Author of the CLASH OF EAGLES trilogy (Del Rey) and APOLLO RISING series (Arc Manor). Three-time Sidewise Award winner, singer, NASA astrophysicist (emeritus).
Maryland, USA
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Happy Book Birthday to "The Year's Top Science Fiction", edited by Allan Kaster, and including my alt.history tale, "Darwin's Rocket"! The story originally appeared in The Sunday Morning Transport (eds. Fran Wilde and Julian Yap), and was also a Sidewise Award finalist. Whee!
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Ten days and counting! "The Year's Top Science Fiction" drops on October 16, including my Sidewise-nominated story, "Darwin's Rocket." And it's in fantastic company--that's quite a Table of Contents, definitely a best-of collection worth a look!
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Blown away to have won my third Sidewise Award today!!--for "Caesar at Sea", from the ZNB anthology SKULL X BONES, edited by David B. Coe and Joshua Palmatier. In which a very young Julius Caesar is kidnapped by Cilician pirates, which -may- change a few things...
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Well, this is a thrill: I’ve received -two- nominations for the 2025 Sidewise Awards: for “Darwin’s Rocket”, which appeared in The Sunday Morning Transport in October, and “Caesar at Sea”, from the ZNB speculative pirate anthology “Skull X Bones” in December!
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I applied the Page 69 Test to my latest (short) novel, Mad Dogs & Englishmen, out a couple of weeks ago from eSpec Books, and here's the result: page69test.blogspot.com/2026…
While I was on the site I also reread the blog entries for my three Clash of Eagles novels. Fun!
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In which I am interviewed by the great @paulsemel and reveal some of backstory and fun facts about my new book, Mad Dogs & Englishmen!
When we think of cryptids, we think of fantastical creatures. But in his rural / dark supernatural thriller novella "Mad Dog And Englishmen," author Alan Smale spins a tale of a creature more familiar looking. To find out what, check out this Q&A.
paulsemel.com/exclusive-inte…
📖🐺
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Happy Book Birthday to me! From alternate history to alternate zoology... Today marks the release of MAD DOGS & ENGLISHMEN, my cryptid thriller from eSpec Books! It's set in present-day Yorkshire, England, with plenty of action. I hope you'll check it out! 1/2
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A cluster of handy buying links for MAD DOGS & ENGLISHMEN, my Yorkshire cryptid tale, out today ....
alansmale.com/maddogs/index.…
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My panels at @Balticon next w/e!
• Fri 4: When Han Wasn’t Solo-Writing the Support System
• Fri 5:30: Divergent Points+Alt.Hist
• Sat 10: Writing Novels: the Long Haul
• Sat 1: Alternate Alt.Histories
• Sat 5:30: Logistics+Tactics: Writing Campaigns
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Tonight I answered "Sopwith Camel" and the correct answer was "biplane" which is one of very many reasons why I should never go on Jeopardy.
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Thrilled that "Radiant Sky" is still reaching an appreciative audience! (And thanks to @mars_stu for the post!)
Currently reading "Radiant Sky" by @AlanSmale & it is a **glorious** tale, unashamedly rip-roaring alt-future story set in a future where Apollo 17 wasn't The End but we kept exploring the Moon. Low-G gunfights, Cold War political intrigue, a truly kick-ass heroine. Just read it!
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Just out! My interview with John Goodwin for the Writers & Illustrators of the Future podcast: an in-depth discussion of my latest Cold War space race novel, Burning Night, and "its combination of real science, real geopolitics, and imaginative fiction." writersofthefuture.com/podca…
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Just released! My exclusive Q+A with the great @paulsemel about the genesis and influences on my new novel, Burning Night, the final volume in my Apollo Rising sequence. (No spoilers beyond what you'd learn if you read the book cover copy or Amazon blurb.) paulsemel.com/exclusive-inte…
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Podcast Monday! Okay, so that's not actually a thing, but... my interview with Edward Willett on the Worldshapers podcast went live today! Hear me wax lyrical about Book Three in my Apollo Rising trilogy, and various other topics, at the link! theworldshapers.com/2025/12/…
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Launch day! Happy Book Birthday to 𝘽𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, the final book in my Apollo Rising series. Hard SF alt.hist set mostly on and around the Moon during the Cold War, following the adventures of astronaut Vivian Carter and her various NASA crews.. and Soviet adversaries
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Handy buying linky-doodles for 𝘽𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩:
alansmale.com/hotmoon/buying…
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Thank you so much! Made my day. (And Book Three in the series, Burning Night, comes out in just three weeks ...) @mars_stu
Just finished reading "Hot Moon" by @AlanSmale and LOVED it!!! Rip-roaring story with a kick-ass heroine astronaut, boo-hiss villains and wise-cracking space warriors set on an alternative future 1980 Moon being fought over by the US & Russia. Bought the sequel *straight* away!
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Delighted to announce the release of "Darwin's Rocket" in Sunday Morning Transport! -in which we meet Charles Darwin and sister Caroline in a tale about an evolution that might have been... Subscription-only, but here's a link for a 60-dy free trial...
sundaymorningtransport.com/
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My interview series with the award-winning SciFi Thoughts podcast continues ... and today my reading from the beginning of Radiant Sky has gone live! Catch up at
lancerkind.com/series/scifi-…
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