Appearances

An interview with me appears in the inaugural issue of Valent Range, which publishes science and science fiction poetry. Editor Scott A. Kelly is giving these issues away for a limited time! More info here.



"Pele's Wandering Fire" appears in the June 2010 Of Poets And Poetry (Florida State Poets Association). Back in April, the poem received second prize in the FSPA's Spring Fling contest (theme: Hawaiian culture), free verse category.

Last month's activities at Oasis appear on the Science Fiction Poetry Association's news page. I'm third from the left in the top panel shot.

I'm giving two workshops at Ancient City Con next month -- one in character and plot development, one in speculative poetry.

Links to all 30 of my science poems for April appear in this entry listing submissions to the 2010 edition of Open Laboratory: an annual anthology of the best science blog posts, dated Dec. 1, 2009-Dec. 1, 2010. Science-themed posts from general blogs are eligible.



She Nailed A Stake Through His Head: Tales of Biblical Terror is now available for pre-order here. Official release is set for October. The "alternate timelines" and "wild-eyed, drug-crazed prophets" in Erin O'Riordan's blurb fit my story "Judgment at Naioth," which takes its cue from the book of 2 Samuel and the rape of Tamar.

What's appeared to me...



I had a terrific lunch with Kathy Nappier and Tracy A. Akers yesterday. Kathy spotted this Palamedes Swallowtail through the window behind me. So of course I had to whip out my camera, swing around, and take a shot at full zoom.

Papilio palamedes, Family Papilionidae. For a Palamedes, this individual was downright sedate. "Flutters wings constantly," says Bugguide, but I didn't see any of that here. My other shots of Palamedes (with dorsal views) date from April 2006 and September 2006.

The Palamedes Swallowtail has a wingspan of around 5 inches (11-13 cm). It ranges through the southeastern United States, extending into central Mexico. Its season spans from March through December in the northern part of that range (2 flights), with a third flight in the southern part of its US range.



I spotted this Southern House Spider in the bathroom the other night. Kukulcania hibernalis, Family Filistatidae (Crevice Weavers). Thanks to Eric Eaton and Jebus31 at Bugguide for the ID.

Says Bugguide, "Females are frequently mistaken for small tarantulas or trapdoor spiders. Males are often mistaken for recluse spiders (Loxosceles). This is a totally harmless species that builds 'messy' webs emanating from crevices, often on the outside of homes."

(I at first mistook this one for a wolf spider, then wondered if it was a wandering spider.)

According to the University of Florida, females range from 13-19mm in length (not including legs); I guessed this individual to be around 20mm, a body length of roughly 3/4 inch. Says UF, "Although the webs tend to accumulate debris and may be unsightly to some, this harmless spider is beneficial and captures many pest insects, including house flies, horse flies mud daubers, cockroaches, and May beetles." Females can live for up to eight years.

Elissa Malcohn's Deviations and Other Journeys Promote Your Page Too










Vol. 1, Deviations: Covenant (2nd Ed.)
Vol. 2, Deviations: Appetite
Vol. 3, Deviations: Destiny
Vol. 4, Deviations: Bloodlines
Free downloads at the Deviations website and on Smashwords.

Go to Manybooks.net to access Covenant, Appetite, Destiny, and Bloodlines in even more formats!

Participant, Operation E-Book Drop. (Logo credit: K.A. M'Lady & P.M. Dittman.)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.

Drive Down, Go BOOM!

Shown here: Boxes of donated hair, fur, and nylons, from as far away as Pennsylvania and Ohio. Business card info is more legible here.

On June 18, 2010, I joined other volunteers at a BoomBQ held at the South Tampa Puppy Palace. Thanks to the Puppy Palace for hosting, to Renee Adams of ProWay Paving for coordinating and running the event, and to my fellow volunteers!

BoomBQs are associated with Matter of Trust's Hair for Oil Spills Program. I've been collecting hair and fur to send to volunteer warehouses, which is one step on the way to boom production. My most recent pickup came from Best Friends Grooming Salon, whose donation is in the black bag.


Card info is more legible here.

More info and links to resources here. You can see more hair and fur contributors here.

The warehouses are currently full as of this writing, so I'm waiting to hear when I can make the next shipment of donated hair and fur. The booms are currently being used in Alabama and Florida. BoomBQs have been held in those states plus Louisiana. Check out Matter of Trust's press release page for the latest info. BoomBQs are listed on their Twitter and Facebook pages.



Boxes of donated material are in the foreground. Booms are in the back.



More boxes of donated material are stacked up inside our workroom.



My first boom!



This volunteer drove in from Orlando to make booms. She traveled about the same distance I had, approximately 85 miles one-way.



Several of us pose with our booms. Renee, the event coordinator, is at left in the top shot. She had moved to Florida for the beaches. Now she's fighting to help save them.

Some of that liquid on my shirt is plain water because I'd splashed my face down a couple of times, but mostly it's sweat. There was plenty of bottled water on hand, along with latex gloves and face masks, all of it donated from local businesses. I was glad I'd brought a face cloth to wipe down not only my face but also my arms, because fur residue settles on just about everything.

All told, we were a handful of people on Friday, still a work day for many. The BoomBQ continues today.



I hold up horse hair that came to us from Pennsylvania. When I first reached into the box, I marveled at how silky and luxuriant it was. At first I thought I was handling human hair from a salon. But I couldn't imagine one person having that much hair, and it had an animal odor that I couldn't place. Renee took one whiff and said, "It's horse."

And, yes, I was sweating steadily by this point. Even though there were only a few of us, we made more booms than we could count -- each takes only about a couple of minutes to put together. After an almost two-hour drive back home in a car with no A/C, my shower was downright rapturous.

Below my outstretched arm in the shot is a short section of black plastic pipe. To make the booms, we first rolled up legs cut off from nylons and placed them over one pipe end. We stuffed hair and fur into the nylons through the other pipe end. The filled nylons gradually expanded until only a bit of the open end remained, which we then knotted. You can see the Matter of Trust video on how to make hair booms here.



A pile of newly-made booms. Kudos and thanks to Renee's sons Niko and Stefano for hauling the booms into the warehouse, hauling empty cardboard boxes to the recycle dumpster, and copying down the addresses of everyone who sent donated materials. And for holding up through a hot, labor-intensive, and messy but truly satisfying day!

Elissa Malcohn's Deviations and Other Journeys Promote Your Page Too










Vol. 1, Deviations: Covenant (2nd Ed.)
Vol. 2, Deviations: Appetite
Vol. 3, Deviations: Destiny
Vol. 4, Deviations: Bloodlines
Free downloads at the Deviations website and on Smashwords.

Go to Manybooks.net to access Covenant, Appetite, Destiny, and Bloodlines in even more formats!

Participant, Operation E-Book Drop. (Logo credit: K.A. M'Lady & P.M. Dittman.)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.

Great Egret Story (in pictures)

Large view


Large view


Large view


Large view


Large view

This Great Egret was enjoying a drink at the retention pond near our post office. Its black legs differentiate it from the Great White Heron, whose legs are yellow.

Says www.enature.com/flashcard/show_flash_card.asp?recordNumbe..., Great Egrets (Ardea alba) were formerly known as the "American Egret," "Common Egret," "Large Egret," "White Egret," "Great White Egret," and "Great White Heron." Says eNature: "[T]his bird's official name in North America is now Great Egret. One of the most magnificent of our herons, it has fortunately recovered from historic persecution by plume hunters. But it is still not out of danger: The destruction of wetlands, especially in the West where colonies are few and widely scattered, poses a current threat to these majestic birds. Like the Great Blue Heron, it usually feeds alone, stalking fish, frogs, snakes, and crayfish in shallow water. Each summer many individuals, especially young ones, wander far north of the breeding grounds.

Elissa Malcohn's Deviations and Other Journeys Promote Your Page Too






Vol. 1, Deviations: Covenant (2nd Ed.)
Vol. 2, Deviations: Appetite
Vol. 3, Deviations: Destiny
Vol. 4, Deviations: Bloodlines
Free downloads at the Deviations website and on Smashwords.

Go to Manybooks.net to access Covenant, Appetite, Destiny, and Bloodlines in even more formats!

Participant, Operation E-Book Drop. (Logo credit: K.A. M'Lady & P.M. Dittman.)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.

Oasis 23, May 28-30, 2010

On May 28-30 I attended Oasis, the Orlando-area science fiction/fantasy/horror convention.

I sat next to and enjoyed great conversations with Mitchell Botwin of Wonderous Things. My display was the same as for the Hudson Library Author Fair (see previous entry for links).



K.L. Nappier and I bunked together at the La Quinta about ten miles from the convention site. Kathy's latest release is Voyagers, which I couldn't put down. While this was also true for her books Full Wolf Moon and its sequel, Bitten, Voyagers stands out for me because it's in a genre -- paranormal mystery/romance -- that I generally don't read. Kathy's character development, social commentary, and pacing pulled me right in.





Lakisha Spletzer's table was around the corner from mine. Kisha reports on Oasis here and here. I've got the e-book versions of her novels in hand and look forward to firing them up!



Linda S. Cowden holds up a copy of her book Grimmie. Also check out Spooky Empire, where Linda is heading up the Author Panel Track.



Tony and Glenda Finkelstein.





I was on two panels at Oasis: "Voices from Alternate Worlds" and "Poetry Hour," where I read here along with (L-R) Bruce Boston, Marge Simon, John Tumlin, and (to the right) Chris Ambrose, and Marina Buryak.



A zombie wanders the halls. Hanging in the background is the Oasis signature rocket.

Thanks to coordinator Juan Sanmiguel and all the Oasis volunteers!

Elissa Malcohn's Deviations and Other Journeys Promote Your Page Too







Vol. 1, Deviations: Covenant (2nd Ed.)
Vol. 2, Deviations: Appetite
Vol. 3, Deviations: Destiny
Vol. 4, Deviations: Bloodlines
Free downloads at the Deviations website and on Smashwords.

Go to Manybooks.net to access Covenant, Appetite, Destiny, and Bloodlines in even more formats!

Participant, Operation E-Book Drop. (Logo credit: K.A. M'Lady & P.M. Dittman.)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.