Authors
Beth Martin
Story Title: Neptune Storm, Crash Course Negotiations, The Last Voyage
As the creator of the Starship Blunder universe, Beth Martin enjoyed writing multiple stories for the anthology. One introduces the main characters, another follows the crew as they crash land on the wrong planet yet still try to set up diplomatic associations, and the final one shows what happens to Sarah Hawkins after piloting a starship with an abysmal track record for an entire year.
Beth Martin writes science fiction novels and escape room style puzzle books. She has her degree in mathematics, enjoys all things numbers, and is always up for a board game. Other hobbies include playing the piano and making quilts. Although she's terrible at video games, she loves watching her husband play. When not writing, she can be found petting her two fluffy cats and chasing her two kids.
Jason Abofsky
Story Title: Hopscotch
The Tarpima Magistrate's Representative accuses the Starship Blunder of harboring a dangerous enemy and demands the starship captain turn over the allegedly dangerous handimen alien. The only thing Captain Nemo finds amiss is his starship and his crew—who are clearly hiding something.
Jason Abofsky is an author of Science Fiction and Fantasy stories, including his novel Celoven, Stormchaser. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science. His hobbies include reading, video games, and board games, and he participates in different conventions and festivals each year. Software Engineer by day, writer by night, Jason has blended his technical experiences and love of Science Fiction and Fantasy to craft a unique and imaginative universe influenced by some of his favorite authors and the lessons they've imparted.
Sill Bahagia
Story Title: Boomerang Black
Kal's court-mandated community service includes working on the Starship Blunder. His first mission is to locate a missing social media influencer who is either a musical genius or a money-hungry hack.
Sill Bihagia is a suburban chicken farmer with a M.S. in evolutionary neuroscience, despite learning to read on homeschool books featuring dinosaur saddles. Sill’s primary writing project is a science fantasy series called the Oria universe, which feature action-packed stories of resilience, found family, and redemption.
Ross Baxter
Story Title: Marooned
After mistakenly deleting the navigational information regarding an ancient abandoned space station, the Blunder finds it again eight years later. Ensign Helen Darris returns to see if the crew member they left behind is still alive, and if so, how angry they are.
After thirty years of naval service, Ross Baxter now concentrates on writing short stories. He has won a number of awards and had a story included on the 2017 HWA Bram Stoker reading list. Married to a Norwegian and with two Anglo-Viking kids, he now lives in Derby, England.
Edward Cooke
Story Title: Out of the Dusty Planet
Sarah offends a visiting patriarch and tries to atone through a perilous mission to Kippax, a planet of giant dust-worms.
Edward Cooke trained as a technical writer in Flensburg, Germany. He has written songs, stage musicals, and other extended fibs.
Susan Eschbach
Story Title: Hellspawn in the Swamp
Starship Blunder lost a battle with pirates and crashed on an uninhabited planet. The native plant life, however, is particularly nasty, with leaves of a corrosive acid capable of dissolving parts of Blunder’s hull. Will the crew be able to protect the ship?
Susan Eschbach is convinced she’s an alien accidentally born on Earth and forced to live in a small town in Southwest Missouri. She writes science fiction in the hopes her real people will find her. Eschbach has two published novels, A Trial By Error and Man On The Fringe, short stories published by Crowder Quill and Cloaked Press, and has won numerous contests.
H. Hackman
Story Title: As Natural As Falling
A pressured nurse struggles to feel respected for her role on the Starship Blunder. But after a mechanical mishap, an odd school teacher sparks her interest. As the two grow closer, the nurse realizes that other people's approval isn't the only—or the best—way to find fulfillment.
H. Hackman has always loved reading stories. In early childhood, she began writing her own and hasn't stopped since. Her favorite genres to read and write are fantasy and science fiction.
Mac King
Story Title: Murder in the Dining Hall
A fan of classic police procedurals, Starship Blunder's Head of Security Sherrif Kojak looks the part of a mid-20th century detective. But when presented with cold-blooded murder aboard his ship, can he crack the case?
Mac King is a retired police officer and a member of the MWA and the Howard County Writer's Group.
Melisa Peterson Lewis
Story Title: The Green Glob
Commander Thatcher MacRae leads the Blunder team on a mission to collect plant samples from a relatively unexplored planet. However, the trip very quickly turns into a globby disco fiasco.
Melisa Peterson Lewis is a science fiction writer residing on the outskirts of Baltimore, Maryland. She's published the Lazarus City series and several short stories. Most days, you can find her writing, gardening, hanging out with friends, or jamming to live music.
Chris Morton
Story Title: Feeling Sluggish
The children on board complain to Luna about telepathic warnings of an impending disaster. Then Sarah gets a message from Commander Sterling: it seems there has been an infestation of Space Slugs on Terminus and that Starship Blunder has been infested too. If the slugs find their way into the warp core, things may turn rather sour.
Chris Morton's stories have been described as being in the genres of slacker lit, sci-fi lit, sci-fi psyche, magical realism, and avant-garde. He is the author of the novels, English Slacker and Hard-Boiled Wonderland. His science fiction stories have been published by Cannon Press, The Colored Lens, State of Matter, Longshot Island, and the Untold Tales Podcasts. An English teacher for over twenty years, Morton is also the author of the teaching guide: TEFL Flashcard Games for Young Learners.
Ariele Sieling
Story Title: Salt In The Wound
Jace works for AstEroiD Enterprises on a remote asteroid. But she has vacation time coming up, and has booked a trip back to Neptune on the Starship Blunder. But halfway home, the Blunder is attacked by Plunder Wyrms, a vicious type of slug-like alien pirates—looking for Jace. Will the Starship Blunder make it through the attack? And what exactly do they want with Jace?
Ariele Sieling is a prolific science fiction and fantasy writer with over fifty published novels, novellas, short stories, and essays. She lives in NH with her spouse and zoo—two dogs, five cats, two goats, and quite a few chickens.
Edward Swing
Story Title: The Soo-sacan Caper
Intergalactic thief Vance Pittman serves his time as a repair worker on the Starship Blunder. However, when he sees the opportunity for one last heist that will let him serve his remaining time on the cushy planet of Soo-sacan, he can't help himself. Unfortunately, the wrong things go right, and everything else goes horribly, horribly wrong.
Edward Swing is a writer of stories, software developer, avid gamer, and otaku. Books he's written include the New Pantheon series (Young Adult modern fantasy, 3 books), the Gozen Saga (military mecha sci-fi, 2 books), and the Adventures of Gavin Greene (Middle-grade fantasy/sci-fi, 2 books). He has been a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, learned taekwondo, traveled both within the United States and internationally, and studied diverse topics including astronomy, mythology, and mathematics. The father of three young adults, he lives with several pampered cats.