The Fantastic Worlds of Alan Vincent Michaels - www.AlanMichaels.com - 'Moons Rising 2' ©Alan Vincent Michaels

Welcome to The Fantastic Worlds of Alan Vincent Michaels!

Who am I?

I am a seeker of knowledge and answers to life's riddles and puzzles. My passions are writing — whether it be prose, poetry, technical, or science — archaeohistory, genealogy, space, travel, photography, and graphic design. I study and photograph the past to better understand our present, and I write and teach speculative fiction to see where our life quests can take us all.

Looking for a different Alan V. Michaels?

Although I do think differently, as many who know me will attest, you may be looking for someone else. Please read the blue box at the end of my home page. Otherwise, you've arrived at the correct site. Read on!

Ad astra, my friends. —Alan

Presentations and upcoming events ...

04 August 2020

R-SPEC Meeting on World Building

Join the R-SPEC team for a virtual meeting on tackling one of the foundations of speculative fiction: crafting believable worlds that create a strong sense of place for your characters and your readers.

➤ MEETING INFO

Banner design by Alan Vincent Michaels

Reviews ...

01 June 2020

Exogenesis: Hybrid Humans: A Scientific History of Extraterrestrial Genetic Manipulation

by Bruce R. Fenton and Daniella Fenton

Ebook released on 01 June 2020 on Apple Books, Amazon Kindle, and other platforms.

➤ READ THE REVIEW

Recently published ...

'SFPA Banner
19 October 2019

Seeds

I'm proud to announce my speculative fiction poem, Seeds, won Third Place in the SFPA’s 2019 POETRY CONTEST “Dwarf Poem Category” (<= 10 lines).

SFPA'S blind-entry contest had three categories, 560 entries, and 10 finalists from around the world!

➤ READ THE POEM

'A Flash of Dark: Volume 3. ISBN 978-0-359-67579-1
28 August 2019

We're Not Alone Anymore (< 1,000 word short story)
Always Faithful, Always Loyal
Nor Even the Small Fish
We Eat

I'm delighted to announce that four of my recent works are now available in A FLASH OF DARK: VOLUME 3, the latest collection in the acclaimed "Flash of Dark" series of speculative fiction and poetry from Scott W. Williams and Lulu.com.

➤ ORDER YOUR COPY

Design by Scott W. Williams

In the news ...

R-SPEC Banner
19 August 2019

Rochester Beacon Banner

Imagining Rochester in 2034 and beyond

Esther Arnold wrote this great Rochester Beacon article that highlights several recent accomplishments of the ROCHESTER SPECULATIVE LITERATURE ASSOCIATION, and its support for Rochester-area speculative fiction writers and readers.

I also have some of my R-SPEC logo and artwork designs noted in the article, too.

➤ READ THE ARTICLE

R-SPEC logo and banner design by Alan Vincent Michaels

Selected poems ...

Seeds

Third Place “Dwarf Poem Category” winner in the SFPA’s 2019 POETRY CONTEST (19 October 2019).

➤ READ THE POEM

Ode to Nikola Tesla

A poem in celebration of NIKOLA TESLA.

➤ READ THE POEM

My "Brick for Nik," located on the grounds of the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe (Shoreham, New York), contains an engraved line from the poem's first stanza. (12 December 2015)

Always Faithful, Always Loyal
Nor Even the Small Fish
We Eat

Three, long-form prose poems included in the A FLASH OF DARK: VOLUME 3 anthology (28 August 2019).

➤ ORDER YOUR COPY

To the Stars! (A Hopeful Autobiography in Five Present-Tense Stanzas)

➤ READ THE POEM

STAR*LINE 32.2: March/April 2009

Requiem Æternam
Skipping Stone (Last transmission from an alternative Apollo 13 crew)

STAR*LINE - September/December 2010 (#33.5/6) print/ebook editions

➤ LEARN MORE

   STAR*LINE (33.5/6) cover image courtesy of STAR*LINE
   Cover art ©2010 by Garret Dechellis

Stepping Stone Lost

Scifaikuest Vol. 8, No. 1: August 2010 SCIFAIKUEST - August 2010 (Vol. 8, No. 1) print edition

   Scifaikuest (Vol. 8, No. 1) cover image courtesy of Sam's Dot Publishing
   Cover art ©2010 by Denny Marshall

Here are some cool links ...
   STAR*LINE home page ➤ LEARN MORE
   scifaikuest guidelines page ➤ LEARN MORE
   scifaiku ➤ LEARN MORE
   senryu ➤ LEARN MORE

Selected short stories ...

We're Not Alone Anymore

Flash fiction included in the A FLASH OF DARK: VOLUME 3 anthology (28 August 2019).

➤ ORDER YOUR COPY

Love Lost

A 100-word, microfiction included on the THE FUTURE OF LITERARY FORMS: FLASH FICTION, HYPERFICTION, AND VIRTUAL WORLDS R-SPEC meeting poster (5 March 2013).

Fads (or Why Jerry Loathes the Aliens)

My story in the 2034: WRITING ROCHESTER'S FUTURES anthology (31 July 2010 print, ebook, online editions) is available only online.

➤ READ THE STORY

Learn more about 2034: WRITING ROCHESTER'S FUTURES, the first speculative fiction anthology from R-SPEC Press and R-SPEC.org.

➤ LEARN MORE

Cover image courtesy of R-SPEC Press. Cover art ©2009 by David Pascal.

Selected short bits & interesting pieces ...

Roppatucha Greenberg's CREATURES GIVE ADVICE series

    My Twitter-submitted questions and Ms. Greenberg's responses and custom
    doodles are included in this (currently) two-book series.

    CREATURES GIVE ADVICE
    Amazon Digital Services LLC (20 March 2019, Kindle, print paperback editions)

    CREATURES GIVE ADVICE AGAIN (and it's warmer now)
    Amazon Digital Services LLC (21 June 2019, Kindle, print paperback editions)

Treasures from the time vaults ...

Amazing Stories 1993

I've received numerous inquiries about my first publication in a major magazine. Although I have earlier works published in high school and college literary journals, few people will likely ever read them.

I won a content sponsored by Robert Silverberg and Kim Mohan that was published in the February 1993 issue of AMAZING STORIES. In Robert Silverberg's "Reflections" column, you will find several of my time-traveling camera ideas that caught their attention and gave me my first 15 microseconds of science fiction fame.

Cover art ©1993 by Laura and John Lakey

1990

Thank you for the inquiries and the encouragement, but THE DREAM LIVES ON! THE UNOFFICIAL COLLECTOR'S GUIDE TO MUSIC OF TANGERINE DREAM (01 May 1990) remains out of print.

I have no plans to update the content and release a new edition. Edgar Froese and Tangerine Dream, not to mention the band's numerous alumni, have released far too many recordings in the intervening years for me to successfuly revise the guide.

Book and cover art ©1990 by Alan Vincent Michaels

Curious cases of mistaken identity!

WHO I AM ...

My real name is Alan Vincent Michaels. I have owned the www.AlanMichaels.com domain since 2001. I have been the Rochester Speculative Literature Association (R-SPEC) Program Officer since October 2012 and the Marketing Officer since February 2019.

I was the Owner and Creative Director of Alan Michaels Associates, an advertising, marketing, and graphics design company, from 1994 to 2000 in Rochester, NY.

WHO I AM NOT ...

I have never had any connection with 'Michaels Stores, Inc.,' 'Alan Michaels Design' in New York, NY; 'Alan, Michaels and Associates' in Houston, TX; 'Allen Michaels & Associates, LLC' in Kenmore, NY; or the 'Alan Michaels' line of clothing and accessories.

'Alan Michaels' (pseudonym) - author of Diamonds and Legend. (These novels were written by a retired U.S. foreign services officer, who has also released a short story using this pseudonym.)

'Alan Michaels' - author of Suffix Obsession (I'm not this OCD!)

'Alan V. Michaels' - violin player on Richard Thompson's Sweet Warrior and Walking on a Wire albums

'Alan V. Michaels' - real estate agent in Las Vegas, Nevada

'Alan Michaels' - former KWFM employee in Tuscon, AZ; former business DJ and radio/TV news reporter