Science Fiction to Look for This April

Originally Published: Amazing Stories, April 6. 2020

I hope you’re all doing ok out there, staying inside and keeping safe. Fortunately, as science fiction readers, we’re not the ones saying, “Nobody could have seen this coming,” because we’ve seen it coming since H.G. Wells slew a Martian invasion by infecting aliens with Earth germs. So stay safe, and catch up on your reading. Continue reading →

Science Fiction Books to Look for this March

Originally Published: https://amazingstories.com/2019/12/science-fiction-…for-march-2020/

There are a lot of interesting offerings for science fiction readers this month, though I didn’t make as big a dent in my reading pile as I’d like. As a result, I’m only talking about five books: three of them space operas; one a retro tale set in the mid-sixties; a road trip across a “nanotech Western” landscape, and a collection of robot tales. What I found really interesting was the way certain themes kept cropping up. Continue reading →

Poetry Jam: Prose in Quarantine 8-9pm Wed 3/25/20

Time: 8 pm, Wed 3/25/2020
Place: Online @ Zoom: Meeting ID: 106 234 882 Password: 003528

Somehow I got it into my head to do an online Poetry Slam during this weird quarantine we’re all doing. So I asked a few folks I know who write poetry (as well as songs and science fiction) if they’d come read some of their work. It will be ad hoc and a work in progress, but I promise some interesting poets and diverse works.

Here’s the tentative list, and if anyone wants in, I’d be happy to add them on. I’d like to keep this one to 10-12 people and 6 minute readings of two poems each. Or one, if that’s what you’ve got to share.

Featured Poets

  • Mary McElveen – was poet laureate for Alexandria, VA, and has published a collection of her poems in Cheerully Lost.
  • Robert J. Howe – “His poetry has appeared in The California Quarterly, 50 Haiku, Punch Drunk Press, Serving House Journal, the Loch Raven Review, Main Street Rag, and The Piltdown Review.” His website is at: https://rjhowe.net/
  • Barbara Chepaitis – Barbara is a speculative fiction writer who teaches writing at an upstate New York University. Or maybe that’s out of date. Anyway, in addition to helping Ziggy (below) with his work, she’s got a few of her own.
  • Jacob Bennet – Jacob is a friend of mine who’s a terrific songwriter. I recently heard him do a reading of his favorite poems from other authors, so I asked if he’d read his own work.
  • Stan Ascher – Also a musical friend, Stan is a wild man and a wild card. Bound to be interesting.
  • Ziggy (the dog) with vocal assistance by Steve Sawicki – Ziggy is the author of DOGGEREL: Pomes For Hoomins & Other Friends. 

Science Fiction Books to Look for this February

Originally Published: https://amazingstories.com/2019/12/science-fiction-…for-february-2020/

February is a month on hold, when time is frozen, waiting for something to happen. It’s so bad that the greeting card industry had to create a holiday just to keep from having to shut down for the month. Fortunately, all that stasis makes it a perfect month for reading; thankfully, we’ve got some excellent novels, novellas, and more. Continue reading →