Quick Lit: Vermont Writer Sells Show to Syfy; Fantastic Readings 

Here's cool news that came to us via the blog Geek Mountain State: South Burlington-based screenwriter Hawk Ostby (Iron Man, Children of Men) is set to cowrite a TV series for Syfy based on James S.A. Corey's space-opera novel series The Expanse. Reportedly pitched as "'Game of Thrones' in space," the show received a coveted direct-to-series order. Deadline Hollywood says Ostby and his writing partner, Mark Fergus, "wrote the script on spec and will continue as writers and executive producers."

Meanwhile, Geek Mountain State is gearing up for another of its popular readings, this one devoted to fantasy. Among the six writers at "Cold Mountain Stories: A Night of the Fantastic" will be Brian Staveley of Marlboro, whose novel The Emperor's Blades was published in January by Tor Books. Already getting enthusiastic reviews from genre fans, it's the first in an epic fantasy series called Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne.

Also on the roster is Daniel Mills of Hinesburg, whose new collection of eerie tales in historical settings, The Lord Came at Twilight, we reviewed in March. Local newshounds may know Aimee Picchi as a freelance reporter for CBS' "MoneyWatch," "MSN Money," Seven Days and other publications. Turns out she has a fiction sideline: Her work will soon appear in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. Pat Esden has been published in numerous genre mags, while work by Paul Hobday and Erika Nichols appears in the two anthologies of the Burlington Writers Workshop.

The New England Review also brings us a reading showcasing Vermont writers this week. They include Don Mitchell of New Haven, who recently published his memoir Flying Blind: One Man's Adventures Battling Buckthorn, Making Peace with Authority, and Creating a Home for Endangered Bats; essayist and fiction writer Emily Casey; and poets April Ossmann and Ross Thurber.