Unless you've been living under a metaphorical rock – or don't care at all about IP issues, which is admittedly a fairly large number of people – you've probably heard of the Axanar-CBS lawsuit. Axanar is the title of a fan-produced Star Trek-based film, intended to show a portion of the TOS (The Original Series) universe history which was only alluded to in the actual series – the Battle of Axanar. The team producing Axanar had produced an extremely high-quality short as a sort of proof-of-concept, titled Prelude to Axanar. A Kickstarter for [ Continue reading... ]
Just For Fun: My Favorite Moments, Part 3
April 21, 2016 By Leave a Comment
Continuing answering the question of what my favorite moments in my own works are! Polychrome: My only self-published work to date, Polychrome is a grown-up readership-targeted Oz novel. It is also the only story I've ever had that FORCED me to write it – literally shutting off my ability to write in my contracted novels unless I wrote at least a chapter in Polychrome per week. As such, one can guess that there are a lot of moments in Polychrome that resonate strongly with me; still, I have to pick three, so here we [ Continue reading... ]
Just For Fun: My Favorite Moments, Part 2
April 19, 2016 By Leave a Comment
Continuing the discussion of the things I've liked most in my works... Castaway Planet: Eric and I ended Portal fairly certain that this was the last of the series, but not necessarily the universe. The main cast of Boundary had gotten pretty old to be gallivanting around the Solar System. However, when we thought about doing a space-based version of Swiss Family Robinson or Mysterious Island, the Boundaryverse suggested itself strongly as a candidate. So fast forward a century or two, let the humans learn the interstellar [ Continue reading... ]
Just For Fun: My Favorite Moments Part 1
April 14, 2016 By 1 Comment
I have often been asked what my favorite events, lines, or moments in my own books are. These favorites tend to shift some depending on my mood, and it's certainly hard in many cases to choose just ONE such for any given work. So I thought it might be interesting to describe and talk about up to three from any given work. Paradigms Lost: The first, and probably still my favorite of all, comes at the climax of the section titled "Lawyers, Ghouls, and Mummies", that ends with the simple line: Verne Domingo had come [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: One Punch Man
March 17, 2016 By Leave a Comment
IN A WORLD… where monsters and supervillains run rampant, opposed by a variety of heroes and wannabees, there was a man who had reached the point that he did not care whether he lived or died; a monster he encountered was so amused by his "I don't care" attitude that the monster spared him. But then the same monster tried to kill a child in front of him, and the man remembered that he had once dreamed of becoming a hero. After saving the child, he set out to train himself to be the greatest hero… for fun. Saitama – for that was his name – [ Continue reading... ]
Albacon 2016 Convention Report
March 15, 2016 By 2 Comments
Albacon (link goes to page for next year) is the long-running traditional SF/F convention located in Albany, NY. The venue has changed over time, as with many long-running conventions. This year it was held in the Best Western on Wolf Road. I've been in attendance since 2003 (and I attended one or two of the earlier ones years before). I'll get my one gripe out of the way, because I prefer to say anything negative up front. In this case, it's a gripe about something that doesn't personally impact ME, but does impact other people [ Continue reading... ]
Schedule for Albacon 2016!
February 24, 2016 By Leave a Comment
In about one week Albacon begins, and I'll be there all weekend! Here's my schedule! Friday, March 4 11 AM POV Waltz Troy room 5PM Surfeit of Superheroes? Troy room 8PM Ice Cream Social Colonie Saturday, March 5 11AM Great but Forgotten Colonie 12PM The Golden Age of SF is 12 Troy 1PM Reading! Room 101 3PM Autographing [ Continue reading... ]
Phoenix Ascendant: Chapter 26
February 10, 2016 By Leave a Comment
Kyri had made a very puzzling statement... ----- Chapter 26. Poplock stared at her, as did Tobimar; Poplock hopped to her shoulder to talk to her more directly. "Um, that's what we've been trying to do for the last couple of weeks, Kyri. With all the magic I've got, all of Sasha's, and even Kelsley's." He could feel her pulse, sense it hammering far faster than it should be. "Magic – at least the magic we have – can't do it," she said quietly, still striding towards the south. "The Arbiter can't. Even the [ Continue reading... ]
Phoenix Ascendant: Chapter 25
February 8, 2016 By Leave a Comment
Kyri was, in some ways, in more peril than she had ever been... ----- Chapter 25. Arbiter Kelsley wavered on his feet; Tobimar and Discoverer (previously Seeker) Reed caught his elbows, helped him to sit down. Kyri looked out of the holy circle, and Tobimar felt a phantom pain in his chest as he saw her understanding that even this had failed. "Nothing at all, Arbiter?" The priest of Myrionar shook his head reluctantly. "I can injure her easily enough, Balance save me. But to break that curse lies beyond [ Continue reading... ]
Phoenix Ascendant: Chapter 24
February 5, 2016 By Leave a Comment
Well, Kyri had had a horrific shock... ------ Chapter 24. Kyri found her hand on Flamewing's hilt, the sword already half drawn, before she caught herself. The horrific thought echoed through her, a sentence of death and failure. Not summon Myrionar's power? Be barred from Myrionar? No! "That fast?" Xavier asked, unbelieving. "C'mon, she's gotta have some time!" "The Curse is already on her," Tashriel said, the same horror in his voice, and a part of her understood that he knew what she felt. [ Continue reading... ]
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