There will be NO Zoom option this month. Come on out and enjoy great conversations, food, fun, frivolity and maybe even some gaming with other like-minded people!
No RSVP necessary. This is an open house event!
Parsec Ink’s Triangulation anthology, Dark Hearts, is open for submissions!
Dark Hearts opened for submissions on Nov 1, and the Triangulation team has been hard at work reading the stories and poems in the queue.
So far, we’ve been receiving a good number of fantasy and horror pieces. We want science fiction, too. Send us leading ladies who are space captains, cyborgs, scientists, hackers, eco-warriors. Send us near futures and far-flung worlds. We’ll read anything that’s speculative, but right now sci-fi is a less competitive genre.
That said, don’t self-reject. If you have a great speculative story of any genre featuring a shady lady, we’d love to read it.
Submissions Close: January 31st, 2025
Details at: parsec-sff.org/triangulation
Meet the Triangulation editors during the upcoming Parsec meeting on November 16th and find out more about Parsec Ink’s Triangulation anthology.
PARSEC, Pittsburgh’s premier SF/F/H Organization meets on Saturday, November 16th , 2024 via ZOOM (see registration link below) and IN PERSON at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Squirrel Hill. 5801 Forbes Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Meeting time: 1:00 – 3:30 pm. (room opens at 12:30 for social time)
Our guests will be the Parsec Ink editors working to bring to life “Dark Hearts,” the 22nd iteration of the Triangulation anthology. Guest speakers include the current anthology editor Jessica Carver and editor emeritus Greg Clumpner (Triangulation: Seven-Day Weekend and Hospitium).
Dark Hearts is a women-centered theme for which anyone can submit stories. The anthology will feature speculative stories and poems about women who are anti-heroes. Submissions open November 1st and close January 31st.
Learn more about Parsec Ink and this year’s “Dark Hearts” anthology: https://parsec-sff.org/triangulation/
Meetings are open to the public and free to attend!
Register for the Zoom meeting
SAVE THE DATE!
The Parsec Holiday Party will be held on Saturday Dec 21, 2024
at the home of Greg Armstrong on Voelkel Ave in Dormont, PA
Would you like to receive updates about upcoming meetings but don’t want to subscribe to our newsletter? Sign up for the ParsecAnnounce Groups.io announcement list. This list is moderated–only group moderators may post to this list. No one can see your membership info, email address or other personal information.
Post event report by Matt Snyder
About 40 people gathered for spooky stories and drinks on Tuesday Oct 24, 2024 at Hop Farm Brewing Company in Lawrenceville. Special guest author Jamie Lackey read her short stories “Mischief Night,” “Joining the Flock,” and the opening from her book, Moving Forward: A Novella of Life After Zombies, as well as the prologue to her new novel, Toil and Trouble: A Pride and Prejudice Retelling.
Nine other authors and members of the Write or Die (WorD) critique group shared stories at the mic, telling tales of crossing the veil, gruesome dates, the bonds we share with our pets, and life lessons on the importance of caltrops.
A huge shout-out to all our author readers: Greg Clumpner, John Muth, Jessica Carver, Randall Brock (aka BS Prophet), Joyce Bevc, Shannon Cross, Laine Wilson, Brandon Ketchum, and Matt Snyder. We also salute our Emcee/Grand Inquisitor Vincent Baverso, who kept the event flowing with characteristic humor and chocolate crosses.
Many hands and minds made the event possible, so additional shout-outs to: John Muth, for helping organize; Karen Yun-Lutz, for making the advertisements; Laine Wilson, for arranging the prize baskets; all those who donated to the door prize baskets; all those who contributed ideas and suggestions; and all those who came before and made this event happen in the past. It was truly a group effort. Thank you!
Special thanks to Hop Farm Brewing Company for hosting our Write or Die reading event!
Emcee: Vince Baverso
Coordinator: Matt Snyder
Special Guest author:
Jamie Lackey
You’re Invited!
Come on out for a great evening of spooky, Halloween readings by members of the Write or Die writing and critique group and the special guest author, Jamie Lackey!
Dress up if you like but costumes are optional.
Door prizes!
Date: Tuesday Oct 22, 2024
Time: 7-9 pm
Location: Hop Farm Brewing Company. 5601 Butler St. Pittsburgh
Write or Die (WorD) recently became part of the workshop program under the Parsec 501(c)(3) organization. Show your support for this important Parsec program by attending!
Jamie Lackey lives in Pittsburgh with her husband and their cats. She has had over 200 short stories published in places like Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Apex Magazine, and Escape Pod. In addition to writing, she spends her time reading, playing tabletop RPGs, and hiking.
Jamie is also an attending member of the Write or Die, writing and critique group.
The Saturday, October 19th Parsec meeting will be held via ZOOM and IN PERSON at the Squirrel Hill Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.
Rooms open at 12:30pm for social time.
Meeting starts at 1pm.
Parsec Monthly Meetings are open to the public.
Our guest will be Day Al-Mohamed, author, filmmaker, and disability policy advisor.
Day Al-Mohamed is an author, filmmaker, and disability policy advisor. Day has written two novels, “Baba Ali and the Clockwork Djinn” and more recently, “The Labyrinth’s Archivist” as well as multiple short stories and articles.
She is a regular host on Idobi Radio’s Geek Girl Riot with a weekly audience of 100k+ listeners and a Founding Member of FWD-Doc (Documentary Filmmakers with Disabilities).
Her documentary, THE INVALID CORPS, about disabled Civil War soldiers, was licensed to Alaska Airlines and had its broadcast premiere on public television in 2020.
Day is currently working on a docu-series, RENEGADES, of role-breaking disabled leaders in history for American Masters/PBS digital (October 2024) and is a proud producer of feature documentary UNSEEN (POV, 2024).
Day was named a DOC NYC 2021 Documentary New Leader, was part of the NBC 2022 Original Voices Fellowship class, and awarded a Disability Futures Fellow grant in 2024.
Outside of her creative work, Day is a policy expert with over 15 years of experience. The former White House Director of Disability Policy, she is a proven leader in inclusion and accessibility, policy development, organizational transformation, and innovative program design. Day lives in Washington DC with her wife, N.R. Brown, daughter Octavia, and guide dog, Gamma.
You can learn about the RENEGADES docu-series: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/shorts/renegades/
Visit Day Al-Mohamed’s website: https://www.dayalmohamed.com/
On Saturday, September 21, 2024 Timons Esaias will be our Guest as he leads a discussion on “Finding the Future in the Past.”
PARSEC, Pittsburgh’s premier Science Fiction & Fantasy Organization meets
via ZOOM and IN PERSON at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Squirrel Hill. Meeting 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm. Open to the public
Please note, this is a NEW Zoom meeting link as of May 2024! If you registered for the Zoom meetings prior to May, you will need to register again using the new Zoom meeting link
Timons will discuss his technique of “Finding the Future in the Past” for science fiction story ideas. This involves mining 19th century Scientific American articles, Sunday supplement newspaper feature articles, old catalogs, The illustrated London News, and other rich veins of inspiration. Old photographs will come in for special scrutiny. These artifacts raise interesting questions about the expectations of the past, our views today, and the possible surprises laying in ambush in the future. Tim will discuss how this technique has worked for him. He most likely will go on and on about the fundamental question behind most good fiction: What, exactly, is wrong with this picture? He also teaches workshops.
Parsec Ink is putting out a call for cover art for the hardcover edition of Triangulation: Hospitium, an anthology of fantasy, science fiction, and horror short stories and poems.
This is Triangulations’ 21st anthology and our first hardcover edition. We’d love for you to be a part of Parsec Ink history.
Deadline for submissions is September 30, 2024. Decisions will be made shortly thereafter.
Hospitium is a Greco-Roman concept of hospitality, where both the guest and host have an obligation to treat the other with kindness and respect, regardless of external quarrels.
Infuriate the gods with a poorly timed joke.
Interrupt a demon’s day off by summoning them for a spot of tea.
Bring your botfriend home to meet your embarrassing parents.
These three stories are a sample of those contained with the pages of Triangulation: Hospitium. You can view the paperback cover on our Kickstarter and Amazon.
Payment upon acceptance is $250 plus a copy of the hardcover edition of the anthology upon completion.
Parsec Ink rights are restricted to the hardcover edition for the 2024 Triangulation: Hospitium anthology only, and any marketing materials related to Triangulation: Hospitium. All other rights remain with the artist.
No AI generated art, please.
Repeat: No AI generated artwork!
Preferred format is 1292 × 925 PNG. We may be able to utilize other formats if necessary. We will work with the chosen artist to fine tune the sizing for the cover.
Please send questions and submissions to: parsecink.editor@gmail.com
Mark the date! Saturday Aug 17, 2024
Location: Dormont Park large pavillion: 1801 Dormont Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15216
Time: Noon – Dusk
PLEASE RSVP to help us plan accordingly:
- Bring a dish to share!
- Burgers, hot dogs, buns, ice, some beverages and other assorted picnic necessities will be provided by Parsec.
- Plenty of room for gaming, readings and more!
- The pavilion is wheelchair accessible.
- Friends of Parsec are welcome! All Parsec meetings are free to attend & open to the public.
This is a potluck event. It is suggested that everyone bring a dish to share: salad, side dish, dessert or snacks/chips & dip. You can indicate what you will be bringing in the Parsec Picnic RSVP form.
Parsec will supply charcoal, meats (burgers & hot dogs) buns, condiments, ice, some non-alcohol beverages (a mix of diet, sugared and teas). tortilla chips & salsa, candy & nuts, and paper products (plates, napkins, flatware).
This event is free to attend and open to friends of Parsec and those wishing to learn more about Parsec. Donations will be gratefully accepted during the event.
1801 Dormont Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15216 (Click on address for Google map)
The driving route to the large pavilion is to take Mcfarland road to Annapolis Ave. Right before the elementary school there is a small road, make the left on to Memorial Ave. On the right you might see a very small access road, make the right on to that road and follow it up to the pavillion. Parking at the pavilion site is limited. Please use the parking lot and walk the short distance to the pavilion if possible.
To park in the lot and walk to the pavillion. From Annapolis Ave, go past the elementary school. On the left there is a small parking lot and a small, one way roadway that comes out of the park from the pavilion. You can walk that roadway to reach the pavillion.
*Media notice: PARSEC staff may choose to record, live-stream, or otherwise capture or record images and comments during in-person meetings or the Zoom event. By attending or registering for any event, you agree that Parsec may use your likeness and recordings to publicize, reproduce, exhibit, distribute, broadcast, or digitize the resulting content for use in marketing, promotion, and advancement efforts. This may include publications, marketing videos, advertising, websites and/or other public marketing for any purpose consistent with the Parsec status as a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. If you prefer that your likeness not be used, please turn off your camera during Zoom recordings.
Announcements will be made prior to the start of recordings and/or image captures and/or photography.
Parsec, Pittsburgh’s premier Science Fiction & Fantasy Organization
😲 TURNS 40 THIS MONTH! 😲
Can you believe it’s been 40 years since the very first Parsec meeting took place? We’ve come a long way in 40 years.
Check out the brief history of Parsec, written by Ann Cecil, 20 years ago, for the Sigma newsletter.
The Parsec monthly meeting meets on Saturday July 20th, 2024, IN PERSON at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Squirrel Hill, Meeting Room B.
A Zoom option is available for those that cannot make the in-person meetings.
Meeting time: 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm. The meeting room and the Zoom both open for social chat time at 12:30 pm.
Parsec meetings are open to the public
Please note, this is a NEW Zoom meeting link as of May 2024!
If you registered for the Zoom meetings prior to May, you will need to register using the new Zoom meeting link:
Our speaker this month is the Confluence 2024 Featured Artist, Christine Hutson!
Seen through the proper lens, the natural world is a truly horrifying place. Earth is teeming with frightening, unexpected, occasionally gruesome, but invariably beautiful organisms. Many of Chris’s creatures begin here. Boundless fascination with the freakishly mundane provides a constant stream of inspiration for her fantastical illustrations. A broad base of knowledge from fields as diverse as anthropology, mythology, biology, religion, and ancient manuscript illustration further guides her hand. Likewise, a degree of medical training has furnished her with a keen eye for anatomy. This lends her work stunning detail when applied to bones, horns, teeth, wings, the odd tentacle here and there, and (as you’ll often see staring back at you) eyeballs. Many eyeballs. You will not be able to miss them. The result is a lavish cabinet of curiosities bloated with the fruits of a delightfully dark imagination.
Chris lives in Pittsburgh where she worked for years as a trained tattoo artist, and as a passionate artisan in the lofty world of tea. She has also worked as an archaeologist, and a professional calligrapher for a variety of clients including the National Baseball Hall of Fame. She currently teaches botanical art for the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh.
In 2024, Christine Hutson is the Featured Artist at the Confluence Conference, held July 26, 27 & 28 at the Sheraton Pittsburgh Airport Hotel. Christine will talk about her experience creating the artwork for the program book, badges, and T-shirt, as well as her own freelance illustration and graphic art business and career.
You can visit her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/christine.hutson.1
Date: Saturday, June 15th, 2024
Time: 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Place: IN PERSON at the Squirrel Hill Carnegie Library
Zoom option is available. [Register for the Zoom meeting]
Author Elizabeth Eve King (E.E. King) is our guest!
Elizabeth Eve King, aka E.E. King, is an award-winning painter, performer, writer, and naturalist. She’ll do anything that won’t pay the bills, especially if it involves animals. Ray Bradbury called Elizabeth’s stories, “marvelously inventive, wildly funny, and deeply thought-provoking.”
E.E. King has been published in over 100 magazines and anthologies, including Clarkesworld, Daily Science Fiction, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Short Edition, and Flametree. Her novels include Dirk Quigby’s Guide to the Afterlife: All you need to know to choose the right heaven, and several story collections. Her short story The Lost Village appeared in DreamForge in 2023.
Her art has been collected internationally. Elizabeth has painted murals in California, Mexico, Spain, and Italy, and shown her paintings at the LA Contemporary Museum of Art.
Elizabeth also co-hosts The Long-Lost Friends Show on Metastellar YouTube and spends summers doing bird rescue and winters planting coral.
Elizabeth will talk with us about her new novel “Gods and Monsters,” being serialized at Metastellar Magazine.
We’ll learn about the novel, Metastellar magazine, and E.E, King’s readings of each chapter on YouTube