In July, I remember longtime friend, Dr. Inge Heyer, who passed away in June at the age of 65. I’m excited to announce that Dreams from the Edge of Reality won Pencraft’s 2026 Best Book of Summer award for short story collections and anthologies. Plus, a few more odds and ends. Click here to watch the video.
In August’s brief update episode, I’m proud to announce the upcoming release of Cashmere Ghost & Graveyards at Night, the seventh anthology by attendees of the Mindful Writers Retreat. The book includes my story trick or treat story “Black Cat, White Skulls.” Proceeds benefit the Allegheny Land Trust. I also touch on a few upcoming events and conclude with a tribute to longtime friend Joe Knedlhans on what would have been his 74th birthday on 07 August. Joe was the owner and curator of the Toy Robot Museum in Adamstown, PA. Click here to watch the video.
I’m several days late in posting this as I recover from the “con crud” I picked up at Shore Leave 46 in Lancaster, PA the weekend of July 10-12, 2026. Despite that, I had a blast celebrating my 30th year of attending this wonderful SF convention. Where did the time go?
My Friday began with a 4PM panel called The Short Form with Hildy Silverman, Alex Shvartsman, and Laura Ware. This was a discussion on writing short stories vs. novels. I was the last panelist to arrive with five minutes to spare, which meant that I was the moderator. Unprepared as I was, I came up with enough questions to get us through the first half before we opened it up to audience questions, which filled out the rest of our time.
As this was my only panel of the day, I took time to peruse the dealer room and chat with my friends Jake, Nick, Pat, and Marcella at the Oddity Prodigy Productions table. OPP is a Delaware-based small press that has published three of my short stories since 2020, most recently in their sword and sorcery anthology, Tales of Steel and Sorcery, which was published in June.
After that, I wandered over to the Crazy 8 Press table and chatted with Michael Jan Friedman, Aaron and Jen Rosenberg, Hildy Silverman, Russ Colchamiro, and Bob Greenberger. They kindly invited me to join them for dinner at 7PM at the Manor Chinese Buffet down the road.
From there, I found another longtime writer pal, Richard C. White, who will be publishing my recent steampunk story in his upcoming anthology Southwatch Stories, to debut next year at Shore Leave 47.
I then caught up with a few other friends including artist and photographer Laura Inglis before wandering to the back of the dealer room to the impressive Lost in Space display that included B-9, mannequins of the entire cast, a model of the Jupiter 2, the bridge computer consoles, and other props. I instantly thought of my late friend, Joe Knedlhans, who owned a toy robot museum in nearby Adamstown, PA for 25 years. He would have loved this exhibit.
After dinner with the writers at the Chinese buffet, it was time for Shore Leave’s traditional Meet the Pros book fair where I was launching my new short story collection, Dreams from the Edge of Reality. One of my favorite writers (and people!), Howard Weinstein, shared the table with me. Howie was a mentor to me on a few occasions and has been kind enough to provide blurbs for all of my books over the years. We had a fantastic time. I sold about five copies of Dreams while Howie had a constant groups of adoring Star Trek fans bringing their copies of his Trek novels and comic books from back in the day. I also had the chance to catch up with friends Loretta Painter and writer pal Susanna Reilly who happens to be one of my best and toughest critique partners.
It wasn’t until after Meet the Pros that I noticed the collage near the registration desk honoring the memory of astronomer and longtime Shore Leave committee member and co-con chair, Inge Heyer, who passed away just weeks before. I was honored to see a photo of mine as the second image on the top row from 1998, when Inge and I met up with another friend, Vince Maiocco, to meet Leonard Nimoy at a book signing at the Montgomery Mall. More on Inge’s passing later in this report.
On Saturday, I had no panels until 1PM so writer pal Chris Ochs and I drove out to the Bird-in-Hand Cafe and Bakery for breakfast. It was a quaint cafe and gift shop with seating on the first and second floors. While there, I picked up a few candles for my wife.
With nothing to do until my 1PM panel, I attended one of the many science panels at Shore Leave, this one was about the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Telescope as presented by science guest Kenneth Carpenter, Project Scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope. Dr. Carpenter’s fantastic presentation included the differences between the Roman and Webb telescopes, how the Roman telescope will operate, and images of the telescope under construction.
After that, writer pal Chris Ochs and I decided to sit in on a presentation about submitting to independent publishers. However, when the presenter failed to appear after ten minutes, another writer in the audience stepped in (his name escapes me now) and Chris and I decided to join him. We led an ad hoc presentation covering the importance of reading submission guidelines, finding good critique partners and editors for your work, reading your work aloud as a way of self-editing, the various ways writers are paid for short stories, and more. All told, it was a fun 50 minutes with excellent audience participation.
My 1PM panel was called Where Do You Find the Time? with Aaron Rosenberg, Kelli Fitzpatrick, Russ Colchamiro (moderator) and a fourth writer whose name escapes me right now (I blame age). This was a discussion on time management for writers where each of us offered advice on how to make (vs. find) time to write and exchanged ideas with other writers in the audience.
The rest of my Saturday was spent wandering around the con, taking breaks in my room, and eventually going to Longhorn Steakhouse with writer buddy Chris Ochs and the team from Oddity Prodigy Productions. By the time we returned, the masquerade awards were just starting and I’m embarrassed to admit that I did not take pics of any of the amazing cosplayers at this year’s Shore Leave. I ended up sitting with several other writers in the lounge straight through the awards and 10-Forward before crashing for the night.
Sunday saw me at two panels separated by Inge Heyer’s memorial. At 10AM, it was a discussion about Criticism vs. Critique with Hildy Silverman, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, and Rigel Ailur and at noon, Hildy and I gathered for our third panel together. We were joined by Christopher D. Abbott and Scott Pearson to chat about the importance of self-editing and various ways to go about it.
In between those panels was the memorial for Inge Heyer during which many of Inge’s friends, both new and old, shared their memories of her. Since the aforementioned picture with Leonard Nimoy was included on the collage, I recounted the story behind it, reaching almost 30 years into the past…
Inge, Vince, and I had arrived at the Waldebooks in the Montgomery Mall at 8AM as Inge was expecting a massive line for Leonard Nimoy, who was slated to arrive at 10AM. Instead, we were the first ones there for about the next hour. However, by the time the anointed hour rolled around, there was a long queue behind us. Vince and I each had a copy of Mr. Nimoy’s I Am Spock memoir along with one Star Trek item as permitted by Mr. Nimoy. Once we were finished, Vince and I took a seat while Inge went back in line again… and again… and again. She had brought with her copies of Nimoy’s past books as well as other Star Trek memorabilia and managed to get them all signed.
At the end of the event, Inge asked the manager at Waldenbooks if we could have a group photo with Mr. Nimoy. Since we were the first ones in line at 8AM, Mr. Nimoy agreed and the rest is history.
The audience at the memorial enjoyed the story. Another fond memory of Inge will always be her enthusiasm as a science communicator and presenter at Shore Leave and other conventions. While working for the Hubble Space Telescope, she often brought enormous stacks of photos taken by the Hubble and gave them away at the cons. I have a collection of them and now, each time I flip through them, I will think of Inge and hope that she is out there in the cosmos exploring those places that are out of reach to mere mortals except through data and images.
“The Cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the Universe to know itself.” – Carl Sagan
After my final panel, it was time to get on the road home. As I write this, the Saturday after Shore Leave, I’m beginning to recover from the cold I picked up there. I’m off from work next week for a home renovation project and hope to be back to 100% by then.
Neither snow nor rain nor multiple traffic jams could keep me away from Philcon 87 (November 22-24, 2024). I took a half day from work on Friday and despite a treacherous drive, arrived at the Hilton Doubletree in Cherry Hill, NJ in reasonable time.
Since I had no panels on Friday, I took the opportunity to wander around the hotel, chat with friends, and peruse the dealer room. As always, it was wonderful to see my friends Jacob Jones-Goldstein and Nicholas Leamy from Delaware small press Oddity Prodigy Productions.
A few days before the con, Jake accepted my story “Isaac Geary’s Instant Utopia” for their upcoming science fiction anthology, Bright Mirror, a collection of utopian science fiction.
Continuing my tour of the dealer room, I stopped to chat with longtime friends Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Mike McPhail, and Keith DeCandido. However, I was disappointed to find a few dealers missing, including one gentleman who carries a large inventory of vintage paperbacks. Nevertheless, there were plenty of other classic treasures awaiting me including a dealer who is renown for selling mint condition hardbacks, many of which are first editions and autographed by the author.
On this occasion, he was selling many titles at 50% off. I was able to score a limited edition, signed copy of Harlan Ellison’s Spider Kiss in hardback for $40 and hardback copies of Ellison’s Angry Candy and The Collected Works of C.J. Cherryh for $17 each.
In the hotel lobby, I caught up with editor and publisher, Ann Stolinsky of Celestial Echo Press (an imprint of Gemini Wordsmiths). Earlier in the year, Ann accepted my story “A Thorne in Time” for their time travel anthology, Ruth and Ann’s Guide to Time Travel. The book was scheduled to be launched at 6PM on Saturday night in the con suite at Philcon.
But Ann and I had arranged to meet on Friday so I could pick up my dozen author copies and since neither of us had dinner plans, we ate together at the hotel restaurant.
After that, I retreated to my room for a few hours to rest until the Meet the Pros party at 9PM. This is a social event that takes place in the side hallway outside of the art show. It’s the best opportunity to catch up with friends. It was a joy to chat with Bram Stoker-nominated writer Carol Gyzander and fellow Lehigh Valley writer Christopher D. Ochs. As the evening progressed, I found myself sitting with friends (and Shore Leave volunteers) Anne Hande and co-con chair Inge Heyer along with a new friend I’d met over Facebook, Rebecca Marcus. Rebecca has been in SF fandom for a long time, but we somehow managed to miss one another until now. Events like this, where old friends reunite and new friends are made, are one of the main reasons I attend cons.
Phil with Rebecca Marcus. Photo credit: Anne Hande
Saturday morning started with a 10AM panel, “Music and the Writing Process,” moderated by David Simms. Fellow panelists included Keith DeCandido, Susan Shwartz, and Wayland Smith. We only had an audience of three, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying a lively chat about the music we listen to while writing, which artists inspire us, and who we’d like to create the soundtracks to our stories.
At noon, I joined Randee Dawn and Michael Ventrella to read excerpts from our books to a full house. I chose a scene from my second paranormal mystery novel, By Your Side. The audience was engaged with every reading and we had a lively discussion afterward. I’d known Michael for several years, but this was my first time meeting Randee. We’ve since become Facebook friends. Special thanks to Michael Ventrella for taking my picture at the reading (below).
At 1PM, it was my turn at the autograph table downstairs beside the Shore Leave team. The author autograph sessions are usually slow so I spent the time chatting with Inge, Anne, and Anne’s hubby, Rick. Always a grand time!
Photo credit: Elie Boyer Avedissian
I was then free for the next four hours until the launch for Ruth and Ann’s Guide to Time Travel at 6PM. So, of course, I bought more books in the dealer room then went back to my room and crashed for a bit.
I arrived at the con suite a few minutes early to join Ann Stolinsky and about a dozen of my fellow contributors to Ruth and Ann’s Guide to Time Travel. Over the course of the next hour and a half, the Volume I authors, myself included, signed about twenty copies before reading four-minute excerpts from their stories. In addition to the writers I already knew, such as Carol Gyzander, Ef Deal, Gary Zenker, and Joanne McLaughlin, it was nice to finally meet Teel James Glenn and Jon McGoran (who I’d only known from social media) as well as Ken Altabef, Stephen W. Chappell, David C. Strickler, Gordon Linzner, and James Ryan.
Readings were followed by finger food and cake (which for me also became finger food). Much gratitude to Ann Stolinsky for organizing one of the best book launches I ever experienced.
My evening wasn’t over yet. It was time for me to moderate a panel! At 9AM, I joined David Simms, Carol Gyzander, Eric Avedissian, and Amy Grech for “I’ll Write Any Horror Story, but I Won’t Write That!” where we discussed what tropes and subgenres in horror we enjoyed writing, what we didn’t, and which writers inspired us. Audience engagement was enthusiastic and we actually ran ten minutes overtime!
Photo credit: Elie Boyer Avedissian
After that, it was time to go back to my room and crash (actually, I watched Die Hard II on TNT before going to sleep).
Sunday morning saw me packing up, loading the car, and hanging out with the Shore Leave folks for a few hours until my 1PM panel, “What’s Happened to the Traditional Ghost Story?” moderated by Melanie Moyer and starring Ty Drago, Nghi Vo, James L. Cambias, and myself. As with all of my panels this weekend, my last one of the con did not fail to produce a lively discussion among the panelists and the audience about what makes a good ghost story, what ruins a good ghost story, and other related topics.
After that, it was time to go. I said goodbye to all of my friends but did not leave without buying one last book. This time, it was The Best of Michael Swanwick, Volume II. Michael is a forty-year luminary of the science fiction world with multiple awards for his amazing work and a regular guest at Philcon.
As it happens, Michael and his wife Marianne Porter also host a Philcon after party at their house a few blocks from my childhood home in Philadelphia. I attended for the first time in 2022 where I also met another legendary writer for the first time, Samuel “Chip” Delaney.
This year, Michael graciously signed my book with a delightful inscription.
In addition to myself, Randee Dawn, Ken Altabef, Alex Shvartsman, Sally Grotta, Anna Kashina, Tom Doyle, Barbara Purdom, Ian Strock, Chris Edwards (who took this wonderful picture below of Michael and Chip) and several other Philcon guests were in attendance.
Masters of Fantasy and SF: Michael Swanwick (L) and Samuel “Chip” Delaney (R). Photo credit: Chris Edwards
All told, this was by far my best Philcon yet and I look forward to next year!
On Saturday, October 28th, a few hundred longtime attendees of Farpoint and Shore Leave SF conventions descended on the Marriott Delta in Hunt Valley, MD to bid the hotel goodbye. After 40+ years of hosting genre conventions, the hotel will close on October 31. According to the rumor mill, the building will be demolished and replaced by a Tesla dealership or condos or both.
My wife and I spent part of the day wandering the hotel and taking final pictures all while a dog show was in progress. Adorable pooches everywhere, which added an element of fun to an otherwise bittersweet occasion.
It was wonderful to spend time with so many old friends including Sharon VanBlarcom, Steve and Renee Wilson, June Swords, Daniel Patrick Corcoran, Cindy Shockey, Bob Greenberger, Royce Essig, Sashi German, Susanna Reilly, Rhonda Greene, Diane Baron, Blair Learn, Paul Balze, Lance and Cindy Woods, Inge Heyer, Jay and Pam Smith, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Mike McPhail, Ann Hande, Susan Staneslow Olesen, and more. Apologies if I’m forgetting anyone.
While at the farewell party, Farpoint announced their new home at the Hilton Doubletree in Pikesville, MD. Shore Leave will make a similar announcement in the coming weeks.
The 82nd annual Philadelpha SF Convention (Philcon) has come and gone and, for me, it was one of the best yet. I participated in four edifying and—in the case of Compassionate Representation of Mental Illness in Fiction—intense discussion panels.
I was not scheduled for any panels on Friday, which allowed me to browse the dealer room and pick up over 20 classic SF paperbacks before enjoying dinner at Houlihan’s with Sharon Van Blarcom and Sarah Yaworsky from the Farpoint Convention and fellow writer Chris Ochs.
Saturday was a busy day with three discussion panels and an autograph session. I was honored to share the autograph table with Hugo and Nebula award-winning SF author Michael Swanwick. We had a delightful conversation about classic speculative fiction authors such as Robert Silverberg, Harlan Ellison, Phil K. Dick, Philip José Farmer, and others.
Saturday Discussion Panel – How Does a Reader Discover New Authors? – Photo Credit: Michael VentrellaSunday Discussion Panel – Your Story Doesn’t Start until Page Eleven? – Photo Credit: James Beall
In between panels, I sat with Farpoint Chair Sharon Van Blarcom at the Farpoint Convention table. Once we closed up at 6PM, I joined Sharon, Farpoint committee member Brian Sarcinelli, and Shore Leave Co-Chair Inge Heyer in the hotel restaurant for about an hour before joining writer pals Aaron Rosenberg, Glenn Hauman, Heather Hutsell, and several others for dinner at Whole Hog BBQ.
One of the highlights of the weekend was the launch of the Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign by Oddity Prodigy Productions for their upcoming horror anthology, Scary Stuff. My ghost story, “Burn After Writing” will be included in the book. Scary Stuff is an homage to the classic EC Comics titles such as Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror, Haunt of Fear, Creepy, etc. Click here to learn more about the project including the contributing authors and the various donation levels. Thank you for supporting small press authors!
Sunday morning saw me at two discussion panels–Your Story Doesn’t Start Until Page Eleven? and Rituals for Conjuring Novel Titles. Both of which were fun and engaging for the panelists and the audience.
As I was packing my car to leave on Sunday, I noticed this massive Christmas tree directly across from the Crowne Plaza hotel on Park Avenue. Although still a bit early in the season, it was a cheerful ending to a succesful weekend. As always, I look forward to returning next November!
Despite a grueling drive from the Lehigh Valley, I arrived at the Crowne Plaza in Cherry Hill, NJ only 30 minutes later than I’d planned on Friday evening. While in line to check in, I was greeted by the ever-cheerful Sharon VanBlarcom, Farpoint chairwoman. Minutes later, we were joined by the Wilson crew— Steve, Renee, Ethan, and Jessica Headlee.
After a late dinner at Houlihan’s (thank you again, Sharon, for driving!) Steve presented me with a contributor copy of our double horror novel—a thing of beauty if I say so myself. Immense gratitude to Ethan Wilson on his incredible design and formatting. We called it a night after that and regrouped for breakfast the following at the Westmont Diner. With a few hours to spare, we visited a few local shops, including HO Sattler’s Trains and Hobbies, Fat Jack’s Comicrypt, and House of Fun—a vintage toy shop in Oaklyn, NJ.
Finally in my hands!
By the time I returned to the hotel for my noon panel, I was struggling with mild nausea and a severe headache. I skipped the panel, took a moment to breathe, and strolled the dealer room where I managed to score a near mint condition autographed copy of Harlan Ellison’s 1987 graphic anthology, Night and the Enemy for $35. I also added several more vintage paperbacks to my collection from Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and A.E. Van Vogt. I stopped by the Shore Leave table to catch up with good friend and astronomer, Dr. Inge Heyer, who also happens to be Shore Leave’s co-chair and writer liaison.
Although my nausea abated, I relented to the headache and took a nap in my room before celebrating the release of my latest novella, Like Mother, Like Daughters, part of a double horror offering along with Steven H. Wilson’s vampire tale, Freedom’s Blood. Our book launch was held in the convention suite with pizzas (thank you for making the run, Renee!), kiffles (fruit-filled pastries), and Hershey’s Kisses that I had brought with me. Con Suite coordinator Gene Olmstead served some of his home made birch beer. We sold a few books, gave copies to two of our Kickstarter donors, Sharon VanBlarcom and Ann Stolinsky, and enjoyed a fun but hectic hour. I stole away to chat with veteran author and graphic designer Aaron Rosenberg, who had kindly snagged for me a vintage ACE edition of A.E. Van Vogt’s The Weapon Makers from the free book table. Thanks again, Aaron!
After cleaning up and heading out to dinner, Steve and I took time to sign all of the paperbacks necessary to fulfill Kickstarter rewards and “thank you” copies for our advance readers. A few hours later, I finally attended my first panel of the convention— a retrospective on the life and career of legendary writer, Harlan Ellison. I was honored to have been chosen as moderator and to be joined by writers Jay Smith, Darrell Schweitzer, and Mark Wolverton. Much of the panel was devoted to anecdotes of Harlan’s infamously intractable personality, but also to his blunt honesty and integrity in standing up for himself and his fellow writers. Some of us shared our personal interactions with Harlan and pondered whether many of his outrageous acts of revenge against publishers and television producers were truth or folklore. All in all, the panel capped off my Saturday night on a high note.
On Sunday, I packed up the car and moderated my final panel of the con, What Your Body Language Says About You, with co-panelist Mary Spila. There was a great deal of audience participation as we discussed the signals we send with our posture and body language— especially on the topics of personal safety and flirtatious behavior— but also during job interviews and social interactions. We also touched on the topics of misreading body language, and the various interpretations of body language across diverse cultures.
After the panel, I sat with Sharon VanBlarcom at the Farpoint table for an hour or so to unwind before bringing to an end another marvelous Philcon.
In July, I remember longtime friend, Dr. Inge Heyer, who passed away in June at the age of 65. I’m excited to announce that Dreams from the Edge of Reality won Pencraft’s 2026 Best Book of Summer award for short story collections and anthologies. Plus, a few more odds and ends. Click here to watch the video.
In August’s brief update episode, I’m proud to announce the upcoming release of Cashmere Ghost & Graveyards at Night, the seventh anthology by attendees of the Mindful Writers Retreat. The book includes my story trick or treat story “Black Cat, White Skulls.” Proceeds benefit the Allegheny Land Trust. I also touch on a few upcoming events and conclude with a tribute to longtime friend Joe Knedlhans on what would have been his 74th birthday on 07 August. Joe was the owner and curator of the Toy Robot Museum in Adamstown, PA. Click here to watch the video.
