Tag Archives: phil giunta

Blog, Events

A Visit to the Toy Robot Museum

My wife and I had a fantastic time at the Toy Robot Museum in Adamstown, PA with friend and former colleague, Dan Torok and his daughter.

It’s always a blast to hang out with museum curator Joe Knedlhans and see the latest additions to the museum. What’s more, Joe gave me an awesome birthday gift: A rare 1978 Metropolis Souvenir Magazine from Japan with English translation by Forrest J. Ackerman. The entire thing unfolds to a black and white poster of Maria the robot from this classic silent film.

We also enjoyed several hours of antiquing along Route 272 at Renninger’s Antique Mall and the German Trading Post. There are, of course, about a dozen more antique shops there that I’ve been to before, but we ran out of time to visit them all today. Some of my favorite shops include The Mad Hatter, Mother Tuckers, 272 Antiques, and the Antique Co-Op. I’ll probably get out there again closer to the holidays.

 AlphaBot Wooden Robots Twiki and Company Robots on Display! R2-D2 Toy Chest Star Wars Display Rockem Sockem Robots Robots on Display! Robots on Display! Robots on Display! Robots on Display! Robots Galore Remote Control Robots Robot Movie Posters Maria from Metropolis Little Bots Japanese Robots Japanese Robots Gort and Company Robot Display Cases Daleks Robot Display Case ClimbTron Robots BotStock Robots

Blog, Book Signings, Events

River Reads Returns!

River Reads will be returning to Prallsville Mills on October 15, 2017 from 10 to 4 PM. Join us for a day of books, local authors for all ages, Bonjour Creperie, Unionville Vineyards, and Lulu’s Rescue!

We will also be holding River Writes–4 Writing Seminars on Turning Real Life into Fiction, World Building, Self Publishing, Character Development. Each seminar will be $12 per person or $40 for all four. Each hour long session will be capped at 20 participants. Stay tuned for sign up information!

Check Facebook for more information on River Reads 2017!

River Reads 2017

Blog, Opinion

Of Aftermaths, Depression, and the Will to Keep Pushing…

Aside from book reviews and event announcements, I haven’t posted anything of substance on the blog in nearly three weeks. I wish I could point to my typical prodigious writing output as the reason, but alas 2017 has been abysmal relative to previous years.

It’s August and the most fiction I’ve written since January has been four additional chapters in my SF novel and an outline for a new paranormal short story that I just started writing this week. In previous years, I would have been finished with the first draft of the novel long before before now as well as four or five short stories.

Granted, I spent winter and spring editing about 15 submissions for an upcoming anthology and then began working with the three artists who are providing brilliant interior illustrations. That phase of the project is currently well under way as is the cover art. This is the third volume in this anthology series and the last one I’m editing/project managing.

As mentioned in a previous post, this was followed by a six-week home renovation in June that, while successful, severely limited my writing time. Fortunately, the project ended on June 29, right on schedule. After clean-up and reorganizing our house, I had hoped to return to a normal routine and enjoy the remainder of my summer.

Unfortunately, the partial roof collapse at my workplace on July 1 (my birthday) and the subsequent week of round-the-clock effort to restore our IT systems, burned me out and triggered a severe bout of depression. Now, I’ve been battling this demon since I was six years old and have suffered through more severe bouts than I care to remember, but this was one of the worst and it scared the hell out of me.

I’m sure my manager and team mates were even more exhausted than I. Each weekend in July following the calamity was filled with yet more activity to stabilize and restore our environment. We’re still dealing with the aftermath even now. At the risk of sounding selfish, I hope comp time is on the horizon in the near future.

To make matters worse, our rabbit took ill at the end of July with a bladder problem, which caused him to stop eating. This resulted in multiple vet visits and two weeks of force feeding him Critical Care (a food paste) via syringe. We’re still in the midst of dealing with this and praying that the problem does not become life threatening. He has begun eating again, but nowhere near as voraciously as he’s accustomed to.

I’m also nearly finished building a new website for one of my publishers. That’s actually one of the highlights of my summer along with learning that my paranormal novella, Like Mother, Like Daughters was accepted by Firebringer Press and will be published in a format that has me excited. I hope to see that released in 2018. Stay tuned for more info!

On a disappointing note, my submission to the 2017 Rehoboth Beach short story contest was rejected. From Second Place last year to Nothing this year. Such are the highs and lows of the writing life. On the flip side, I look forward to the online publication of another short story later this fall. It’s a paranormal tale set in New Mexico. I’ll post the link here when it’s published.

All told, I’m probably doing better than I think I am, and I know I should not beat myself up over what I perceive as failing in my normal quantity of writing. Life sometimes delivers setbacks and we do the best we can to work through them. I’m excited about the new paranormal short story I just started writing this week. It should be finished in a few days.

My spirit are also lifted by the fact that I have at least two new releases coming next year and of course, the problems that ruined my summer will eventually pass one way or another and allow me to reclaim my writing time.

 

Blog, Book Reviews

Book Review: Lucky Starr and the Moons of Jupiter by Isaac Asimov (writing as Paul French)

On Jupiter’s most remote moon Adrastea, or Jupiter Nine, a revolutionary anti-gravity project, known as Agrav, is under investigation—again. This time, the Council of Science has sent their most resourceful troubleshooter, David “Lucky” Starr, and his diminutive sidekick, John Bigman Jones. Though what Bigman lacks in stature, he compensates for in bravery and bravado—a combustible mix that often ignites trouble for the pair.

Upon arrival on Jupiter Nine, Starr and Jones are immediately met with hostility from workers who have been repeatedly questioned and interrogated by government authorities in search of a possible spy from Sirius, an Earth colony settled generations ago that had turned against its planet of origin.

In an attempt to gain an advantage in their search for a possible Sirian infiltrator, Starr brings with him a V-Frog, a small amphibious creature from Venus that possesses remarkable empathic ability. Through this creature, Starr and Bigman hope to determine if the spy is human or automaton.

Unfortunately, an intruder kills the V-Frog in their quarters shortly after their arrival, leaving Starr bereft of his main tool for detection. However, the event raises suspicion that the perpetrator was most likely a robot, for any human that approaches a V-Frog is instantly affected by the animal’s empathic projections of affection and benevolence.

Meanwhile, the Agrav vessel Jovian Moon is ready for test flight to Io, Jupiter’s innermost moon. Against the wishes of Mission Commander Donahue, Starr and Bigman join the expedition, as Starr is confident that the Sirian robot will also be on board—and quite possibly a human saboteur as well!

The question is, will the Jovian Moon successfully complete its round-trip voyage or will all hands meet their doom when the vessel plunges into the heart of Jupiter?

Lucky Starr and Moons of Jupiter conveyed a more sinister tone than its four predecessors. This was the first time in the series that David Starr did not always have the upper hand in every predicament and was, in fact, foiled on multiple occasions both by his own incorrect assumptions—or inexperience—and by the ingenuity of the Sirians. Of course, Bigman’s typical immature and rash antics did little to help the situation, except for a tense anti-gravity brawl at the beginning of the book.

At the time of publication in 1954, the Jovian moon now known as Ananke was called Adrastea (aka Jupiter Nine). In 1975, some of the minor satellites of Jupiter were renamed and Adrastea was assigned to Jupiter XV.

Onto the final volume, Lucky Starr and the Rings of Saturn…

Blog, Book Reviews

Book Review: Lucky Starr and the Big Sun of Mercury by Isaac Asimov (writing as Paul French)

There’s no time to waste as young Council of Science member and troubleshooter David “Lucky” Starr arrives on Mercury with his tiny-but-mighty companion John Bigman Jones. No sooner do they land their ship inside the Dome city than lead engineer Scott Mindes escorts them outside onto the surface of the planet where he speaks of giant men in metal suits who can remain on the surface for hours despite the intense heat and deadly radiation from the sun. Yet each time Mindes attempts to approach them, the apparitions vanish into the shadows.

The engineer seems to be growing increasingly irritable during their discussion, until he finally pulls a blaster from his holster and fires at Lucky. Fast reflexes and low gravity save Starr’s life as Bigman tackles Mindes to the ground.

Later, Starr and Bigman are informed by Chief Medical Officer Doctor Gardoma that Mindes, a genuinely cordial young man, has been under enormous strain due to repeated acts of sabotage against Project Light, an experiment intended to produce planet-wide cooling and even disbursement of heat via orbiting space stations. Worse, Earth politician Senator Swenson has accused the Council of Science of extravagantly “wasting” taxpayers’ money by supporting Project Light. To that end, Swenson sent a ham-fisted investigator of his own named Urteil, who has managed to bully and intimidate almost everyone working on the project, especially Mindes.

Even the elderly Lance Peverale, senior astronomer of the observatory, distrusts Urteil so much that he refuses to speak of him when Starr broaches the topic.

At a banquet the following evening, tensions rise as Urteil harasses Starr and maligns the Council of Science. While Starr takes the comments in stride, the short-fused Bigman characteristically lashes out at Urteil in a violent rebuttal that begins a savage feud between them.

By way of distraction, Peverale launches into a polemic against the people of the planet Sirius, accusing them of sending saboteurs to Mercury in an attempt to thwart Project Light. Although Peverale has no tangible evidence to support his claim, the Sirians have a well-earned reputation as pirates and terrorists.

If not the Sirians, then perhaps the perpetrator is Swenson’s lackey Urteil, or someone else inside the Dome, or even the strange men in metal suits witnessed by Mindes. With as many theories as there are suspects, Starr and Bigman take to the gelid underground mines and the scorching surface of Mercury to unlock the mystery.

This is the fourth book in the Lucky Starr series and just as enjoyable as the previous three as long as you take them for what they are—fantastic, light-hearted adventures of space opera, cleverly written, but with occasional phrasing that would be considered dated and clumsy in the eyes of today’s readers. These stories are a departure from Asimov’s usual “hard SF” novels and sagas such as I, Robot, The Gods Themselves, and The Foundation Series, to name but a few.

Much like the previous volumes, the 1972 Signet edition of Lucky Starr and the Big Sun of Mercury includes a disclaimer by Asimov regarding his inaccurate description of the story’s main planet, which was based on the best astronomical data available in 1956 when the series was first published.

 

Lucky Starr and the Big Sun of Mercury

 

 

Blog, Book Reviews

Book Review: Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus by Isaac Asimov (writing as Paul French)

Along with his diminutive but dauntless sidekick, Bigman Jones, David “Lucky” Starr travels from Earth to Venus when fellow Council of Science member and longtime friend, Lou Evans, is charged with corruption and theft of an experimental yeast formula.

During their flight to Venus, a message from Evans warns Starr to stay away from the planet. This of course only entices Starr to press onward. As they approach Venus, Starr and Bigman discover that their pilot and navigator have succumbed to mind control and turned against them, sending the vessel crashing into the ocean.

After a brief scuffle, the pilot and navigator regain control of themselves, but recall nothing of the incident. Starr and Bigman repair the vessel and dock in the underwater dome city of Aphrodite. There, Starr and Bigman meet with senior council member, Doctor Mel Morriss, only to learn that previous incidents of mental aberrations have occurred in the recent past—and Lou Evans might himself be a victim.

Starr requests an interview with Evans, but his fellow councilman is reluctant to explain his actions. Their conversation is then interrupted by an emergency—a junior engineer has fallen victim to mind control and is threatening to open one of the airlocks and flood the entire city! Worse, Lou Evans takes advantage of the distraction to escape in a personal submarine into the oceans of Venus.

Can Lucky Starr save the underwater town of Aphrodite from destruction, recapture his fellow councilman, and solve the mystery behind the mind control before the next incident destroys every living human on Venus?

Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus is the third book in the series and is just as entertaining as the previous entries. Asimov creates a clever and plausible mechanism by which the mind control is executed.

The feisty Bigman is noticeably more subdued than in the first two volumes. His most heroic moment is hustling through the city’s ventilation shafts in an effort to cut off power to the airlock before the engineer can flood the city. After that, Bigman is reduced to steering a ship and asking Lucky for clarification about certain scientific concepts during their adventures.

Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus Cover

In the 1972 Signet editions of the series that I’m reading, Asimov added a disclaimer regarding the inaccurate descriptions of the planets when this series was originally published in 1954. Such details as the existence of an ocean on Venus, for example, were merely speculation prior to the images sent by the Mariner II probe launched in 1962 that debunked the theory.

Onto Lucky Starr and the Big Sun of Mercury…