as a "Spot" illustration. I believe I did post it in a copy of Rich Chandler's Gallery at the time.

Yeah, I could see it (in color) on Analog.

Hmmmmmmm...

my furs reaction was:
i like the fishing pole, not so sure about the side arm or the hypodermic.

i miss the literary sf fandom,
hope it still exists somewhere.

AHA! Points to you. Yes. I included the fishing pole because the robot would find it handy for retrieving tings like dropped car keys. That's not quite a hypodermic though. It's actually a short range emitting Antenna... Okay. It's a "Magic Wand."

Oh man... Fanzines and APAs still exist, but they're in far more limited numbers than before. Rowrlbrazzle and North American Fur are still chugging along, and whenever the Ursa Major awards roll around, (That's the Furry Fandom form of the "Oscars.") They always seem to list four or five candidates for "Best Fanzine."

Maybe if I get to this big Sci Fi Con in L. A. in November I'll poke around and see if they have any Fanzines that still provide free copies for those who contribute Art and literature, if you're interested.

i'm always interested. sorry to say i haven't sent anything to spontoon in ages.
i do know about the ursa's of course. i used to watch flayrah regularly, but now i seldom remember to.
thanks for reminding me.

there's probably still fan run literary sf cons in the sf bay area,
though all the ones i've been too, (other then the abortive attempt to get one started in sacramento),
were when i was living up in oregon in the 80s.

mostly orecons and norwescons, and the semi-weekly meetings of PorSFiS.

i don't doubt so-cal has everything,
but it also has a warmer climate and more money oriented culture then i would be comfortable with.
back up in oregon, washington state, or b.c. canada is where i'd rather be.

(i moved from roseville, near sacramento, up to reno because i had cheaper rent by doing so.
reno has b.l.f.c. which is amazing, and s.n.a.f.u. for anime, which i made it to for the furst time last year.
but it doesn't have a train store, seperate issue of course, nor, as far as i know,
a 'mythopoec'/science fiction society. there are rp gaming groups, but as i mention in my current journal,
raiding parties aren't what interest me to role play, which seems to be what 99.999 of table top rp is about)

i seem to have gotten myself on mailing lists of furry romance f+sf writers, who i think are also on f.a.
more power to em, but that's not exactly what i'm looking for.

i'd just like to know who's being published these days (or even not published but writing) the kinds of things i love.
(the kind of stories about solving engineering problems on alien worlds with believable alien cultures,
or even on our own world, under 'alien' conditions)

Ah. I couldn't help but be reminded of Anne McCaffrey's "Decision at Doona" there, and maybe perhaps Alan Dean Foster's "Nor Crystal Tears." That kind of dates me, but those were two novels I enjoyed because the humans and aliens worked together.

c.j.cherreh's channur series, phillis gotlieb's big red cats, and pipers little fuzzies are what ultimately led me to furry.
that and a few random chances of circumstance.
zozzle said the zozzle mind, zozzle, zozzle, was the prototype for the little quozle size camoroi lion bear.
many others, not overtly furry, one or two of schmitz's telzy amberdon and trigger argee stories.
even some of lafferty's ideas.
though a lot of it comes from before i ever had a chance to read any of them.
growing up next to very small towns where it was the same distance in the opposite direction,
from town and the railroad station where my dad worked as telegrapher/towerman/clerk,
to where i could be completely surrounded by wilderness.
and leguinne, i cannot neglect to mention her word for world is forest, left hand of darkness, always coming home, city of illusions,
which were yes, stories about science, in which the science was cultural anthro and social psychology.
from the 70s through the 80s there was a groundswell of such stories,
by many writers, some who never did become well known, and tapering off into the 90s.
over the last couple of decades i've kind of lost track of new writers.
the now old periodicals disappearing from supermarket and pharmacy shelves, where once they were a prominent every day feature.

It's still going pretty strong, but it has much more competition these days, so it seems not so big in comparison.

Hmmm. I guess if I get to attend a Furry or Sci Fi con sometime in the near future I have a LOT of research to do. I'd like to find another Fanzine like "Yarf!" and Fang, Claw and Steel again.

Ooooh love those scifi book cover styles...

Me too. I guess I missed my calling. I believe they still like "Cover art" for Kindles though.

You should try anyway =)
Effectively, good lineart illustrations look so nice in a eink book...

That's a cool design, and yeah, like others have said, I could totally see this as a story illustration or a basis for a classic SF novel cover.

You know? All it needs is the "Classic" elements which they used to call, "The Three B's." A Babe, a Bum and a Bug eyed monster. These days though, folks also like "Hardware, Aliens, Spaceships, and Heroes."

Now I'm pondering re-drawing this to include some lady in the ripped up remnants of a military uniform, (Tastefully revealing of course.) A huge, gun toting, bare chested Guy, and the Probe should pass for the "Bug Eyed" Robot-monster". Or maybe not. Maybe the probe is taking it's "Passengers" for a ride?

Awesome