We are excited to have “Super Smash Opera” make its Pittsburgh premiere at Confluence 2015 as the featured parody play performance on Saturday evening at 8pm (QA panel at 9pm). Some of the cast and crew will also be speaking as panelists throughout the day as well. For more information visit their Confluence performers info page.
Gregory Feeley writes science fiction and about science fiction. His first novel, The Oxygen Barons, was nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award. His stories have been finalists for the Nebula Award and published in various Year’s Best anthologies, and his essays and reviews have appeared in a variety of publications, including The Atlantic Monthly, the New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post Book World, and USA Today. His most recent novel is Kentauros.
By day, J. L. Gribble is a professional medical editor. By night, she does freelance fiction editing in all genres, along with reading, playing video games, and occasionally even writing. Her debut novel, Steel Victory, was her thesis novel for Seton Hill University’s Writing Popular Fiction graduate program in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Previously, she was one of the co-editors for Far Worlds, a speculative fiction anthology. She lives in Ellicott City, Maryland, with her husband and three vocal Siamese cats. Find her online: J.L. Gribble, on Facebook (www.facebook.com/jlgribblewriter), and on Twitter and Instagram (@hannaedits). She is currently working on more tales set in the world of Limani.
Photo by Anita
Mike Allen is the author of Unseaming, a 2014 Shirley Jackson Award finalist for best story collection, and editor and publisher of the magazine Mythic Delirium and the critically-acclaimed anthology series Clockwork Phoenix. His horror tale “The Button Bin” was a Nebula Award finalist for best short story. He lives in Roanoke, VA, with his wife and creative partner Anita, two loquacious cats and a comical dog. You can follow his exploits as an editor at Mythic Delirium, as a writer at Descent into Light and as both on Twitter at @mythicdelirium.
Here are this year’s Parsec Short Story Contest winners:
- 1st place – “An Occurrence at Owlskirk” by Paul Dixon (Seattle,Washington)
- 2nd place – “The Eastside Wasteland has a Winning Team” by Les Abernathy (Montgomery, Alabama)
- 3rd place – “Voices from Antiquity” by Elizabeth Spencer (Corvallis,Oregon)
Judges for the 2015 Parsec Short Story Contest were:
Gregory Feeley, J. L. Gribble and Mike Allen (Click here for a writeup about the judges: Judges)
Mary’s mainstream poem, “Perfect” is in Uppagus #12, and may be read at: Mary’s poem, “Perfect”
According to John Frochio, June 2015 was a good month for him. He had two stories published! The first was “An Aberration of Apparitions” in Kraxon Magazine. The second was “Tomorrow’s Fast Food” in Beyond Science Fiction June 2015 on Amazon.com. He said, “After a long dry spell, this feels pretty good.”
The audio files from the May 9, 2015 Parsec Meeting are now available! Click here to listen: Audio files
Click here–> Triangulation Kickstarter
Parsec Ink (a subsidiary of Parsec, Inc.) is running an Indiegogo campaign to raise money to promote the new SF/F/H short story anthology called Triangulation: Lost Voices. Due out in July 2015, this is a very nice collection of short stories from writers all over. This selection of 21 stories is the best from 450 submissions! Check out the campaign to learn about our illustrious editor, Jamie Lackey Stefko, and discover the valuable rewards for being one of the first to contribute.
Mary Soon Lee‘s poetry book “Crowned” has sold to Dark Renaissance
Books. “Crowned” is the first part of her work-in-progress, “The
Sign of the Dragon,” an epic fantasy in verse. More information (and
sample illustrations!) at: The Sign of the Dragon
Acquired Taste is a Pittsburgh-based food-themed reading series, held at various locations, each featuring several local or traveling authors. On Friday, May 29th, at 7 p.m., Acquired Taste presents “Wild Food” at The Smiling Moose on East Carson Street, featuring readings by Aubrey Hircsh and Mark Brazaitis, plus a tale of psychic apocalypse in miniature rock-opera form, “Bonnie Wipes It All Clean”, by perennial Pittsburgh art punks Tecumseh EQs. All attendees will receive a limited addition copy of the libretto. The band is fronted by mustachioed Parsec devotee Douglas “Pete” Gwilym.
Confluence 2015 will feature something new: a speculative poetry workshop. Submit an SF or fantasy composition (up to 100 lines) and improve it with the assistance of published poets including:
Timons Esaias – Herb Kauderer – Geoff Landis – Mary Soon Lee – Mary Turzillo – Stephanie Wytovich
The workshop will also provide advice on finding markets, and an opportunity to read your work to a small circle of other poets. Registration is limited to 12 participants, so register early by writing to conprogram@parsec-sff.org. Please include POETRY WORKSHOP in the subject line.