In honor of Buy Nothing Day this month (a.k.a. Black Friday, November 28), we're exploring the metaversal evolution of the word nothing — a word whose resumé is really...something.
According to the terrestrial dictionary, nothing comes from Old English nā þing — literally “no thing” or “not any thing.” But, like many holiday travelers, nothing seems to have put on a little weight on its trips across the sci-fi multiverse.
In Doctor Who’s “Logopolis” (S18: E27–28), the Logopolitans demonstrate that without their constant mathematical upkeep, the whole universe = nothing.
Centuries later, in Babylon 5 (S4:E6, "Into the Fire"), Lorien tells Sheridan that the First Ones, when finally departing the galaxy, become nothing — which is also everything.
You may now officially quit worrying about your measly future pumpkin pie pounds. That's right, your gain is not any thing in comparison with nothing...
[Wait... Your gain= not any thing = nothing = universe = everythi...🧐 Sorry. I guess you and I might have something to worry about after all.]
Anyway, continuing on with the future history of nothing: by the 24th century, in ST:TNG’s “Where Silence Has Lease” (S2: E2), the Enterprise drifts through a "hole" in space and encounters a seemingly infinite, empty region beyond it, which they call the Void. Picard and crew discover that this particular brand of nothingness was neither the default universal state, nor the transcendent end state of beings. It was a fake nothing, specially designed by the mortally curious immortal illusionist Nagilum.
The hole leading to nothing in space, as it appears on the Enterprise viewscreen
Rumors about nothing, probably spread by unsanctioned time travelers, always abound -- but we know we can trust the Ferengi to capitalize on such a useful commodity as fake nothing, so I'm sure this one's not anything to question:
As a result of Grand Nagus Zek's 'no-doubt profit-motivated' largess (ST:DS9, S3: E16 “Prophet Motive"), he will later be credited with inspiring the creation of No’Thing™: a luxury commodity that costs you everything you own, but delivers an incredibly exclusive, blissful simplicity of existence known to few beings.
Sometime around the 42nd century, this epic contribution of No'Thing™to The Great Material Continuum (and the commerce of Ferenginar) will ultimately result in Zek's immortalization in Rule of Acquisition #290:
“Never charge more for Something when you can charge more for Nothing.”
And thus, from across the metaversal timelines, nothing returns to us as the galaxy’s most coveted commodity.
So — this Buy Nothing Day, don’t miss out on the best deals on Nothing that Black Friday has to offer! Free shipping!
No reviews are required -- it's totally up to you! -- but I'll make sharing your thoughts super-easy: bookmark and scroll to the bottom of this page for one-click review links. I'd absolutely love to hear what you think about my books!
In The Frozen, Shaan uses her bio-implant to record and submit evidence of her mandated daily devotional reading and her "logstream" for review.
Many people worry that AI will become independently cognizant, recognize humanity as a threat to the wellbeing of Earth, and attempt to kill us all. I worry more that AI will be used and trusted to police us -- to ensure that we are aligned with groupthink.
All it would take is leadership and/or influencers leveraging ideas that resonate in our personal "echo chambers" to convince us that we need increasingly more advanced AI-policing "for the good of all mankind"...et voila.
Chicken felt the need to publish the official policies. There have been too many infringements upon her legacy rights lately, especially by a certain intern. Consequences will be felt by all.
The Co-Operatives voted to approve the policies, given that the right to challenge Chicken's authority was included as an objective for the CSO and Intern.
Revision 1.3 is in the works, though, because they forgot to include the completely necessary and not overused "L4: Random Barking Protocol."
✅Reviewed/honed plot and character arcs ideas for The Erebi
✅Finally sucked it up and emailed Mike Domeny to work out the details of a labor-intensive fix on the audiobook for The Refuge that I've been putting off because I didn't want to tell him the bad news...
#BigWritingGoals:
⏹️ Finish The Refuge audiobook edits
⏹️ Complete the plotting work and start drafting The Erebi
Last time, Ethan visited his grandfather in the hospital and evaded the men hunting him with the aid of the mysterious woman with the glowing skin tatoo. Ethan realized his grandfather wasn't "losing it" like everyone thought he was, and his grandfather told him Ethan was the key to saving all of time.
You voted for "author's choice" again...ya gluttons for punishment 🤭.
NOTE: THIS WILL BE THE LAST EPISODE WITH TIME JUMPER FOR A FEW MONTHS BECAUSE IT'S BEEN DISTRACTING ME FROM WORKING ON THE EREBI. BUT IT WILL RETURN!
Chapter 16: Poor Puppy
She put the puppy with the internal tracking device on the tracks.
Why would he be this cruel?
She couldn’t do it herself…so she clipped the short leash to a protruding spike and pounded the spike back into the railroad tie a little more securely. The young DNA-modified golden would not have enough strength to pull that out, she didn’t think...
NOTE: Because the newsletter has extra segments this month, this section will likely be clipped short by your email client. Click here to go straight to this spot on the web version for uninterrupted deal browsing!
Provisional Inspector Emerra Denault is working on a case with her mentor investigating some stolen money. Everything seems straightforward, but then she is accused of a crime she would never commit.
On the run from both her enemies and her friends and not sure of which is which, Emerra must solve the mystery of her betrayal and uncover the plot that led to her misfortune.
When the world goes dark, one family realizes that all their preparation means nothing if they don't have each other.
For Secret Service Agent Blake Chantry, ensuring that his superiors thrive in the face of a national disaster has been his primary objective.
Fulfilling his duty pales in the face of adversity when a blazing inferno separates him from his family. The power grid fails, vehicles explode, and mob-rule follows closely behind, but Blake risks everything to save his family.
*PSA: While I do try to pick books, giveaways, and sales that will be appealing to you in general, and I may have read some of the books, I definitely haven't read them all... Use discretion while browsing (some may contain objectionable content).
Wander into these 26 *FREE* spec fiction worlds to find your next favorite ebook! One lucky reader will receive a $30 gift card to Amazon, B&N, or iTunes. Time runs out on this promo 11/30/25 (Prize awarded 12/3/25).
41 *Clean* Christian ebooks of various genres, including contemporary and historical romance, suspense, spec fiction, mystery, YA/children's, and nonfiction -- on sale 11/15 - 12/15/25.
Thanks for reading this episode of The Blessed Bulletin! Let's connect on socials if we haven't already (or if you prefer that to emails). See you next month!
