Award-winning poet & writer of fantasy & dark fantasy. Blind book lover. Cat lady. Ran sci-fi, fantasy, & horror conventions. Life is full of possibilities!
It occurred to me that while I used to keep folks here updated on the latest work news, I haven’t posted one of those in a very long time. So for those who follow my work, here’s an update from the battlefield….
After taking a little more than two years away from my own work --
27 years ago PBS aired this retrospective on the Apollo program. I've recaptured it in three parts and am putting it here, so as to preserve the interviews with the astronauts and NASA staff especially. Many of whom are dead now. Hear them in their own words. (part 1 of 3)
A question each of us asks when we're single-digit old, is: where did the moon come from?
The currently accepted theory is that a proto-planet roughly the size of Mars smashed into the proto-Earth 4-1/2 billion years ago. The wreckage from this collision re-coalesced (over several thousand years) into the larger, permanent Earth and a smaller terrestrial that would tidally-lock (meaning one side only ever faces toward us) in orbit around the Earth.
The moon's influence on us cannot be overstated. Beyond romantic notions and colorful poetic license, the sea tides created on Earth might have been essential to early life in the oceans, and the "flexing" caused in the Earth's interior might be at least partially driving volcanoes and plate tectonics.
Without the moon above us, the Earth would be a very different place indeed.
Or, if the moon had been more massive and the Earth less massive—say, a Mercury/Mars pairing—the Earth's surface might now look very similar to the moon's: a barren topography of ancient craters and mountain ranges, all caked in a layer of ancient dust. Not enough internal radioactive decay to drive plate tectonics. And too little surface gravity to retain an atmosphere.
“I love the Lord Jesus Christ. May we strive to see Christ at the center of our lives, of our faith, and of our service. That is where true meaning lies. Until that hour, when Christ’s consummate gift is evident to us all, may we live by faith, hold fast to hope, and show compassion one of another.” –Jeffrey R. Holland (1940–2025)
Incredibly bleak how universities have embraced our illiterate future. Bookstores with no books, libraries getting rid of physical collections, classes that no longer teach novels because students find them too long. Schools must resist the bookless world tech seeks to create.
Call for Poetry
Lost Between Sea & Storm
Can submit up to five (5) poems.
Payment: $5.00 on publication, plus one contributor copy.
Deadline: October 31, 2025
More information at https://t.co/Ip1fy3BgLA
In moments of darkness, look for the rays of light. From a friend: At the big intersection in our community, folks have set up with all sorts of encouraging, thoughtful signs + giving away free cookies. Every time I’ve passed, there have been different folks pulled over, neighbors chatting—I’ve seen lots of hugs and waves. People doing something simple to heal and provide space for others to sit with them in our collective grief. There’s a special spirit about it. It’s community.
Writing rule 1: Write your first draft without worry. While it's true you can write it better with grammar and changes. Remember, it is the story itself that is important to get down in writing. Everything will change, evolve, and grow as you go. - Wrtr #amwriting#Writing
For followers of my work, I have some very exciting news, both personally and professionally. A new challenge. A new beginning.
I'm going back up on the high wire, to see what happens next.
Details below.
Al Carlisle is the author and gathered all the documentation in the book.
I am the editor. As Dr. Carlisle passed away in 2018, my name is on the award. He would have been so pleased.
Pardon me if I am being dense, but am I to understand that it is the 50th anniversary of the release of Dungeons & Dragons, and the current stewards of the brand are not releasing a commemorative anniversary set to celebrate it?
#dungeonsandragons
Tolkien was often asked if he "was" Gandalf. He responded to one reader, "I am not Gandalf ... As far as any character is 'like me' it is Faramir."
Which makes Faramir's declaration about the Ring all the more important:
"But fear no more! I would not take this thing, if it lay by the highway. Not were Minas Tirith falling in ruin and I alone could save her, so, using the weapon of the Dark Lord for her good and my glory. No, I do not wish for such triumphs, Frodo son of Drogo.
"For myself, I would see the White Tree in flower again in the courts of the kings, and the Silver Crown return, and Minas Tirith in peace: Minas Anor again as of old, full of light, high and fair, beautiful as a queen among other queens: not a mistress of many slaves, nay, not even a kind mistress of willing slaves. War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I only love that which they defend: the city of the Men of Numenor; and I would've loved her memory, her ancientry, her beauty, and her present wisdom."
Bring beauty to the world. Offer wonder as a gift. Share in delight & joy. May we cultivate social media into a garden instead of a place to wage war.
(art by Jessie Wilcox Smith)
The job of the writer is to avoid falling into the trap of accepted cliche, one of which is the idea that humans are monolithic and everything changes once and never goes back or alternates from that point. We have streaming audio but also a huge industry for vinyl; by your --
Kurt Vonnegut's 8 rules for writing:
1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
4. Every sentence must do one of two things—reveal character or advance the action.
5. Start as close to the end as possible.
6. Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them-in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To hell with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.
Two days ago I was an asshole because my research was taking too long. Yesterday I was an asshole for taking action. Today I’m as asshole because I’m friends with writers who made improper jokes a decade ago. Tomorrow? I don’t know, but one thing’s for sure: I’ll be an asshole.
“First drafts are for writing free without all the rules. It's not until the second and third drafts that we begin to sort them out into a better story.” - Wrtr #amwriting Be Writing. #author#writing
I have often wondered what social media would be like if it could just be a place where we shared our interests, our delights, our joys, our thoughts, the beauty of our corners of the world & found only connection, not cynicism or criticism? If it became a community of wonder.
Never let anyone diminish the simple joys that bring you pleasure. Reading a good book, enjoying a chat with a friend, walking in nature, hearing a song you love playing in the grocery store. Allow yourself these daily delights for they are extraordinary & meaningful.