REVEALING THE COVER OF MY NEXT BOOK — EXTRAORDINARY VOYAGES

 

I'm very happy today to reveal the cover of my next book, which will be published in November as an ebook and as a paperback. The cover was designed by the very talented Juan Jose Padron 

It is a compilation tome comprising some of my short writings. Fans of 19th Century science fiction will recognize that I have borrowed the title from the well-traveled Jules Verne. I hope he doesn't mind.

Before each piece, is a short introduction, which I'm including in this blog to give you a feel for the book.

MADE ON THE MOON

A Novella

Made on the Moon was originally published as a stand-alone novella by Crossroad Press in 2017. It had had a long journey starting in the 1970s. I outline that journey in “From Stage to Page—The Phases of Made on the Moon” later in this book. This version has been slightly revised from the 2017 edition.

WHAT A PLEASURE IT’S BEEN

TO PISS IN PORCELAIN

The Rude Poems of Stanley Lewis

Assuming you have already read Made on the Moon you will have noted that its protagonist, Stanley Lewis, had once been a poet of some fame and/or infamy, depending on how you feel about poems about birds and the power and beauty of flight, especially as a symbol of the soul ascending. Following are some of his poems.

CYRANO DE BERGERAC

 AND BARON MUNCHAUSEN

GO TO MARS

A Short Story

This story was written for the anthology of short stories Turning the Tied. It was published in 2021 by the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers. The revenue generated from the book was donated to the World Literacy Foundation. I have slightly revised it for its inclusion here.

Cyrano de Bergerac (1619—1655) and Hieronymus Karl Friedrich, Freiherr von Münchhausen (1720—1797) were both real individuals and fictional characters. Cyrano de Bergerac actually was a famous swordsman and author of one of the first works of science fiction, The Other World: Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon, sometimes known as A Voyage to the Moon. Hieronymus Karl Friedrich, Freiherr von Münchhausen or Baron Munchausen was infamous as a teller of outrageously tall tales at diners he hosted. Cyrano was fictionalized by French playwright Edmond Rostand in 1897. The Baron never wrote down any of his tales, but tales attributed to him were published by a series of writers. They were not “licensed” to do so, and the Baron was not happy about this. Nevertheless, is it possible that these scribes were the very first tie-in writers? It is to wonder.

FROM STAGE TO PAGE

THE PHASES OF MADE ON THE MOON

An Essay

I first published this essay on my blog, The Emotional Rationalist, in 2019. I have made some minor revisions for its inclusion here.

WHAT I WOULD PUT ON MY WIKIPEDIA PAGE IF I THOUGHT WIKIPEDIA WOULD LET ME

A WackiWiki

Generally speaking, writers like to write, but they hate to market. And yet in this Twenty-first Century, we are encouraged to do so. The philosophy being, if you don’t thump your own tub, no one else will. This being the case it is often suggested that a writer should have a Wikipedia page to help spread their “brand.” Having a brand is a concept I abhor, but I do see the logic behind it. I once tried to come up with a text for a potential Wikipedia page for myself. Unfortunately, the satiric writer in me supplanted the logical marketeer, and the following is all I could come up with.

I hope you will join me on these voyages.

Cheers to all!