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Light On Light Through


You'll hear a little of this and lot of that on Light On Light Through - my reviews of great television series and movies, my interviews with authors and creative media people and their interviews of me, my media theory and political commentary, thoughts about my favorite cars and food and space travel, discussions of my music, and a few of my readings from my science fiction stories. In the first years, starting in 2006, I put up a new episode at least once a month.  More recently, it became more or less often than once a month, usually less often.  But in the Summer of 2020, I began getting more in the mood to podcast, and on 17 October 2023, I began publishing a new episode of the podcast every Tuesday at 12:01 pm -- a minute after Noon (New York time).  - Paul Levinson 

24 October 2021: Interview about Light On Light Through podcast

26 December 2023: Chuck Todd interviews Paul Levinson about Alternate Realities on The Chuck Toddcast  

Dec 2, 2007

Welcome to Light On Light Through Episode 50 - my interview with Dr. Stanley Schmidt, long-time editor of Analog Magazine of Science Fiction and Fact, the leading science fiction magazine in the universe, as far as we know ... Stan talks candidly about what he looks for in a story submitted for publication ... how quickly he knows that a story works ... what he sees in the futures of science fiction, Analog, and his own work in the field ... Analog published 10 of my stories in the 1990s, and helped establish me as a science fiction writer.   This interview was not only a real pleasure for me to conduct, but I suspect will be a source for years to come of invaluable information and insight for anyone who aspires to being a published short-fiction science fiction writer ...

Plus flashes ... The Plot to Save Journeyman - that is, three chances to win free copies of The Plot to Save Socrates, just by watching the next episodes of NBC's Journeyman!   (Note added in 2008: The contest ended in 2007.)

Here's a list of all my science ficiton stories (and two fact articles) published in Analog to date (updated November 2011): 

"Ian, Isaac, and John" (novelette) November 2011 ...  "Ian's Ions and Eons" (novelette) April 2011 ... "Unburning Alexandria" (novelette) November 2008 ...  "The Man Who Brought Down The New York Times" (short short)  December 2000 ... "The Suspended Fourth" (short story) March 2000 ... "Late Lessons," (cover story, novelette) October 1999 ... "Little Differences" (novelette) June 1998 ... "The Book on the Book" (fact) June 1998 ... "The Orchard" (novelette)  February 1998 ...  "Advantage, Bellarmine," January 1998 ... "Loose Ends" (novella)  May 1997... "Learning Unbound: OnLine Education and the Mind's Academy" (fact) March 1997 ... "The Mendelian Lamp Case" (novelette) April 1997 ... "The Copyright Notice Case" (novelette) April 1996 ...  "The Chronology Protection Case" (novelette) September 1995 ... "The Way of Flesh" (short short) February 1995

Helpful links:

  1. http://analogsf.com - everything you need to know about Analog
  2. The Coming Convergence - Stan's new nonfiction book
  3. more advice about how to get your stories published


home page: http://paullevinson.info
more blogs: http://InfiniteRegress.tv                        

videoclips: http://www.youtube.com/user/PLev20062006
links to Twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc:  http://about.me/paulevinson                                                                          

thoughts, questions, or comments about this interview?  try here

my latest novel: The Plot to Save Socrates
"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly
"Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

and Brian Charles Clarke says The Plot to Save Socrates "resonates with the current political climate . . . heroine Sierra Waters is sexy as hell . . . there's a bite to Levinson's wit" -- in Curled Up With A Good Book

Read the first chapter of The Plot to Save Socrates .... FREE!


The Plot to Save Socrates


Paul Levinson
thirteen and a half years ago

My pleasure, Brad - and welcome to the club of Analog authors. It continues be one of the most satisfying accomplishments of my life. I'll look forward to your stories (my "Ian's Ions and Eons") should be published in Analog sometime next year.

Brad R. Torgersen
thirteen and a half years ago

Paul, I stumbled across this interview today. Thanks so much for doing this. I've not met Stan yet, but he's bought a novelette and a short story from me -- after many years of rejections. It's nice to finally be an Analog author. I have always enjoyed Analog, and think Stan doesn't get enough credit for what he does.