Sidewise Musings in Paperback

Volume Five in the Ifscapes Multiverse, Sidewise Musings, is now out in paperback as well as ebook! This collection's story "Seven Against Thebes" is one of the longest Ifscapes in the series. It was an especially fun and intriguing exercise in world-building, with quite a few mythological Easter Eggs and ancient-world crossovers to be found below the classic-sci-fi surface of the story ("below the surface" . . . if you've read the story, you'll see the intended pun!).

From the book description: 

"How many Mercurians does it take to change a light-bulb in a far-away citadel of lights? What really caused the literal downfall of Atlantis? Does a meeting of artificial intelligence and asteroids really equal a new empire? Ifscapes teases these questions and more as the series travels underground, upside-down, sidewise, and otherwise in the latest collection of meta-myth science fiction and fantasy short stories.

"Inverted and retroverted worlds meet with remote non-human resources, chronological catastrophes, fantastic islands, and robotic antagonists in just a few worldscapes, timescapes, and landscapes of If. Is it when in Rome that you do as the Pallentinians do, or was that in Babylon, or even in Troy? Are the enemies at Thebes’ gates or in the palace halls? Which came first, Socrates or the dialogue? Volume Five in the multiverse of Ifscapes, Sidewise Musings ponders the boundaries and puzzles the pundits with a whole new array of meta-myth manuscript discoveries, athwart adventures, and oblique obstacles of space and time."

The Martians Want Their Planet Back, and They Want It in Paperback!

"Needless to say, it wasn't long before news of the case leaked to the media. How often did the mysterious Martians file in Intersolar Court?”

Or as you might rightly ask, how often does anyone file in Intersolar Court?

More often than you might think . . .

Already ebook, now out in paperback: The Martians Want Their Planet Back!

What do solar lawsuits and librarians have in common with dragon-slayers, the Voynich Manuscript, and a robotic voyage into the unknown? Find out in the fourth installment of the Ifscapes series, featuring ten more short stories that delve into the sideways science fiction multiverse of space, time, and if.

A Many-Turning Multiverse, Paperback Edition

There was once a universe. And another. And another. Each of them with multitudes of worlds and adventures on their way to history, epic, and myth — or paperback.

Ifscapes 3, A Many-Turning Multiverse, already in ebook, now in paperback!

Following in the footsteps of Ifscapes: Empires and Androids, this free-standing multiversing volume of Ifscapes returns to the fluctuating, fervent, and fantastical realms of reimagined ancient Greek and Roman mythology and legend. Exploring the worlds of what if, what would have been, and what might be, these twelve short science fiction and fantasy stories put a spin on classic tales and characters, spanning past, present, and future in a full array of covert conspiracies, mass-scale invasions, serial satires, excursions to far-away forests and far-flung world-ships, and more.

A Braxleydale Scholar Comes to Paperback

Meanwhile, otherwhere in the elsewhen in ebook and at last here in the actual now — out in paperback!

A Braxleydale Scholar and Other Eccentricities (Ifscapes Vol. 2)

From the book synopsis:

Singularity, sentience, and scholarship? Satirically esoteric and fantastically apocalyptic worlds of the multiverse come to life in this collection of ten short science fiction stories. 

In this volume of Ifscapes: 

- experience the first sweet moments of artificial intelligence 

- visit the gate at the end of the world 

- go to college with an extraterrestrial 

- ride the roller coaster at Earthland, recently voted the galaxy's favorite theme park 

- learn how to buy and build your very own planet (systems available on optional upgrade) 

Whether you’re interested in preventing the next dystopia or probing the depths of a black hole, the range of serious and tongue-in-cheek stories in this second installment of Ifscapes are designed to fire the imagination and escape the confines of reality. A Braxleydale Scholar and Other Eccentricities features a wide breadth and depth of whimsical science fiction. What would a new self-aware lifeform look like? Where do paper boats fit into the mystery of missing planets? How does Earth turn into a galactic center of recreation? It’s your choice how you tackle the future when the sky's not the limit. Be inspired, amused, driven, or pedantic with this collection of not-so-earthbound entertainment.

Now Available: Ifscapes 11, Hercules Under Contract!

Announcing Ifscapes Vol. 11, Hercules Under Contract, now available on Amazon Kindle!

In Volume 11 of Ifscapes, the multiverse takes its cue from Herculean adventures featuring monsters, mystery, manipulation, and more. Will the shadowy Eurystheans succeed at annexing whole systems? Can the HERCULES Contractors survive their assignments against all odds? And what does the Loch Ness Monster have to do with long-forgotten empires?

In this volume of Ifscapes:

- join ambitious androids on an epic lion hunt

- watch seasoned gladiators battle in unheard-of arenas

- get special insight on the Museum’s Heran exhibits

- question intergalactic witnesses to a massive time heist

- dive into a deadly ocean’s murky depths

- compete with AI monsters and cybernetic organisms

Unrealities, parallel worlds, and alternative adventures meet the mythological exploits of Hercules (Greek Heracles, of course) and the intricacies of galactic conspiracies in this collection of classic science fiction and meta-myth short stories. In Ifscapes 11: Hercules Under Contract, adventures range from far beyond the small print, taking underdog heroes and unexpected explorers to whole new realms of time, space, and realities in the what-if multiverse.

Announcing Ifscapes, Vol. 10: Something Earthlings Notice!

Now available on Amazon: Something Earthlings Notice, Volume 10 in the Ifscapes series! 

Ifscapes celebrates its literary “decade” of possible worlds, alternate histories, fantastical what-ifs, and wondrous would-have-beens, spanning a kaleidoscopic multiverse of landscapes and timelines. What unexpected events unfold when ruthless porch pirates hit the plainland? Can Human Resources and Customer Service help locate a missing world in time to save the warranty? And who says pushing planets is like pushing pencils, anyway?

In this volume of Ifscapes:

- transform Earthling tragedy into Titanian triumph

- investigate an enigmatic bank robbery gone sideways

- issue receipts from an undiscovered future

- follow along with secret agents out to rescue a weary universe

- witness first and last contact from the ground up

- peruse the want ads for the perfect galaxy-trotting job

Dystopian battles behind the scenes, unseen extraterrestrial invasions from unseen realms, library stacks at the end of the world, everyday routines changing the fates of universes? Farmers, bookworms, schoolchildren. Product designers, soldiers, settlers, paraplegic astronauts. Something Earthlings Notice ranges from the outrageous to the ordinary to the biggest to the smallest, uncovering cosmic collisions of prosaic proportions. Mass extinction on a minute scale, advanced technology from antiquity, time travel at a standstill, and hints of empire in the most mundane. In Ifscapes, Volume 10: Something Earthlings Notice, impossible details become possible-world tales and cerebral unrealities spin into adventurous realities . . . if the people of Earth will take the time to notice.

Ifscapes, Vol. 1 Out in Paperback!

 Now Available in Paperback!

Ifscapes: Empires and Androids

A MULTIVERSE OF SHORT STORIES INSPIRED BY THE ANCIENT PAST AND FUTURE

- Chronocommuter trains for legionnaires, merchants, media moguls, and robots

- Earthling Chronicles of extrasolar space

- ancient Rome’s TV favorites, from “Three Hundred at Thermopylae” and “Psammetichus II Knows Best” to “A Day in the Life of Alaric”

- epic time-travel struggles between Palamedes and his nemesis Odysseus

- startling ET insights from bestselling researcher Ovid

. . . and more in these twelve reimaginings of Greece and Rome

To learn more Ifscapes: Empires and Androids, or to discover more of the expanding Ifscapes multiverse on Kindle and in paperback, visit the Ifscapes homepage on Amazon.

Coming December 19: Ifscapes, Volume 1 Comes to Paperback!

December 19 . . .*

- Every year: Six days until Christmas Day.

- 1686: Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe leaves his island after 28 years.

- 1732: Benjamin Franklin publishes his first Poor Richard’s Almanack.

- 1843: Charles Dickens publishes A Christmas Carol.

- 1958: President Dwight D. Eisenhower broadcasts the first radio message relayed from outer space.

- 1972: Manned lunar flight Apollo 17 returns to Earth from the moon.

- 2001: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is released in theaters.

- 2024: Ifscapes comes to paperback as Volume 1, Ifscapes: Empires and Androids, makes its paperback debut!  

Available on Amazon beginning Dec. 19, 2024.  **Available on Kindle now.

*https://www.onthisday.com/events/december/19

Happy Leap Day! Book Announcement: Battle at the Forks

On the fourth anniversary of Ifscapes, Volume 1 (Ifscapes: Empires and Androids), announcing Ifscapes 9, Battle at the Forks!  From the book description:

Lunar tourism, near-apocalyptic and dystopian outcomes, space colonization, cybernetic networks and robots, and clever extraterrestrial invasion ruses meet at the corner of Greek tragedy, enigmatic archaeological artifacts, crash landings, mysterious creatures, interplanetary politics, and ancient space battles in this short story collection of science fiction meta-myth and alternate historical fiction. Spectacular moments deciding imperial fates? Ingenious individual intrigues changing the course of solar systems? The many crossroads of history, historical fiction, alternate history, possible worlds, and would-have-been worlds split in the antiquity of the ancient future still to come in Ifscapes, Volume 9: Battle at the Forks.

Book Announcement: Spurious Passages

Announcing Volume 7 in the Ifscapes series: Spurious Passages!

Now available on Amazon:

The multiverse of the Ifscapes series continues to expand with Volume 7, Spurious Passages. What’s real and what’s fake in the range of many universes at once? Can the casting company find a proper Odyssean actor with suitable knowledge of the Bronze Age and Homer’s Cretan Lie? Is interplanetary warfare an empire’s endgame in the age of hover technology, upgraded centurions, and legions from the edge of a known universe? It might take bureaucrats in a conference call or soldiers on a military campaign to find out.

In this volume of Ifscapes:

- take on artificial intelligence at home and abroad

- survive the hazards of the Battle of Mons Olympus

- trek through the jungle with bots, robots, mysterious explorers, and other castaways

- travel unbeaten paths of ancient-world outer space tourism

- sit in on behind-the-scenes commentary of imperial proportions

Passages through space, time, intergalactic settlements, and satire meet with humor, androids, alien invasions, and the intrigues of AI in this latest installment of Ifscapes, where travelogues of Horace and Vergil, the Annals of Ennius, and Tacitus’s histories fit right in with the many possible worlds of androids, colonization, multiple selves, cybernetics and neural implants, and other dimensions. Drama, action, surprise endings, and comedy are all on the table and the travel itinerary in Ifscapes 7, Spurious Passages.

National Space Day 2023

Ifscapes travels into the multiverse (explored in The Bible and the Holographic Universe from a non-fiction perspective), but as the series shows, there's a lot to be said about travel into the universe!  If you haven't heard, May 5, 2023 is National Space Day.

Some fast facts about space:

- "outer space" popularly begins at the the Kármán line, about 62 miles above the surface of Earth.

- space is a deep vacuum, but not a perfect one.

 - if two pieces of one type of metal touch each other in space, the two pieces stick together in a process called cold welding.

- the first spacewalks occurred in 1965.

- it takes Jupiter almost 12 years to orbit the sun.

- 25 of Uranus's 27 moons are named after characters from William Shakespeare's works.

- Voyager I was launched in 1977 and crossed into interstellar space in 2012.

- Alpha Centauri is the star system nearest to us.

- the first cat to fly in space was the French feline Félicette (1963).

- Lucian of Samosata (second century A.D.) wrote about a space battle in his True History.

Book Announcement: Perennials of Paradox

Announcing the release of Ifscapes, Volume 6: Perennials of Paradox!

Now available on Amazon Kindle:

"In a multiverse filled with universes, there’s plenty of space and outer space for multiples, contingents, and alternates. Where does alter ego meet alternate ego? How many repeated extraterrestrial invasions does it take to stir Earth’s defenses to action? Can a man full of life really investigate his own murder? The latest Ifscapes installment, Perennials of Paradox explores these questions over and over in a brand-new collection of science fiction and fantasy short stories."

Book Announcement: Sidewise Musings

Announcing Sideways Musings, volume 5 in the Ifscapes series — now available on Amazon Kindle!

From the book description:

"How many Mercurians does it take to change a light-bulb in a far-away citadel of lights? What really caused the literal downfall of Atlantis? Does a meeting of artificial intelligence and asteroids really equal a new empire? Ifscapes teases these questions and more as the series travels underground, upside-down, sidewise, and otherwise in the latest collection of meta-myth science fiction and fantasy short stories. . . .

Inverted and retroverted worlds meet with remote non-human resources, chronological catastrophes, fantastic islands, and robotic antagonists in just a few worldscapes, timescapes, and landscapes of If. Is it when in Rome that you do as the Pallentinians do, or was that in Babylon, or even in Troy? Are the enemies at Thebes’ gates or in the palace halls? Which came first, Socrates or the dialogue? Volume Five in the multiverse of Ifscapes, Sidewise Musings ponders the boundaries and puzzles the pundits with a whole new array of meta-myth manuscript discoveries, athwart adventures, and oblique obstacles of space and time."

Book Announcement: The Martians Want Their Planet Back! (Ifscapes, Vol. 4)

Announcing The Martians Want Their Planet Back!, the fourth volume in the Ifscapes series.  Below is an excerpt from the description of the book, now available on Amazon Kindle:

"Dystopias, unrealities, experiments, and maintenance issues come together with comedy, medieval saga, and interrupted daily grind in this collection of eclectic, eccentric, entertaining, elevating, escapist, and other otherworldly worlds. What is the real rabbit hole in space-time? Why is the universe going dim? And are the newest sensations really extraterrestrial entities with new and sensational aspirations? The latest addition to the wide range of worlds in the ever-expanding multiversal Ifscapes, The Martians Want Their Planet Back! adjourns the limitations on the imagination and pushes beyond the extraordinary in quests, courtrooms, and cosmologies."

Thank you for reading, and Merry Christmas!

Book Announcement: A Many-Turning Multiverse (Ifscapes, Vol. 3)

It's a pleasure to announce the publication of A Many-Turning Multiverse, Volume 3 in the Ifscapes series.  The book is now available on Amazon Kindle.  Here's an excerpt from the description:

"Following in the footsteps of Ifscapes: Empires and Androids, this free-standing multiversing volume of Ifscapes returns to the fluctuating, fervent, and fantastical realms of reimagined ancient Greek and Roman mythology and legend. Exploring the worlds of what if, what would have been, and what might be, these twelve short science fiction and fantasy stories put a spin on classic tales and characters, spanning past, present, and future in a full array of covert conspiracies, mass-scale invasions, serial satires, excursions to far-away forests and far-flung world-ships, and more." 

Thank you for reading!

Virtual ConQuesT 52

Thank you to the ConQuesT 52 organizers and members for the opportunity to join the "Writing When Life Rolls Over You" panel this past weekend!  ConQuesT, "Kansas City's Original Science Fiction & Fantasy Convention," takes place every Memorial Day weekend.  The weekend's theme, "The Future Is Now (and Then) . . . ," was a great reminder of science fiction's ability to take us in many directions at the same time.  

Looking in many directions at once was a major aspect of the panel's discussion.  What do you do to keep writing and to stay focused in the face of adversity, daily obstacles, and time constraints?  Since dealing with a spinal cord injury involves a special degree of prayer, innovation, flexibility, and support, I felt right at home with the panel's topic.  Thanks to my fellow panelists Rosemary Williams and Lynette M. Burrows for sharing their tips and strategies!

Happy Science Fiction Day!

Happy National Science Fiction Day, celebrating, among other things, the birthday of the brilliant writer Isaac Asimov. 

Science fiction is an incredibly rich field of thinking and mode of thought.  "[T]he task of science fiction is not to predict the future," says Eileen Gunn.  "Rather, it contemplates possible futures."  Chris McKitterick, Director of the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction (University of Kansas), writes, "[M]ore than just a literary mode, SF is an ongoing conversation."

SF isn't merely a conversation about future, either (as McKitterick also notes).  It's a thriving, dynamic conversation that regards multiple directions at once.  Through SF, we envision, reimagine, and reconsider the past, present, and future.  Speculation and social commentary are not restricted to any one point of what we might call our timeline.  And that's one of the many beauties of science fiction.

For a great illustration of enduring SF themes in action — and just a really great way to celebrate a proper Science Fiction Day — take a look at the outer space voyage in one of the earliest Proto-SF works, Lucian's True History.

Book Announcement: A Braxleydale Scholar and Other Eccentricities (An Ifscapes Collection)

As topsy-turvy 2020 comes to an end, I'm excited to announce the release of my book A Braxleydale Scholar and Other Eccentricities, a short story collection featuring some rather topsy-turvy science fiction topics and characters.  The volume is exclusively available as a Kindle ebook on Amazon for $2.99.  Please consider downloading a copy and leaving a review.  Thank you to my readers and reviewers!

This title is the second installment in the Ifscapes series, following the first book Ifscapes: Empires and Androids.  From the Ifscapes series description:

Once upon a time, there was a reality.  Everywhen and everywhere else, there was a different one.  

This is the multiverse of the Ifscapes, where somewhen and somewhere, every apparent unreality unfolds into another universe.  Mythological heroes co-exist with futuristic technology.  Exchange students travel between planets, not countries.  One human being really is the last person on Earth.  Ancient tales of Golden and Silver Ages reveal cosmic secrets of interplanetary relations.  And cybernetic colonists-for-hire cross the galaxy to fulfill a contract.

Adventure, epic, drama, satire.  Androids, ancient artifacts, abandoned planets.  Imperial intrigues.   Students' final exams.  Spy missions.  Bureaucratic mix-ups. 

Ifscapes are vertical and horizontal flights of the imagination.  Behind every reality are countless unrealities.  They pull at our imagination, drive our reasoning, and leave us wondering.  What if?  What would have been?  What would be?  Sometimes, glimpses of unreality are absurd.  Other times, they are plausible.

Always, they are necessary.  Without unrealities as a vivid contrast, reality would not be what it is.  If not, what would it be, except another Ifscape in a sprawling multiverse of dynamic unrealities?