David D. LevineScience Fiction Author

I published one thing this year: Arabella the Traitor Of Mars, the conclusion of the Adventures of Arabella Ashby trilogy. It hasn’t gotten a lot of critical attention, but many people have told me they think it’s the best of the three.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the “Adventures of Arabella Ashby” series is eligible for the Best Series Hugo.

We were hoping that wouldn’t be necessary, but it turned out that it was. We waited for four days for the blockage to clear by itself, but on Monday it became obvious that the tentative positive signs we had seen on Sunday were in fact only tentative. So I went right into surgery at 9:30am Monday.

I do not remember the procedure at all. The last thing I remember was the anesthesiologist telling me he was going to give me something to calm me down. In the recovery room they told me the blockage was caused by a single band of scar tissue, so it was about as uncomplicated as could be. There’s no explanation where that scar tissue came from, though. And my guts were pretty angry from the blockage, so it’ll be at least several days until I can eat.

Right now my pain is pretty well managed at a level 4-5 on a scale of 10. We have to wait for my intestines to start working again before I can go home, but I hope to start walking around today and that should help that happen. I’m still in room 833 at Providence Portland Medical Center on NE Glisan.

Thank you all for your kind words and good wishes. Orycon is iffy but we’ll see.

I had a lot of events planned this week and next — Scares & Squares, Charm City Spec, World Fantasy Con. Instead I am in the hospital.

It started last Thursday night, with severe abdominal pain. I took myself to the emergency room about midnight and they admitted me in short order.

I have had a bunch of obnoxious tests and the diagnosis is Small Bowel Obstruction. They put a tube in my nose and down to my stomach (the single most horrible experience of my life) to try to drain the fluid above the obstruction in hopes that when the pressure is relieved it will unkink itself. If that doesn’t work I’ll have to have surgery. :-(

I’m at Providence hospital on NE Glisan, room 833. I’m not very good company — I haven’t eaten or drunk anything in three days. I sleep a lot. But if you’d like to come by for a visit you’d be welcome.

Puny humans! Quake in fear, for in the month of September you will not be able to avoid me!

On Sep 4, 2018 in Portland, Oregon I will join Wendy Wagner in conversation at the Willamette Writers meeting.

On Sep 6, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois I will appear at the Deep Dish reading series along with Mary Robinette Kowal, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Chris Bauer, Cathy Crocco, Steve Silver, Allison Manley, and host Niala Boodhoo.

On Sep 8-9, 2018 I return to Portland, Oregon (what, did you believe that old saw about David never striking twice in the same place?) for Rose City Comic Con, at which I will be cosplaying as The Rocketeer and appearing on the panel Science Does Not Work That Way, Good Night, Volume 2!.

On Sep 16, 2018 I’ll appear in San Francisco, California at the SF in SF reading series, along with Sheila Finch and possibly one other reader.

And then, even if your city has escaped my personal devastation, on Sep 30, 2018 I will be doing a Read for Pixels Google Hangout online, which means everywhere!

But even if you hide in the cellar, cut off your Internet, and move to the East Coast, you still won’t be safe! In October and November I will be coming to Montréal, Baltimore, and more Baltimore before returning to Portland.

None shall escape! Bwah hah hah hah hah!