# CalMeacham has Books coming out this year! **URL:** \ **Category:** Marketplace\ **Created:** [January 2, 2019, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-has-books-coming-out-this-year/827110 "2019-01-02T19:21:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-has-books-coming-out-this-year/827110/1 "2019-01-02T19:21:47Z")
I’m happy to announce that I have one definite and one possible book coming out this year, along with a story in an anthology, several nonfiction articles, and maybe some stories. **Te Traveler** is a YA science fiction novel coming out in September from Rogue Phoenix press. It’s about Tenobius, a Time Traveler whose Time Machine breaks down in Imperial Rome, and the only way he can get back to the present is by fixing the electronics with what he can scrounge or fabricate himself with Roman technology. The story is told from the point of view of Argus, the Roman street kid who helps him. **Backstage at Wonderland** is the tentative title of a book that has a tentative agent willing to represent the book if I trim it down. It’s the amazing story of an amusement park built in Revere, Massachusetts just north of Boston, in 1906. The story has been told before in brief chapters of local books and in one out-of-print book written by a couple of brother who grew up in Revere. But all the previous accounts are far too brief, and they miss the most interesting things, and get the facts wrong (the park closed in 1910, for instance, while virtually every internet site – citing that book by the brothers – gives the date as 1911.) And they miss the most amazing human stories that really make the Park history shine – the guy who started it all, who two years previously had been secretary of a baking powder company in Savannah, Georgia. The guy who built the Park, who refused to tell his previous history, and who had tried to build The Biggest Amusement Park in the World. The Park treasurer whose wife became a superstar. Herbert H. Pattee , who gave up a Broadway career to become a ride designer, then met his wife on the Tunnel of Love ride he designed. The one-legged wrestler and acrobat who became manager to the Firefighter show. And so on. Definitely a trip worth taking. The anthology **Live Free or Dragons** , a collection of Fantasy stories set in New Hampshire, is at long last coming out this year – I thought it was going to end up in limbo, another _Last Dangerous Visions_. But years after they accepted my story, it is finally going to be released. My entry is **George Washington and the Dragon** , which I’m rather proud of. In addition, my Light Touch columns continue to be published in _Optics and Photonics News_, including (this year) **Preppy Optics** , **44 Fewer Shades of Gray** , and others. And I may have some other stories coming out in the near future. I’ll also be updating my website at [https://srichardwilkcom.wordpress.com](https://srichardwilkcom.wordpress.com) , which hasn’t been updated in quite a while. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-has-books-coming-out-this-year/827110/2 "2019-01-02T20:27:24Z")
Alas, no instruction book for an interocitor. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-has-books-coming-out-this-year/827110/3 "2019-01-02T20:59:36Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Alas, no instruction book for an interocitor. > > 😉 Of course not! That would defeat the purpose of the Aptitude test! > [@](#): > > An interocitor is a fictional multi-functional device that first appeared in the 1949 story “The Alien Machine”, which became the beginning four chapters of the 1952 novel This Island Earth, which in turn was made into the 1955 science fiction film This Island Earth.[1][2][3] The device arrives in kit form as an intelligence test for scientists who might prove helpful to an alien race. > **[This Island Earth (novel)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interocitor)** > > This Island Earth is a 1952 science fiction novel by American writer Raymond F. Jones. It was first published in Thrilling Wonder Stories magazine as a serialized set of three novelettes by Jones: "The Alien Machine" in the June 1949 issue, "The Shroud of Secrecy" in the December 1949 issue, and "The Greater Conflict" in the February 1950 issue. These three stories were later combined and expanded into the 1952 novel This Island Earth. It became the basis for the 1955 Universal-International sc... ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-has-books-coming-out-this-year/827110/4 "2019-01-02T22:12:25Z")
Congrats on all the books! I hope they’re all hits! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-has-books-coming-out-this-year/827110/5 "2019-01-02T23:23:08Z")
Is this your first work of fiction? And does Tenobius end up getting killed by one of his own ancient ancestors? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-has-books-coming-out-this-year/827110/6 "2019-01-03T00:27:27Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Is this your first work of fiction? > > And does Tenobius end up getting killed by one of his own ancient ancestors? 😉 No. I’ve had several pieces published in anthologies, magazines, and online (including two stories in _Analog_). This isn’t even my first SF novel, although it’s the first to be published. And, no, he isn’t killed by an ancestor (fitting though that might be). I’m not going to let him get out of his predicament _that_ easily. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-has-books-coming-out-this-year/827110/7 "2019-01-03T14:37:12Z")
I suppose that an ancient Roman with a shotgun would be too much to ask, true. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-has-books-coming-out-this-year/827110/8 "2019-01-03T14:41:06Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I suppose that an ancient Roman with a shotgun would be too much to ask, true. Well, heck, Martin Padway\* couldn’t even get black powder to work in ancient Rome. \*hero of L. Sprague de Camp’s classic time travel novel _Lest Darkness Fall_, an inspiration to me. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2019, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-has-books-coming-out-this-year/827110/9 "2019-04-20T22:30:47Z")
**Live Free or Dragons** has been published! At any rate, I have several copies sitting on my table. The hitch is that the book doesn’t seem to be available anywhere on the internet – not on Amazon, not on any bookstore sites, not even on the publisher’s website (Plaidswede Press of Concord, NH). I can’t even find the book by googling its ISBN number. I’ll let you know as soon as it becomes available on any website. In the meantime, here’s the cover: > **[Steve’s Fantasy](https://srichardwilkcom.wordpress.com/steves-fantasy/)** > > George Washington and the Dragon — Has been published in Live Free or Dragons, a collection of New Hampshire-based Fantasy stories, April 2019 . From Plaidswede Press of Concord NH You can pu… In other news, we have a cover for **The Traveler** , and I’m on what I hope will be the last edit. Here’s the cover: > **[Steve’s Science Fiction](https://srichardwilkcom.wordpress.com/steves-science-fiction/)** > > Another new story coming out this month, circa June 20.   20,000 Leagues Remembered is being published by Pole to Pole Media to honor the 150th anniversary of the publication of Jules Verne… This one’s due out in September. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2019, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-has-books-coming-out-this-year/827110/10 "2019-04-21T02:45:43Z")
Congrats! > [@Chronos](#): > > I suppose that an ancient Roman with a shotgun would be too much to ask, true. No, no. I don’t think it is. Let’s do that. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2019, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-has-books-coming-out-this-year/827110/11 "2019-04-21T05:28:33Z")
Scruffy, countercultural youth demanding an end to Rome’s ballistic missile program. _Trebuchet delenda est!_ ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2019, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-has-books-coming-out-this-year/827110/12 "2019-04-21T15:16:50Z")
_Num tu fortunatus esse putas?_ ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2019, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-has-books-coming-out-this-year/827110/13 "2019-04-21T16:27:18Z")
Mazel tov! ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2019, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-has-books-coming-out-this-year/827110/14 "2019-04-21T21:40:36Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > And, no, he isn’t killed by an ancestor (fitting though that might be). I’m not going to let him get out of his predicament _that_ easily. Well, somebody _had_ to ask - my only disappointment is that bum **Chronos** beat me to it! (Count on him to be just in time. ;)) ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-has-books-coming-out-this-year/827110/15 "2019-04-22T00:50:51Z")
Does Backstage at Wonderland include the much later amusement park activity thru the 1960s? > **[From the archives: Revere Beach - The Boston Globe](https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/2016/07/21/from-archives-revere-beach/GIn6JR6EQij5hf8IlDLOxN/story.html?pic=4)** > > Revere Beach was established as the country’s first public beach in 1896. People would come from all over New England to visit this beloved attraction, which turns 120 this year. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-has-books-coming-out-this-year/827110/16 "2019-04-22T04:39:43Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > _Num tu fortunatus esse putas?_ _faustumne te habeas_ rather (accusative). I wouldn’t last long in ancient Rome. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-has-books-coming-out-this-year/827110/17 "2019-04-22T12:35:51Z")
Yup, **RTFirefly** , I just barely beat you by over three months 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-has-books-coming-out-this-year/827110/18 "2019-04-22T20:05:38Z")
> [@Ignatz](#): > > Does Backstage at Wonderland include the much later amusement park activity thru the 1960s? > > [https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/2016/07/21/from-archives-revere-beach/GIn6JR6EQij5hf8IlDLOxN/story.html?pic=4](https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/2016/07/21/from-archives-revere-beach/GIn6JR6EQij5hf8IlDLOxN/story.html?pic=4) No. I started out doing all the entertainment along Revere Beach Boulevard, but settled (for reasons too complicated to go into here) to just do Wonderland. I’m glad I limited it to that – wonderland all by itself is a big enough topic. If there’s enough interest, I’ll go on to do more of Revere Beach. It still amazes me that the Blue Line has a stop called “Wonderland”, and that several city buses put up “Wonderland” as their destination. I know it’s because the entire area is called “Wonderland”, and most people associate it with the greyhound track or the ballroom (or possibly the Mall that’s there now), but all of them owe their name to the amusement park. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-has-books-coming-out-this-year/827110/19 "2019-04-23T12:30:08Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Of course not! That would defeat the purpose of the Aptitude test! > > [This Island Earth (novel) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interocitor) And, don’t forget you have to build a new catamarine tube to replace the one that rolled off the end of your workbench. (And the replacement tube’s albion factor has to be within the appropriate limits!) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-has-books-coming-out-this-year/827110/21 "2019-04-23T15:42:32Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Yup, **RTFirefly** , I just barely beat you by over three months 🙂 Yeah, well, count on a guy with username **Chronos** to make a big deal out of some interval in time. 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calmeacham-has-books-coming-out-this-year/827110.md?page=2)