Barton Paul Levenson


Barton Paul Levenson is an American writer of science fiction, fantasy and the macabre. He is a long-standing member of one of Pittsburgh's oldest Science-Fiction and Fantasy Writer's Workshops, Carnegie-Mellon University-based Pittsburgh Worldwrights, which includes Pittsburgh science fiction writer Kenneth Chiacchia among its members.

Background

Levenson was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He started writing in 1974. He is a 1983 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh He became a Christian in 1984.
His first work of fiction was a short story, "Twenty Peasants," published in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine in 1991.
Levenson is a two-time winner of the "Confluence Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Story Contest" for "Virtual Bridges" and "Reality Forbidden", cited herein. He is a former member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. Levenson's first separate novel in paperback format, I Will, was released in June 2010. One of Levenson's most intriguing characters, Khuminay, has returned again in "Khuminay and the Servant" in 'Cosmic Crime Stories' and now in "Khuminay and the Axe-Wielding Psycho," which will appear in Electric Spec, both cited hereinbelow. This follows on the heels of the long-awaited on-again, off-again novel "Year of the Human", cited herein.

Style

Reviewers consider Levenson's writing complex. It is often in the first-person and it sometimes takes on other genders or species. Levenson's works often contain Christian Parables, cat-like aliens and complex scientific concepts. Levenson's focus on Science Fiction started when he was eight years old, when his parents took him to the film He has described his writing process in a 2010 interview with author Sonya Clark, stating that he starts writing with either a broad plot outline in mind, or even one daydreamed scene. Often, the process will fail and the result is an incomplete work. His work is inspired by authors ranging from C.S. Lewis to Edgar Allan Poe. In "The Closet" Chiaroscuro, 2003, humankind's unwillingness to accept the consequences of their own choices is examined. Several of his stories are based in Pittsburgh, often in different eras. For example; in "The Boogie-Woogie, Time-Traveling, Cyborg Blues" he chooses Pittsburgh in the 1930s as a back-drop.

Controversy

One of Levenson's most cited essays, "The Ideology of Robert A. Heinlein." has been reprinted in several languages. Levenson argues that Heinlein was making a case for the value of fascism. Levenson has been writing about Climate issues for many years. His colloquoys can often be found on: Real Climate Levenson's first peer-reviewed scientific article as sole author was published in 2011: "Planet Temperatures with Surface Cooling Parameterized." in Advances in Space Research 47, 2044–2048, a COSPAR Publication of Elsevier, cited herein below. Levenson's Japan-themed story: "Temple Cat", cited herein-below, is reprinted in the charity anthology: "Healing Waves" from Sky Warrior Book Publishing and edited by Phyllis Irene Radford, who is donating all proceeds from the sales to disaster relief in Japan.

Novels