tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84487442023-03-17T09:07:58.196-07:00Info Alerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16417195521888034803noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8448744.post-1134108588263087302005-12-08T22:09:00.000-08:002005-12-08T22:09:48.283-08:00

The year 2006 starts out with Ushicon Go!, an Austin Anime con January 27-29 http://www.ushicon.com/ February 10-12 brings OwlCon XXV, Houston's longest running Gaming Convention, in the RMC/Ley Student Center of Rice University. http://www.owlcon.com/ February ends with the first local literary Science Fiction and Fantasy Event, ConDFW V, brought to you by the Texas Speculative Fiction

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8448744.post-1134102211666903302005-12-08T20:23:00.000-08:002005-12-08T20:31:45.566-08:00

We heard from Russ Ault commenting on our Info Alert Entry on Harlin Ellison's Grand Master recognition/performance at this year's Nebula Awards. The Info Alert: From Enfant Terrible to Grand Old Man.The concept of anyone paying money to be subjected to the presence of Harlan Ellison's Ego (like Foul Ole Ron's Smell, it precedes him wherever he goes, and lingers afterward) simply boggles the

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8448744.post-1134092615726950692005-12-08T17:43:00.000-08:002005-12-08T17:58:21.086-08:00

Canadians Worried Bush will Start a Shooting War with Alien UFOs.(Really. We couldn't make this stuff up)A former Canadian Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister under Pierre Trudeau has joined forces with three Non-governmental organizations to ask the Parliament of Canada to hold public hearings on Exopolitics -- relations with “ETs, -- ethical, advanced extraterrestrial civilizations

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8448744.post-1133190359140741372005-11-28T07:05:00.000-08:002005-11-28T07:11:39.636-08:00

Those who enjoy getting an SF/F art fix on the web may want to check out the artwork on the website of Jason Ahlquist (who lives near Ann Arbor MI). He is also the editor of the Mars Dust e-zine (soon to be in magazine printed hardcopy format). Jason Ahlquist - http://www.ahlquistcreative.comMars Dust - http://www.marsdust.com/home.htm

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16417195521888034803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8448744.post-1133155433752679652005-11-27T21:23:00.000-08:002005-11-27T21:23:53.796-08:00

The Science Fiction Writers of America President, Robin Wayne Bailey, announced the Grand Master and Author Emeritus to be honored at the Nebula Award Weekend, 2006. With Connie Willis as Toastmaster, the Grand Master will be Harlan Ellison and the Author Emeritus will be William F. Nolan, co-author of Logan's Run. SFWA has a nice picture of Harlan with its announcement. The 2006 Nebula Awards

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16417195521888034803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8448744.post-1132377840563927152005-11-18T21:24:00.000-08:002005-11-18T21:24:00.606-08:00

Would you believe 13 suns? Headline writers don't pay much attention to the article's contents sometimes. According to Ian Brown writing in the Scotsman thirteen nearby stars have been identified by Brazilian astronomers as the most promising candidates for life-bearing planets. Three stars, Beta Comae Berenicis, Zeta Tucanae and 61 Virginis, were designated "premier targets" which means that

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16417195521888034803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8448744.post-1132372506637882202005-11-18T19:55:00.000-08:002005-11-18T19:55:06.666-08:00

December releases from: Mercedes Lacky and Rosemary Edghill (Music to My Sorrow - bk. 7 in Bedlam Bards Trilogy - Sequel to Mad Maudlin - Urban fantasy). Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough (Changelings - bk 1 of Twins of Petaybee. Latest in the Petaybee series), Allen Steele (Coyote Frontier - bk 3 of the Coyote series - Sequel to Coyote Rising), Harry Turtledove (Bridge of the

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16417195521888034803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8448744.post-1132352698014703402005-11-18T14:24:00.000-08:002005-11-18T14:24:58.050-08:00

The Christmas snow story by Connie Willis, "Just Like the Ones That We Used to Know" was published in Asimov's in December 2003, went on win a couple of awards. Asimov's has it up on their web site. Then it was adapted into a CBS TV Movie and retitled "SNOW WONDER". It will be showing November 20, at 8PM and stars Mary Tyler Moore as the Crazy Aunt Lulu (and I'm betting she had fun doing it

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16417195521888034803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8448744.post-1132312681122702702005-11-18T03:18:00.000-08:002005-11-18T03:18:01.143-08:00

In what appears to be a sudden move, Scifi.com announced the ending of Sci Fiction, the online publishing division of of the site, at the end of 2005. Ellen Datlow has been editing it for about 6 years now, and its stories have won Nebula, Hugo and World Fantasy Awards. During it's run, Sci Fiction published new fiction by writers such as Howard Waldrop, Bruce Sterling, Lisa Tuttle, Steven

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16417195521888034803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8448744.post-1119281006966929262005-06-20T08:23:00.000-07:002005-06-20T08:23:27.003-07:00

Keith P. Graham's 10 Laws of writing Science Fiction start with No Nazis and end with No Supermen. (The good stuff is in the supporting text.) I think you can break any of these rules, but they are decent rules anyway. It would be interesting to see which story or book that sold broke the most rules. I'm not sure I've ever read anything comercial that broke more than three, not even Edgar

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16417195521888034803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8448744.post-1118770674810135542005-06-14T10:37:00.000-07:002005-06-15T06:43:35.560-07:00

ApolloCon is almost upon us. Held in Houston the last weekend in June, Margaret and Clif will be there. Come talk to Margaret at the registration desk and good luck catching Clif as he runs around ApolloCon like a chicken with his head cut off. There will also be a few other people there, like someone with the unlikely name of Robert J. Sawyer. (Wasn't there a recent Hugo winner by that name?)

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16417195521888034803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8448744.post-1118770608945876442005-06-14T10:36:00.000-07:002005-06-15T06:50:27.773-07:00

Kevin J. Anderson has class. He sent ApolloCon a nice letter and a couple of his hardback books, both autographed, for their charity auction benefiting the Houston Area Women’s Center (http://www.hawc.org/ ). The first is the first book in his Butlerian Jihad series, which he also got his coauthor Brian Herbert to autograph. The second is the latest in his Saga of the Seven Suns series.The reason

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16417195521888034803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8448744.post-1117565272269226642005-05-31T11:47:00.000-07:002005-05-31T11:47:52.300-07:00

From time to time in the Info Alert, we give you an update about what NASA is saying about the probability and seriousness of Earth being hit by a big chunk of rock. For months now Asteroid 2004 MN4 has been sitting with two values of 1 on the Torino Scale, one for it's April 2035 pass and one for it's April 2036 pass. A value of 1 basically means "this isn't worth worrying about yet, but it's

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8448744.post-1114294367461951632005-04-23T15:12:00.000-07:002005-04-23T19:31:24.576-07:00

People who read the Info-Alert have widely different backgrounds, and so it’s impossible to tell, to pick a random (ok, not so random) example, how many of you have never heard of podcasting and how many of you routinely listen to podcasts. If podcasts are familiar to you, you can jump ahead to the line with the *** where we start talking about science fiction podcasts.Ok, first the short

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16417195521888034803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8448744.post-1113923041598399552005-04-19T08:04:00.000-07:002005-04-19T09:40:38.453-07:00

I (Clif) just finished reading the Ian M. Banks novel, Against A Dark Background (it was almost as good as his novel, Use of Weapons), and he is now one of my favorite current writers. I haven't read the Hugo nominated, The Algebraist, yet but I will have to (and I'll have to ask Margaret to let me know when he has new novels coming out). I haven't read any of the Nominees, but I suspect that

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16417195521888034803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8448744.post-1113869850133695332005-04-18T17:17:00.000-07:002005-04-19T21:52:01.990-07:00

Those of you in the Houston area may be interested to learn that NASA's Johnson Space Center is holding an open house on Saturday April 23 from 9am to 5pm. According to Al Jackson this is the first time since 9-11 that they've done it, and their "Come Discover the Future of Space Exploration" flyer helpfully points out that large bags, coolers and weapons (among other things) are prohibited on

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16417195521888034803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8448744.post-1113849283386697612005-04-18T11:34:00.000-07:002005-04-19T21:50:25.060-07:00

ApolloCon 2005, Houston's general SF convention in June, is looking for volunteers to save the day. To earn your con T-shirt and a membership at next year's con (or the equivalent) they need you to volunteer for two shifts during the con. But they will certainly accept a single shift's work out of the goodness of your heart.The ApolloCon Art space is full, and the dealer's room is filling fast.

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16417195521888034803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8448744.post-1113795068235478992005-04-17T20:31:00.000-07:002005-04-21T21:36:38.136-07:00

May releases from Ben Bova (Mercury - continuation of the Grand Tour Series), Diana Gabaldon (A Breath of Snow and Ashes - historical time travel romance and no. 6 in the Outlander series), James P.Hogan (Mission to Minerva - No. 6 in the Giant series and the sequel to Entoverse), Mercedes Lackey (Sanctuary - book 3 of the Jouster series) and Jane Lindskold (Child of a Rainless Year).June

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16417195521888034803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8448744.post-1113793380461492752005-04-17T20:03:00.000-07:002005-04-19T09:12:23.420-07:00

This hasn’t been the best of years so far for long-time fans of Science Fiction. In the first week of January we lost Kelly Freas and Will Eisner. SF artist Frank Kelly Freas was winner of 10 Hugo Awards and a Retro-Hugo award. He did covers and interior art for hundreds of SF magazines from the 1950s to 2001, and published books including A Separate Star (1984) and Frank Kelly Freas: As He

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16417195521888034803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8448744.post-1108915777707627392005-02-20T08:09:00.000-08:002005-02-20T08:11:04.540-08:00

The 2004 Nebula Awards Ballot is out.NovelsPaladin of Souls by Lois McMaster BujoldDown and Out in the Magic Kingdomby Cory DoctorowOmega by Jack McDevittCloud Atlas: A Novel by David MitchellPerfect Circle by Stewart, SeanThe Knight by Gene Wolfe Novellas"Walk in Silence," by Catherine Asaro (Analog, Apr 2003)"The Tangled Strings of the Marionettes," by Adam-Troy Castro(F&SF, Jul 2003)"The

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16417195521888034803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8448744.post-1108795074315575832005-02-18T22:37:00.000-08:002005-02-18T22:41:09.883-08:00

Those of us who watched the original Star Trek on its first run will recognize the scenario. Evil Networks act to kill show loved by small but loyal minority. There are differences this time around of course. The Internet, The Sci-Fi Channel, the amount of money involved. But still we have to ask, isn't this where we came in? CNN.com - Trekkies fight end of 'Enterprise' - Feb 16, 2005http://

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8448744.post-1106753733384578632005-01-26T07:35:00.000-08:002005-01-26T07:37:19.136-08:00

Amazing Stories Going on Hiatus Can you read between the lines? Paizo Publishing, LLC, publisher of special-interest gaming and entertainment magazines DRAGON, DUNGEON, Undefeated and Amazing Stories, announced today that it will temporarily suspend publication of two of its titles: Amazing Stories and Undefeated. Despite respectable sales and increasing circulation, both periodicals face

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16417195521888034803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8448744.post-1106752475774110432005-01-26T07:14:00.000-08:002005-01-26T07:16:06.706-08:00

Interaction, the 63rd World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow, Scotland, has published a preliminary list of programme participants. In addition to guests of honor such as Christopher Priest and Jane Yolen they also show such familiar faces as Ellen Datlow, Esther Friesner, Harry Harrison, Larry Niven, Terry Pratchett, Stanley Schmidt, Gordon Van Gelder, Kim Stanley Robinson, David Gerrold,

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16417195521888034803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8448744.post-1106420998860199982005-01-22T11:09:00.000-08:002005-01-22T11:09:58.860-08:00

Carlos Owens Jr. is building an 18-foot tall hydraulic Mecha in his parents Alaskan back yard. The machine may prove helpful by shooting nine-inch nails from the shoulders and 20-foot flames from forearms. On a shoestring budget of $20,000.00 the exoskeleton is a scaled down version of his unfinished 25-foot mecha, which turned out too expensive for his budget. There are 23 hydraulic cylinders

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16417195521888034803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8448744.post-1103259655038943532004-12-16T21:00:00.000-08:002004-12-16T21:00:55.036-08:00

The premise of the Houston Saturday Morning Ritual SF Breakfast is simple enough. A bunch of Science Fiction and NASA types get together on a regular weekly basis to spend time eating breakfast, talking, and enjoying each others company. This has been going on for a buncha years now under the benign guidance of Al Jackson. What's new has been Al's ability to register the group as a Meetup group

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16417195521888034803noreply@blogger.com0