G. E. Kelly X

06/16/2025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6DHtYc3BWg

05/01/2025

04/28/2025

Oh Boy! My new book, FELONY JUGGLER, will be out one week from tomorrow and my first book event is on May 13th in Brooklyn at The Bell House sponsored by Greenlight Bookstore.

Info here:

https://greenlightbookstore.com/event/2025-05-13/penn-jillette-bell-house

04/23/2025

Jean Craighead George's My Side of the Mountain (1959) is more than a children's adventure novel—it's a love letter to wilderness and self-discovery that has kindled the imagination of young readers for over six decades. The story begins with twelve-year-old Sam Gribley's bold decision to leave his cramped New York City apartment and test his survival skills in the Catskill Mountains, armed with nothing but a penknife, ball of cord, flint and steel, and $40.

What follows is a masterclass in practical wilderness living, rendered with such vivid detail that generations have tried to replicate Sam's exploits. George—a naturalist who based the book on real survival techniques—immerses us in Sam's world as he hollows out a massive hemlock for shelter, tames a peregrine falcon he names Frightful, crafts deerhide clothing, and creates a wilderness pantry stocked with smoked fish, acorn flour, and wild onions. The narrative unfolds through Sam's journal entries, interspersed with his sketches of edible plants and animal tracks, giving the story the intimate feel of a field notebook.

Beneath its survivalist surface, the novel explores deeper currents. Sam's solitary existence gradually reveals the paradox of his adventure—the exhilarating freedom of self-reliance coexists with moments of aching loneliness. His encounters with occasional visitors—like the wandering music teacher Bando who dubs him "Thoreau Gribley"—and eventual media attention complicate his wilderness idyll, raising questions about whether true isolation is possible or even desirable.

The book's enduring magic lies in its balance of practicality and poetry. George doesn't romanticize wilderness survival; we feel Sam's frustration when fish evade his traps and his terror during a hurricane. Yet she also captures the transcendent moments—the silent companionship with Frightful, the satisfaction of a meal entirely self-provided, the cathedral-like peace of the forest. This duality makes Sam's journey feel both achievable and mystical.

A Newbery Honor winner that spawned two sequels, My Side of the Mountain endures because it speaks to fundamental human yearnings—for independence, for harmony with nature, for proof of one's own capability. It's a story that makes children look at their backyards with new eyes, wondering if they too could live off the land. The novel's gentle environmental message—that we must understand nature to truly inhabit it—feels even more urgent today than when it was written.

BOOK: https://amzn.to/4jmVhFd

You can also get the audio book using the same link. Use the link to register for the audio book on Audible and start enjoying it.

03/18/2025

During his career as a literary agent, Forrest J Ackerman (he would refer to himself with no period after the middle initial) represented such science fiction authors as Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, A.E. Van Vogt, Curt Siodmak, and L. Ron Hubbard. For more than seven decades, he was one of science fiction's staunchest spokesmen and promoters. Famous for his word play and neologisms, he reportedly coined the genre nickname "sci-fi."

"My wife and I were listening to the radio, and when someone said 'hi-fi' the word 'sci-fi' suddenly hit me. If my interest had been soap operas, I guess it would have been 'cry-fi,' or James Bond, 'spy-fi.'"

Ackerman was also the editor and principal writer of the magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland. Also called "Forry," "Uncle Forry," "The Ackermonster," "Dr. Acula," "Forjak,", "4e," and "4SJ." Ackerman was central to the formation, organization, and spread of science fiction fandom, and a key figure in the wider cultural perception of science fiction as a literary, art, and film genre.

Ackerman was an early member of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Science Fiction League and became so active in and important to the club that in essence he ran it, including (after the name change) the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, a prominent regional fan organization, as well as the National Fantasy Fan Federation (N3F). Together with Morojo, he edited and produced Imagination!, later renamed Voice of the Imagi-Nation (which in 1996 would be awarded the Retro Hugo for Best Fanzine of 1946, and in 2014 for 1939), which was nominally the club fanzine for the LASFS.

In the decades that followed, Ackerman amassed an extremely large and complete collection of science fiction, fantasy, and horror film memorabilia, which, until 2002, he maintained in an 18-room home and museum known as the "Son of Ackermansion" (The original Ackermansion where he lived from the early 1950s until the mid-1970s was at 915 S. Sherbourne Drive in Los Angeles; the site is now an apartment building.) This second house, in the Los Feliz district of Los Angeles, contained some 300,000 books and pieces of film and science-fiction memorabilia.
"My wife used to say, 'How can you let strangers into our home?' But what's the point of having a collection like this if you can't let people enjoy it?" (IMDB/Wikipedia)

Happy Birthday, Forrest J Ackerman!

03/16/2025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJIIaN7Z2L0

It was overlooked in its own time, never finding the audience it deserved, but Firefly has gone on to become a cult classic with the most dedicated on fanbas...

02/07/2025

On Writing On Writing Five Rules for Writing Thrillers What’s In A Name? Five Further Concepts Writing Comic Books One-Hour Video about Writing On Writing In 1998, an editor at Writers Digest asked me to contribute to an anthology about how to write fiction. I was then in my third decade as an aut...