“Murder on the Cislunar Railroad” has arrived!

I just got my author copies of the June 2016 Analog, containing my SF-mystery novelette “Murder on the Cislunar Railroad,” and I got my name on the cover again!

Cover art by Bob Eggelton

So out of six Analog appearances over the past 17.5 years, I’ve gotten my name on the cover half the time — specifically, on the third, fifth, and sixth occasions. That’s kind of symmetrical. I’ve never had cover art based on one of my stories, though the covers these days usually seem to be generic space images. Four of my Analog stories have had interior art, though, the exceptions being “The Hub of the Matter” and this one.

It looks like I got my copies early; the  Analog homepage hasn’t yet been updated to June as of this writing. From what I can tell, the June issue goes on sale in about a week, on May 4. “Cislunar Railroad” is the last story in the issue, on pp. 92-103. I hope my readers find the mystery suitably confounding and the ideas and characters sufficiently interesting.

2016 Ohioana reception

This past Sunday, I attended the annual Ohioana Library Association reception for local authors at the Cincinnati Public Library’s main branch. Here I am accepting my certificate for Rise of the Federation: Uncertain Logic from Ohioana Hamilton County Committee chairman David Siders:

And that photo pretty much tells me it was a mistake to wear slacks without a jacket. Or maybe I need better-fitted slacks. My hips aren’t really that bulgy.

There was nominally an opportunity to sell some books here, so I brought a few paperbacks, but the sale didn’t seem as well-organized as last year, and I ended up instead spending the whole post-reception time talking with other honorees, local folks I’ve met at earlier book events and got to reconnect with here. So it was more satisfying socially than financially, but that’s fine. I’ll get a better chance to sell books at the same location on May 21st, when I attend the Cincinnati Library Comic Con.