More on Constellations

Today, editor Marco Palmieri announced the table of contents for Constellations, Pocket Books’ 40th-anniversary Star Trek anthology. The authors involved have been known for about six months now, but today the anthology’s running order and individual story titles, some of which had not been revealed, were announced: Introduction by David Gerrold “First, Do No Harm”Continue reading “More on Constellations”

On Page Proofs

The page proofs for “Make-Believe,” my story in Star Trek: Constellations, arrived today. There's a part of me that keeps expecting Ashton Kutcher to come along and say, “Dude, you've been Punk'd!” Edits, copy-edits, contracts, now page proofs, and I just can't shake that feeling, that I haven't really sold this story, that it's allContinue reading “On Page Proofs”

On Being an English Nerd

I saw this test on several friends’ webpages. Am I an English nerd, or what? 😉 True English Nerd You scored 91 erudition! Not only do you know your subjects from your objects and your definite from your indefinite articles, but you’ve got quite a handle on the literature and the history of the languageContinue reading “On Being an English Nerd”

On My Font of English

It was Sherlock Holmes in “His Last Bow” who said that, and I’m paraphrasing here, that two years undercover as the American Pinkterton detective Altamont had left his font of English permanently defiled. I’ve watched too much British television. My own font of English has been permantently defiled. I typed out a sentence, and wroteContinue reading “On My Font of English”

On the Ptolemaic System

I mentioned a week ago, perhaps a little more, that I an idea struck: tell a story set in a universe where the Ptolemaic system were true, where Earth was the center of the universe around which everything–moon, sun, planets, stars–revolved. A silly idea, true. I realized, though, that I really didn’t know quite howContinue reading “On the Ptolemaic System”

On Jimmy Doohan

James Doohan, best known as Scotty from Star Trek, passed away today. He was 85. I had the opportunity to write for Scotty in my Star Trek: SCE novella, Ring Around the Sky. Scotty is the officer in charge of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers, and he doles out the assignments to the da VinciContinue reading “On Jimmy Doohan”