Category Archives: Events

April 23, 2020 · 1:42 pm

Podcast reveal: What the heck have I been working on these days?

ktliterary-headphones-white-300x300As I mentioned last week, I’ve not been sitting on my hands, fiction-wise, over the past several months. I’ve been working on a few different things, but there’s one that’s heading toward the finish line – slowly, because COVID-19 and assorted nonsense.

But even though I’m not done yet and it’s not under contract, I couldn’t keep it under my hat any longer. Over at the kt literary podcast today, I talked with Renee Nyen about the project, tentatively called The King of What Remains.

What is it? Well, I’ll get into that in blog posts later on, but for now, I would urge you to give the podcast a listen. Renee is a great interviewer, and we had an excellent talk about not only this project, but also what it’s like to try and create while balancing work and family and dealing with, you know, a freakin’ pandemic. Click here to listen in, or download on your favorite podcasting platform. 

Also, as promised in the podcast, Stories and Spilled Tea remains on sale for 99 cents for the Kindle. So do check that out if you’re looking for a variety of short stories and some thoughts on writing and publishing.

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September 28, 2018 · 7:00 pm

What I did on my writing retreat, plus some new interviews

Arizona is hot. Like, it’s completely and utterly hot and unholy and I have no idea how people live there without spontaneously combusting on a regular basis. That said? The desert is beautiful and the nights are great, so I get it. To a point. So while I wouldn’t live there, I was happy to go to Scottsdale last weekend for a writing retreat sponsored by my agency, KT Literary.

And some writing got done! Not a lot, but I’ve been busy wrapping my head around a major change I needed to make on a project currently underway, and I cracked the case earlier this month on flights to and from DragonCon, then spent most of September getting the outline in order. (Y’all know how I like my outlines.) So while I was in Scottsdale, I managed to get this new version underway, and while I’m just getting warmed up, it’s already a better book than what I had going previously.

Of course, I was sick as a dog for much of the trip, having come down with a horrible cold/flu bug the night before I drove out there from L.A. So, strictly speaking, I wasn’t as productive as I’d hoped I’d be. But it’s a start, and I can build on that. Plus, I got some excellent one-on-one time with super-agent Sara Megibow, and quality socializing with my fellow KT Literary authors, who are a fine bunch you should be reading on the regular.

I also did a podcast while there! Michael Haspil, author of Graveyard Shift, also has a nifty storytelling podcast called Quantum Froth Dispatches, and he interviewed a number of us while we were hiding inside from the deathly rays and rageful heat of the day-star. You can listen in right here, if you like, or check it out on YouTube or Spotify. (Mike is still working to get the podcast up on iTunes, so hang tight there.) We had a great chat, so check it out and please buy his book while you’re at it.

Speaking of interviews, I’ve been remiss in blogging about this great interview I did with Michael Cook of Thoroughly Modern Reviewer. (There are a lot of Michaels in this blog post. Go figure.) Mr. Cook and I went deep on MJ-12: Endgame and the entire MAJESTIC-12 series, and he had some excellent questions. Fair warning: There are spoilers in there, so forewarned is forearmed. But do give it a read – Michael really did a spiffy job there.

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August 30, 2018 · 10:00 am

I’m heading to DragonCon! Here’s where I’ll be this weekend.

I skipped DragonCon last year, but I’m really happy to be heading back to Atlanta this week to bask in the assembled geekery. This’ll be my fourth DragonCon in five years, and it remains one of my all-time favorites.

I’ll be flying in tomorrow, and have the following events on my schedule:

  • Friday, 5 p.m. – signing at The Missing Volume. Booth 1201, Americasmart building 2. Still not sure if they’ll have MJ-12: Endgame on hand since it technically doesn’t come out until Tuesday, but they’ll have the rest of my work on hand, and I can get my hands on some copies beforehand, I’ll bring Endgame as well.
  • Friday, 8:30 p.m. – Panel: Ahoy, Mateys! Pirates in Popular Culture. Sheraton, Athens room. Just like it says on the tin. We’ll be talking about all kinds of scurrilous scalawags, from Treasure Island to Treasure Planet. 
  • Saturday, 5:30 p.m. – Panel: Practical Time Travel for the Storyteller. Sheraton, Athens room. Is time travel theoretically possible? Depends who you ask. Does it make for great stories? Absolutely. We’ll be talking about all kinds of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff and how stories make good — and occasionally bad — use of it.
  • Sunday, 4 p.m. – Panel: Oops, I Sold My Novel. Now What? Hyatt, Embassy CD room. Getting your first book deal is absolutely amazing. But it’s just the beginning. We’ll be talking about how to make that debut as successful as possible, and what could happen after that.
  • Sunday, 7 p.m. – Panel: The Secret History of Spies. Sheraton, Athens room. Gee, who could’ve thought of this panel? Yes, we’re talking spies throughout history, from Sun Tzu to modern day, and how they’ve affected spy fiction — and vice versa!
  • Monday, 11:30 a.m. – Panel: Winding Down the Clock: A Time Travel Story Hour. Sheraton, Athens room. Now, this is gonna be intriguing. Your panel of authors — tired, drained, possibly hung over — will be spinning a few steampunk yarns, and then we’ll wind down the convention altogether by swapping war stories.

That’s a nice full weekend, and I’m super grateful to Doctor Q and the Alternate History Track for continuing to embrace authors the way they do — and the Writing Track as well for thinking of me.

I’m sure I’ll be out and about doing other things during the weekend, and if I show up somewhere, I’ll probably post to Twitter, so be sure to follow me there. (Twitter also feeds to my author page on Facebook, so that’s just as good if you don’t tweet.) And I may be bringing some books to give away, so keep your eyes peeled on social media.

See you in Atlanta!

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May 18, 2018 · 10:55 am

MJ-12: Endgame spotted in the wild

Reviewer Michael Cook Jr. tweeted this last night.

Oh, yeah. This book just got real.

Nice to see MJ-12: Endgame out there, and I suppose this doubles as the cover reveal, so there you go. Obviously, the cover is of a piece with the series, but with some changes that I’ll leave to the reader as an exercise in spoiler-hunting.

Michael went on to write some lovely things about the MAJESTIC-12 series in his thread, which I deeply appreciate. And for other reviewers, it’s officially open season for your copies up on Edelweiss, Net Galley, etc. I’ll also be working to send out advance reader copies as well, so if you need one, ping me. (Reviewers only. There will be giveaways and such down the road for other folks, never fear.)

As of right now, and with the expectation of an extremely busy summer (more later on that), I don’t have a lot of stuff set up yet for the launch, other than a visit to DragonCon over Labor Day weekend. But as I get my act together, I’ll certainly keep everyone posted here.

MJ-12: Endgame hits shelves Sept. 4, and if you’re so inclined, you can pre-order it at the following: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indie Bound | iTunes

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March 4, 2018 · 3:46 pm

Oh, right. I have a blog!

Apologies for not blogging sooner, but February turned out to be much busier than I expected going in — and I expected a lot. So let’s recap.

I spent a good chunk of the month out in Los Angeles for my day job, which was pretty great. I had the family with me, and after the week was up, I took my daughter to Disneyland for a full day — and I mean a FULL day — of fun and excitement. Say what you will about the Disney industrial complex, but they sure know how to create a fantastic experience. It really was a memory she and I will keep forever.

I also received and turned around my edits for MJ-12: Endgame, which is on track for its early September launch. My editor, the esteemed Cory Allyn, complimented how I handled the end, and I admit, I got some feels on reading how all the characters came out of it (or not, in a few cases). I’m really looking forward to seeing this one out there.

And I’ll be celebrating the end of the MAJESTIC-12 series at DragonCon over Labor Day weekend! Got the official confirmation a few weeks ago — I’ll be there and paneling, largely on the Alternate History track as usual. I had to miss last year, so I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone there again. It’s a great con. And of course, I’ll have books and goodies with me, so come find me if you’re there.

There’s also a few other projects in the works that I really want to talk about but shouldn’t. Suffice it to say, I’m not done writing novels just because I’ve wrapped up MAJESTIC-12. Nothing is sold yet — heck, nothing is fully drafted yet! But I’m working on it. I’m also doing another thing with an absolutely mind-blowing, fantastic bunch of people that I can’t tell you about, but it’s gonna be so good, you guys.

March will continue to be busy, including trips back to Los Angeles and a few other things. I’ll try to be better about blogging, but I make no promises. In the meantime, you can follow me on Twitter or my “official” Facebook page for more regular updates.

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December 30, 2017 · 11:11 am

A less-than-fond farewell to 2017

I know I’m not the first one to say this, of course — 2017 was not fun, and for many people, that’s a monumental understatement. Personally, professionally, culturally, politically…this year was a godforsaken mess. I’m far less inclined to toast the year that was, but I’m quite ready to embrace the one coming down the pike, and I hope you are too.

So let’s start with the elephant in the room, which would be Trump and his coterie of destructive buffoons. I’m not going to go into his policies, or the rapacious GOP’s attempts to create a permanent, uneducated American underclass to serve the top 1%. But I know full well that the very presence of this looming threat to American values and democracy, and the utter barrage of weaponized fake outrage and falsehoods, has taken its toll on so many of us, myself included.

Now, let’s be quite clear in that I’m a straight, married, white male, so when I say “taken its toll,” the bill for me is extremely light compared to women, people of color, folks with chronic physical and/or mental conditions, our LBGTQ+ friends, etc. In fact, it feels slightly disingenuous to be bitching about things when my family and I are doing well, and may even see a tax cut next year.

But while my toll is far less, it’s there. 2017 has messed with my head. In so many areas of my life, I found myself waiting for something, waiting for change. Yes, I ramped up my contributions and I joined a protest at Trump Tower and I spoke out and all that good stuff. But the rest of it was kind of living in a defensive crouch in the corner, trying to go about my business and waiting, hoping, praying for the support to help all of us turn a corner.

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November 3, 2017 · 3:51 pm

Hello from World Fantasy 2017 in San Antonio!

A nice big Lone Star howdy to everyone at the World Fantasy Convention 2017 here in San Antonio! Got in yesterday, and have been playing tourist for much of today. But I have some things coming up that I want to get out there, so here goes:

  • I will be at the mass autograph session tonight at 8 p.m. in the Fiesta Paviliion here at the Wyndham Riverwalk. I know the good folks at Night Shade Books sent over a bunch of paperback copies of MJ-12: Inception to put in the swag bags, so I’ll happily sign them there.
  • Tomorrow at 8 p.m. in  Executive Salon 3 on the third floor, I’ll be doing a reading, most likely from MJ-12: Shadows. I also have a couple extra copies to give away for those attending.

Also worth noting: Larry Smith Booksellers now has signed paperbacks of all my books. They have the entire Daedalus trilogy as well as MJ-12: Inception and MJ-12: Shadows. So if you’ve not gotten a copy in your swag bag and miss out on freebies, please go visit them and pick ’em up. Larry himself is no longer with us, having passed away in January, but his legacy lives on in one of the finest booksellers on the conventions circuit. Please support this excellent seller!

Finally, I’m pleased as punch to report that the Night Shade Books Bundle over at Humble Bundle is doing really well — more than 3,000 bundles sold since Wednesday afternoon, roughly 48 hours. This is amazing and, dare I say it, humbling. The Daedalus Incident is one of the books available in the bundles, and the proceeds to go charity, so if you want a whole heap of great books, go check it out.

And if you’re at World Fantasy and have picked up a Humble Bundle, come find me at one of the events above and show me the receipts, so to speak. I have something special for the first person to do so. First come, first served.

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October 17, 2017 · 6:00 pm

Heading to World Fantasy next month? Me too!

*comes up for air*

Yeah, it’s been busy, hence the dearth of blog goodness. Sorry about that. But I wanted to quickly note that I’m going to be at the World Fantasy Convention in San Antonio next month, and if you’re of a bookish and possibly traveling sort of person, you should totally check it out.

The convention takes place Nov. 2-5 at the Wyndham Riverwalk in downtown San Antonio. I’ll definitely be at the autograph session on Friday, Nov. 3 at 8 p.m., and I’ll be doing a reading of my own on Saturday, Nov. 4, also at 8 p.m. I’ll also be hanging out, checking in on other panels and readings and such, and most definitely finding good tacos and barbecue.

I’m told that Night Shade Books is sending some free copies of MJ-12: Inception to populate swag bags for convention attendees, and it’s highly likely I’ll be packing a few copies of MJ-12: Shadows to do a giveaway while there. Because free books are always good.

Hope to see you there!

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October 3, 2017 · 5:36 pm

Like gaming? Check out Adirondicon on October 14!

If you’re a fan of table-top gaming — board games, card games, strategy, RPGs, the whole bit — and if you’ll be around the Albany, N.Y., area on Saturday, October 14, I have a good idea of what you should be doing.

The first annual Adirondacon is taking place that day from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. — that’s right, twelve straight hours of gaming goodness. The event is sponsored by First Stall Productions and the Adirondack Tabletop Gamers and Game Developers, and it’ll cost you just $5 for adults and $2 for kids. The proceeds go to the Bernard and Millie Duker Children’s Hospital at Albany Medical Center.

So it’s for charity, which means you get to play games all damn day for a good cause. This does not suck.

The convention will have a number of organized games throughout the day, as well as open gaming and a large lending library full of games to play on your own. We’re talking Magic: The Gathering, Settlers of Catan, Star Trek Attack Wing, Pathfinder, Arcadia Quest and a bunch of stuff I ain’t even heard of. Plus, I hear tell of food and prizes and swag for sale, too.

Sadly, I won’t be able to make it, but games are awesome and charity is even more awesome. So check out the Adirondacon website to get your badges and sign up for games. (You can also just wander in if you’re not sure of your plans yet or you’re just, you know, lazy.) They also have a Twitter and Facebook presence if you want to reach out to them. It’ll be at the Elks Lodge in Queensbury, N.Y., right near Glens Falls and about an hour north of Albany.

Have fun!

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May 15, 2017 · 5:00 pm

I’ll be at the SFWA Mass Autograph Signing in Pittsburgh this Friday

I’m heading to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Conference this weekend in Pittsburgh, and if you’re in the Pittsburgh area — or attending the weekend’s festivities or, frankly, just like road-tripping — there’s going to be a mass autograph signing this Friday evening, and I’ll be there with pen in hand.

The event starts at 8 p.m. at the Pittsburgh Marriott City Center’s Grand Ballroom, and it’ll likely go for a few hours, at the very least. You can expect most of the Nebula Award nominees will be on hand to sign their stuff, along with many others — click here for the details. I’m told there will indeed be books on hand for sale, including copies of the Daedalus trilogy in mass-market paperback and hardcover copies of MJ-12: Inception. Of course, you can feel free to bring your own, too.

And chances are, I’m likely to have some extra advance reader copies of MJ-12: Shadows to give away as well. Given that this one isn’t out until September, you’re getting your hands on it super-early (and with some typos, because it’s a pre-proof copy, which means it’s totally a collector’s item).

I haven’t been to the Nebulas since 2013, just before The Daedalus Incident came out. The event’s evolved considerably since then, with a lot of cool panels and information sessions. I’m still feeling like a newbie compared to some, so I’m planning on listening and learning as much as I can. And, of course, I’m looking forward to seeing my people again.

So if you’re going — for the whole conference or just for the signing — be sure to find me and say hello!

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