Howdy one and all! Our apple trees are in full production, which can only mean a few things: the future might include apple sauce, the school year is done, and the hummingbirds have enough to eat. Our first tiger lilies just blossomed this morning. We planted the garden with kale, red onions, basil and lettuce (yes, I think I succeeded in killing most of the lettuce already). We’ve cleaned out the art classrooms at MASS MoCA, and the college art program is ready to return to the newly remodeled and greatly improved Bowman Hall back on the college campus in the Fall.
My big news: I’ve just returned from over two weeks of studying and working with a group of intense authors at the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction, at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. It was a lovely group of people, a range of writing teachers, professors, computer scientists, NASA scientists, researchers, graduate students, established science fiction authors and more. It was utterly fascinating to gain and give feedback at such a high level, and to be welcomed as a member of the team. All in all it was very encouraging, and delightful to make so many new friends. I’m looking forward to putting all of this learning to work in new fictions. With any luck, some of those writings will gain publication over the next year or two. In the meantime, here’s some fun stuff for you:
(Male Eastern Bluebird, 2015)
(Red-tailed Hawk, 2015)
Summer reading = Lucian of Samosata: Here’s a link to the famous Latin tale ‘a true story’ by Lucian of Samosata, one of the earliest ancestors of science fiction, a delightful satire involving a tall-tale trip to moon, from 170 a.d.! (See? I always knew knowing a little Latin would be good for something someday!). The story includes the Great Salad Bird… https://lucianofsamosata.info/TheTrueHistory.html
Stormfields 