SF/Fantasy Con, and Books

On Saturday, March 26th, I’ll be a guest at the Louisiana Science Fiction and Costuming Festival in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I’ll probably also be there some on Sunday. On Saturday I’m going to be talking about Dreams and Nightmares and sitting on panels about Fanzines, Horror Films, and Sci Fi Films. It looks to be a lot of fun so if you get a chance drop by. The con website is here.

Some of you may possibly remember me remarking toward the end of 2010 about how I was so behind on reading that I was going to cut back on buying books for a while. Ha ha ha haha hahahhahaha. HA! Below is a sample of ‘some’ of the books I’ve bought since saying that. This is all fiction and doesn’t include the some $300 bucks I spent on nonfiction at Borders’ Going out of Business Sale. I absolutely cannot stop.

CassaStar

One of our blog colleagues is having his first book released today, October 19. I’m throwing my support behind him. This is Alex J. Cavanaugh, and the book is entitled: CassaStar. Alex describes it as Science fiction/ adventure/ space opera. The ISBN is 9780981621067, and it’s from Dancing Lemur Press LLC.

There’s a very cool trailer here.

Here’s a bit of description of the book:

To pilot the fleet’s finest ship…

Few options remain for Byron. A talented but stubborn young man with a troubled past and rebellious attitude, his cockpit skills are his only hope. Slated to train as a Cosbolt fighter pilot, Byron is determined to prove his worth and begin a new life as he sets off for the moon base of Guaard.

Much to Byron’s chagrin, the toughest instructor in the fleet takes notice of the young pilot. Haunted by a past tragedy, Bassa eventually sees through Byron's tough exterior and insolence. When a secret talent is revealed during training, Bassa feels compelled to help Byron achieve his full potential.

As war brews on the edge of space, time is running short. Byron requires a navigator of exceptional quality to survive, and Bassa must make a decision that could well decide the fate of both men. Will their skills be enough as they embark on a mission that may stretch their abilities to the limit?

The Library Journal says: “…calls to mind the youthful focus of Robert Heinlein’s early military sf, as well as the excitement of space opera epitomized by the many Star Wars novels. Fast-paced military action and a youthful protagonist make this a good choice for both young adult and adult fans of space wars.”

If you’re interested in purchasing CassaStar, the links are below:

AMAZON


BARNES & NOBLE - http://search.barnesandnoble.com/books/e/9780981621067/?itm=1&USRI=cassastar

BAM - http://www.booksamillion.com/product/9780981621067?id=4581185563381#overview

The book is also available in eBook format for Kindle, iPad, Nook, and others

Alex has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and works in web design and graphics. He’s experienced in technical editing. A fan of all things science fiction, his interests range from books and movies to music and games. He lives in the Carolinas with his wife.

Good luck to Alex!
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That Which Survives

I got back late last night from Babel Con in Baton Rouge, which is about an hour and a half drive for me. It’s a one day con and I had a lot of fun, though I was very tired by the end of the day. I was on two panels. The first one was me speaking on Alien Evolution. I had a very good turnout. There wasn’t a single empty chair in the room and a couple of folks were standing. I forgot to count the chairs but it was around 25 or 30. I thought it went well and several people congratulated me later on it or wanted to ask more questions about what I talked about. It was a good audience and they really got into the audience participation parts.

The second panel was myself and two other poets, but we had a bad time slot (opposite the cocktail party with the stars and the showing of the Rocky Horror Picture show) and we only had a few folks. Still we had some fun discussion among ourselves and with the few attendees. As I joked with the other panelists, though, this is what we’re up against with trying to support and grow genre poetry—a lot of apathy on the part of the mainstream SF/Fantasy/Horror community.

The other poets were J. Bruce Fuller and Robin Mayhall. J is the editor of The Shantytown Anomaly, and a fine poet in his own right. He’s a rising star in the SciFaiku movement in genre poetry. Robin has also been working in SciFaiku, and is currently a poetry editor for the online journal Breath & Shadow. (Thanks also to Dixie and Steve for coming to our panel.)

Other than panels, I hung out with a lot of folks I knew and met quite a few that I didn’t. I bought a book from M. B. Weston called A Prophecy Forgotten, which is her first book but which looks to be pretty good. She was certainly an energetic speaker. I hung out with Bret Funk, the editor of The Illuminata, the online newsletter for which I write a column. I got a signed photo from Lesley Aletter, who is a stunt woman in Hollywood. She doubled for Sigourney Weaver in the last Alien movie, and has been in many other movies besides, including The Devil’s Rejects.

Most enjoyable for me, I got a signed photo by Lee Meriwether, who played Catwoman in the original Batman TV series, and who also played many other roles in TV and film. My favorite role by her was as Losira in the Star Trek episode “That Which Survives.” This is the still picture I got and she signed it to me with “I am for you, Charles,” which if you are any kind of Star Trek Geek like me you’ll know was her basic “catchphrase” in that show.

All in all, a good time was had by all. But I’m a little relieved to be back at the Hermitage with my signings and appearances over for the moment. Today I’m decking it.

30th Reunion

I missed my 30th class reunion, which was just held in early June. I was on my trip to Cross Plains, Texas at the time. But I saw the pictures today. Man my classmates have gotten old. It’s amazing considering that I’ve barely aged a day. Frankly, I wouldn’t have recognized 2/3rds of them on the street. Seeing the names, then making the connections to the pictures and maybe picking out a feature here or there that I recognized, really set the old nostalgia bone to tingling. I’ve never been much for nostalgia. I tend to look forward and most of the time it seems that my life now is much better than the emotional suffering I went through as a teenager. But once in a while…I think back. I wonder if that will get more frequent as I age.

In other news, I’ll be leaving for a bit again at the first of July to go see my mom in Arkansas. She was 90 last year and I understand from my brother that she is growing pretty frail. Because of all the hassle after Hurricane Katrina it’s been over a year since I’ve been to see her. In the meantime, my 19 year old son has strep throat, and my left rear tire has a slow leak, and…well…you know.

I will be a guest at BabelCon 2007 in Baton Rouge, where I’ll be on a panel about alien biology as related to alien intelligence. Not quite sure what I will say on the subject yet, but the con is not until August 4th so I have a bit of time. If you’re going to be in Baton Rouge around that time stop in.