A press release from Fantastic Books:

In February, Fantastic Books published Daniel M. Kimmel’s newest novel, Time On My Hands, to rave reviews. Now Fantastic Books announces that the electronic edition of the book—which Publishers Weekly called layered, emotional, and thought-provoking—is available at all major retailers.

Time On My Hands is Kimmel’s quirky take on time travel, lost love, divided loyalties, and the eternal search for really good scotch. The story investigates the myriad time travel troubles over which most science fiction readers have pondered, but it presents a fresh take on the time travel novel by adhering to the Aristotelian Unity of Time; that is, all the action takes place within one day.

In the book, Professor Price tells the story of how he came to be in possession of a time travel device (which he may or may not have invented), and how he found his future hiding in his past. But the discovery of time travel will necessitate far more than just building a really cool machine: it’ll take the efforts of many people to figure out how to talk about time travel, the requirements necessary to be an ethical time traveler, and just whose office it is when my yesterday becomes your tomorrow without the courtesy of a knock on the door.

Film critic and professor Daniel M. Kimmel wrote for the Worcester Telegram and Gazette for 25 years, and was the Boston correspondent for Variety and the “Movie Maven” for the Jewish Advocate. He has taught film and media classes at Emerson College, Boston University, and Suffolk University. His book on the history of FOX TV, The Fourth Network, received the Cable Center Book Award. His other books include a history of DreamWorks, The Dream Team, and I’ll Have What She’s Having: Behind the Scenes of the Great Romantic Comedies. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Rochester (where much of Time On My Hands is set) and his law degree from Boston University.

Reviews of Time On My Hands:

“This layered contemporary science fiction tale takes its time unfolding, but eventually reveals a moving emotional core.… explores the technical, ethical, and emotional ramifications of his device and his travels in entertaining and thought-provoking ways, with satisfying results.” —Publishers Weekly

“Instead of avoiding the time paradox, this book grabs it by the time loops and breaks it open, examining the ethical implications of using time travel.” —John DeNardo, Kirkus Reviews

“Here’s Daniel M. Kimmel again, and time travel will never be the same.… In Time On My Hands, his two satirical targets are time travel and academia. The result is a fun and funny tale.… Kimmel addresses just about every question about time travel that has ever emerged in science fiction.… Kimmel knows his stuff, both as an academic and as a longtime scholar of science fiction. His characters ring true, and he ties together all the many threads of the plot into a satisfying whole. The book is a breezy, enjoyable read, and… it’ll definitely give you more than its share of chuckles.” —Don Sakers, Analog Science Fiction and Fact

A press release from Fantastic Books:

Three-time Hugo Award-winner Allen Steele is known for his meticulously planned and plotted hard science fiction, and especially his Coyote sequence of interstellar colonization. But like most science fiction writers, his interests extend beyond the strict confines of one genre. He is a fan of mysteries, tales of suspense, and the alternate history concepts of “what might have been.”

In The Doppler Effect and Other Stories, Steele stretches into those other genres with three short novels that break the bonds of strict adherence to genre labels. They tell stories of yesterdays that might have been, and of todays that ought not to be. In his introduction, Steele says “this is a collection of three stories, each a short novel in itself. Strictly speaking, they’re science fiction, but that label doesn’t describe them accurately. The truth is, when I wrote these stories, I was deliberately playing with a different genre: mystery-suspense fiction.”

● “The Doppler Effect”: What’s an astronomer to do when he’s been forced out of his teaching job on trumped-up charges of cultural insensitivity? If he’s Theodore Reggs, aka T-Rex, his solution may involve hijacking a deep space probe and planning an alien invasion.…

● “Frogheads”: When a young man disappears on an alien planet, the reason might not be nefarious. But returning him to his family could entail other, unforeseen dangers.…

● “Einstein’s Shadow:” While fleeing the Nazis aboard a massive flying boat, Albert Einstein has several surprising encounters when he teams up with a New York private eye and a Scotland Yard detective who may not be quite what he seems.…

Mainstream publishing confines itself to strict genre labels in the never-ending quest to publish the next best-seller. And mainstream bookstores force adherence to those labels in order to clearly shelve and market new books.

Small press publishing, however, has the freedom to stretch, to break through those walls. Thus, Fantastic Books is thrilled to be publishing Allen Steele’s latest, genre-crossing collection. The Doppler Effect and Other Stories—and all Fantastic Books titles—are available through the usual online retailers, and distributed via Ingram for those physical bookstores willing to take a risk on something that’s very hard to classify, but very easy to enjoy.

The Doppler Effect and Other Stories
by Allen Steele
$12.99, 164 pages, trade paperback
ISBN: 978-1-5154-1029-4

After nearly a fortnight on the road, to Florida for the AG, and then to Massachusetts for Readercon, I’ve finally returned home, and waiting for me were two good reviews of Up the Rainbow: the Complete Short Fiction of Susan Casper. Makes coming home pretty nice!

Publishers Weekly says: “This collection… showcases both [Susan Casper’s] talent and the potential… that was lost when she abruptly stopped writing.… The completed short stories are worthy reading for any fan of science fiction or darker fantasy.… there’s a lot here for genre fans to enjoy.”

Paul Di Filippo in Locus writes: “It is a testament to the high regard in which [Susan Casper] was held that this commemorative volume was so quickly assembled and issued.… The opening three stories—her first sale was in 1983—serve almost as a mini-trilogy of horror or the Weird, showing Casper’s interest in eruptions of the uncanny into everyday life. Exemplars like Robert Bloch and Lisa Tuttle come to mind.… the trip reports—a longstanding fannish tradition—reveal Casper’s zest for life, a keen observer’s eye, and a flair for journalistic concision. These travelogues show a whimsical acceptance of the world’s pleasures, with no itchy unease or greed for more than some simple relaxations in novel settings can provide.… As [Michael] Swanwick has observed [in his introduction], Casper’s career was relatively compact: from 1983 to 2003. At that endpoint, for unexplained and perhaps ultimately inexplicable reasons, with many potential tales still at her fingertips, she ceased writing, although during her final fourteen years she still had many opportunities to do so. If one can hazard a guess as to why, based on the contents of this book, I’d say that Casper felt she had plumbed most of the rewards that writing fiction at a journeyman level could provide, and then made the decision that ramping up to master class was just not an effort she was willing to make. It’s a decision that others before her have chosen, and one that requires self-knowledge, sternness of character, and a willingness to let go of unrealistic daydreams. All qualities which the stories she did give us reveal she possessed to repletion.”

At Readercon, with Gardner Dozois’ able help, we sold out of all the copies of Up the Rainbow that I had. At the same time, Fantastic Books launched Science Fiction for the Throne, with the help of editors Tom Easton and Judith K. Dial. We did not sell out of those books, but made a nice dent in the pile I had on hand.

I’m still in Florida after American Mensa‘s Annual Gathering, where I spent a lot of time in meetings (since I just took office as RVC1), and presented two different talks (one on the Presidents, one on alternate history), but I still had a wonderful, nearly sleepless, time. In fact, I didn’t bother sleeping at all the last night, and the photo below, of sunrise Sunday morning, is the result. Taken from the beach at the Diplomat Hotel in Hollywood, Florida, it was a great finale to a week of spending time with friends and making new friends.

I’m spending a couple of days relaxing in Florida, but I’ve got another convention coming up in a few days: Readercon. As always at Readercon, I’m not on much programming. In fact, I’m only on one panel: “Deep Time,” Saturday at 2pm in room 6, with Glenn Grant, Jeff Hecht, Sioban Krzywicki, Tom Purdom, and Vandana Singh. I think I’m also scheduled for a kaffeeklatsch. But beyond that, of course I’ll be in the dealers’ room at the Fantastic Books table, launching two books: Up the Rainbow: the Complete Short Fiction of Susan Casper edited by Gardner Dozois; and Science Fiction for the Throne: One Sitting Reads edited by Tom Easton and Judith K. Dial. At the moment, it looks like I won’t have copies of SFftT until Saturday. Hope to see some of you there!

Normally, I post my upcoming convention schedules only for science fiction conventions, but as my role has changed (as of July 1st, I am RVC1 of American Mensa), and I have a very full schedule planned, I’m doing the same for the upcoming American Mensa Annual Gathering (July 5-9 in Hollywood, Florida). If you’re also going to be attending, and are looking for me, I’ll by at the following:

Wednesday, July 5, 6pm: AMC Chair Reception, in Diplomat 3

Thursday, July 6, 9am-5pm: American Mensa Committee Meeting, in the Regency Ballroom

Thursday, July 6, 7:30-8:45pm: I’ll be presenting a talk on the Presidents and Presidency of the United States, entitled “Any President But Donald Trump,” in Regency Ballroom 3

Friday, July 7, 9-11am: American Mensa Annual Business Meeting, in Regency Ballroom 2

Friday, July 7, 1:30-2:45pm: Region 1 Meet & Greet, in Room 216 – Even if you’re not looking specifically for me, I invite and urge all members of Region 1 to attend this session (Region 1 includes all of New England, all of New York State except Western New York, and Northern New Jersey).

Friday, July 7, 7-10pm: I’ll be attending the Gala Dinner (tickets required)

Saturday, July 8, 12n-1:15pm: I’ll be presenting a talk on Alternate History, entitled “How I Came to Write ‘Shall Not Perish from the Earth’,” in Atlantic Ballroom 3

Other than these scheduled events, I hope to be around and about the convention. I’m arriving in Florida Tuesday afternoon (and looking for a good place and a good crew to see the fireworks somewhere), and leaving the AG Sunday afternoon. Hope to see a lot of you there!

Something I’ve been seeing as an editor recently: “he put his arm around her shoulder.” I keep trying to picture that action, and then adding an s to make it “shoulders”.

The newest edition of True Review just posted, and in it, publisher Andrew Andrews says some very nice things about The Complete Short Fiction of Susan Casper, which Fantastic Books is publishing in July. In part, he says: “Up the Rainbow is a very gorgeous single-author collection from the unfortunately late Susan Casper, and the SF field has lost a Talent. Fortunately her husband, Gardner, was able to collect her fiction and nonfiction into this massive and very worthwhile volume, reminding us all that Susan could certainly shine.… This collection is proof that Susan remains an uncelebrated, underappreciated Tall Talent.”

The new edition of True Review has been posted, and in it, publisher Andrew Andrews writes of Bud Sparhawk’s new collection: “[Sparhawk] writes some amazing stories.… In ‘Astronomic Distance/Geologic Time,’ Sparhawk sends us on a journey as far as distance and time can stretch… The story itself makes you realize how small, trivial and possibly soon-to-be-forgotten our own era will be.”

There’s one scant week left to get in on Fantastic Books’ first Kickstarter project. The book is funded, and we’re more than half-way to our first stretch goal, which will add in a super-special, limited edition chapbook for everyone pledging $14 or more (bascially, those who are in for a printed copy of the book, or more).

Apparently, there’s this game show called Cash Cab, and apparently, it’s coming back on the air (on Discovery Channel), and apparently, you know someone who’s going to be on the show!

Had a fascinating time today riding in the Cash Cab! Thanks, Greg Draves and Anton Spivack! I think we made a great team.

Thanks, Ben Bailey, for not crashing while driving, and for being a fun person to hang with. And everyone on the staff we interacted with was fun and friendly. A great experience!

Part of the show, one of the questions we couldn’t answer, we used a “Facebook Shout Out,” which was a live on Facebook thing. The video is available on Facebook (don’t know if you need to log in to view it) here

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