Hello and welcome to the March 2015 issue of Aphelion Webzine!

I am at this moment sitting in the hotel lobby attending AnachroCon in Atlanta, so this editorial may seem both rushed, and a touch improvised. Bear with me though, the regular Aphelion goodies are just around the corner. Just a click away,in fact. I won't keep you long because I don't have long to spare before the next bit of convention programming pulls me away from the lobby and my typing.

I'm sitting and listening to a duo performing "Hotel California" on Hammer Dulcimer and acoustic guitar. They're taking a break from traditional Irish tunes for the late 1800s and early 1900s. That's one nice thing about a convention attended by time travelers. No one knows what's going to happen next. Unless they attended this year's convention last year, or something similar.

I've seen live steel weapons demonstrations, a class on mead making which ended with a tasting of a finely aged batch from last year, Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson arguing about which sushi place to go to for lunch, a steampunk Iron Man, a Princess Leia in the famous copper bikini, more ray guns than I could pack into a railroad car, and an awesome crowd of friends in fancy dress.

But that's the thing about conventions. So much fun to be had, so many people to meet, so may great conversations to take part in. If you have yet to go to any cons, please look up any near where you live and give them a try. The smaller ones are usually best to begin your experience of con-going. You can work your way to to the really big conventions if you like. Or you might find a special group of new friends at a smaller con that turn out to become your new best friends.

In any case, the experience is well worth having. From my seat in the lobby where I'm typing this editorial, I can hear more than a dozen different conversations, all going on at the same time. It's difficult to pay attention to my writing when I can hear so many wonderful discussions on so many different topics. I've even had to stop and autograph another copy of my book, LOL!

The book was released February 4th. My Publisher, Dark Oak Press, workied overtime to get it out this quickly. It is now available in hardback, trade paperback, and e-book formats on both Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The ISBNs are listed on my author page on Dark Oak Press: Tales From The Mare Inebrium. At least a dozen people have asked abou thre book here at AnachroCon, three of whom shouted at me. "Shut up and take my money," they shouted. "Sign it!I've got a Tesla Gun and I'm not afraid to use it!"

Regular readers of the Mare series will no doubt wonder what will be new about the stories in this collection. Well, there are 16 stories and a filksong lyric in the book. 10 of the stories have never been seen by anyone besides myself and the publisher's staff. 10 brand new stories you've never seen! Also, the original half-dozen stories have been rewritten with the help and advice of a professional editor. The usual characters, literary references, in-jokes, Tuckerisms, and shout-outs to the other wonderful series writers that Mare Inebrium readers have come to know are all there.

Now, lets not forget the real reason that you readers and writers are here on the Aphelion website. There is an amazing selection of stories and poetry on tap for you again. Time for me to shut up and let you get to the zine!

Dan

BOILERPLATE:

First off, if you do the Facebook thing, feel free to join us on the Aphelion page there. The link is Aphelion Webzine. As an aside, the Editorial Mafia and I have found Facebook to be useful while we transition between e-mailing lists. Given our different locations and schedules, it's come in handy as a way to discuss production details of new issues. Sometimes there are several of us using Facebook at the same time, so it's almost like the old chat room days.

Dan's Music Page This is my promo page here at Aphelion. All the links below, and more information about the albums, are located here.

The Never Bank On A Learning Curve CD on the Create Space website. My first album, with a wide range of styles and genres, covering the past three years of my working with the MAGIX Music Maker programs.

The Second Helping CD on the Create Space website. My second album, with just as wide a range of different musical styles, showing just how much I've learned in the past three years.

Dan's Studio-D Page on the Bandcamp website. Digital downloads of the albums, or each individual song if you prefer it that way. Just click on the album cover thumbnails and you'll see a list of each song on the album. Next to the song titles are links to read the liner notes, or to download the individual song. You can listen to each song for free. There is also a link to download each entire album at one go. I cannot say enough about Bandcamp! This is an amazing website. I have Rob, and many other friends, to thank for finally talking me into checking it out.

Here are some links to pages I have up promoting my music. When my book comes out I'll add those links to the promotion page, too. So far, there are links on that page to the Create Space Preview songs, the Create Space page for each album, the Amazon.com listings, and the link to the digital downloads page.

And here's a link to my Sound Cloud page:

Dan's Sound Cloud Page where all my music has been stored for your free listening pleasure. These are not as high a quality recordings as the ones on the CDs or on Bandcamp. But SoundCloud does have the virtue of having everything collected together in one place.

Check those links out, buy a CD or download if you like what you hear. And once again, thank you for your time,

Dan all my music has been stored for your free listening pleasure. These are not as high a quality recordings as the ones on the CDs or on Bandcamp. But SoundCloud does have the virtue of having everything collected together in one place.

Check those links out, buy a CD or download if you like what you hear. And once again, thank you for your time,

Dan