Category Archives: Events

November 18, 2013 · 6:00 pm

Library reading this Thursday in northern New Jersey

Just a quick note: I’ll be at the Tenafly Public Library this Thursday, Nov. 21, at 7 p.m. for a reading and discussion of The Daedalus Incident and possibly other works, including the novella The Gravity of the Affair and the second novel in the Daedalus series, The Enceladus Crisis.

The Tenafly library, part of the Bergen County Cooperative Library System, is located at 100 Riveredge Road in Tenafly, a quick hop from New York City’s George Washington Bridge.

I’ve personally taken advantage of the library’s resources as part of my research, particularly for The Gravity of the Affair. Libraries are awesome — be sure to support yours!

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September 11, 2013 · 9:00 am

Reminder: Signing at Singularity & Co. in Brooklyn this Thursday!

For all you folks in the greater New York City area, a friendly reminder: I’m doing a reading and signing tomorrow (Thursday 9/12) at Singularity & Co. in the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn. There’s even an events page here, which makes it official and stuff.

I’ll be reading from The Daedalus Incident and talking about the forthcoming The Enceladus Crisis (due out next spring). And if you want to talk about other stuff or just generally geek out, that’s excellent, too.

The bookstore is located at 18 Bridge St. in Brooklyn. Come out and say hi!

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September 6, 2013 · 6:30 pm

Skiffy and Fanty: Live from WorldCon (with me and others)

Shaun and Jen from the always fantastic Skiffy and Fanty Show just released their latest podcast, and it’s pretty cool. See, these two intrepid podcasters set themselves up in a quiet but public part of one of the convention hotels, then invited authors and bloggers to swing by, say hello and chat.

The result? A “walk-by” gab session featuring Rachael Acks, Karen Burnham (with whom I shared Mars panel later during the convention), Keffy Kehrli, Kyell Gold and myself. We chat about a wide range of geeky stuff and generally had a lot of fun. So either click on the page or, better yet, subscribe to the podcast via your favorite device/vendor pairing (i.e. iTunes and the like).

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September 5, 2013 · 6:30 pm

Signing next Thursday (9/12) at Singularity & Co. in Brooklyn

Ever been to Singularity & Co.? It’s an outstanding SF/F bookstore in the DUMBO area of Brooklyn, packed to the rafters with decades’ worth of science fiction and fantasy books. It’s a veritable geek Shangri-La.

And I’m going to be doing an event there next Thursday, Sept. 12, at 7 p.m. This brings me joy.

So come on out and say hi. I’ll be doing a reading from The Daedalus Incident and talking about the forthcoming The Enceladus Crisis (due out next spring), my most excellent experience at WorldCon, and whatever else folks want to hear.

The store is at 18 Bridge St. in Brooklyn. See you there!

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September 4, 2013 · 6:00 pm

WorldCon: The Aftermath Part II: Constructive criticism

A good night’s sleep really does wonders, especially after a WorldCon.

So yesterday I talked about what a great time I had, and all the people and the moments that made it an amazing experience. And all of that still holds true. But today I want to take a more critical look at the con, and share some thoughts about what struck me in a less-than-squee way.

Before that, however, I want to recognize the immense amount of hard work that the all-volunteer staff put into making LoneStarCon 3 a success. Nothing a newbie con-goer might say will ever take away from that, and they deserve recognition and thanks for their herculean efforts. This is constructive criticism, and I hope it’s taken in that spirit.

I also recognize there is a strong fan subculture at work here. Some of the things I say here may go against the grain. I understand and respect the history and traditions of that subculture, but with that said, I’m gonna throw stuff out there anyway. Evolution can be a good thing.

All right, here’s some observations and ideas:

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September 3, 2013 · 6:00 pm

WorldCon: The Aftermath Part I

Dear Lord, where do I even begin?

To be fair, attending WorldCon, a.k.a. LoneStarCon 3 in San Antonio, was not a life-changing experience. Becoming an author was, for sure, and the con was more part of that than anything else. (There are other experiences, by the way, that do rank much higher than becoming an author. Like becoming a husband and a father. Priorities, people!)

That said, my first WorldCon — my very first SF/F convention, in fact — was an excellent thing. If I were in a video game, there would’ve been an authorial “achievement unlocked” icon popping up over my head every five minutes. The SF/F community is supportive, welcoming, kind, funny…and can get its collective drink on like you wouldn’t believe.

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September 1, 2013 · 9:47 am

Where I’m at Sunday at WorldCon

LoneStarCon 3, the 71st WorldCon, rolls on this morning, and I’m managing to keep up as best as I can. Yesterday’s signing at The Twig was quite fun. I signed some books — which never, ever gets old — and chatted with fans and my fellow authors. And New York Times bestselling author Kevin Hearne drew me this PostIt doodle.

While I’m thinking of it, I once again have to tip my hat to artist Sparth and the folks who designed the cover of The Daedalus Incident. Folks really seem to gravitate to it. I’ve seen it over and over now here in San Antonio. It’s like a magnet, almost! So, well done, art people!

Last night’s Drinks With Authors thing was excellent. There were door prizes and random chances to win books. And I mean random — attendees rolled a giant d20 against the author’s “to hit” score. Justin Landon declared me an ettercap, with a to-hit of 9. I was somewhat offended at first, until I remembered that we really wanted to let people win books. And so we did. Thank you to Justin, Steve Drew and Myke Cole for putting together an excellent shindig. Continue reading →

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August 31, 2013 · 9:00 am

Where I’m at Saturday at WorldCon

Today I’m spending a bit of time away from the hustle and bustle of LoneStarCon 3, the 71st World Science Fiction Convention, and getting out around San Antonio more. Here’s the stuff on my schedule:

Group signing at The Twig Book Shop. The Twig is one of San Antonio’s best indie bookstores, and I’m going to be signing The Daedalus Incident there from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today. And it ain’t just me. Check out this list: Betsy Dornbusch, Myke Cole, Kevin Hearne, Drew Karpyshyn, Kay Kenyon, Scott Lynch, Brian McClellan and Courtney Schafer. It’s literally a one-stop shop! The Twig is located at 306 Pearl Parkway in San Antonio, about a 10 minute cab ride from WorldCon. Hope to see you there!
Drinks with Authors charity event. This is gonna be cool. About 40 authors are descending on Ernie’s Bar for a huge bash, with an equally huge amount of door prizes, including signed books and other major swag. And the proceeds are going to Patrick Rothfuss’ WorldBuilders charity. Get swag, do good, and get your drink on. Doors open at 7 p.m. and, if Thursday night’s Booksworn party was any indication, the folks at Ernie’s will be tossing out the bums (i.e. writers) at last call. Ernie’s Bar is at 320 Bonham, right behind the Marriott Rivercenter hotel.

And that’s it. The rest of the time I’ll be milling about, finally attending panels other than my own, and hanging at the members-only SFWA suite because I can. (And there’s free food there.)

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August 30, 2013 · 9:28 pm

Random thoughts on WorldCon so far

First off, I’m kind of exhausted, but very happy. WorldCon (more formally known as LoneStarCon 3) has been a lot of fun. I’ve met a lot of great fans, some really excellent authors and geeked out on all kinds of fun SF/F stuff. Here’s some experiences and observations:

The folks who attend WorldCon love this stuff. They are both intense fans of science fiction and fantasy, as well as bookworms of the highest order. This is very much a literary conference as well as a geek-fest. And as with most things geek, the debates are fun and passionate.
This whole shindig is driven by fans, not corporate types. My past convention experiences were back when I covered the tech industry as a journalist, and man, those were slick. Things here are definitely more homespun, but you can tell it’s driven by love, not profit.
It’s been fantastic finally meeting some awesome authors and bloggers in person, given that most interactions to date have been via Twitter and e-mail. I did a podcast interview with Patrick Hester (an excellent interviewer) of SFSignal and Functional Nerds fame, and it was refreshing to sit across a table from him. Same goes for ~~Shawn~~ Shaun Duke and Jen Zink of The Skiffy and Fanty Show, whom I dropped in on during a group ‘cast discussion. I could name drop all the authors here, but it would get gratuitous. Everyone’s been gracious and welcoming.
My panels were a lot of fun. It was great talking about the business end of things in this morning’s panel, and then getting all literary and geek this afternoon. The other panelists made me look great.
On a related note, I discovered that fans of science fiction in particular can be very discerning about what they read, and they know when the science is too fuzzy. I’m gonna have to give The Enceladus Crisis a very close reading before I release it to my editors!
I think my favorite moment was when I introduced myself to the “first time publishing surprises” panel and noted that The Daedalus Incident just came out three weeks ago. I got a spontaneous round of applause. That was really, really lovely. To everyone who was attending that panel, thank you!

There’s more — the Booksworn & Friends party was probably the loudest, most alcohol-fueled fest I’ve attended since college, and was huge fun — but I’ll save it for later. I’m having a blast, and there’s still two more full days left!

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August 30, 2013 · 9:00 am

Where I’m at Friday at WorldCon

After last night’s Booksworn soiree, I’m kind of glad today is my least-busy day here at LoneStarCon 3, a.k.a. WorldCon. And I’m happy that it’s pretty much all indoors — it’s freakin’ HOT out here in San Antonio!

If you’re looking for me today, I’m on two panels:

“Things They Never Tell You When You’re Published for the First Time” panel, 11 a.m., Room 102B, convention center: It’s a pretty long list, so I’m sure we’ll go the full hour and then some. I’ll be on the panel with Vylar Kaftan, David Liss, Alvaro Zinos-Amaro and moderator Moshe Feder.
“When Is Hard SF Too Hard?” panel, 5 p.m., Room 008A, convention center: Want to see me moderate a convention panel for the first time? This is the place to be. And among science fiction fans, I imagine this’ll be both popular and perhaps controversial. The panel features Nancy Kress, Christopher McKittrick and Jack Skillingstead.

I’m also pulling a shift at the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America booth in the dealer room some time in the afternoon, and probably checking out the other panels, taking photos and Tweeting a lot.

And I may hunt for good Texas barbecue in the evening.

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