We're Heading for CRRLCon!

     On Saturday May 20th, we'll be at the annual CRRLCon held at Howell Branch Library in Stafford County, VA from 10 AM to 4PM making Life Sentence and Spy Station available to SciFi and Comic fans and talking about our work in progress.  Drop by to say hello and get your signed copies at a special promotional price.  We look forward to seeing you. 

HAIL TO RAVENCON! 

This year's convention at the Hilton Virginia Crossings Hotel in Glen Allen, Virginia was really a gas!  What an assembly of fine writers, publishers, cosplayers, artists, and all concerned.  John and I felt that all of our panels went extremely well, whether we participated as moderators or as panelists.  We did not have a single unsuitable room (from the aspect of sound, size, or comfort) and some, like the Fairfax Library, were especially neat.  The food that we had at the con hotel itself was above usual quality and the area had plenty of nearby restaurants, as well.  Parking was MUCH better than at other venues we are familiar with.  The GOHs were far more involved and accessible than at many cons and we have to single out DC's veteran monster host, Count Gore de Vol, as particularly wonderful.  While we didn't have little ones in tow, we head that the schedule was above the usual quality in having activities for the mini-fans.  Kudos to ALL the Ravencon crew for a superlative event and a most rewarding experience.

Update for Ravencon

Here are the panels we'll be joining:

Jim: Friday 4/21

6 pm (Panel)  What to Leave Out / King William

5 pm - 7 pm (Private, Optional) Meet and Greet for Guests / Outdoor Terrace, Glen Restaurant
7 pm (Opening Ceremony) King George
Saturday
11 am (Panel) Creating Fictional but Meaningful Religions / Brunswick
Noon (Panel) Says Who?? Writing Memorable Dialogue / Brunswick
3 pm (Panel) What It Takes to Co-Author Successfully / Henry
4 pm (Panel) Questions to ask when Creating a Fictional Culture / Brunswick

John Friday

5 pm - 7 pm (Private, Optional) Meet and Greet for Guests / Outdoor Terrace, Glen Restaurant

7 pm (Opening Ceremony) King George

9 pm (Panel) Getting New People into SFF / Dinwiddie

10 pm (Panel) Dragons as Pets / Brunswick

Saturday

3 pm (Panel) What It Takes to Co-Author Successfully / Henry

4 pm (Panel) When is Evil Irredeemable / King William

Sunday 4/23

We're Going to Ravencon 16!

Jim and John are invited guests at this year's Ravencon, to be held in Glen Allen, Virginia on April 21-23.  We will be involved in various panels and activities and will keep you updated as the Con approaches.  We hope to see our fans and to talk about our latest publications and plans.  Here's the con link.  More to come... 

GLITCHES

     Sometimes exploring means one step forward and two steps back.  It happened during the Age of Discovery time and again.  Look at North America.  The DeSoto, Nervaez, and Ponce de Leon missions all failed and included incredible disasters, such as the extermination of the important Mobilien and Biloxi peoples in the Southeast.  On the Atlantic Coast, the settlements at Roanoke Island, Parris Island, and Cuttyhunk all disappeared in less than two years before Jamestown, with great difficulty, held on.

     In recent weeks, the second stages of rockets launched from the European Space Agency at Kourou, Guyane, and from the Japan Space Agency at Tanegashima in the Kagoshima Prefecture both failed to function properly.  Add to that the failure of the first 3-D printed rocket made by Relativity Space  scheduled to take off from Cape Canaveral.  Perhaps we were a bit spoiled by an incredible run of space successes by many countries in the preceding years.  Nevertheless, the journey will go on.  

     Sci fi has already been sensitive to the double nature of space exploration.  In The Other World by Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac, the explorer's earliest efforts only got him as far as Quebec before a serendipitous accident propelled him to the Moon.   Jules Verne, two centuries later, also showed in From  the Earth to the Moon and its sequel that things didn't work out exactly as planned or his Franco-American crew.  During the Golden Age of Science Fiction, Heinlein in his The Green Hills of Earth and Bradbury in The Martian Chronicles each sketched intimate portraits of space exploration that were filled with unexpected hardships and tragedies.  On the big and small screens, Forbidden Planet and Lost in Space confronted voyagers with failures that could have vast planetary consequences.  

     So we have to brush aside the carefree vistas of Tomorrowland that prevailed for a while and accept the reality of a prolonged period that will not always offer success.  With curiosity and a bit of trepidation, we will see what the future has to offer.

 glitches 2 second stages japan, kourou

  3 dprinted rocket fails

 Thanks Forlani Fans!

You've helped launch Life Sentence into the Amazon Top 100 in three categories already.  There's still time to take advantage of this weekend's FREE promotion by going to  https://www.amazon.com/Life-Sentence-Forlani-Saga-Book-ebook/dp/B01MCUIHXY   and nabbing your Kindle copy before the close of the promotion Monday.  Don't wait, but do remember to give us an Amazon review, even if it's just a few words or some (hopefully five!) stars.  

ISS Leads the Way

Kudos to all aboard and supporting the International Space Station for the mature and effective way they have dealt with the Soyuz leak and crew support.  No bickering or jingoistic BS to be seen.  Roscosmos sent up the replacement vehicle without a hitch and SpaceX got the new crew up there in flawless manner.  If only we could handle things on Earth in such a grown-up manner.  Keep on flying for all of us down here!