Protein protagonists and dinosaur scientists just trying to live their dreams. Storyfeather Gazette.

Published 4 months ago • 2 min read

July 2026 Issue 1

In this issue: Quick sci-fi book recommendation, and my own short stories & podcast episodes from the first half of July.

Circle format, a three-quarters view of Nila's smiling face from a photo with an oil paint filter applied.

A SUMMER OF SCI-FI 🧪

The theme of all the stories and podcast episodes this month is one of my favorite genres, science fiction. It's also the theme I'm currently covering in my newsletter for fiction writers: Fictioneer's Field Guide.

The most recent sci-fi story I've read is John Scalzi's When the Moon Hits Your Eye, about how the world responds when Earth's moon turns into cheese. Fun and thought-provoking. I'm looking forward to reading The Kaiju Preservation Society next.

✒️ 🪶 🎙

Greetings! I'm Nila. Every week, I release a new short story and a new podcast episode spanning the genres of science fiction, fantasy, mystery, mythology, fairy tale, fable, and horror.

Whether you're in the mood to read or listen, I've got stories to tell you.

🧬 SCI-FI JULY 🐜

✒️ For this month's theme, the science fiction genre.

🎙 The podcast episodes are about dinosaurs and birds.

Titles and taglines below. Enjoy!

Short Stories

Digital drawing. A bus without wheels seen from a corner, facing right, floating in some kind of matrix. Large windows along right side show through to helix shapes inside that resemble the representation of protein molecules. Destination sign at front of bus reads “Alpha Helix.” At upper left, behind bus is a Y-shaped globular molecule. Bubbles float in the matrix, along with debris and other small molecules (not to scale). Watermark of “Storyfeather” along middle back of bus’s right side. Copyright notice along upper right side of frame reads “Copyright © 2026 Nila L. Patel.”

Year 13. This year's theme is WildCards. Cards pulled from games. Maybe characters who are wild cards? I'll figure it out as I go.

Each link below leads directly to the story post.

A DEADLY DENATURING DETOUR

A tour bus carrying early adopters of molecular tourism breaks down in the middle of an immune response. 🚍

Genre: Science Fiction

THE WONDER IN THE ATTIC

A father-daughter science project succeeds beyond their expectations, and grows beyond their wildest imaginings. 🐜

Genre: Science Fiction

Find more Year 13 stories at the button below.

Podcast Episodes

Digital drawing. Hovering in the sky, left side view of a stegosaur-like dinosaur with a bulky body, claw-like toes, bony spikes on the tail, a long neck, protruding snout and bony plates along the back. The dinosaur’s mouth is open in what appears to be a smile, eye looking at the viewer. From within the middle of the bony plates emerge pairs of delicate veined wings like those of a fly or beetle. Watermark of “Storyfeather” along spine behind neck.

The Wheel of Fiction turns and decides each story's theme. Thirteen spokes total. Eight are the themes of past seasons, one is a Wild Card, one is "Turn Again," and three are a mystery.

The text links below go to the Explore page on Storyfeather, where you can listen to the episode and find more info about the story

Pressing on the Spotify embed image leads to the episode's Spotify page.

FLIGHT OF THE STEGOSAUR

A stegosaur scientist uses her own body in her experiments to achieve a physical feat that seems impossible for a dinosaur of her kind...flight. 🦖

Genre: Science Fiction

Flight of the Stegosaur

Jul 4 · Storyfeather

25:30

THE MAN WHO CRIED BIRD

A birdwatcher who's determined to discover an unknown species stumbles upon a strange little sparrow. 🐦

Genre: Science Fiction

The Man Who Cried Bird

Jul 10 · Storyfeather

26:53

Find more episodes at the button below.

🦠

A cluster of vacuoles floated by. A school of giggling sugars hurried along to their next class or activity, seeming to flee the large carbohydrate that drifted behind. Filaments of the cytoskeleton crisscrossed the matrix above and around them. And in the distance were the fluttering folds of endoplasmic reticulum, studded with their own sparkling ribosome factories.

Something that seemed like the beginning of a chemical gradient started drifting by overhead. Something that pricked Carrie’s caution.

—From "A Deadly Denaturing Detour"

Attention Fiction Writers ✒️

Did you know I have a dedicated area of the Storyfeather site just for fictioneers? You'll find articles, a resources page, my book. You can even sign up for my newsletter, Fictioneer's Field Guide. I pick a topic or theme for the month. Then, I send out a short weekly email with tools, tips, techniques, troubleshooting, and typically a demo using one of my stories. On signing up, you'll get a PDF download to help you spark you story, and a short welcome series of emails walking you through that PDF.

Visit the 🌿 Fictioneer's Field Station today!

Reminder: You can always customize and change what emails you receive from me by using the "update preferences" link at the bottom of each email.