My Mostly Harmless Musings

Me arriving at Wizard Word Philadelphia Comic Con

It’s Convention/Conference month. Last weekend I attended Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con where I finally got to meet Stan (the man) Lee—that rocked. I also got to see all 5 captains of the Star Trek franchise. Yes, this means I finally got the ever-elusive William Shatner autograph. And as with all good cons, there were costumes, costumes, and costumes.

This coming weekend I’ll be THE PREMIERE writing event in Philadelphia, a.k.a. the Philadelphia Writers’ Conference (June 8 -12). If you are attending, or visiting the area, be sure to look me up to say.

For your consideration (and hopefully enjoyment), my latest Science for Fiction (S4F) article: Go Kardashev not Kardashian for Your Science has been posted has been posted by Abandoned Towers Magazine.  I’m reasonably sure you don’t a Kardashian (i.e. those inhabiting planet Reality Television) to help you understand science or write fiction. So turn off E! and check out the article if you like Science and/or Science Fiction.

Speaking of Science, I’m happy to direct you this article by Steven Padnick for Tor.com, Phineas and Ferb is the Best Science Fiction on Television. Thanks Steven, my addiction to the show has been validated. 

In other writing news, I’m proud to announce Bill Delamar’s new novel, The Hidden Congregation, is now available. He is a member of Words-in-Progress, the writer’s group I lead. Yeah, yeah, I know it was a shameless plug for our group, but so what? Anyway, go pick up a copy and I’ll see what I can do about getting you an autograph.

Manhattan Projects Comic (like science? like comics? Read this)

In honor of Comics (Manhattan Projects #3), Science (Physicist Richard Feynman), and Fiction (Sorry, Feynman didn’t really say this, but it was in the comic) I present this quote:

“What am I guilty of?"

"An Intimate familiarity with the necessity of fiction. Truth is my wife, but lies are my mistress"

-Clavis Aurea (The recorded Feynman)

Me, Stan Lee, and Seth

I hope these guys have my back next week at the Writers' Conference. Those poets can get out of hand.

Guess Who

Mostly Harmless Musings

If you’re wondering about the picture above—wonder no more. It’s a picture of me and my winnings from a Monte Carlo Night. I found the lovely and, dare I say talented, Michelle at the high stakes table.

In writing news, I wrote a poem titled The Ballad of Things and Liquid Imagination happened to publish it. What a coincidence! Please read and (hopefully) enjoy... and, if you do enjoy it, please tell them on their facebook page.

My latest Science for Fiction (S4F) article: Invisibility, Science not Magic, has been posted by Abandoned Towers Magazine. So if you’re the Klingon type (and want to go invisible) then spatial and temporal cloaking (real science) are you for you. Read the article to learn more. If, instead, you’re the Harry Potter type, go with the wand.

A December to Remember

Above is a picture I took of Itzhak Perlman at a Kimmel Center concert. Being there, with him, was an amazing experience. I had no idea the violin could be played with such (I lack the appropriate word) precision (perhaps the better word would be love).

If you are interested in speculative flash fiction, or curious about speculative flash fiction, or have 30 seconds free, I encourage you to read my story Textual Relations in this month’s issue of AntipodeanSF—a science fiction magazine and podcast (AntiSF Radio) out of Australia. When you read the story, I think you’ll scratch your head at how it could be read during a podcast. When asked to record it, I politely declined in favor of one their professional reader. 

Here is AntiSF Radio version of Textual Relations. If you fast forward to about 25:45 seconds you'll here it. Please keep in mind it is meant as a visual piece, loaded with deliberate text abbreviations. So, feel free to LOL.

Also for a quick read, check out the very very very short story I wrote: You Reap What You Write for One Forty Fiction. It is Tweet-sized for the attention-span challenged. (Not anyone reading this blog of course! But read anyway.)

I've completed my two part series on the probability of intelligent life existing outside our solar-system for the Abandoned Towers: News & Blog. So read this month’s Science for Fiction (S4F). Last month, using the Drake Equation and a certain set of assumptions, I calculated 600 communicating civilizations in the Milky Way galaxy. So how come we haven’t heard anything from them?  This month I use the Rare Earth Hypothesis to address this question—known as the Fermi Paradox. The paradox addresses the contradiction between the high probability (Drake Equation) of extraterrestrial life capable of communication and the absence of evidence of such life. So check out this month’s S4F.

Finally, do you like good science fiction? If yes, I suggest you check out Subversion: Science Fiction & Fantasy tales of challenging the norm!  It’s an original anthology by the gang who publish the sleek Crossed Genres magazine, edited by (dare I say) the visionary Bart Lieb. Click here to see my work in Crossed Genres.

Happy Holidays.  The next round is on you.

Post Halloween - Pre Thanksgiving Updates

Abandoned Towers Magazine is under new direction and I for one really think the new facade of the Abandoned Towers: News & Blog, rocks! This is where you can read my latest Science for Fiction (S4F) contribution:

Can Anyone Intelligent Communicate with Me?  Other Than My Earthling Friends.

In the article I write on chances of intelligent life outside our little corner of the Milky Way and if there is, can they communicate with us here on Earth?

Of course I leave it scientists and fiction writers to decide the definition of intelligent life.  Obviously fiction writers are allowed a more liberal definition.


Using the Drake equation, I calculated 600 communicating civilizations within our galaxy.

The television show The Big Bang Theory gives a good summary of the Drake equation (and its application to Lady’s night). However, I’ll leave it for others to prove the Wolowitz Coefficient.

Click here to watch the Big Bang Theory (the show, not… um, the theory) describe the Drake equation. 


If you’re interested in a spooky libation and horror micro-story check out The Hair of the Wolf That BitYou published in Bosley Gravel’s Cavalcade of Terror. This story might explain why I’m not allowed out anymore—or to mix drinks.

Weather be damned (and by damn a dam would've helped with the flooding)

Somehow I survived an Earthquake (the East Coast Shaker), a Hurricane (Irene), flooded basement, and the first week of my children’s soccer season.

During all this I managed to eke out a few new words for my novel and to complete my latest installment of Science for Fiction (S4F): Black Holes Suck.

BTW, if a black hole got married, would it still be considered a singularity?

In other writing news, an online version of my story Chronology has been reprinted in the farewell issue of Chaos Theory: Tales Askew. We’ll miss you CTTA! The story originally appeared in M-Brane SF, a sleek science fiction anthology magazine. Check out the story… I hope you enjoy it.

Here is a math truth--as interpreted by xkcd webcomics

Welcome July - Let the Heat Begin

The Picture of the Day
Lady Gwendolyn giving a private performance of the Pink Swan.

In this month’s Science for Fiction (S4F), I discuss the breadth and depth of the universe. No small task (and neither is universe). In the article I explain there are regions of the universe we can see and others we can never see. The reason we can’t see it all is because the expansion is pulling some areas away from us faster than the speed of light. Yes—FASTER THAN LIGHT—and with no violation of special relativity. For details read the complete piece: We Hold Universal Truths to Be Not Self-Evident , found at the Abandoned Towers Magazine Blog.

I want to thank Jon Gibbs of An Englishman in New Jersey for including a link to one of my S4F pieces in his SALTY FOP week posting (Share A Link To Your Favorite Online Post week). He linked to If You are Uncertain—Call a Quantum Mechanic For a Fix.

In other news, this is a big month for the comma. The comma is cool! First read, Grammar ABCs: C is for Comma in The Blood-Red Pencil and then click your way over to GalleyCat to read about the death of the Oxford comma.

The Samuel Literary Messenger is paying $50 for stories and essays. Something for my writer friends to consider.

Finally, since writers are also readers, and readers need a place to store their pre-Kindle books, I suggest checking out 46 Creative and Stylish Bookshelf Designs in DesignMag.

Fiction by the Numbers & Other Tales

My story Taking Leave found its way to Fiction365. Yes, everyone now and then I like to sneak a literary piece into the aether (and the occasional odd poem). Fear not. I’m still a genre writer-- so get ready to buy new novel when (dare I say if?) it comes out. My short story, Chronology, will soon be making its web debut in Chaos Theory: Tales Askew. It has already appeared in the M-Brane SF, a magazine I can’t gush over enough. It’s helmed by Christopher Fletcher who puts out a sleek product. Keep an eye on this guy, he’s a growing force in the SF community.

My S4F June contribution to the Abandoned Towers Magazine blog is numeric in nature. Its title, Fiction by the Numbers, is a dead giveaway that there be numbers in dem dar hills. The brief article includes science-fied numbers which can be used to add verisimilitude to a writer’s science fiction. Because, AS I KEEP SAYING, in SF it’s important to minimize the number lies you tell about science. Exaggeration on the other hand is encouraged. The more truth you include the more enhanced the fiction component will be.

Let the Games Begin

The presentation of my story, Let the Games Begin, in Kalkion Literature and Science Fiction Magazine is awesome. Thanks Editors! As for you readers, don’t let the picture of a chess set scare you off! You don’t have to know how to play enjoy the story. At least I hope you’ll enjoy it.

I finally completely my series on time travel for the Abandoned Towers Magazine blog. What was left? I’ll tell you: thorny paradoxes. Paradox Found is the sequal to last month’s Paradox Lost (I probably should have reversed the titles… too late now). Anyway, I’m done writing about paradoxes in S4F for awhile.

This week the Philadelphia Writers’ Conference held another of their free workshops. Kathryn Kraft spoke on Writing that Matters. She did a wonderful job. My question: doesn’t all writing matter? My answer: yes.

Paradox Lost and Other Things Found

I finally I got to use grandfathercidal in a sentence—a word (I’m pretty sure) I made up.

How? Why?

The word can be found in my March S4F article titled Paradox Lost. Personally, I’m not convinced paradoxes exist outside the rocky marriage of philosophy and mathematics (i.e., logic), but that doesn’t mean they aren’t fun to think about. In the article I go over the epitome of paradox in science fiction, the killing your grandfather paradox. Yes, the famous paradox that popped out of a thought experiment on the horrors of time travel.

Also this month, the Philadelphia Writers’ Conference held its first Free Forum of 2011. The topic: Writing and Selling Magazine Articles. The speaker was the Larry Atkins and he was phenomenal. He has written more articles for more magazines than you can shake a stick at. I’m not sure where that expression comes from, but it feels right. If you haven’t had the chance to check out our new website for the Philadelphia Writers’ Conference website, do it!