Sci-Fi Storm

The 2010 Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention is taking place this year in Maryland from Sept 23-25. Mark Goddard from Lost in Space will be one of the many guests, and there will be lots of science fiction stuff on the menu.

To check out videos from previous conventions (a radio re-enactment of a sci fi ep, and Martin Grams Jr. giving a talk on the Twilight Zone) check out: http://dailyspace.blogspot.com/2010/02/theater-of-mind-old-time-radio-at-2010.html

The Thunder Child sf & fantasy webzine is not a fan of horror per se, but we’ve some interviews with various horror movie folks, and writers of Call of Cthulhu role playing games, etc. We’ll also be adding a regular horror review column thanks to Matt Sanford. To that end, we’ve just released two comics (out of a four comic set) from the movie The Crazies which is to debut Feb 26. Matt will be reviewing the comics shortly, but if you want to take a look at the covers, and head off to your local comic store to reserve your copies on the strenth of ’em:
http://dailyspace.blogspot.com/2010/02/crazies-comic-books.html

The Thunder Child is proud to present its interview with Matt Sanford, whose Call of Cthulu RPG book Arkham Now will be coming out shortly. Another Cthulu RPG, Haunted Salem, will be out next year. The busy Sanford is also busy writing articles on the Tom Baker season arc, The Key To Time, and a host of other projects. Please check out the interview at: http://thethunderchild.com/Interviews/Books/MattSanbornInterview.html

People who need to take the SATs, ACTs and GRE tests in order to get into a good college, use study guides to help them. As far as the verbal component of the test is concerned, the current craze to teach needed vocabulary is to write the study guide as a murder mystery, so that readers can see the vocabulary in action, rather than just studying dry lists.

The blog Wordsworth and the Visitor From Planet X is designed to build people’s vocabury, using a science fiction serial as its launch pad.

http://wordsworthandthevisitorfromplanetx.blogspot.com/

If you wish to build your vocabulary, or if you know of students who want help, send them to Wordsworth and the Visitor from Planet X.

I’d long heard of Horace L. Gold (and L. Sprague de Camp’s) “most terrifying story to ever appear in Unknown,” novella, None But Lucifer, but I hadn’t realized it was available to be read, not only in print but also online – for free, thanks to Galaxyezine.com

I share some infor about it at:
http://dailyspace.blogspot.com/2009/12/read-none-but-lucifer.html

Rocketry expert Willy Ley acted as science editor for Galaxy magazine for about ten years. Galaxy was published by Horace Gold. It folded in 1980. There is a webzine, galaxyezine.com, from which I found these two videos, uploaded to YouTube. In them, E.L. Gold tells a couple of amusing Willy Ley stories.

The Thunder Child is launching a couple of new blogs for the new year, one on space exploration and one on marine exploration.

For the stories on Willy Ley (and Gold does a good German accent) check out: http://spaceexplorationchronicles.blogspot.com/2009/12/willy-ley-and-galaxy-and-rockets.html

The Thunder Child webzine has begun experimenting with Hubpages, and to that end we’ve uploaded an article about Willy Ley there.

Willy Ley, one of the founders of the German Rocket Society and an acknowledged expert on the subject, left Germany as soon as Hitler came to power (out of conviction rather than fear, as he wasn’t Jewish) and eventually settled in the US, where he became friends with Isaac Asimov and a host of science fiction writers, wrote science essays for Galaxy, and so on.

Check the article out at http://hubpages.com/hub/Willy-Ley-Science-Popularizer-Extraordinaire.

“Billionaire Richard Branson’s spaceship was unveiled today. Imagine the delight of Star Trek fans to see that it was named the VSS Enterprise.

Please check out my blog entry on the subject at: http://dailyspace.blogspot.com/2009/12/star-trek-legacy-continues-this.html“ — Yes, this one at least is likely to actually reach space…

The Thunder Child Science Fiction and Fantasy webzine received a press release from the Land o Lakes, Florida Blockbuster announcing the great activies they have planned for the pre-release party of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince DVD.

Check out their press release at http://dailyspace.blogspot.com/2009/12/calling-all-muggles-dec-7-hp-and-half.html.

And if you’re not in the area of Land o’ Lakes, check out your own local Blockbuster for a similar party.