Alan Smale

Thrilled that Radiant Sky is still finding an appreciative audience!

Writers of the Future Podcast Episode 362 Retired NASA astrophysicist Alan Smale concludes his Apollo Rising trilogy with Burning Night. Explore alternate-history Cold War tension on the Moon and compared with L. Ron Hubbard's prescient 1948 ...

In which I am interviewed by John Goodwin for the Writers & Illustrators of the Future podcast, for 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/podcast/epis...

Happy Book Birthday to SKULL X BONES, featuring space pirates, fantasy-world pirates, and in my case, ancient world alternate pirates! (Mine is called "Caesar at Sea", which gives you a clue ..). Anyway, me hearties, this is a really varied and interesting bunch of pirate tales, so give it a look!

Just released! My exclusive Q+A with the great Paul Semel about the genesis and influences on my new novel, Burning Night, the third and final volume in my Apollo Rising sequence. (No spoilers beyond what you'd get anyway if you read the book cover copy or Amazon description.)

Episode 206: Alan Smale - Burning Night (Apollo Rising: Book 3) | The Worldshapers A conversation with Sidewise Award-winning author Alan Smale about Burning Night, Book 3 in his Apollo Rising alternate-history science fiction trilogy.

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 the third book in my Apollo Rising trilogy, and various other topics, at the link! theworldshapers.com/2025/12/08/e...

Damn that would be awesome

Okay cool but do it like Rocky Horror: fling our empty popcorn buckets for the trash compactor, do the wave for "These are not the droids you're looking for" and OBVS shriek, "If you strike me down now..." That would rock. Let's "make it so" (crap, wrong universe). www.starwars.com/news/star-wa...

A collection of handy buying linkydoodles for 𝘽𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩: www.alansmale.com/hotmoon/buyi...

Launch day! Happy Book Birthday to 𝘽𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, the final book in my Apollo Rising series. Hard SF alt.hist set on and around the Moon (and beyond) during the Cold War, following the adventures of astronaut Vivian Carter and her various NASA crews and Air Force colleagues… and Soviet adversaries.

Darwin’s Rocket Alan Smale, rocket scientist and acclaimed alternate history author, joins us with a new tale about an evolution that could have been…

The Sunday Morning Transport soars today with a story from Alan Smale (@alansmale.bsky.social) in which a familiar figure follows a very different arc. Read a sample or subscribe for the whole story - and our whole catalog!

Subscribe to The Sunday Morning Transport An amazing science fiction/fantasy short story each week. Click to read The Sunday Morning Transport, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.

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... www.sundaymorningtransport.com/subscribe?co...

I thought it was a well-balanced panel and a very informative conversation. Thanks for putting it together!

Why yes, I will be appearing on the SFWA Stage at the Baltimore Book Festival on Saturday 13th with these fine people, talking about alternate history, historical fantasy, and who knows what else? We're doing the Twist!

(Pro tip: the rest of the BBF schedule is terrific, too.)

Yes, this one appeared in my Notifications.

Lancer Kind Science fiction author

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...

Podcast Thursday! Check out my conversation with
@lancerkind.bsky.social about Hot Moon, Radiant Sky, and all things #science and #apollo ... you'll find it at lancerkind.com/podcast/319-...

It's all go! Tomorrow night I'll be presenting, live and in person, at the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society. And since it's Friday 13th, please wish me All the Luck for the drive up ...

Okay well nothing about -that- is alarming.

Happy Release Day to a new Baen reprint anthology dedicated to the Rome of the past and future, including "The Wandering Warriors" by Alan Smale + Rick Wilber (which originally appeared in Asimov's)! We're in great company in this book, which contains several classics I look forward to (re)reading.

I retired from NASA after a thirty-five year career a year and a half ago (+), and still today's budget news broke me.

Yes, I'll be at #Balticon this weekend! I'll be moderating four "craft of writing" panels:

Sat 4:00 PM Writing Action Scenes
Sat 5:30 PM Writing Dialogue
Sun 1:00 PM Juggling POV
Mon 10:00 AM Basic Novel Writing Organization

Otherwise, look for me at the Arc Manor table in the dealers room!

Issue 90 - My Favorite Museum The great Steven H Silver comes aboard to bring us looks at the favorite Local (for values of local...) museums of dozens of fantastic contributors!

Out today! Hugo-award-winning zine Journey Planet, Issue 90, covers an astonishing 60 museums on 7 continents. Includes my feature about the National Cryptologic Museum, plus articles by several friends and fellow writers. [Download free, no reg. required!]

www.journeyplanet.org/journey-plan...

Next week is Ravencon, in Glen Allen, VA! (Richmond-adjacent.) If you're going to be there, come find me at one of my five panels, my reading, or my (debut) solo presentation "Points of Divergence: Writing (and Reading) Alternate History"!

(... Yes, all that in <48 hrs...)

260: Alan Smale: Blending Science, History, and Imagination — Beth Mund Alan discusses how his extensive travels and deep scientific knowledge influence his writing, leading to immersive stories like the Clash of Eagles trilogy and the Apollo Rising series.

Podcast Thursday! "Casual Space, Ep.260: Alan Smale, Blending Science, History, and Imagination", in which I chat with fabulous host-with-grace Beth Mund about Cahokia and my Clash series, my writing process, NASA work, Hot Moon books, and the power of story.
www.bethmund.com/casual-space...

Happy Book Birthday to us! "Shapers of Worlds, Volume V" drops today from Shadowpaw Press, edited by @edwardwillett.bsky.social, and featuring my original story, "Red-Eye and Thunderbird", along with new tales from a strong cast of other writers who have recently appeared on the "Shapers" podcast.

Ten years ago today my first novel, CLASH OF EAGLES, came out from Del Rey. Here's the picture I posted on social media that day. I seem quite cheerful about it ...

So a lot happened today, but also: I delivered BURNING NIGHT, Apollo Rising: Book 3 (aka Hot Moon 3) to my publisher. We celebrated with champagne, bangers and mash, and Scrabble. Because you can never have enough words.

Video of the Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost landing. I love the way the dust kicked up by its plume just drops straight back down to the surface, because there's no air; it's an effect I describe in the Hot Moon books, and very cool to see happening here in real life.
www.facebook.com/watch?v=1007...

And we're off! The new ZNB Kickstarter for original SF/F pirate anthology SKULL X BONES is live, for your backing and (eventual) reading pleasure. I'll have a story in this antho, and so will many other fine writers. Please take a look and consider helping us set sail for adventure!

Ep 50: Alan Smale on Lunar Warfare in 'Hot Moon' - The Science in The Fiction Marty talks to Alan Smale, a professional astronomer and author of hard science fiction, alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, and horror. We talk to him about his most recent book 'Hot Moon...

Podcast Thursday! Everything is bonkers so I paused these, but... if you want to escape from reality for a while, check out Ep.50 of "The Science in the Fiction", just released, in which I chat to Marty K. about lunar warfare in an alternate past ...
www.buzzsprout.com/2201157/epis...