Whew! How about that Global Warming?

Dunno about you, but I need a t-shirt that proudly proclaims that "I survived the blizzard of 2009 and all I got to show for it is $10k in property damage..."

If I ever meet Al Gore, I'll be hard put not to slap him. But enough about that... If several EPTs can be trusted, I'm going to become a Grandfather again-- about Thanksgiving or so. Michelle is going to have a baby sometime in late November or early December, according to the tests that she's taken here at home. She and Marc are planning for her to move from here at Casa Vila to somewhere near Marc's parents' home in Virginia so that they can set up house as husband and wife. It is still early days yet, and Michelle hasn't gotten confirmation from a doctor that she really is pregnant, but Momma Lyn and I are working on getting her an appointment with said neo-natal care physician before the April issue of Aphelion is due to hit your computer monitors. Keep your fingers crossed! It may be a false alarm, but we hope that it isn't!

In Aphelion news: Jaimie Elliott has written his first Mare Inebrium story for your reading enjoyment in this issue. His choice of setting and characters leads me to wish that Aphelion's own viking warrior, Wishbone, might be prompted to write a follow-up story. We shall see. Our own McCamy Taylor has another in her series of manga reviews for you in this issue, as well. Guest columnist Seannan is expecting her very first pro sale to be published this year. Live Journal friends Cherri Priest and Eugie Foster have new books out that should appeal to all our readers. Lyn and I have won a charity auction to be cast as characters in P. N. Elrod's next new Quincy Morris novel. And my own steampunk novel is roughly half-way written. Research into the American Civil War era and the War of 1812 era is proceeding slowly, with spurts of writing being done as and when inspiration strikes during my reading.

Aphelion writer Mary Brunini McArdle is in the process of submitting one of her stories that has appeared first here in Aphelion to FUTURES for their 2010 anthology. Let's all wish her luck! It's a fine story, and any publisher that turns it down would be working against his/her best interests.

In other news: Roger Zelazny has a new novel out! It's called "The Dead Man's Brother" and was recently found in his files- Having been written some 35 years ago and never before submitted to a publisher. It isn't SF/F, being more of a spy thriller adventure novel, but it is a wonderful read- Look for it, buy it, read it, love it! You can thank me later.

OK, I'm in a rush to make sure that I'm not holding this issue up from being flipped online. My computer has been down a lot during the last three weeks because of the power outages connected with the recent snowstorm down here in the Southeastern US. Brownouts and blackouts and voltage spikes and BLAH! have conspired to induce some expensive damage to my computer systems here at Casa Vila. Computer parts are having to be bought or ordered, and installed to counteract the damages... But yet I remain. Aggravated, but undaunted, I and the Aphelion Staff are working night and day to make sure that you readers have the best stories and poetry to ever grace a monitor screen. Forgive us when an issue is late, for off-line life sometimes conspires against us. Not to mention weather, and hardware breakdowns, and medical stuff, and... and... and....

It's just life, you know? LOL!

Time for me to shut up and let you get to reading. Go! Enjoy the stories and poetry and articles. You've earned some good times.

Dan