Syd Gilmore
Syd Gilmore grew up in northern New Jersey with a love of science fiction, monster movies, music, and imagination. After briefly studying filmmaking in New York, he moved to Hollywood and built a successful career in the film industry before turning from screenwriting to novels.
He now writes heartfelt coming-of-age stories about friendship, family, fear, courage, and the private worlds young people create to survive growing up. He is the author of The Space Case Chronicles, beginning with Apollo Dreams and continuing with Shore Leave, with a third volume in development.
His future projects include the Smart Alex series, the Psi Wars trilogy, A Haunting at Castle Rock, and March of the Elephants.
His work blends nostalgia, humor, and emotional honesty for readers who remember what it felt like to be small in a very large universe. He now lives peacefully in the country, far from the noise and congestion of Los Angeles.
Available Now
Apollo Dreams
Nine-year-old Billy McBride, known as “Space Case” at school, is teased for his love of NASA, Star Trek, and anything headed beyond Earth. At home, his older brother Sean is slipping into a new world of rock bands, long hair, and teenage cool. But Billy is counting down to April 11, 1970: his birthday and the launch of Apollo 13. Inside the family clothes dryer, he becomes Captain Apollo, hero of the Galactic Fleet, until real life shows him that courage is not reserved for astronauts. Sometimes, bravery begins with believing you deserve to be heard.
Shore Leave
At the Jersey Shore in 1975, fourteen-year-old Billy McBride expects pinball, Slurpees, and another summer as Captain Billy Apollo. Instead, his girlfriend is moving away, his brother is leaving for college, and childhood is slipping from his grasp. Reunited with Frankie, his closest summer friend, and Jason, a boy who looks up to him, Billy learns that real courage means standing beside someone when everyone else walks away. Shore Leave is a story about friendship, first heartbreak, and the summer that changes everything.
City of Dreamers
Nineteen-year-old Billy McBride has traded childhood adventures for a Greenwich Village loft, creative writing classes, punk clubs, and dreams of becoming an author. But in the fall of 1980, his mother’s illness pulls him back toward home just as John Lennon’s death shakes the world around him. As old friends return and Captain Apollo takes on new meaning, Billy must learn that growing up is not about leaving the past behind. Sometimes, it means carrying what matters most into the future.
Coming in 2027
Planned Future Projects
Smart Alex
Thirteen-year-old Alex Takashi can solve equations, spot patterns, and dismantle a bad argument before most people finish making it. Understanding ordinary human beings, however, remains a work in progress.
Alongside his lifelong best friend Noah Ramírez and sharp-eyed Jasmine Johnson, Alex investigates the mysteries lurking around Crestwood Middle School and the neighboring university.
The truth is rarely as simple as it first appears.
PSI Wars
Sixteen-year-old Bartholomew Goodwin has spent his life being dragged from planet to planet by his ambassador father. But on Pentrassis, diplomacy is little more than a polished mask hiding slavery, persecution, and a brutal war against those born with psychic abilities.
When Bartholomew meets Lassiri, a mysterious young telepath connected to the underground resistance, he is pulled into a rebellion that challenges everything he believes about his father, his loyalties, and himself.
A Haunting at Castle Rock
Fourteen-year-old Josh Jones expects his move from sunny California to rural Wyoming to be the worst thing that has ever happened to him. Then he discovers the cave.
Hidden beneath the rugged landscape is an ancient black tomahawk, a forgotten mystery, and a restless presence. Josh soon learns the terrible price of disturbing secrets that were never meant to be found.
March of the Elephants
When Riley and Toby Foster discover an old circus trunk in their attic, they uncover a hidden truth: their mother was a trapeze artist, their father was a clown, and their family once belonged to the big top.
Determined to feel closer to the mother they barely remember, the brothers run away to see the legendary elephant march in New York City — unaware that a vengeful former trainer is watching, ready to turn their dream into disaster.