Raygun Chronicles interview

The kickstarter drive for Raygun Chronicles is in its final stretch. Bryan Thomas Schmidt has been posting interviews with contributors along the way. Here is mine:

Contributor Interview: Lou Antonelli
Update #26 · Mar. 04, 2013 · comment  
$4555 and steadily climbing with 3 days left (closes Thursday night 8:29 p.m. ET). Word is spreading and we are on the way. I think we have a darn good shot. Meanwhile, Lou Antonelli is so excited he's posted to 100s of places online just by himself. So here's an interview about Lou and his story!

Contributor: Lou Antonelli
Story: The Silver Dollar Saucer
Where'd the idea for the story come from?

When I am blocked, I resort to using a Maguffin to get me off high center. I always carry around a silver dollar in my pocket for good luck; when I am nervous I fidget with it (when I am REALLY nervous I start flipping it.) My very first published short story, “Silvern” – which was published in Revolution SF in June 2003 – used a silver dollar as a Maguffin, and back in 2007 I was blocked again and reached into my pocket for the silver dollar again. This time I had the idea to use a western setting, since back in the 19th Century people commonly used silver coins. Sacks of coins made me think of a stagecoach robbery, and we were off.

Where'd your interest in science fiction and fantasy come from?
Watching the old classic shows like “The Twilight Zone” and “Outer Limits” spurred my imagination. Then I started reading Heinlein, Asimov and DelRey.

What is it about space opera that appeals to you?
It gives you a setting to work out ideas free of the constraints of modern society.

Where else can we find your published fiction? My collections are available on Amazon. Some of my most recent online fiction is available at BuzzyMag and Daily Science Fiction. With 76 short stories published in ten years, I’m easy to find.

Who are some writers you enjoy reading and who have influenced you?
Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein and Rod Serling.

Who's your favorite space opera character of all time? The character I enjoyed the most was Garak on “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”.

"Hearts Made of Stone"

I've gotten the author's proof of my story "Hearts Made of Stone" which is slated to run in the "Song Stories" anthology, edited by Wakefield Mahon. All the stories have to be directly based on songs. I picked the No. 1 hit for the Fontane Sisters in 1954. It's a golem story, with a twist - the golem's a gal.

"The Clock Struck None"

Ian Randall Strock says he likes "The Clock Struck None" so he will publish it; his company is called Gray Rabbit Publications, which publishes s-f under the Fantastic Books imprint. Warren Lapine published "Fantastic Texas" in 2009 with Fantastic Books; he later sold it to Ian, who sent me the contract last night.

I'm signing the contract and getting ready to write the introductions to the 25 stories. Here's the Table of Contents:


Table of Contents – The Clock Struck None
1. Great White Ship
2. The Centurion and the Rainman
3. The Amerikaan Way
4. Meet Me at the Grassy Knoll
5. Double Exposure
6. Across the Plains
7. The Relic
8. Damascus Interrupted
9. Twilight on the Finger Lakes
10. The Goddess of Bleecker Street
11. The Starship Theodora
12. The Dragon’s Black Box
13. Tell Gilgamesh I’m Sorry
14. Re-Opening Night
15. The Hideaway
16. Airy Chick
17. Pirates of the Ozarks
18. Barsoom Billy
19. Ladybug, Ladybug
20. Black Hats and Blackberrys
21. Mak Siccar
22. The Quantum Gunman
23. Encounter in Camelot
24. My Ugly Little Self
25. Insight

Scott Cupp of San Antonio has agreed to write the foreword. Thanks, Scott!

Raygun Chronicles

I want to essentially turn my blog today over to a good cause, the kickstarter campaign for the anthology Raygun Chronicles planned for publication later this year by Every Day Press. Editor Bryan Thomas Schmidt asked me if he could reprint "The Silver Dollar Saucer"; it was originally published in Ray Gun Revival in Jan. 2009.

There are eleven days left in the kickstarter campaign, and it is only at 42 percent of its goal of $8,000, so it's time to crank up the volume. Bryan send out a message via Facebook this weekend, and it bears repeating:
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Friends & Family: I need your help. Since I was a kid, I fell in love with space opera old style and that's why I wrote THE WORKER PRINCE, which got Year's Best Mention from Paul Goat Allen at B&N, and why I have remained a fan of Firefly, Star Wars, Star Trek, Farscape, Space: 1999, etc. all my life. But RAYGUN CHRONICLES, my project to bring back that kind of fun stories needs help. We have amazing talent involved. Big name pros like Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Dean Wesley Smith, Seanan McGuire, Robin Wayne Bailey, Brenda Cooper, Allen Steele, Mike Resnick, and Ann Crispin, and established talents like Michael Merriam, Peter Wacks and Author Lou Antonelli. But what we don't have is funding. We have $2830 in 4 weeks from 137 awesome people. We have amazing artwork, amazing t-shirts and rewards, but if we don't hit $8000 in 13 days, none of it happens. Projects like this are passion projects but also have opened doors for me as a professional to make a living and recover from my financial and life crises of the past four years, so I'm asking you to kindly take a look and think of someone you know, yourself or a friend, who would enjoy this, then back it and spread the word. For as little as $5 you can get the book. But it won't happen without you. If it doesn't fund, I won't have time to mount another for release this year either. So we need your support, and I hope you'll consider it. Thanks much, Bryan
---
If you're turned off by the run-of-the-mill dystopian crap* that dominates s-f today, here is an opportunity to vote with little green ballots and strike a blow for true forward-looking fiction. The kickstarter web page can be found here.

* "The future's gonna suck and you do, too."

ConDFW notes

As opposed to traveling by air to Colorado Springs the previous weekend, getting to ConDFW only takes me a two hours drive from my home in East Texas. I got there Saturday morning in time for my signing at 10 a.m. Martha Wells and I shared the table. I reminded Martha I first met here at the first ConDFW I ever attended, in 2003 (which was the first con I ever attended). She said she remembered.

Then I had a reading at noon, with the hour slot shared with Paul Black and Chris Donahue. Despite cramming three authors in only an hour, it went well. Each of us had a very different type of story; Paul's was somewhat cyberpunk, Chris' was s-f horror, and I read the 12 pages of the story I started at GalaxyFest, "On a Spiritual Plain".

At 2 p.m. I was on the panel, moderated by Jo Walton, on alternate history. Jayme Blaschke was also on that one We were a very learned bunch to address that subject, and the many members of the audience got a very good pile of information and anecdotes.

I visited the con suite and dealers room later in the afternoon, but then - as I noted in  a previous post - traveled to Cedar Hill and visited with an old friend who was on hospice (she passed away early Wednesday morning.) I lived in Cedar Hill from 1988 to 2001 - the longest I ever lived in one city - and I frequented some of the old haunts. I ate dinner Saturday night at the Dairy Queen and had breakfast Sunday morning at the Burgers 'n More Cafe. I stayed at the Ramada Limited motel overnight.

My two panels Sunday were one after another. We had tons of fun at the Interstellar Archeology panel at 1 p.m. which had a full crew with Moderator Mel White, Jayme Blaschke, S. Boyd Taylor, Rick Gonyo, and Gloria Oliver. I think the highlight for me - maybe for everyone - was when my interpretation of an alien artifact was that it was a trombone and I stood up and played what I think was a fairly respectable rendition of Tommy Dorsey's "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You".

I was the moderator for the 4 Stars Stories panel at 2, which had a full complement of authors - Rhonda Eudaly, William Ledbetter, Ethan Nahte, Gloria Oliver, Selina Rosen - as well as David and Mary Gray. That panel also went very well, and although at that point the audience was dwindling, everyone had a great time.

I was back on the road by 5 p.m. and back in Mount Pleasant by 7 p.m. That was my last convention or conference until the DFW Writers Conference in May.

Back from ConDFW

ConDFW went very well this past weekend. All my panels were well attended and enjoyable for both the audience and panelists. I sold a few books during my signing, and I also had people come up to me and ask me to sign their books.

I spent Saturday night in the suburb of Cedar Hill. I lived there from 1988 until 2001, and worked at two different weekly newspapers. A woman who once worked for me as a part-time receptionist was on hospice care and I took the opportunity to say good-bye. She passed away this morning.

My ConDFW schedule

ConDFW in Dallas is this weekend. Here is my schedule:

SATURDAY

Autographs
10 am: Lou Antonelli, Martha Wells

Reading (Trinity VIII)

12 pm: Lou Antonelli, Paul Black

Main Programming (Trinity V)

2 pm: Tweaking Reality: How to Alter History Believably
Panelists: Candace Havens (M), Jo Walton, Taylor Anderson, Lou Antonelli, Jayme Lynn Blaschke

When you read most alternate history stories, there are major changes in the timeline. The First World War is still going in 1939, for instance, or the Civil War doesn’t end. But you can’t just say “The Civil War doesn’t end” and expect people to believe you. Sometimes it is the small changes at key times that herald alternate history – and our experts tell you how to sell small changes to your readers so they stick around for the ride.

SUNDAY
Programming 2 (Chinaberry)

1 pm: Interstellar Archaeology: Part Two – The Debunking
Panelists: Mel White (M), Jayme Lynn Blaschke, Lou Antonelli, S. Boyd Taylor, Rick Gonyo, Gloria Oliver

The second of two panels where we inflict discover startling artifacts of OBVIOUS alien origin. Our experts tell us how wrong the previous esteemed panelists were! Last year, Sunday’s panel thoroughly debunked Friday’s experts. Come see if the same holds true this year!

Programming 3 (Trinity VII)

2 pm: 4 Star Stories Symposium
Panelists: Lou Antonelli (M), Mary Gearhart-Gray, David L. Gray, Rhonda Eudaly, William Ledbetter, Ethan Nahte, Gloria Oliver, Selina Rosen

When we heard about 4 Star Stories we knew we had to bring some of the contributors together to explain what they have done. Come see what a group of fellow authors, artists and editors have accomplished!