D.N. Schmidt, sci-fi author🪐📚
LightNews LightNews
banner
dnschmidt.com
D.N. Schmidt, sci-fi author🪐📚
@dnschmidt.com
4.9K followers 2.2K following 7.3K posts
Science fiction novelist and humorist. Follow for stories, jokes, and thoughts about writing and creativity.

Get my books, free stories and writing tips at https://dnschmidt.com. Sign up for email updates so you don’t miss a thing!
Posts Replies Media Videos
dnschmidt.com
I’d rather use MS Paint than Ai. At least this is real human work.
A red doodle of a spaceship shooting guns with the words “pew! Pew!”
January 12, 2026 at 9:59 PM
dnschmidt.com
Book mail! I loved The Cosmic Turkey, so I’m excited to read this one!
The cover of The Star Crossed Pelican by Laura Ruth Loomis features a spaceship and planets against a purple background
January 5, 2026 at 11:56 PM
dnschmidt.com
Still miss Firefly and Cowboy Bebop? Try The Screaming Void!
A space junk salvage crew risks their sanity going after a lost ship. Can they keep it from falling into the wrong hands?

🔫 Space gangsters!

🔪 Knife fights!

👽 An alien cult!

↪️ Arrows!

www.amazon.com/dp/B0FP9TZ69D
A bunch of arrows pointing to the cover of The Screaming Void, a space opera novel by D.N. Schmidt, floating over a purplish starry background. The arrows point out the interesting elements in the book, including ray guns, spaceships, space madness, knife fights, space gangsters, a mysterious cult, aliens, and cat science.
January 4, 2026 at 11:10 PM
dnschmidt.com
A silly little Christmas poem for you.
A silly little poem: The Christmas Sloth About half past June, I was eating some broth, when I got a visit from the Christmas Sloth. "So sorry I'm late," the little creature said. "I had to walk here. I cannot fly a sled." "I've waited so long," I grumbled, quite annoyed. "I can't buy my own presents. I'm unemployed." The Christmas Sloth muttered, and let out a huff. He pulled open his bag and looked through the stuff. "It's not my fault that us sloths aren't so swift. But I'm here now and… Oh, I forgot your gift."
December 25, 2025 at 4:56 PM
dnschmidt.com
Early standup comedy was weird.
An excerpt from a Wikipedia article about an Ancient Roman fertility ritual that says “After the blood sacrifice, two Luperci approached the altar. Their foreheads were anointed with blood from the sacrificial knife, then wiped clean with wool soaked in milk, after which they were expected to laugh.”
December 17, 2025 at 1:36 PM
dnschmidt.com
If you're on Reddit and like to read or have a short story to share, check out my SF subreddit, /R/ShortSF!

www.reddit.com/r/ShortSF/

#WritingCommunity #Reading
A colorful rocket flying behind the words "Like science fiction, horror, and fantasy? Have a story to share? Visit r/ShortSF on Reddit!"
December 16, 2025 at 9:40 PM
dnschmidt.com
Looking for weird? Try these science fiction stories:

* A poker game with parasites from another dimension.

* A waitress at a space truck stop battles a monstrous meatloaf.

* A conman has a plan to steal three miles of space rock.

And many more!

#sff 📚🪐

mybook.to/doomtapes
A static-covered television with the words "How can a VHS tape doom humanity? Read before it's too late." Next to it is a copy of the science fiction short story collection The Doom Tapes by D.N. Schmidt. The cover features a man with a television for a head, and a UFO flying out of the TV.
December 8, 2025 at 10:10 PM
dnschmidt.com
Hmm... Decisions, decisions.
A Bluesky right click menu showing options to "See #Shirtless_Cowboys_Eating_Beans posts, See #Shirtless_Cowboys_Eating_Beans posts by user, and Mute #Shirtless_Cowboys_Eating_Beans".
December 7, 2025 at 9:28 PM
dnschmidt.com
No ghost dogs with detached heads allowed. Dogs must keep their heads firmly attached to their bodies at all time, whether in corporeal or spirit form.
A "no dogs" sign showing a black silhouette of a dog inside a red circle with a line through it. The dog has a gap at its neck, making it look as if its head were floating.
November 30, 2025 at 5:25 PM
dnschmidt.com
Science fiction writers, please remember that world building needs breathing room. Presenting too many ideas at once is exhausting. If your opening paragraph reads like this, your book will end up in your reader's DNF pile, or maybe even their recycling bin:
An exhausting opening paragraph from a hypothetical science fiction novel: My AI MindGuide assured me that the Robo-Wasps that killed 87% of the population in the DNA Wars couldn't break through Invinci-Glass, as it was even stronger than Calrokian Turbo-Steel, but my pet zorgg still had to calm me with a PsyTrance. I was meditating on the floor of my Multiverse Ship when Cassie, my simulated holo-girlfriend, materialized from her Time Crystal. Thanks to our BrainChip connection, I knew right away that something was wrong. "It's Grapptox!" she said. "The Martian anti-ghost vaccines have been stolen by inter-dimensional pirates from Universe Containment Cell Twelve!"
November 27, 2025 at 3:31 PM
dnschmidt.com
Thanks to the people who picked up Inspiration Overdose today! I hope it sparks the idea for your next great story. Happy writing!
The cover of Inspiration Overdose by D.N. Schmidt, surrounded by images representing story ideas - A UFO, a zombie, a rocket, an atom, a dragon, and a solar system.
November 26, 2025 at 5:36 PM
dnschmidt.com
The Escape, a very short story.

#vss
A screenshot of text. The Escape, a short story. Bob stared at the movie screen, eyes wide with wonder. Up there, everyone was beautiful. Every character found their one true love, their one true purpose, a rich and meaningful life. How wonderful that would be. The love interest gazed down at him. “Join us, Bob. Come be immortal. Come be ten feet tall and made of light.” She stretched out her hand, reaching for him. He stood and approached, embracing the screen. “I’m ready! Take me!” “Just say those three special words, Bob.” “What three words? I’ll say anything!” A voice called out of the darkness, “Down in front!”
November 26, 2025 at 1:48 PM
dnschmidt.com
It’s employee review time again, so I left this on my boss’s desk. I should have three, maybe five promotions by Monday morning.
A sticky note with the word “bribe” and an arrow pointing to a package of Reese’s peanut butter cups
November 21, 2025 at 9:25 PM
dnschmidt.com
The Day Dianne Vanished

#vss #sff
A picture of a flash fiction piece. After the accident, Hank came to the lab to investigate. “Did Dianne end up in the hospital? She hasn’t been home all night, and she isn’t answering my calls. It’s like she vanished.” “You’re more right than you know,” Dr. Quantum said gravely. “We were struggling to open the portal, and the equipment began to overheat. When the stabilizer’s temperature hit ninety degrees, a parallel universe briefly intersected our own. That’s when Dianne disappeared.” Hank huffed. “You don’t know what you’re talking about!” “I assure you,” Dr. Quantum insisted, “parallel universes are quite real!” Hank folded his arms. “Real or not, if it intersects ours at ninety degrees, that makes it a perpendicular universe.”
November 17, 2025 at 7:03 PM
dnschmidt.com
Apparently if you highlight metric measurements, you can get the conversion into Freedom Units.
A screenshot of the tiny UFO story in the post above, with a tooltip menu showing eight cm is 3.15 inches.
November 11, 2025 at 4:57 PM
dnschmidt.com
Thanks to the person who picked up Inspiration Overdose yesterday! I hope it inspires your next great story. Happy writing!
The cover of Inspiration Overdose by D.N. Schmidt, surrounded by images representing story ideas - A UFO, a zombie, a rocket, an atom, a dragon, and a solar system.
November 9, 2025 at 1:01 PM
dnschmidt.com
Looking for weird? Try these science fiction stories:

* A poker game with parasites from another dimension.

* A waitress at a space truck stop battles a monstrous meatloaf.

* A conman has a plan to steal three miles of space rock.

And many more!

#booksky #sff 📚🪐

mybook.to/doomtapes
A static-covered television with the words "How can a VHS tape doom humanity? Read before it's too late." Next to it is a copy of the science fiction short story collection The Doom Tapes by D.N. Schmidt.
November 7, 2025 at 1:58 AM
dnschmidt.com
Dave began to suspect his new girlfriend might be a pot head.
A woman standing in the kitchen aisle of a store wearing a pot on her head.
November 1, 2025 at 5:04 PM
dnschmidt.com
How the Grinch Stole Halloween:
A picture of text: The Grinch grinned like a spider as he brought home his haul. He took Halloween! He’d stolen it all! But then his face fell, and his smile stopped beaming. The Whos in Whoville were suddenly screaming! “Halloween came without rubber ghosts! Or plastic skeletons hanging from posts! It came without cobwebs dangling from trees! It came without spooky horror CDs!” But it wasn’t the sound of some Halloween fun. A werewolf was coming! Every Who, run!
October 25, 2025 at 12:55 PM
dnschmidt.com
The Buskers. An alternative way to pay for therapy.

#vss
The Buskers, a piece of microfiction. The crowd applauded as the buskers began their show. Two men were sitting in chairs, one holding a notepad. "Last session," the therapist said, "we discussed facing your fear of intimacy. How did that go?" The patient nodded. "I forced myself to be naked around Jen, physically and emotionally, and now we're closer than ever." The therapist sighed in relief. "Thank god, a breakthrough. Finally! I'm tired of passing the hat and coming up empty." The patient shrugged. "Personal growth is hard, Carl. Sue me."
October 23, 2025 at 3:43 PM
dnschmidt.com
The internet is great for looking up half-remembered shows and proving to yourself that they weren’t just a weird dream.

Was there really a cartoon about Punky Brewster hanging out with a raccoon with a goatee from another dimension? Apparently so!
A screenshot from the cartoon It’s Punky Brewster showing Punky and her friends riding a giant roller skate with a dog and an extra dimensional raccoon-like creature with a goatee. It was a very weird show.
October 21, 2025 at 3:17 PM
dnschmidt.com
Exactly!
An MS Paint doodle of a spaceship with lasers firing, and the words "Pew! Pew!"
October 20, 2025 at 8:46 PM
dnschmidt.com
Take me to your leader! 👽
A novelty sock featuring a green alien abducting a cow
October 17, 2025 at 2:43 PM
dnschmidt.com
You kids won't remember this, but back in the 70s, a creepy clown gnome would visit you on your birthday. Only kids could see it. If you tried to tell your folks, it would bite the head off your new Stretch Armstrong doll.
A table with a red, white, and pink striped tablecloth, a birthday cake, balloons, ice cream, and a tiny, creepy clown.
October 12, 2025 at 5:34 PM
dnschmidt.com
I mean, I guess it’s a “win” if you like regular, boring turtles who don’t know martial arts or anything.
A screenshot of a BBC article showing a swimming turtle and the headline “Green turtle bounces back from the brink in conservation win.” The word “win” is in quotes, which could be taken as it being used ironically.
October 10, 2025 at 2:03 PM