One of the snippets included in yesterday's blog post was from the book Forty Signs of Rain by Kim Stanley Robinson.
Lightspeed Magazine has a short story by Robinson that you can read for free here.
If you want a book-sized freebie, this month's Phoenix Pick free e-book is The Messiah Choice by Jack Chalker. Thanks to SF Signal for spreading the word about this offer. The code for the free e-book is included in our monthly newsletter. Not signed up yet? It's simple -- just follow the instructions on our catalogue page.
Once you've pondered all that, check out these May Day/day references in various books:
"It's a beautiful May day," Ofglen says. I feel rather than see her head turn towards me, waiting for a reply.
"Yes," I say. "Praise be," I add as an afterthought. Mayday used to be a distress signal, a long time ago, in one of those wars we studied in high school. I kept getting them mixed up, but you could tell them apart by the airplanes if you paid attention. It was Luke who told me about Mayday though. Mayday, Mayday, for pilots whose planes had been hit, and ships - was it ships too? - at sea. Maybe it was SOS for ships. I wish I could look it up. And it was something from Beethoven, for the beginning of the victory, in one of those wars.
Do you know what it came from? said Luke. Mayday?
No, I said. It's a strange word to use for that, isn't it?
Newspapers and coffee, on Sunday mornings, before she was born. There were still newspapers then. We used to read them in bed.
It's French, he said. From M'aidez. Help me.
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He looked about his little troupe of six, who were once again lowering the line with the clumsy enthusiasm of a May Day tug-o'-war. "Comrade Shillibeer! You're about this man's size—give him your trousers."
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All this in the middle of a D.C. May day, the air going for a triple-triple, the sun smashing down through the wet air and diffusing until its light exploded out of a huge patch of the zenith. Sweaty gasping play, yes, but never a moment spent coaxing. Never a dull moment.
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"What is this?" he demanded. "Ye'd think 'twas May Day, and the lads and lassies all out gatherin' flowers in the wood, not the dead o' winter and snow comin' on!"
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Then there's the May DayFairie Festival. It's not exactly on May Day this year, so if you're interested but not already in the area, you have time to travel!
Science fiction author Robert J. Sawyer was born in Ottawa, Canada, on April 29, 1960. So today's his birthday and I thought I'd mark it by sharing a few items:
"No facts or figures about Saturn, no magnification,
can explain the unreasonably disquieting sensation which the sight of this
planet produces upon the mind of the spectator."
-- Henry Miller, The Colossus of Maroussi
Lucifer Jones has many tales to tell. Story titles include "The Lost Race," "The Abominable Snowman," "Exercising Ghosts," "Death in the Afternoon,"and "The Island of Annoyed Souls."
For more from/about Mike Resnick, check out these links:
An extensive bibliography at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
Also, Mike Resnick is on the faculty of Phoenix Pick's upcoming set of seminars on the various aspects of writing and the writing business. Care to learn from the experts while cruising to the Bahamas? More information on the cruise website.
