Generated by All in One SEO v5.0.1.1, this is an llms.txt file, used by LLMs to index the site. # Tom Dell'Aringa Science Fiction Writer ## Sitemaps - [XML Sitemap](https://tomdellaringa.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website. ## Posts - [Misunderstanding](https://tomdellaringa.com/misunderstanding/) - I stalk her down the hallway, weaving between students and frowning teachers. She would never expect payback here. The gold cardigan flashes before me as I use one more backpack as cover. Slinking into position, I scream. Her five-dollar Mocha Frappuccino goes flying as she turns in anger. Wait, that’s not my sister. This was - [Creative Inspiration: The Company Wars worlds of C.J. Cherryh](https://tomdellaringa.com/creative-inspiration-the-company-wars-worlds-of-c-j-cherryh/) - My first inspiration to write came from reading amazing books, most notably, Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. I'm sure I'm not alone! It makes sense that no matter what creative outlet you enjoy, the masters of that craft serve as inspiration. We want to be like them, right? Early attempts to forge ahead (especially - [Blade Runner's Video Room Scene: Can it be better?](https://tomdellaringa.com/blade-runners-video-room-scene-can-it-be-better/) - I'm obsessed with Blade Runner. It continues to be one of my favorite movies and the Final Cut stands the test of time 40 years later. It's one of the great stories in science fiction. Some say it's the perfect movie, and I'd be hard pressed to disagree. And yet. There are a couple niggles. - [On "sub-creation": Tolkien and Bob Ross](https://tomdellaringa.com/on-sub-creation-tolkien-and-bob-ross/) - In Tolkien's famous 1939 essay "On Fairy-Stories" he said the following: The story-maker proves a successful 'sub-creator'. He makes a Secondary World which your mind can enter. Inside it, what he relates is 'true': it accords with the laws of that world. You therefore believe it, while you are, as it were, inside. The moment - [An official timeline of the Blade Runner films, shorts, TV series and comics](https://tomdellaringa.com/an-official-timeline-of-the-blade-runner-films-shorts-and-comics/) - If you're a lover of Blade Runner like me, you want to consume the whole story of Blade Runner universe in order--and that can be tricky. While I was able to find a few references that have things in order, I couldn't find one that had all canon stories in correct order. So I've set - [Traditional versus Self-Publishing: My Experience](https://tomdellaringa.com/traditional-versus-self-publishing-my-experience/) - In 2018 I started my journey to write my first sci-fi novel, which ended up being Blanchland Blues, book 1 of the John and Alvis Sessions. I had just spent nearly 10 years self-publishing a gigantic 280+ page sci-fi graphic novel (Marooned), followed by two other graphic novel projects. Two were successfully Kickstarted. But I - [5 great sci-fi books that will tickle your funny bone, too!](https://tomdellaringa.com/5-great-sci-fi-books-that-will-tickle-your-funny-bone-too/) - Some of the most fun I've ever had reading books are in the sci-fi/humor category. Think Douglas Adams for the overt humor, but sometimes the sly humor is even better - almost more in the Doctor Who approach. My love for the genre is why I chose to write in it. There's a new site - [Where do ideas come from? 10 Techniques to get you writing.](https://tomdellaringa.com/where-do-ideas-come-from-10-techniques-to-get-you-writing/) - Every writer gets asked the age old question “Where do your ideas come from?” It’s easy to either discard the question as impossible to answer or to lob the easy answer “everyone is different.” Maybe because it’s not an easy question to answer without a lot of self reflection and effort. I decided to give ## Pages - [Sci-fi Adventure Series: The John and Alvis Sessions](https://tomdellaringa.com/) - Fast-paced sci-fi adventure featuring privateer John MacAlister and his sarcastic robot partner Alvis. Sharp banter, dangerous jobs, & galaxy-spanning trouble. - [Supplemental Record 06-B](https://tomdellaringa.com/bonus-record/) - Supplemental Record 06-B Classification: Internal ReviewSubjects: J. MacAlister / “Alvis”Status: Closed. No action taken.Disposition: Personnel entry unresolved.Appendices A through F were removed by the filing party prior to submission. The following was filed later. The reason was “valuable evidence of chronic human incompetence.” Incident Report: After Hours John sat at the bar of the Shady - [Supplemental Record 06-A](https://tomdellaringa.com/special-bonus/) - Supplemental Record 06-A Classification: Internal ReviewSubjects: J. MacAlister / “Alvis”Status: Closed. No action taken.Disposition: Personnel entry unresolved.Appendices A through F were removed by the filing party prior to submission. The following was filed later. The reason was “valuable evidence of chronic human incompetence.” Incident Report: After Hours John sat at the bar of the Shady - [About Author](https://tomdellaringa.com/biography/) - Tom Dell’Aringa writes sci-fi that doesn’t take itself too seriously — except when it does, and the robot is usually right either way.He’s the creator of The John and Alvis Sessions, a sci-fi series packed with sharp dialogue, flawed heroes, and busted-up galaxies. Tom’s stories are fast reads — readers call them page-turners for a - [The John and Alvis Sessions](https://tomdellaringa.com/john-and-alvis-sessions-book-series/) - The John and Alvis Sessions Read the complete sci-fi adventure series following John MacAlister and Alvis as they stumble from one impossible situation to the next. Series: The John and Alvis SessionsBlanchland BluesRobot BepopGhost NotesBounty BackbeatBroken ChordVoid RefrainPulse Fracture - [Get a FREE eBook!](https://tomdellaringa.com/free-ebook/) - Get your FREE eBook! John MacAlister, a former Star Corps pilot, is desperate for his first job as a freelance smuggler to pay the bills. With few options, he reluctantly reaches out to Georgio, a charismatic but dangerous kingpin on the Moon, hoping to secure a deal that could keep him afloat. Along for the - [Author Pulse](https://tomdellaringa.com/author-pulse/) - Free. Local. No account required. The dashboard I built to keep my author business from turning into tab hell. Author Pulse is a free tool built by an indie author for indie authors. It keeps the important stuff in one place—launch tasks, ARC timing, newsletters, ads, goals, manuscripts, and the things that need your attention - [Author Pulse Feedback](https://tomdellaringa.com/author-pulse-feedback/) - [Privacy Policy](https://tomdellaringa.com/privacy-policy/) - Tom Dell'Aringa's Privacy Policy Your privacy is important to me. It is Tom Dell'Aringa's policy to respect your privacy regarding any information we may collect from you across our website, http://www.tomdellaringa.com. We only ask for personal information when we truly need it to provide a service to you. We collect it by fair and lawful ## Short Stories - [Kaldikar Redux](https://tomdellaringa.com/short-stories/kaldikar-redux/) - John and Alvis return to the scene of their first big adventure, Kaldikar-6, to visit Ril and the old gang. - [Kill Switch](https://tomdellaringa.com/short-stories/kill-switch/) - Drift Selena tumbled out of control beyond the orbital plane of Titan as remnants of her construction rig were pulled toward the gravity well. Her terror in the chaotic silence was punctuated only by her ragged breathing.This is how she dies.Her suit had been damaged in the hurried ejection right before the engine core went - [A Personal Tome](https://tomdellaringa.com/short-stories/a-personal-tome/) - Adrien stepped away from the Bentley to marvel at the small but elegant bookshop as his driver shut the door.“Shall I wait, sir?”“No,” said Adrien. “Pick up my dry cleaning and return by seven-thirty. We’re expected uptown by eight.”The driver nodded, already forgotten, as he slipped back into the dark gray Mulsanne and sped off.Adrien ## Books - [Pulse Fracture](https://tomdellaringa.com/book/pulse-fracture/) - Stranded isn't a job. It's just bad luck. A systems failure drops the Beowulf onto Ressath Minor—a cold, volcanic Bathari mining world—six weeks from a resupply ship. John and Alvis take a local security contract while they wait for parts. Keep the predatory caudrex back. Avoid getting involved. But the caudrex don't keep back. Rhino-sized predators that burrow through rock and erupt without warning, they're drawn by the pulse of a mining operation being pushed past its limits by an overseer with bad numbers and worse judgment. Alvis reads the data and tells John exactly where this is headed. The people who could stop it don't see what Alvis sees. When the parts arrive, they could just leave. They don’t. - [Bounty Backbeat](https://tomdellaringa.com/book/bounty-backbeat/) - The Star Corps has one more job for John MacAlister: extract a compromised colonel from a criminal stronghold, off the books, with no backup. Colonel Downing is strung out on glowtabs and has weeks to live. But he's not running. He's here to expose everything Helion made him do—names, connections, every official they corrupted. One last act of service before the drug kills him. The Star Corps wants more than Downing. They need proof of what Helion is really harvesting—a secret brutal enough to bring armies to their doorstep. That means John can't just grab the colonel and run. He has to go deeper. His team: a dying man on a confession run, a criminal hacker, and Alvis, who's chosen the worst possible time to have an existential crisis. Hunted by Helion's most dangerous enforcer across a lawless twilight world, John's only way out is straight through. - [Robot Bepop](https://tomdellaringa.com/book/robot-bepop/) - John MacAlister knew he should be happy. After his redemption with the Star Corps, he’s settled into a respectable new life on Kaldikar-6, grinding a living out of the desolate Blanchlands while building a relationship with his officer girlfriend, Tam. But the yearning for adventure remains. When a covert message is received from a scientist long believed dead, John takes it as a sign that his days as a space adventurer aren’t yet over. The message is from Bernie Jennison, a brilliant AI engineer and the progenitor of Castor - an AI so dangerous that its creators shut it down a decade earlier - or so they thought! - [Blanchland Blues](https://tomdellaringa.com/book/blanchland-blues/) - Pilot. Robot. Trouble. If you like fast-paced sci-fi, sharp banter, and heroes who survive on grit, luck, and sarcasm, The John & Alvis Sessions is your escape. - [Void Refrain](https://tomdellaringa.com/book/void-refrain/) - John and Alvis are finally flush. Money in the bank. Ship in one piece. Freedom to pick their own jobs. Naturally, they pick the worst one available. At the Graft — a distant outpost in unregulated space where machine minds walk free and the Galactic Union doesn’t reach — a brilliant scientist named Darya Kalder hires them to chase an ancient signal into the void. The pay is good. The company is questionable. And a dangerous operator named Vydis is maneuvering to take over the deal. The signal is old. Older than human civilization. What it means is a mystery. John doesn’t care what’s out there. He cares about getting paid and getting out. But the Graft doesn't work like that, Vydis doesn’t give up easily, and what’s waiting at the end of the signal isn’t interested in anyone’s exit strategy. - [Broken Chord](https://tomdellaringa.com/book/broken-chord/) - Privateer John MacAlister and his robot partner Alvis have finally earned some notoriety—and with it, a steady stream of increasingly ridiculous job offers. Broke and grounded on Mars, John's struggling to figure out what comes next. Then the Rask—an ancient and powerful alien species—invade Sol, cut off the system from the rest of the galaxy, and apprehend the Galactic Union's top leaders. They prepare to execute them for crimes against another alien race—and humanity is powerless to stop them. At first, John wants nothing to do with it. But after the Rask destroy the Orion Spire, he finds himself compelled to act. When a mysterious Resonant identifies John as a key figure and reveals the Rask are hiding their true purpose, he's forced to make an impossible choice: Do nothing as the Rask execute humanity's leaders and leave Sol under their shadow, or take action that might ignite a war that could annihilate Earth—and his survival is anything but guaranteed. John knows what he has to do. He just wishes he knew if it was the right thing. - [Ghost Notes](https://tomdellaringa.com/book/ghost-notes/) - Expelled from the Galactic Union and wandering the Periphery with his robot sidekick, Alvis, John MacAlister finds himself aimlessly wandering the stars, haunted by his choices and struggling to understand his purpose. When he receives a call from an old Star Corps commander he can't ignore, he pulls himself out of his latest hangover and is handed a mission to retrieve crucial data from the lost research vessel, the Revelator. Lost in hyperspace for over a year, the ship has mysteriously returned incommunicado. Teaming up with Anika, a disgraced UniSec operative, John and Alvis arrive only to find they aren’t the only ones interested in the ship. A ruthless band of scrapjackers has found the ship and is already aboard, determined to claim the vessel's valuable core. Boarding the ship, they find the boundaries between different dimensions blur as they encounter shifting realities and spectral horrors, threatening their sanity and survival. In a high-stakes race against time, the mission changes from securing data to saving the lives of those still trapped within the ship's fractured dimensions—including their own—before the ship collapses into a high-energy singularity, annihilating the ship and everyone aboard. ## Publishers - [Aequelon Press](https://tomdellaringa.com/publisher/aequelon-press/) ## Categories - [Blog](https://tomdellaringa.com/category/blog/) - [Flash Fiction](https://tomdellaringa.com/category/flash-fiction/) - [Writing](https://tomdellaringa.com/category/writing/) - [Creative Inspiration](https://tomdellaringa.com/category/creative-inspiration/) - [Blade Runner](https://tomdellaringa.com/category/blade-runner/) ## Tags - [Flash Fiction](https://tomdellaringa.com/tag/flash-fiction/) - [Microfiction](https://tomdellaringa.com/tag/microfiction/) - [53-word-story](https://tomdellaringa.com/tag/53-word-story/) - [sci-fi](https://tomdellaringa.com/tag/sci-fi/) - [recommendations](https://tomdellaringa.com/tag/recommendations/) - [Blade Runner](https://tomdellaringa.com/tag/blade-runner/) - [Movies](https://tomdellaringa.com/tag/movies/) - [TV](https://tomdellaringa.com/tag/tv/) ## Genres - [Science Fiction](https://tomdellaringa.com/mbdb_genre/science-fiction/) ## Series - [The John and Alvis Sessions](https://tomdellaringa.com/mbdb_series/the-john-and-alvis-sessions/)