I am now 11 months from full retirement. Basically, by the time the March 2024 issue goes live, I will have been retired for three weeks. Looking forward to that SO much!

You may notice that the Critters Annual Readers Poll awards at the top of this page are still the ones from last year. The website went inactive before I was able to make time to download the awards banners that Aphelion won this year. If possible, I will find a way to locate & download them. We were in the Top Ten in several of the usual categories. Sad to see the site go inactive, but I gather that there were some health problems among the staff during the last two years. A few of these evidently did not have a happy outcome. 

Jean-Paul Garnier stepped down as our Short Story Editor at the end of December, last year. I want to thank him for his hard work over the few months he was able to spare us out of his already busy schedule. He did a great job for us, but he can no longer spare the time. The upshot of that is that I will be the Shorts Editor until someone else volunteers. I'll be re-working the submissions guidelines page for the short stories here in the near future. I'll announce when those changes take effect.

The days are passing more and more rapidly as I become older. Although, some of the actual hours are dragging by like a snail on tranquilizers, LOL! Work is proceeding apace on my own projects, as well as a few I have undertaken at the request of other friends. NDA time here, but all will be revealed when events eventually eventuate!

The online streaming shows "Stupid O'clock" and "Last Man Standing" have been uploaded live to YouTube as well as several Facebook pages for over two years now. They are basically live-streaming chat shows covering a range of topics, modeled on the types of conversations people have after hours at SF&F conventions. Joe McKeel and I have archives of past shows on our own YouTube channels. Also, McKayla Jade hosts "Tidbits & Scribbles" as a creative writing and indie publishing chat show on alternate Tuesday evenings on her YouTube channel. I'm a frequent panelist there, along with many Rising Tide friends, as well as other friends made along the way over lo these many years. Check 'em all out if that sounds like something you'd enjoy. I've put links in our Features section that will take you to the YouTube archives of both shows.

With all that said, it's high time I shut up and let you get to reading. 

Enjoy yourselves,

Dan