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Miscellaneous

Happy Birthay, H.P.!

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Zvi Sesling posts:

It’s the birthday of H.P. Lovecraft, born Howard Phillips Lovecraft in Providence, Rhode Island (1890). He wrote science fiction, fantasy, and horror, a genre that during his life was called “weird fiction.” He was an only child, and when he was three years old, his father had a nervous breakdown and spent five years in a hospital before he died; he probably had a psychotic disease caused by syphilis. So Lovecraft was raised by his mother, two aunts, and his grandfather, who all lived together.

Lovecraft wrote hundreds of poems and short stories, but they were scattered throughout various pulp magazines and publications. It was only after his death that some of the people he had corresponded with in letters were determined to share his work with the public, so they formed a press called Arkham House specifically as a way to publish Lovecraft’s work. They issued The Outsider and Others in 1939, and his books are still widely available — books like The Dreams in the Witch House and Other Weird Stories (1932). Fantasy and horror writers like Stephen King and Neil Gaiman consider Lovecraft one of their major influences, and Jorge Luis Borges wrote a story, “There Are More Things,” in memory of Lovecraft.

Lovecraft said: “I never ask a man what his business is, for it never interests me. What I ask him about are his thoughts and dreams. 

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Local Motive

“Local Motive” Manuscript Complete!

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The manuscript of my next novel “Local Motive” is now finished.  Thanks to the modern miracles of A.I., I have corrected hundreds of punctuation and spelling errors. The story is a police procedural mystery set in my hometown of Bloomington, Indiana, whose working title was previously “B-Line.” I’m now setting about the tedious steps of finding a publisher. 

“Local Motive” will be my seventh full-length novel.

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Photography, Short Stories

My Photo Graces the Cover of the 2026 Watertown Lit Squad Sampler

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I’m pleased that Watertown Lit Squad has accepted my photograph submission for the artwork that graces the cover of the 2026 sampler!

In addition to the cover photo, the sampler features my micro pieces: “Canine Conundrum,” “Lettuce Fields Forever,” “No Country For Old Men,” “In Good Company,” “Gravity,” “A Jilted Husband’s Survival Manual,” “Tropical Cougar,” “Demarcation,” and “Top Dog.”

 

Watertown Lit Squad Sampler 2026 cover

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Local Motive

“B-Line:” a Work in Progress

By Phillip Temples Leave a comment

I’m one-third of the way through the first draft of my upcoming novel “B-Line.” It’s a murder-detective story that takes place in my hometown of Bloomington, Indiana. The plot follows two detective partners — a male senior detective who is close to retirement, and a 28-year-old female detective who has recently transferred to the force from another police department.

The longer project is a welcome change from all the recent micro-fiction collections I’ve produced.

[NOTE: The manuscript’s working title is now “Local Motive.”]

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A Slice of the Bards

“A Slice of the Bards” Added to Univ. of Buffalo Library

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cover of "A Slice of The Bards"Many thanks to Doug Holder for placing a copy of “A Slice of the Bards” with the University of Buffalo Library Special Collections!

 

 

 

Dear Doug,

On behalf of the University at Buffalo Foundation, I personally thank you for donating the following publication to the Poetry Collection:

  • A Slice of the Bards by Phillip E. Temples (Wilderness House Press, 2026)

It is a pleasure to add this title to our collection. Please know how much we greatly appreciate your generosity.

Donations such as yours enable us to continue serving as the library of record for twentieth- and twenty-first-century poetry in English. Each year the collection supports with its materials a wide range of scholarly publications, opens its doors to visiting researchers from around the world, and assists the educational activities of undergraduate and graduate students at UB and elsewhere. Furthermore, the collection hosts numerous lectures, conferences, readings, and other events, making it an active research center for the study of modern and contemporary poetry.

With thanks and all best wishes,

James Maynard, PhD

Curator, The Poetry Collection
University at Buffalo
420 Capen Hall
Buffalo, NY 14260

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A Slice of the Bards

“A Slice of The Bards” Now Archived at U. Mass. Boston

By Phillip Temples Leave a comment
Doug Holder, co-founder of Bagel Bards, received this kind note from the U. Mass. Boston Archives Manager about my photograhpy book A Slice of The Bards:
 
Hi Doug,
 
I have received and accessioned A Slice of the Bards, adding it to SC-0256 The Cid Corman Boston Small Poetry Press Archive. Today I found myself taking time to browse through the publication, learning about the history of the Bagel Bards and enjoying the stunning photography.
 
Thanks to all of you for sharing your thoughts and insights about the group and your work which adds an additional human touch to The Cid Corman Boston Small Poetry Press Archive.
 
Regards,
 
Patty Bruttomesso
Archival Collections Project Manager   
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Home for Laika

Laika 67th Anniversary

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Laikia's 67th anniversaryvia H/T Facebook post:
 
“This year marks 67 years since Laika was launched into space. And, as every autumn, I feel it is my duty to remember this story. Not out of nostalgia or scientific curiosity — but out of a deep sense of guilt and reverence.
 
“Because Laika was not just an experiment. She was life. She was presence. She was innocence given over to the unknown. Her real name was Kudrjavka, which in Russian means “curly.” But she became known as Laika, “the barker,” or “Little Barker.” She was a mongrel, half Husky, half Terrier, captured on the cold streets of Moscow. She was only three years old and was chosen because she was calm, docile, and had survived the rigors of life on the streets — as if that made her more suitable to die alone in space. On November 3, 1957, at 2 a.m., Laika was launched aboard Sputnik 2. The satellite was equipped with food, water, a cooling system, and padded walls. But there was no plan to return. From the beginning, that trip was a death sentence disguised as scientific advancement.
 
“It is said that she survived for seven hours, but other sources say up to four days. Alone. In silence. Without understanding why she was taken. Just floating inside a metal capsule, while the Earth spun below her — ever further away.
 
“She circled the planet 2,570 times. Then, on April 14, 1958, the capsule reentered the atmosphere and disintegrated. Carried away by the heat. By gravity. By oblivion.
 
“Laika did not ask to be our heroine.
 
“She did not choose to represent science, the space race or human progress.
 
“She was just a stray dog, with eyes that sought affection — and a body that was used as a tool.
 
‘And that, brother, is why I return to this story every year. Because it forces us to remember that not all progress is innocent, and that many of our achievements were written with the pain of those who could not say “no”.
 
“Laika, we have not forgotten you. And as long as there is someone who tells your story truthfully, your memory will live on not as an experiment, but as a testimony of what we must never repeat again.”
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Uncontacted Frontier

Ripped from the Pages of “Uncontacted Frontier”

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Uncontacted Frontier second printing, front cover

From CNN:

 
BRASILIA, Brazil (Associated Press) — A young man from an isolated Indigenous tribe who approached a riverine community in Brazil’s Amazon returned voluntarily to his people less than 24 hours later, Brazilian authorities said.
 
The encounter occurred around 7 p.m. local time Wednesday in Bela Rosa, a community along the Purus River in the southwestern Amazon.
 
Footage obtained by The Associated Press shows him barefoot and wearing a small loincloth, seemingly calm and in good health as he carried two logs.
 
[Full story]

 

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Uncontacted Frontier

“Uncontacted Frontier” Ready for Second Publication!

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Uncontacted Frontier second printing, front coverThe third in the series of Carrie Bloomfield scientific murder mysteries, Uncontacted Frontier, is ready for its second publication. The novel was first published in April, 2020, by Moonshine Cove Publishing, but has been out of print for several years. The rights have reverted back to me.

This second revision, published under Kindle Direct Publishing, will correct a number of grammatical and spelling errors. It comes with brand new artwork on the front cover!