Tuesday, February 24, 2026
Tuesday, January 13, 2026
LOOKING FORWARD TO MARSCON THIS COMING WEEKEND IN VIRGINIA BEACH-NORFOLK
AND HOPING MOTHER NATURE WILL BE BACK!
OUR PANELS WILL BE:
HERPETOLOGY, WHAT IS IT? FRIDAY 4pm
INDIE PUBLISHING FRIDAY 7PM (JIM)
MAKING VILLAINS WICKED AGAIN FRIDAY 7PM (JOHN)
EVOLUTIONARY MECHANICS AND BEHAVIOR OF SEX FRIDAY 10 PM
HIDE AND SEEK -- CHAMPIONS OF US CRYPTIDS SATURDAY 2PM
Q, THE MAN BEHIND 007--LET'S TALK SPY TECH AND ITS ROLE IN REALITY AND FICTION SATURDAY 7PM
THE ORIGIN OF LIFE SUNDAY NOON
Thursday, December 11, 2025
BACK TO MYSTICON IN ROANOKE
We're delighted to have been invited back to the Mysticon conference coming up in Roanoke next month. It's a fantastic gathering of writers, fans, cosplayers, and scifi film buffs that had been on hiatus since the days of Covid and is rebooting this year. We'll hope to have some new picturess to post soon, so stay tuned to this station!
Sunday, October 12, 2025
AN APPEAL TO ASIAN FANS
Here in North America we hear of the strength of the science fiction community in Asia, especially in Chinese-speaking countries, but we receive far too little information. Apart from a few wonderful classics such as The Three Body Problem and related masterpieces, we have little news of the vast sci fi audience in that part of the world. I know I am not alone in craving more information on the development of science fiction writing in Asia.
Several specific questions include: How many science fiction magazines exist either in Chinese, English, or other languages? How accessible are these publications in bookstores? What kinds of publishers exist for full length novels or novellas and are these mainly devoted to speculative fiction or do they also publish in other genres? What sorts of science fiction support groups are popolar in Asia? Are there sci fi conferences for the general public to attend or do authors gather at smaller conferences to discuss their work? Are there separate categories within sci fi for subgenres such as military sci fi, hard sci fi, social or anthropological sci fi, cozy sci fi, etc.? Are there sci fi books stemming from films, such as the Star Trek novels or Star Wars novels?
We are particularly interested in such questions because the sci fi scene is evolving quickly here in North America. Some of the mosts established print magazines in English seem to be having trouble maintaining a hard copy presence. Online magazines seem to be proliferating and organizing themselves more closely. POD publishers of novels seem to be declining and small press publications often have an ephemeral status, rapidly coming and going in ways that can leave authors and fans baffled. "Big 5" publishers rely mainly on literary agents as a go-between in the story procurement process and the world of agents also is in rapid transition. Some groups of authors attempt to solve the publication problems by collectively working on anthologies, but these efforts often face funding and distribution bottlenecks. It would be most helpful to have an idea of how our Asian colleagues are finding answers to their creative questions. Please feel free to follow and post your reactions on this site.
Jim and John, writing as J. M. R. Gaines
Monday, June 16, 2025
Saturday, June 14, 2025
CHRISTMAS COMES EARLY!
A NEW STORY TO COME SOON
No, it's not snowing here on the Rappahannock in June, but we feel in good spirits because a new story just got accepted for publication. The upcoming issue of Virginia Writers Project will contain our latest Forlani Saga story, Essedt, which features Garanian characters (reptilians) on the colony world of Garan Bis. They must struggle with the imposition of a new totalitarian order on their society that was once based on individual virtues, even if it means paying the ultimate price for resistance. We hope to be able to post a link soon. Stay tuned.
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