My SoonerCon schedule

I will be in Oklahoma City June 22-24 for the SoonerCon convention. Here is my schedule. Hope to see you there!

The Author and The Anthology
Friday, June 22, 2018, 2:00 p.m.
Often a launch pad for new writers, anthologies are a great way to enter publishing and to network with writers and editors. A discussion of crafting short stories for anthologies and marketing your shorter work to net sales and build your audience.

Melyssa Childs-Wiley - M, Lou Antonelli, Walt Boyes, Cary Osborne, Selina Rosen, Tommy B. Smith

Readings: Alternate History
Friday, June 22, 2018, 4:00 p.m.
Lou Antonelli, David Carrico, Bekah June, Jeff Provine

Managing Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness
Saturday, June 23, 2018, 10:00 a.m.
Depression hurts, but help is out there! Health-care workers and mental-health advocates join together with fandom pros to share real resources for dealing with the black dog and staying sane in fandom.

David “Oak” Rice - M, Lou Antonelli, Peri Charlifu, Nadine Lewis, Rook Riley, Christina Stiles

Autographs
Saturday, June 23, 2018, Noon
Lou Antonelli, David Carrico, K. W. Jeter

Fantastic Comedy
Saturday, June 23, 2018, 2:00 p.m.
There’re some great comic writing out there, from Xanth to Discworld to Myth Adventures. What makes a good sf comedy story? What are your go-to good reads?

Tracy S. Morris - M, Lou Antonelli, Linda L. Donahue, Tim Frayser, Rebecca McFarland Kyle, Susan Satterfield

From Science Fiction to Science Reality
Saturday, June 23, 2018, 5:00 p.m.
Taking your idea and creating new technology, systems, or compounds takes time, patience, and repeatability. How workers in STEM fields use the scientific method to turn dreams to reality.

Jan S. Gephardt - M, Astronaut Stan Love, Lou Antonelli, Clifford “Kip” McMurray, Richard Morgan, Adrian Simmons

You’ll Only Last a Week: Life Without Water
Sunday, June 24, 2018, 11:00 a.m.
Potable water is getting scarcer every year. Can humanity survive on rationed water only? What might a day with no water look like? How would you survive? What key changes would occur? Can we fully adjust to a day without water?

Jan S. Gephardt - M, Lou Antonelli, Deborah Chester, Michael Moe, Paula Helm Murray, Rook Riley

Writing in Someone Else’s Universe
Sunday, June 24, 2018, Noon
Shared worlds, threaded novels, collaborations; all the cool kids are doing it. What are the perks, and pitfalls, of the collaborative writing process?

Julia S. Mandala - M, Lou Antonelli, Walt Boyes, Rhonda Eudaly, K. W. Jeter, Christina Stiles

The Myth and the Monster
Sunday, June 24, 2018, 3:00 p.m.
“What makes you believe in things? It’s not what’s there, it’s about what’s not there…” – Damien Hirst, Artist

Folk tales through the ages have offered explanations for strange happenings and unusual encounters with nature. Panelists discuss the monsters of fantasy and their roots in folklore.

Lou Antonelli - M, Tim Chessmore, Bekah June, A. Lee Martinez, Paula Helm Murray, Laura J. Underwood

Farewell, Oh Great One!

I will always be grateful to Gardner Dozois for encouraging me and giving me invaluable writing advice when I was just starting to write spec fic back in 2003 and 2004, and ultimately accepting my first pro sale, "A Rocket for the Republic", which was published in Asimov's Science Fiction in Sept. 2005.

That was the only story of mine he ever accepted, because it was the last he ever accepted before he retired in April 2004. I will always be proud of the fact that mine was the last story he bought before leaving Asimov's after 19 years.

The story of our interaction was documented in "Letters From Gardner" in 2015, which I always thought didn't get a fair break because it was on the Sad Puppy slate for the Hugos and fell under the Anti-Puppy Purge that year - the ramifications of which are still being felt.

I met him in person three times: In 2003 at Philcon in Philadelphia, in 2011 at the Nebula Awards Weekend in Washington. D.C. and in 2013 at the WorldCon in San Antonio. He was easy to approach, friendly, and enthusiastic. It's no wonder he was so well-loved.

Worth the effort

With the Clarksville High School graduation coming up next Saturday, June 2, this coming week's paper is the issue where we publish the individual photos of the graduating seniors.

In larger cities it's usually impractical to publish all those individual pictures, but Clarksville's Class of 2018 has 33 graduates.

We will also print the photos of the graduating seniors in the other high schools in the county - Avery, Detroit and Rivercrest.

Interestingly enough. Clarksville, Avery and Detroit have almost the same number of graduates this year - 33, 33 and 34. Rivercrest has 44.

That's 144 seniors and 144 photos. Normally I'm not the person who composes the newspaper pages in In Design, but because this tribute to the seniors will add four pages to the paper - and the layout is fairly simple - I pitch in and do these pages myself.

So Thursday and Friday I spent most of my time making black and white (grayscale) copies of those individual photos and then laying them out on their respective pages, with the students' names.

I'm glad it's already done, and I know there will be many people next week who will appreciate the effort.

My LibertyCon schedule

If you are planning to go to LibertyCon this year, here is my schedule:

Fri 04:00PM The Planetary Anthology Roundtable
Fri 05:00PM Opening Ceremonies
Fri 07:00PM What's New From Copper Dog Publishing
Sat 12:00PM Hollywood Science Fiction Luncheon Banquet and Guest of Honor Speeches
Sat 01:00PM Retro-Futurist Alternate History
Sat 04:00PM The Sha'Daa: TOYS Roundtable
Sat 05:30PM Sha'Daa: TOYS - Mass Autograph Session
Sat 09:00PM Copper Dog Publishing / Moondream Press Book Launch/Room Party
Sun 10:00AM Kaffeeklatsch
Sun 01:00PM Reading: Lou Antonelli & Dave Andy Schroeder

Book Review – In the Shadow of the Cross

By Tom Rogneby

Lou Antonelli has gathered together a number of his short stories and published them as In the Shadow of the Cross.

Over a 15 year career devoted primarily to short science fiction, Lou Antonelli was unusual in that he accurately depicted the role of religion in people’s lives. In a nation and era when religion in general – and Christianity in particular – is being oppressed by the opinion leaders of America, Antonelli – who is a life-long journalist – depicted religion as it should be if political correctness in the science fiction field didn’t suppress it.

This collection gathers up stories Antonelli wrote over the years where Christianity plays a role. They range from down home and next door to far flung and in outer space. They remind us that despite the best efforts of a Godless material world, Christianity is a sturdy creed that remains a vital part of many people’s lives.

This collection touches on religion, especially Christianity, in a variety of touching and creative ways.  My favorite was “On a Spiritual Plain”, where a chaplain must learn to deal with the intersection of alien religion, death, and his own faith.  There is also a series of stories dealing with a world in which no one religion has gained dominance, which explores how a religion based on peace and forgiveness fares when mixed in with equally fervent believers in religions that are not quite as peaceful or forgiving.

I burned through this book in a couple of hours, but the stories kept me thinking for days afterward.  It’s a good summer read, and if you’ve enjoyed Antonelli’s other works or are looking for thoughtful, well told stories, I think you’ll like In the Shadow of the Cross.

Unpublished Excerpt - The Dragon of Dallas

The previous excerpt I published was from a false start on what would ultimately become "Another Girl, Another Planet".

Today's offering is in a similar vein - a false start from 2007 to what became in 2008, "The Witch of Waxahachie", published in Jim Baen's Universe.

---

The Dragon of Dallas

Football is King in Texas and every Homecoming football game has its Queen—but this particular game had something extra.

The Waxahachie Indians were the visiting team for Southlake’s Homecoming game, which was held rather late in the year--the third weekend in October. I got to sit in the press box  so I had an excellent view of the half-time festivities.

The Southlake Homecoming Queen beamed as she clutched her bouquet and the hand of her escort, the captain of the football team. They held hands above the team’s mascot, who squatted rather handsomely between them.

His name was Priefert—and I got to know him a lot better shortly thereafter.

Oh, I forgot to mention that the Southlake team mascot is a dragon. That’s what Priefert was—a dragon. I mean, not some teenager in a velour and plush suit.

Priefert was a real dragon.

At the conclusion of the Homecoming ceremonies, Priefert’s handler trotted him back to the sidelines. As I mentioned, it was late October and a chill was beginning to creep into the air. The cheerleaders wore their letter jackets, leg warmers and gloves.

As Priefert went over, they gathered around him, and he breathed on them. They huddled in his “smoke” and rubbed their hands as he helped them warm up.

I leaned over to the scorekeeper. “That’s a heck of a sideline heater.”

He leaned back towards me. “We’re proud of Priefert. Do you have a dragon in your home town?”

“No, not at all,” I said.

I didn’t bother to mention that—where I come from—we don’t have magic, either.

#

It was the previous February when an experiment gone awry at the former Superconducting Super Collider lab south of Dallas punched a portal through to an alternate timeline where magic—instead of science—had been developed and codified since the time of the French Revolution.

I had only been there as a witness for the instigators—Brad Vavra and “Doc” Melancon—in my role as local newspaper editor. Needless to say, I never wrote up what I found.

Strangely enough—for someone in such a mundane profession as journalism—I was the only one in our group who seemed to have the innate talent to use spells, and so I was the only one who had the freedom to traverse the portal.

Mistress Pennoyer—Penny Pennoyer, the head of the Ellis County Magic Council—was my protector when I was in the other world. She had invited me to come along to the football game that night.

My doppelganger—the other Larry Anglen in her world—died years earlier of an infection that couldn’t be stopped in a world without antibiotics. My cover story on my visits to the alternate dimension was that I was his cousin.

Of course, I had to watch what I said to avoid tipping anyone as to what was really going on. The existence of the portal between the magical and scientific worlds was a Republic of Texas state secret, under the authority of President Holley himself.

Mistress Pennoyer and I took the sailroad from Waxahachie that afternoon into Trinity—as Dallas is called in their world—and to Southlake north of the city.

“You need to see some of our local culture,” she had said. “You might understand us better.”

I wasn’t sure if she was entirely serious. “You just don’t trust me to leave me behind,” I said.

“Well, one time I left you alone, you ‘borrowed’ my highest level spell book and used a Teleportation spell to bring your old high school sweetheart, or at least her doppelganger, here for a roll in the hay.”

Ouch. She wasn’t ever going let me forget that one.

“Football” as played in this world was more like rugby—which makes sense, given the common origins of the British and American games—but many of the trappings were the same.

And just as in my world, everyone turned out once a week for “Friday Night Lights—except here, the lights were powerful gas lamps.

After the game, Mistress Pennoyer and I had to cross the field to get to where our host’s wagon waited. Priefert was still on the field, and many of the students patted or petted him for good luck.

I tried to give him a good looking over without obviously gawking. He was a nice jungle green with a ferocious frill behind his head and a fat, long tail.

“No wings, “ I thought. “Probably hops Southwest when he need to fly.”

Priefert swung his head around and looked at me. “You’re not one of us!” he said telepathically.

I tripped over my feet and fell face first into the turf. Mistress Pennoyer heard the dull thud and turned around.

Some other people stopped and helped me to my knees. Pennoyer leaned down and gave me her hand.

“What happened, Larry?”

As she helped jerk me up, I leaned in real close. “The dragon’s spoke to me, mind to mind.”

She turned her heard quickly and gave Priefert a look. “You know that is forbidden!”

“Sorry, mistress,” he responded, “but I overheard him.”

I stood up. I didn’t know they had telepathy here. “OK, can you guys hear me, then?” “Yes,” both responded.

“We need to talk,” she said.

“Very well, mistress,” said the dragon telepathically. “At your convenience.” I just nodded.

Priefert  then looked at me.

“Who’s Joan Rivers?”

#

Our original plan was to take the late-night sailroad back to Waxahachie after the game, but instead Mistress Pennoyer asked our driver to take us to a large farmhouse on the edge of town.

In my world, Southlake is a city of 20,000 located north of Dallas. Much of its economy is driven by the proximity of Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. Needless to say, it’s a lot smaller in a world with no flying machines—perhaps 200 people. And Mistress Jordan’s home was outside the town.

Mistress Jordan was the head of the local Magic Council, said Penny. That’s all she told me as we rode through some very dark countryside on the way to her home.

Mistress Jordan greeted us at the door holding a tall whale oil lamp aloft. She was as round and short as Mistress Penny was tall and willowy. She genially waved us inside as she sent the driver away.

“I understand you have a subject of some discretion to discuss,” she said.

“I hope my Commune spell didn’t seem abrupt,” said Penny. “This is my friend, Larry Anglen.”

Mistress Jordan shook my hand warmly. “I detect without much prodding that you’re a great wizard,” she said. “But you use none of the language and carry none of the trappings.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but I’m not a wizard,” I said. “I’m a journalist.”

She obviously didn’t know what the word meant.

Penny interjected. “Larry is a writer for a newspaper, but more importantly, he’s not a wizard because where he comes from, there are no wizards.”

Mistress Jordan’s jaw dropped. “My god, you’re not from Comstock, are you?”

“No, nothing quite so bad,” said Penny. “He’s from much further away.”

Penny then—after making Mistress Jordan swear on a Reversed Reveal spell—told her of the portal, and of our world where science and the Industrial Revolution had happened instead of their Magical Revelation.

Mistress Jordan was equal parts fascinated and aghast. “It sounds like a dead world,” she said. “With more machines moving about than living creatures.”

“Well, for better or worse, it’s home, “ I said, “and it does have its advantages—like penicillin.”

Jordan ignored the unfamiliar word. “But what does this have to do with us here in Southlake?”

“Larry met Priefert at the football game,” said Penny. “The dragon was caught unawares by Larry’s, uhh, different mind, and violated his oath by speaking to him.”

“Priefert must have been startled.”

“Nevertheless, if Priefert read enough of his mind to learn who Larry is…”

Jordan went to stop here, but I jumped in instead.

“He said to me, “you’re not from this world.”’

Jordan stood up quickly. “I’ll summon Andy Griffin. He’ll bring Priefert.

#

Griffin was Priefert’s handler. While we waited for him to arrive, the two sorceresses filled me in on the history of these real dragons in their world   As in our world, their 19^th century was an era of sea trade and great clipper ships. Early in that century, an enterprising captain captured—while visiting a tiny island in the Sundra Straits of Indonesia—a very large lizard.

Now in our world, the Komodo dragon was a curiousity at best—to be stared at in zoos, perhaps—but in a world where magic users knew the value of a good sidekick, they became a valuable commodity.

After over 150 years of selective breeding, they had also grown especially large and ferocious-appearing. Early cross breeding with much-smaller frilled lizards from New Guinea produced that impressive fringe.

The breeding had been improved by the judicious use of magic—getting the frilled lizards to fertilize Komodo eggs was a good example—but all attempts to introduce wings had been unsuccessful.

The breeding of these especially intelligent lizards created some who had excellent language and communications skills—except they used telepathy.

Over a century earlier, a handful of magic users had their latent telepathy stimulated by the dragons’ contact. A dialogue ensued.

As it happened, only people with excellent magic skills also occasionally possessed telepathy. Both humans and dragons agreed that, because of the inherent dangers of mind reading, the telepathy had to be kept secret.

“When someone becomes a master magic user, they are screened for this power,” said Penny. “We’ve never found anyone except a Mistress or Wizard who possesses the skill.”

“All our dragons possess this ability,” said Jordan. “But they have agreed never to speak to a human unless spoken to first. “

“That explains why he talked to me,” I said. “When I gave him a good looking over, I thought of a wisecrack because he doesn’t have wings.”

“Our telepathy, as you call it,” said Jordan, “call it seelesprechen, only works with dragons, or when a dragon is present.”

She looked at me a little askance. “For someone who isn’t a wizard, you seem to have some skill.”

“He has a great deal of innate talent,” said Penny. “One time, when my back was turned, he ‘borrowed’ a spell book and used a 13^th level Teleportation spell to summon an old lover.”

I didn’t think it would be smart to offer my side of the story, so I just shrugged.

We heard the clatter of a wheel and wagon. Mistress Jordan went to the window with a lamp.

“Griffin is here, with Priefert. “Let’s go to the barn.”

Priefert clambered head first down a ramp Griffin leaned into the back. Mistress Jordan said something to the young man, and he stayed behind at the wagon.

When the barn door was closed and the three of us were inside, Mistress Penny spoke to Priefert. The entire conversation was carried on telepathically.

“You can speak freely, friend.”

“Thank you, my Mistresses. I can sense some concern on your part.”

“Our friend, Mr. Anglen, is a visitor and not familiar with our ways,” said Penny. “He is unfamiliar with our Compact.”

“I understand now,” said Priefert. “He actually did not intend to address me, at the football field.”

Unpublished Excerpt - "Murder by Earthlight" (Conclusion)

Four years before I wrote "Another Girl, Another Planet" - I made a false start on that story, a murder mystery set in space in an alternate universe. I got to 2,700 words before I abandoned it. Here is the beginning of what I wrote in 2011. If you have read "Another Girl, Another Planet", you can see the development of many crucial plot concepts here. This follows up the first half of the excerpt, published April 25.

---

Nobody wanted to go to the moon right out of college. Your amenities would be pitiful, tiny living quarters. Even the engineers had it cramped. But I learned one thing when I was growing up, to be clever and think of things other people didn’t. I think I invented thinking outside the box.

My parents had fled from the Italy to North Africa as boat people in the late ‘40s when it became apparent the Americans wouldn’t launch a second attempt at Fortress Europa. They got out early, before Germania leaned on the Vichy occupation force to return the refugees crossing the Mediterranean, and they hopped a tramp steamer that dropped them off in Boston. That’s why I was born in Massachusetts.

I was the youngest of six children, and my father was an upholsterer, my mother worked in an office, so I studied like heck in high school, I knew I would need a scholarship. By the time I would be ready to go to college, there’d be no money left. And I was right.

I always had two things going for me. First, the guilt the government felt about the people trapped behind the Steel Curtain because of the failure of the Allies to dislodge Hitler in World War II. I was five when the Germans erected the Wall of Moscow overnight to keep the Russians in West Moscow from fleeing into the Allied Sector.

Second, I grew up with the space program, I was born in January 1957, and my mother bounced me on her knee as we all watched Chuck Yeager become the first man in space on Oct. 4, 1957. I grew up when the race for the Moon was on with the Nazis and JASSECA was in full swing.

Of course, we beat them, and although President Kennedy sounded peaceful as he congratulated Glenn and Gagarin on the moon’s surface, we all knew they had a pair of warheads with them when they landed on Nov. 22, 1963. Suddenly the Nazis started talking a lot less aggressively, and when that drooling old man Hitler died a month later, everyone hoped for the best.

The JASSECA moon base was dedicated July 23, 1969, so it was ten years old when I graduated from college. And that summer the administration was about to rotate back to the American team.

The JASSECA agreement was the U.S. and Soviets would administer it in a five-year rotation, with the U.S. starting and the Soviets taking over in 1974. The plan I worked was to be one of the administrative grunts coming on board the summer of 1979.

The part I finessed was siding with the Republicans. President Ford had barely squeaked back into office, and I gambled--correctly--that the Republicans would load up the moonbase admin with as many GOP diehards as possible as a practical political power base because they would probably lose the 1980 election. When Ford smoked Carter out by offering him the moon executive position at the start of the year--and Carter turned him down cold, not even flashing that peanut-eating toothy grin--it was obvious “Jimmuh” was looking for a rematch in 1980, and Ford would be toast.

“You’re playing this like a poker hand,” said Melody one afternoon at lunch. “The next election after the upcoming one will be in 1984, right as the admin changes again. A bunch of these Republican appointees will be coming back earthside, right in time to join various campaigns.”

“Yes, and I’m playing the Bay State card to the hilt,” I said.

“Is that a pun?” she said.

I laughed. “Aw, crap, I didn’t mean it!”

Having thrown my lot in with the College Republicans, I had some special leverage being from a state with a weak Republican Party during a Republican administration in Washington. Like any good poker player, you make the best of the hand you’re dealt, and in my case, the “ace in the hole” was that my hometown rep on Beacon Hill was one of the few Republicans in the Massachusetts House, a bright Greek-American kid named Andy Card.

“The family name was something like Cardmastimides,” I said. “Card is not a bad way to shorten it.”

Southeastern Massachusetts is full of Greeks, Italians and Portuguese--like Melody, who grew up in New Bedford. We met and began to date in college, but she was a year younger than me.

“At least his family had the sense to shorten it,” I said. “And not keep a clumsy name like Santangelo--or Leverinho.”

She fixed me with her big, dark eyes. Her pupils were so dark they blended with her irises, and her hair was jet black, which--combined with her pale complexion--made her look unnervingly like Snow White.

Except she was better built.

“Leverinho is a fine name, with a great history,” she said, a bit touchily. “I’m proud of my heritage.”

“I didn’t mean anything,” I said.

“So Card wrote you a letter of recommendation,” she said. I kept eating my gyro and nodded.

“What if you get the job?” she asked.

“Let’s see what happens, it’s a shot in the dark,” I said. “A long shot at best.”

She gave me look I didn’t quite understand at the time. “Are you sure you are thinking this all through?”

“Trust me, even being seriously considered for this job is a plus, “ I said.

We had been eating on a cement bench on 116th Street. She looked around distractedly and got up quickly. “I have to catch my professor,” she said. “I will call you tonight.”

I thought she wanted to cut the conversation short because she was afraid I’d ask about a place to stay again. Columbia’s graduation is always the third Wednesday of May, and I would have to be out of the Furnald dorm by the end of the month--which was in three days.

I had tried to play some strategy, too--but this wasn’t working. I don’t think she was willing to let me move in.

She gave me a quick peck on the cheek. “Be safe,” I said, feeling a bit cold for late May.

I turned and walked up the Low Plaza, heading towards Uris Hall. I looked around the campus as I walked towards the business school.

Graduation and the prospect of leaving after four years had somehow wrought a change in perspective. Somehow, the familiar buildings seemed to be receding.

“Can I be getting nostalgic?” I thought.

“For this pile of bricks and attitude?”

I stopped and turned around. “Professor Bawke!”

He laughed at my expression. “Why are you mumbling to yourself?”

I coughed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was.”

He put a hand on my shoulder. “You look preoccupied. Worried about that job?”

“More like female problems,” I said. “It’s a tough time of the year.”

“Comings and goings, jobs and graduate school, yes, I understand,” he said. “Well, I have some good news. I was hoping to find you.”

I looked up. “Any feelers from D.C.?”

“Better,” he said. “I got a call from Dick Obenshain’s Chief of Staff.”

He smiled at my expression and nodded. “Wow, that’s great!” I blurted.

Richard Obenshan lost the race for U.S. Senator from Virginia by less than 500 votes the previous fall, and President Ford had nominated him to head the moonbase administration. While the White House was assembling the incoming administration in D.C., Obenshain was assembling his own staff in Virginia.

“You’ve got a shot at it,” he said. “Card must have praised you to the moon--pardon the expression!” said Professor Bawke. “You must be in the running for press liaison or personal aide.”

The news that the Obenshain would get the top post at the base was a piece of luck for me; with his deep ties in Virginia, Obenshain had to work to reach out to find staffers in the rest of the country.

The good recommendation from a rising young politico from New England must have had its effect.
Professor Bawke now grasped my shoulder. “Come back to the office with me, I want to talk.”

Our shoes clacked across the brick sidewalks. “You are in a unique position, you may be only person on Obenshain’s staff from Columbia, as well as Massachusetts,” he said.

“You make me sound like some kind of Republican token,” I said, a bit unsure where he was going.

“When Ford gets turned out of office next year, you will be especially useful in having insights to some places where the opposition is strong,” he said. “The Republicans will want that, if they want to make a comeback in 1984.”

I held the door open for him as we entered Uris Hall. “Some of my friends say if Ford is smart, he will simply retire and through the race open,” I said. “Some people think it’s time to let Reagan go for it, like Goldwater did 20 years ago. It will get it all out of the system.”

Professor Bawke smiled as we entered his office. “I guess the reactionaries needs to run amok every generation.”

He pulled off his scarf and draped it on the hat rack, then sat down.