Authors in this Issue
“Apartment Wars” by Vera Brook
Vera Brook is a neuroscientist turned speculative fiction writer. She grew up in Poland, so this novella, while fictional, is very close to her heart.
“Strange Events at Fletcher and Front” by Tom R. Pike
Tom R. Pike is a research analyst who studies the climate crisis, and the economic and political systems that created it. More of Tom’s work can be found at tomrpike.com. Look for his next story, “Isolate,” in an upcoming issue of Analog. ”Strange Events at Fletcher and Front!” was inspired by the research of Dr. Sugandha Srivastav, Dr. Svante Arrhenius, Kris De Decker, Philip Pesavento, and George & Walter Cove. This story is dedicated to each of them, and to all who toil either in fame or in obscurity to make the world a better place. May we all live our lives as if given a second chance by a time traveler.
“Rejuve Blues” by John Shirley
John Shirley’s newest novels are Suborbital 7, Blood in Sweet River, and Stormland. He has eleven story collections, the latest being The Feverish Stars.
“Prince of Spirals” by Sean McMullen
Sean McMullen worked for the Australian Bureau of Meteorology for over three decades, in areas ranging across satellite tracking, systems design, disaster contingency and Year 2000 conversion. The Bureau also had him trained as a first aid officer, inspiring an interest in medicine and anatomy which carried over into his science fiction. Today he writes science fiction full time and has had Hugo and BSFA award nominations, and won 17 other awards including three Analog Readers Awards. He is best known for his Greatwinter science fiction series (Tor), and his latest adult novel is the dark comedy about climate change, Generation Nemesis (Wizards Tower Press, 2022). He has a PhD from Melbourne University.
Website: https://www.seanmcmullen.net.au, Facebook: Sean McMullen, Instagram: sean_c_mcmullen.
“Gut Check” by Robert E. Hampson
Robert E. “Dr.Rob” Hampson hasn’t quite figured out what he wants to do when he grows up. He’s a neuroscientist who recently joined an issue engineering and regeneration institute, an SF/F consultant on nonfiction topics ranging from brain science to bionics, and writes fiction ranging from zombies, to military SF, to…bionics!
Inspired by science fiction, Dr. Hampson intended to study the nascent field of “Bionics,” only to discover that the field didn’t actually exist (in the 1980’s). He completed his PhD in 1988, with a focus on the hippocampus, a brain structure involved in encoding and recalling new memories. In over forty years of research, he has studied how commonly abused drugs alter memory function, the effects of space radiation effects on the brain, and helped develop “replacement parts for the brain” in the form of implantable neurotech devices and tissue engineering. Incidentally, at a neurotech meeting in 2019, he looked around the room at the fellow pioneers and advances in brain-computer interfaces and prosthetics, and realized that the field of Bionics finally arrived.
Robert Hampson’s SF writing career began with nonfiction articles on science themes for Baen Books. His first fiction sale was “They Also Serve,” a 2015 short story which included military-SF with hard-science elements of futuristic medical advancements. He has co-edited two anthologies, published more than 30 works of short fiction, two solo and three collaborative novels, plus two new novels in the works for 2025. His most recent novel: The Moon and the Desert (Baen Books, 2023) updates “The Six Million Dollar Man” with real bionics and science based on experience in the field.
Robert E. Hampson is a science futurism consultant through SIGMA—the Science Fiction Think Tank, the Science and Entertainment Exchange (a service of the National Academy of Sciences), and “Brain, and Brain Ink, LLC.” His website is http://REHampson.com.
“Our Lady of the Gyre” by Douglas R. Franklin
Doug Franklin lives in Alaska where he had a long career in tech before he joined the pandemic’s Great Resignation and got back to writing science fiction. This is his first appearance in Analog. Previously published short stories and an excerpt from his novel The Extrapolated Man can be found at extrapolatedworlds.com.
“Second Chance” by Sakinah Hofler
Sakinah Hofler is a fiction writer, poet, and playwright. A former chemical engineer for the United States Department of Defense, she currently teaches writing at Princeton University. She resides in Newark, NJ with her wonderful husband and adorable son.
“Upgrade” by Mark W. Tiedemann
Mark W. Tiedemann has been publishing stories since 1990. His novel Compass Reach was shortlisted for the Philip K. Dick Award and Remains for the Tiptree. As of this year, he has sold over 70 short stories and published 13 books. A native St. Louisan, he has actually set two novels in his home town, the novel Realtime and his brand new just released book from Blank Slate Press, Granger’s Crossing. The latter is (shock!) Not Science Fiction, but an historical novel set in the 1780s. He still lives in St. Louis.
“Fixative” by Jonathan Olfert
Jonathan Olfert hails from Alberta and lives by the North Atlantic. His work has appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Lightspeed, Old Moon Quarterly, and many more.
“The Only God Is Us” by Sarah Day
Sarah Day is a speculative fiction author living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her dark fantasy novella Greyhowler is available now from Underland Press. Find links to her other published work (or just say hi!) on her website: sarahday.org.
“As Ordinary Things Often Do” by Kelly Lagor
Kelly Lagor is a scientist by day and speculative fiction writer by night. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in places like Analog, Asimov’s, Tor.com, and Uncanny. You can keep up with her and her work on her website: kellylagor.com, or on various social media places as @klagor.
“Go Your Own Way” by Chris Barnham
Chris Barnham’s short fiction has appeared in places like F&SF, Galaxy’s Edge, Podcastle, and two Best of British SF anthologies. His novel, Fifty-One was “better plotted than Connie Willis” according to Interzone magazine. This is his first appearance in Analog. Chris lives physically in London, England, and virtually at www.chrisbarnhambooks.com.
“Flight 454” by Virgo Kevonté
A traveler who feels most at home when he isn’t, Virgo Kevonte has traveled to over a third of the world’s countries. He lives, writes, and eats in Al Hasa, Saudi Arabia, a city he’s trying to devour one local restaurant at a time. Find him at virgokevonte.com.
“Battle Buddy” by Stephen Raab
Stephen Raab is a former chemical engineer and lifelong lover of science, real and fictional. He lives in Virginia with his wife, whom he met through writing. Follow him on Twitter @OneTrueStephen.
“Prime Purpose” by Steve Rasnic Tem
Steve Rasnic Tem’s writing career spans over 45 years, including more than 500 published short stories, 17 collections, 8 novels, misc. poetry and plays. His collaborative novella with his late wife Melanie, The Man On The Ceiling, won the World Fantasy, Bram Stoker, and International Horror Guild awards in 2001. He has also won the Bram Stoker, International Horror Guild, and British Fantasy Awards for his solo work, including Blood Kin, winner of 2014’s Bram Stoker for novel. In 2024 he received the Horror Writers Association Lifetime Achievement Award. Visit his website at: www.stevetem.com.
“Quest of the Sette Communi” by Paul Di Filippo
Paul Di Filippo is rapidly closing in on the fiftieth anniversary of his first story sale in 1977. His latest book was Vangie’s Ghosts (Blackstone, February 2024). He continues to live in Providence, Rhode Island, with his partner Deborah Newton, a black cocker spaniel named Moxie, and a calico cat named Sally.
“Notes From Your Descendants” by Lorraine Alden
Lorraine Alden taught economics at several universities before taking up fiction writing. This is the third piece she’s had published in Analog. She lives in Northern California with her husband.
“Vigil” by James Van Pelt
James Van Pelt, has been selling short fiction to many of the major venues since 1989. Recently he retired from teaching high school English after thirty-seven years in the classroom. He was a finalist for the Nebula, the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, Locus Awards, and Analog and Asimov’s reader’s choice awards. Years and years ago he was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. He still feels “new.” Fairwood Press recently released a huge, limited-edition, signed and numbered collection of his work, The Best of James Van Pelt.
“The Spill” by M.T. Reiten
T. Reiten served in the military and worked as a scientist at a national lab proving that there is such a thing as too much research for writing science fiction. He now writes and lives in the National Capital Region with his small family. His stories have appeared in several anthologies to include most recently Robosoldiers: Thank You for Your Servos and Tales of the United States Space Force. (www.mtreiten.com)
“Saving the Skies” by Richard A. Lovett
Richard A. Lovett studied astrophysics as an undergrad, but then got a law degree and a Ph.D. in economics. Since then (after a brief career in academia and consulting) he’s used that exotic combination mostly as a science writer and policy analyst for a Who’s Who of newspapers and science magazines. But every now and then he encounters a line of research, like that discussed here, that reminds him of his past. “If I’d stayed in academia, it’s the type of stuff I could have been doing,” he says. This is his 206th appearance in Analog.
Guest Editorial: “Information Is Power” by John J. Vester
John J. Vester has spent much of his time on the planet working in printing, graphic arts and as an analyst for California State Government. Now retired, the best job yet, he can spend more time pursuing his interests, which include philately, hiking in the Sierras, and woodworking, with an emphasis on toys for kids (especially now, with a seven-year-old grandson). A space buff since childhood, beginning in the 60s, John watched every manned launch on TV. More recently he watched, live and in person, a last Shuttle launch and several Spacex launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base. John lives in Rancho Cordova, California and volunteers for JP Aerospace, featured in his 2019 Anlab winning fact article, “The Venus Sweet Spot: Floating Home.” John also works with the Aerospace Museum of California making cabinetry.
Alternate View: “Will Quantum Computing Improve AI?” by John G. Cramer
John G. Cramer’s 2016 nonfiction book describing his transactional interpretation of quantum mechanics, The Quantum Handshake—Entanglement, Nonlocality, and Transactions, (Springer, January 2016) is available online as a hardcover or eBook at: http://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319246406 or https://www.amazon.com/dp/331924. Editions of John’s hard SF novels Twistor and Einstein’s Bridge are available online at: https://www.amazon.com/Twistor-John-Cramer/dp/048680450X and https://www.amazon.com/Einsteins-Bridge-John-Cramer/dp/0380788314. Electronic reprints of 207 or more “The Alternate View” columns written by John G. Cramer and previously published in Analog are currently available online at: http://www.npl.washington.edu/av.
The Reference Library by Sean C.W. Korsgaard
Sean CW Korsgaard is a U.S. Army veteran, award-winning freelance journalist, author, editor, and publicist who has worked with Analog Science Fiction & Fact, Baen Books, and Writers of the Future, and recently became the editor of Anvil and Battleborn magazines. His first anthology, Worlds Long Lost, was released in December 2022, as was his debut short story, “Black Box.” He lives in Richmond, Virginia with his wife and child, along with, depending on who you ask, either far too many or far too few books.