Author Archives: skullsinthestars

“Invisibility” recognized in Publishers Weekly!

Just a short note: my editor pointed out to me that my book made the “top ten” list of Spring 2023 science books at Publishers Weekly! Saving the relevant part of the page for my own personal record: This is … Continue reading

Posted in Invisibility, Personal | 2 Comments

The Dark Is Rising, by Susan Cooper

Have you ever remembered a book that you read as a child that you were curious to read again but you can’t remember the name of the book or the author or even enough detail to track it down? That … Continue reading

Posted in Fantasy fiction | 3 Comments

Consider the Platypus, by Maggie Ryan Sandford

As I’ve said a number of times, the pandemic really destroyed my ability to read, and now that I’ve achieved some sense of mental stability again I’m working to catch up on a bunch of the books that I just … Continue reading

Posted in Animals, General science | Leave a comment

Old School Dungeons & Dragons: Part 28

It’s been a while since I did some Old School Dungeons & Dragons on Twitter, but I’ve finally gotten myself back into the rhythm! (I am now also posting the threads on Mastodon, given the instability of Twitter.) Hopefully I’ll … Continue reading

Posted in Entertainment, Fantasy fiction, role-playing games | 5 Comments

Physics demonstrations: Oculus Mundi

So, for some reason, my ten year old video on the Barkhausen effect went viral on YouTube the past few weeks, and brought me quite a few new followers there. I thought I’d do a short video to say “thanks … Continue reading

Posted in Invisibility, Optics, Physics demos | Leave a comment

Nothing but Blackened Teeth, by Cassandra Khaw

Now that I’m back in the book reading habit, I’m also back in the book impulse-buying habit. A few weeks back, I happened to see Cassandra Khaw’s Nothing but Blackened Teeth (2021), on the shelf, and was intrigued. It is … Continue reading

Posted in Horror | Leave a comment

My moment of glory on Twitter

The destruction of Twitter at such a fast rate that you can pretty much watch it collapse in real time is a bit melancholy for me. Though I’m happy to see Billionaire Baby demonstrate clearly his level of actual competence, … Continue reading

Posted in ... the Hell?, Personal, Silliness | 2 Comments

The Black Maybe, by Attila Veres

I first encountered the work of Attila Veres in the first volume of The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories, which came out in late 2020. The series, now on volume 2, collects the best works of foreign horror authors … Continue reading

Posted in Horror | Leave a comment

Fake Book Titles Extravaganza, Part 6!

It’s been a while since I compiled my fake book title posts from Twitter, so it’s time to do so again!  You can see compilation 1, compilation 2, compilation 3, compilation 4 and compilation 5 at the links.  For those who don’t recall, this is … Continue reading

Posted in ... the Hell?, Silliness | 1 Comment

An intro to Mastodon from a relative newcomer!

“So your favorite social media site has been taken over by a bumbling fascist-friendly narcissist.” Mine, too. With Twitter under new management that leaves me very pessimistic about its future as a viable communications site, I’ve been taking a look … Continue reading

Posted in Entertainment, Personal | 6 Comments