The run-up to LibertyCon 36 has begin. In less than 20 days, we will arrive and check in. As I get older, I find the 3-hour drive to my favorite conventions to be less and less attractive. But, short of buying myself a helicopter, I don't see any way of making that particular unpleasantness go away.

I'll be on at least one panel at the con every day. The schedule of panels has been released, and I even have the mobile app for my phone, if necessary. I'll probably set alarms for my panels to ensure that I'm not late for them. As usual, one panel is steampunk-themed, one is for Three Ravens Publishing, and one will be the Sunday morning Kaffeeklatsch. All of them should be loads of fun! 

On other fronts, my gainful-unemployment seems to be going well. By which I mean my transition into being a pensioner. My pension checks and Social Security has begun being direct deposited into my bank, so we have money to live off of, as well as sufficient savings to take care of taxes and incidentals. We should be set for a good many years. Thankfully, the mortgage was long ago paid in full, the cars are paid off, and I don't foresee any sudden, unexpected debts arising in the short-term future. Long-term, of course, anything can happen. That's life, in a nutshell, really. One plans for the worst, yet hopes for the best. I've been preparing for retirement for a long, long time. Those plans have, indeed, begun to pay off!

In this issue of Aphelion we have three Writer's Challenge stories--which are always fun, a few Fantasy stories, a few Horror stories, and a few Science-Fiction stories. In short, the usual mix of good things to read. I'm sure you will enjoy this month's offerings. As always, comment and critique the stories in the Forums section. I'm sorry that the current rash of spam-bots and trolls have made it more difficult for you to join the Forums, but that can't be helped. The internet gets more full of spammers and scammers every day.

All that said, it's time for a change of pace.

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 four 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. Check 'em 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.

It's high time I shut up and let you get to reading. 

Enjoy yourselves,

Dan