A friend of mine sent me a link to tell me that today is National Science Fiction Day, the “official” birthday of Isaac Asimov. Interestingly, and as a total coincidence, I just finished a novel that starred him as a main character: The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown, by Paul Malmont. Asimov is one of my favorite writers: roboticist Susan Calvin and investigator Elijah Baley are characters I’ve never tired of, and “Nightfall” is one of the most tremendous stories I have ever read. He was a genre-defying author as well- on my bookshelves somewhere I have  Asimov’s Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan.

At any rate, Happy National Science Fiction Day!

On another note,  fans of speculative fiction (which includes science fiction and horror, among other genres) now have a new online resource available, Ad Astra. Ad Astra is a volunteer organization under the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas.

Speculative fiction is a broad term, and the editors at Ad Astra are trying to be as inclusive as possible by defining speculative fiction in their blog as

… a way to refer to all kinds of fiction that involve elements of the fantastic, the unreal, and the highly unlikely… All ideas are welcome, all sub-genres have something valuable to say.

It sounds like it will be very cool! Celebrate National Science Fiction Day by taking a moment to check it out.