Galactic Creatures, the new anthology I edited for Sparkito Press, is now available at Barnes & Noble online.
Sat 5 May 2012
Blue Oyster Cult at the Howard Theatre
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Wow. Amazing concert. Two sets for the price of one!
First off, they’ve refurbished and reopened the Howard Theatre in Washington, DC, and it is an awesome venue. Small place, with dinner theater-type seating, with a full bar and great food (ex. I had shrimp & grits, Mike had a duck salad follow by a burger and fries; dessert was apple pie or fruit salad with sorbet). They had a nice selection of single malts and bourbons at the bar. And our seats were way up front, literally leaning on the stage. Unbelievable. If you can get to a show there–go. They’re doing everything from rock (Lindsey Buckingham) to reggae (Ziggy Marley) to country (Leann Rimes). Something for everyone.
I haven’t seen BOC since just before we moved out of New York, when they played the State Fair. About three years. Every time I see them, I marvel at how damn good they are all over again. They rocked incredibly. Worth the two hour drive each way. Totally.
High Point: The Howard Theatre let everyone who paid for the first show stay for the second show, free, but we had to leave the stage area and hang out in the bar while they cleaned the tables and mopped the floor. While we were waiting, Buck came through and say “hi” to everyone, shaking hands and generally being a great guy.
Details:
They came out on stage to the Game of Thrones theme–I guess they’re fans, too. Eric was wearing a Star Wars t-shirt . . . .
First Set: The Red and The Black; The Golden Age of Leather; Burnin’ For You; Shootin’ Shark; Cities on Flame with Rock n’ Roll; Then Came the Last Days of May; Godzilla; Don’t Fear the Reaper. Encore: Hot Rails to Hell.
Second Set: The Red and The Black; Burnin’ For You; Career of Evil; Harvest Moon; Buck’s Boogie; The Vigil; Then Came the Last Days of May; Godzilla; Don’t Fear the Reaper. Encore: I Saw Her Standing There.
I may have the order on the end of the second set a little wonky, but the songs are all there.
Personnel: Eric Bloom, Buck Dharma, Richie Castellana, Kasim Sulton (bass), Jules Radino (drums).
I never thought I hear BOC sign Lennon & McCarthy–but they did it well! Totally.
Already looking for somewhere to see them again.
Tue 24 Apr 2012
Galactic Creatures: An anthology coming in May
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I am pleased and proud to announce Galactic Creatures, a new science fiction anthology to be published by Sparkito Press, featuring a gorgeous cover by Pyracantha.
Cover of Galactic Creatures~art by Pyracantha
There will be a book launch event at Balticon, Memorial Day weekend, on Sunday the 27th from 7pm to 9pm, in the Garden Room, along with several other Dark Quest titles. Many of the contributors will be present, as will the cover artist and the collection editor (me).
Here is the table of contents. Start anticipating how much you’ll enjoy reading these terrific stories!
| Dragon Child | by Leona Wisoker |
| Lawn Care | by C.J. Henderson |
| Slow and Steady | by John L. French |
| The Dragon Ships of Tycho | by Alex Shvartsman |
| The Scrapper and the Saint Bernard | by Scott W. Baker |
| The Geas Ingenerate | by Don Sakers |
| The Sky Above the Sky | by Brian Koscienski & Chris Pisano |
| Heart of a Lion | by James Daniel Ross |
| Kudzu: A Prologue | by Bernie Mojzes |
| Broken in the Place of Dragons | by Rosemary Edghill |
| Crossing Roads | by Patrick Thomas |
Tue 24 Apr 2012
Broken Wing
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Approximately three weeks ago, during the extremely exotic task of chasing down a cat out from under a table, I stood up [quickly] before I was completely out from under said table. The result: I have a broken wing. Or, to be more precise, a fractured left scapula.
The orthopedist says it should heal relatively quickly. Which is good, because the scapula can’t be splinted or put into a cast. I can use a sling when my arm/shoulder feels really tired and/or sore. I’m restricted to lifting no more than five pounds with my left hand. And the pain clinic has upped my pain meds for the duration.
Once the fracture has resolved, there may or may not be a course of physical therapy to complete the healing process.
Right now, everything is difficult, from hanging up clothes to driving. And, of course, I was contractually obligated to judge cat shows the last two weekends. One of them I had a trainee who handled [did all the heavy lifting] for me–thanks Lorraine!! The other one I just had to tough it out. Surprisingly, no one seemed to notice I was judging with only one hand . . . .
The next few weeks all I have is a few writing events. We’ll see how they go.
Tue 24 Apr 2012
Review of In an Iron Cage: The Magic of Steampunk
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There is a very nice review of In an Iron Cage: The Magic of Steampunk over at SF Reader.
They take the time to say something nice about each and every story, and they really “got” what we were trying to do with the anthology.
I’ve been working under deadline to finish up a project (which has now gone to press), so I have a lot of news to share. Watch the skies!
Sun 1 Apr 2012
New/Old Coffetable
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A while ago we picked up a gorgeous oak coffeetable (and two matching end tables) at a yard sale–they had sharp corners and the house had a new baby. The table features a stained glass inset, but it was a bit . . . mundane. Our friend Marci, however, is an artist in stained glass. Mike picked up the table this weekend as part of a complex two-way cat exchange.
Behold the result.
Sun 1 Apr 2012
Music Update
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If you’ve been following my guitar saga, I did end up ordering my dream guitar to replace my deceased [and ancient] folk guitar–an Ovation Celebrity CC059 acoustic-electric. It arrived Wednesday, spent a day getting checked out by Chuck (CKuz Guitars, my excellent local expert), and is an almost constant distraction from the work I should be doing.
Fortunately, I’ve been getting a lot of work done lately (probably because I have an extraordinary number of deadlines to hit), and I’ve been compensating with breaks to play the Ovation and to read S.C.P.D.: The Case of the Claw by Keith R.A. DeCandido, which is really distracting.
The most amazing thing about the guitar is the built-in tuner–I bought my last guitar in the ’80s. I still remember how cool it was to shift from a pitch pipe to an electronic tuner (and yes, I can tune without an electronic aid!).
Today I tried out the Ovation plugged for the first time, just to see what it sounded like. Very different from my Gibson–a much cleaner sound. I really like it, although non-amped is just fine for the most part.
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My finger dexterity is slowly coming back (bar chords very slowly), but I’m getting there. I had played someone’s Ovation back in High School? College? and loved the round back, and the experience stuck with me. The super-shallow body of this model is a really good fit for me, and is really comfortable to play. Not sure it’s the right guitar for everyone–but I’m super happy with my choice. Why did I stop playing again? |
Mon 12 Mar 2012
Overhead last night on the hotel shuttle
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My weekend in a nutshell starting Saturday morning: drive 2.5 hours to Washington-National/Reagon airport (DCA). Fly Air Tran to Milwaukee (MKE). Frantically try to locate friends. Find them. Eat dinner with them at restaurant with abysmally slow service, okay food, and excellent bloody marys. Sleep at LaQuinta. Get up and judge cat judge. Return to MKE. Fly back to DCA. Shuttle back to the Doubletree where the car is parked for the looong ride home.
Shuttle is almost full, and everyone else is (not surprisingly) staying at the Doubletree for the night. They are nearly all flight crew. Someone starts a discussion about the complimentary Doubletree cookies you get at check-in (all the crew seem at least somewhat acquainted with one another).
“Can I have your cookie if you’re not going to eat it? I’ll have it for breakfast.”
“It’ll be hard as a rock in the morning if you don’t put it in a plastic bag.”
“You know: they reheat those, and reheat them, and reheat them . . .”
“Do you remember when the cookies used to be bigger? It must be the economy.”
“Do you remember the old days when we used to get two cookies? I remember that.”
I’m guessing none of these guys had been flying anywhere particularly interesting . . . .
Tue 6 Mar 2012
It’s a silly meme, but I had to try it . . . .
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I was curious–who would the computer think I wrote like? I fed a chunk of my steampunk story into the analyzer, and got the following:
Then, I fed in a piece of my fairy/salamander story, and got the following:
Try it here–it’s fun!
Thu 1 Mar 2012
TICA Trend Book Review — A Beautiful Friendship
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A Beautiful Friendship
by David Weber
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Hardcover 2011 Baen Books www.almadenbooks.com ISBN: 978-1-4516-3747-2
Rating: 5 paws (out of 5) |
David Weber is an exceptionally well-known writer among those who read science fiction, most particularly for his military science fiction series featuring Honor Harrington. The series spans Honor’s career in the Royal Manticoran Navy from midshipman to Grand Duchess and Admiral. And wherever Honor went, she was accompanied by her treecat, Nimitz, usually riding on her specially-padded shoulder.
Honor was born on Sphinx, a planet in the Star Kingdom of Manticore–a world settled by colonists from Earth. Treecats were the native sentient species on Sphinx, six-legged, telepathic, and looking something like domestic cats with very long prehensile tails. Treecats and humans sometimes formed an empathic lifelong bond.
A Beautiful Friendship is the story of Stephanie Harrington, one of Honor’s ancestors, and the colonist who made first contact with the treecats. This is a coming-of-age story, showing interactions between human and treecat even as Stephanie is growing up and trying to figure out what to do with herself and her future. It’s a colonization story, set on a pioneer planet that still holds many dangers, with people exploring and learning about their new home. And it’s also a classic “first-contact” story, handling the complicated twists and turns that occur when the colonists realize that they share the planet with another sentient species–and that species was there first!
Most of the story is told from Stephanie’s point of view–this is her story, make no mistake. Occasional scenes and chapters fill in gaps using some of the adults as viewpoint characters where absolutely necessary to the plot. The other main viewpoint character is Lionheart, Stephanie’s treecat, or as he is referred to by his clan, Climbs Quickly. The chapters from his point of view, explaining treecat society and motivations is a real treat. The treecats find “two-legs” very confusing. For those familiar with Carole Nelson Douglas’s Midnight Louie mysteries, these chapters are a similar read to those from Louie’s viewpoint (a Las Vegas private eye with four black paws–see here for a review of Midnight Louie’s latest).
While Stephanie is an exceptionally bright girl, she is also quick-to-anger, and fiercely protective of those she loves. When she is in trouble, she looks for a logical solution to the problem, and really tries to think outside the box. But sometimes there isn’t an easy or quick solution, and she ended up frustrated, but that made the book a more satisfying read as she worked her way through more complex and layered problems.
I particularly enjoyed the insight into treecat society and their description of human activities–“Why should they need a nest place so large?” I also enjoyed the brief forays into the economics of colonization, and the concept of aided immigration: paying for your passage to the colony and earning the right to vote sooner versus having the government cover your passage and then paying taxes for several years before you voted in planetary elections.
While clearly aimed at and marketed as a young adult book, A Beautiful Friendship is suitable for people of all ages, most especially those who have shared a special relationship with a feline at some point in their lives.
A Beautiful Friendship is based on a short story of the same title, which appeared in the anthologies More Than Honor and Worlds of Weber.
