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2024 March Monthly Meeting

This month our Confluence Topics meeting will be held at the Mt.Lebanon Public Library (16 Castle Shannon Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15228) in Meeting Room A (lower level).
The room opens at 12:30. The meeting starts at 1:00pm.
A Zoom option will be available for those that cannot make it in-person

REFRESHMENTS will be served! We haven’t been able to have refreshments during a Parsec meeting for many years. The library allows food and beverages so we’re bringing some light sweet refreshments to share. Possibly even a Pittsburgh iconic burnt almond torte! Attendees are welcome to bring something to share.
We will not be providing beverages. BYOBeverage of choice — just NO alcoholic beverages, please!

Joining us in person will be Confluence 2024 Guest of Honor, Richard Kadrey. Richard is a novelist, freelance writer, and photographer based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

At the March meeting, Parsec traditionally holds a brainstorming session for the Confluence Conference held July 26-28, 2024. We’ll be discussing various panel topics for consideration.
Richard will introduce us to his works, career, and writing, and do a reading from one of his books, perhaps the Sandman Slim series or The Dead Take the A Train. He will also participate in our Confluence panel topics discussion.

Richard Kadrey is the New York Times bestselling author of the Sandman Slim supernatural noir series. Sandman Slim was included in Amazon’s “100 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books to Read in a Lifetime,” and is in development as a feature film.

“The Dead Take the A Train” is his latest release! Bestselling authors Cassandra Khaw and Richard Kadrey have teamed up to deliver a dark new story with magic, monsters, and mayhem, perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman and Joe Hill.

Some of Kadrey’s other books include King Bullet, The Grand Dark, Butcher Bird, and The Dead Take the A Train (with Cassandra Khaw). He’s written for film and comics, including Heavy Metal, Lucifer, and Hellblazer. Kadrey also makes music with his band, A Demon in Fun City.

To Register for the Zoom meeting, visit: https://bit.ly/Parsec-Meeting

Coming in April . . .

 Our guest will be John Ventre of the Mutual UFO Network.

2024 Feb Monthly Meeting

This meeting will be entirely on Zoom! No in-person meeting!
Saturday Feb 17, 2024
Zoom meeting will open at 12:30 for social time. Meeting starts at 1:00pm (ET)

Our guest this month is SFF Poet Herb Kauderer!

Herb is an associate professor of English at Hilbert College near Buffalo, NY. He holds a PhD in Popular Literature from the University at Buffalo (2018), an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College (2007), and five other college degrees. He is the author of four books and fifteen chapbooks of poetry.

Herb will introduce us to his writing, his involvement with the Society for Creative Anachronism, and share some of his genre poetry with us. (Following Herb’s presentation and Q&A, we will set aside time for members who have brought their own poems to share them with us. Parsec’s own resident poet Mary Soon Lee has also been invited to read one or two of her works.)

As the featured poet in SCIFAIKUEST #55 for February 2017 Herb had 28 poems and an interview in the issue. That is longer than many chapbooks. He was featured again in SCIFAIKUEST #87 for February 2021 and contributed 29 poems, an interview, and an essay. Herb’s book THE SNOWSTORM OF ’14: POEMS FROM THE FRONT LINES (2016) recounts the experience of living at the epicenter of two of the worst snowstorms in the lower 48 states.

Following Herb’s presentation, we will have time for attendees to share some of their own poetry with the group.

Register for Zoom meeting

Watch for a post coming soon about the March meeting! We have Confluence Guest of Honor, Richard Kadrey attending in-person for the Confluence Panel Topics, Monthly Meeting at the Mt. Lebanon Library. The library is located at 16 Castle Shannon Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15228.
Come meet Richard in-person. Put your thinking caps on and help plan the panel topics for Confluence 2024!

Feb 2023 Parsec meeting

February is poetry month at Parsec!

Love is in the air so show your love for SF/F/H by bringing your original poem to the Feb Parsec meeting. Attendees are encouraged to bring short and effective pieces to read.

Bruce Boston will be our our guest!
Bruce is an accomplished SF Poet and the author of sixty books and chapbooks, including the dystopian novel The Guardener’s Tale and the psychedelic coming-of-age novel Stained Glass Rain.

Bruce will read for us “Interstellar Tract,” and some other poems from his latest collection, Spacers Snarled in the Hair of Comets, which is entirely SF poetry.

His fiction and poetry have appeared in hundreds of publications, especially Asimov’s SF Magazine, Amazing Stories, Analog, Weird Tales, Strange Horizons, Daily Science Fiction, Realms of Fantasy, Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, The Nebula Awards Showcase, and DreamForge Magazine. Boston has received the Bram Stoker Award, a Pushcart Prize, the Asimov’s Readers Award, the Gothic Readers Choice Award, and the Rhysling and Grand Master Awards of the Science Fiction Poetry Association.

Meeting Information:

Date: Saturday, February 18, 2023

Program begins: 1:00 pm (ET)

Register for Zoom: https://bit.ly/Parsec-Meeting
The Squirrel Hill Library will not be available to us in the First Quarter of 2023.

Did you miss the January Parsec meeting?

You can now catch a recap of Crystal Crawford talking about her Kindle Vella experience on our YouTube channel!

Sept 17, 2022 Parsec Meeting

Our guest in September is author and PARSEC member Donald Firesmith. Donald will deliver a presentation on the importance of realism in speculative fiction.

Join us in person on Saturday September 17, 2022 at the Squirrel Hill Carnegie Library, Room B.
Meeting begins at 1:00 pm
A Zoom option is available for those unable to attend in person.

Register for Zoom meeting
Donald Firesmith

Donald Firesmith is a multi-award-winning author of speculative fiction including science fiction (alien invasion), fantasy (magical wands), horror, and modern urban paranormal novels and anthologies of short stories. Prior to retiring to devote himself full-time to his novels, he earned an international reputation as a distinguished engineer, authoring seven system/software books based on his 40+ years spent developing large, complex software-intensive systems. He lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with his wife Becky, his daughter Sera, and varying numbers of dogs and cats.

Donald’s recent books include the Hell Holes series; apocalyptic science fiction, horror, modern paranormal fantasy, action and adventure novels. 

When giant holes mysteriously appear in the frozen tundra above the Arctic Circle, they provide portals for a demonic invasion from Hell.

Hell Holes, by Donald Firesmith

Every month Parsec invites new guest speakers for informative, lively discussions on everything science fiction, fantasy, horror, writing, publishing, podcasts, speculative fiction and more! Meetings are free to attend and open to the public!

Library masking rules: Unvaccinated or Partially Vaccinated: Wear a Mask. Fully Vaccinated: Masking is Optional. Masks required at all times in Children’s Area.

BEWARE THE SCARE!

Join us for the October Parsec meeting
Saturday 10-16-2021 at 1:00pm EST

Our guest authors, Michael A. Arnzen, Scott A. Johnson & Frank J. Oreto will entertain us with frightful readings of their own horror stories, and feed us goodies galore about the craft of horror writing!

The Zoom moderator will open the room at 12:30 for an informal social time.

Parsec meetings are always open to the public and FREE to attend!

Register in advance for this Zoom meeting

For even more fun, wear your Halloween costume to the meeting and be entered to win a copy of the Parsec Ink 2021 anthology, Triangulation: Habitats!

About our guests:

Michael Arnzen is the four-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author of the novels Grave Markings and Play Dead. Arnzen teaches fulltime in the MFA in Writing Popular Fiction program at Seton Hill University, in Greensburg, PA. Known particularly for his experiments in minimalist horror, in such books as 100 Jolts and The Gorelets Omnibus, he invites readers to subscribe to his newsletter at gorelets.com, where they can get free short-shorts delivered to their inbox when they least expect them.
Creative Horror: http://www.gorelets.com
Social Network : http://michaelarnzen.com

Frank Oreto is a writer and editor of weird fiction living in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. His work has appeared or is upcoming in Pseudopod, the Year’s Best Hardcore Horror, and the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Frank also co-edited two volumes of Parsecs annual anthology Trianglulation. When not writing he spends his time creating elaborate meals for his wife and ever hungering children.
Like weird fiction? I write it. You can find links to free stories and audios at my author page: https://www.facebook.com/FrankisWriting

Scott A. Johnson writes horror, dark urban fantasy, and science fiction. He is the author of eleven novels, multiple short stories, and three books of true ghost stories. He has an MFA from Emerson College and teaches in Seton Hill University’s Writing Popular Fiction MFA program. He is currently located near Austin, Texas.
Visit the website: http://www.creepylittlebastard.com

UPCOMING MEETINGS

Nov 20th: Cat Rambo talks about her upcoming new release, You Sexy Thing, the difference between writing short fiction and novels, the Satanic Panic, and RPGs. and all the great online writing classes she offers through the Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers.

Dec 18th: Holiday Party! More information coming soon.

January 15, 2022: A special presentation panel on costuming!

Feb 19, 2022: The month of love and poets.

March 19, 2022: TBA

Use the registration link at the top of this post to register once for all of the upcoming Parsec meetings.

Have an article, note or announcement that you would like to see published in the Sigma newsletter?
The deadline for submissions is always the first Sunday of every month – Use our CONTACT FORM to send your information to Joe Coluccio, our Sigma editor.

Media notice: PARSEC staff may choose to record, live-stream, or otherwise capture or record images and comments during the Zoom event. By registering for this event you agree that Parsec may use your likeness in the screen captures and recordings to publicize, reproduce, exhibit, distribute, broadcast, or digitize the resulting content for use in marketing, promotion, and advancement efforts that may contain your likeness . 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 recordings. Announcements will be made prior to the start of recordings and/or image captures.