Please join me in my new digs over at:
May
12
The Blog Feed Hath Moved…
To anyone who might be subscribed to this feed, it appears that the Windows server that hosts the rest of my site just does not like .php very much and so I’ve been forced to migrate the blog to a Linux server instead. This means this feed will be going dead shortly, and I hope you’ll pick up the new one. My new blog location can be found at this link.
Thanks for your patience!
May
02
Giveaway!
I’ve got a very special giveaway going on over at SF Signal right now. I’m giving away one bundle of all three Revivors books, each one signed, with the cover page hand illustrated by me. Here’s what the prize looks like:
Swing by and enter, and tell your friends! Giveaway rules are outlined over at SF Signal – the contest is open until May 21, and is open to anyone, anywhere in the world.
Apr
29
Ex-Con (Norwescon Impressions Part II)
Another really neat thing about Norwescon was all the delicious swag on display. There was a big vendor area, kind of like a bazaar, where loads of people had set up shop selling everything from books to battle-axes (I’m serious, if I thought I could have gotten it on the airplane I could have bought a for-real battle axe). This in part helped explain the posted Norwescon rules regarding carried weaponry since I could have gone in there with a credit card and walked out well armed enough to totally storm the hotel gift shop.
There were tons of neat costume accessories there, including some truly impressive leather work that had a steampunk vibe (I assume these were custom created as I’ve never seen anything like it before), and tons of handmade jewelry. Fake fangs, zombie blood, wonderful art depicting cats who were also geishas…it was pretty neat to see.
After some browsing, mingling and shopping it was time for the event itself.
The dinner they treated my wife and I to (in the hotel’s rooftop restaurant) was excellent (they had me at the smoked oysters) and then we all went downstairs for the PKD Award ceremony. There I got to meet a couple of the other contenders who had made the trip (the authors of ‘The Reapers are the Angels‘ and ‘Harmony‘) They had set up big posters of our book covers and the whole thing was recorded and streamed over the internet. I had not realized that ‘Project Itoh’ (the moniker of Harmony‘s author) had passed away, and the speech given in his honor was quite touching especially knowing that friends, fans and family in Japan were able to watch it live. Alden Bell (aka Joshua Gaylord, aka the author of The Reapers are the Angels) delivered a performance that was much better than mine as we all got up in turn to do a reading. Though Mark Hodder (who actually won the PKD Award) couldn’t be there because he was in Spain, a representative from Pyr did a great reading that would make almost anyone I think want to read ‘The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack‘.
And then that was mostly it…there was a party upstairs afterward that we were all invited to. My wife and I stuck our heads in long enough to realize neither one of us is any better at parties now than we were when we were younger, then ducked back out but the sentiment was very much appreciated.
All in all it was a great time from start to finish. Everyone involved in the ‘con was very nice and William Sadorus in particular had a way of appearing from out of nowhere to steer us toward something cool or a particularly good seat for an event we’d gone to.
Big thanks to all involved!
Apr
26
Ex-Con (Norwescon Impressions Part I)
I still need to get the pictures together, but I’m settled back in with my first ‘con under my belt. How did it go? I’ll give you a quick breakdown.
It was fun, I’ll say that up front. My wife and I had a good time in spite of being fish out of water to a certain extent. I will never own a costume of any sort to wear to something like this, but I enjoy watching those who do and there were some fantastic costumes on display. The hotel was completely packed, and I can honestly say I’ve never seen so many corsets, kilts, and (in a reference I missed) pointy red gnome hats in one place at one time. The people who dressed up were universally great about having their pictures taken (usually offering to pose) and I’ll post a bunch of them soon.
I was there for a specific reason though, and bearing that in mind I wasn’t completely sure what was expected of me even once I got there. I found myself scheduled for a reading I was unaware of (my first) and hustled down to the room where it took place. This was one of the things I was a little nervous about since public speaking isn’t my strong suit. As it turned out, only two people showed up for it which could of been depressing but it was kind of a relief to me as it ended up being good practice without the stakes being very high. I didn’t die, and managed to do okay I think.
Later I watched Nancy Kress give a reading, and gleaned a lot of good tips in the process. Besides how to improve my reading performance, I learned several things from her presentation:
- Anna Kendell is really Nancy Kress
- Even Nancy Kress has to deal with things like content edits and still might not get full buy-in from publishers (the novel she read from is part of a series, but isn’t marketed as such in case they want to discontinue it).
- I want to read ‘Crossing Over‘ now (the British version, apparently free from aforementioned content edits)
- Nancy Kress is swell.
I also had my first real ‘fan moment’ that I’ve ever had in my life. I enjoy the work of a lot of artists, but I’m not much of a ‘fan’ in that I feel like I wouldn’t typically care much if I ever met any of them. I see them as talented humans, but humans just like me, and humans I don’t know personally. I would never stop a celebrity in the street, or approach them uninvited because it’s just not me. Still though, after the reading as she politely sort of mingled her way toward the door I found myself shaking her hand and muttering something inane about what an inspiration she’d been before awkwardly asking to get a photo with her which she graciously agreed to.
More to come (plus pictures, I swear!)
Apr
25
…and We’re Back
Three days of ‘con and one red-eye flight later, my wife and I are back home again. Details (and pics) to come once I’m no longer a complete zombie…
. . .
. . .
Apr
19
Come Fly With Me…
Ok, tomorrow my wife and I hop a flight from Boston to Seattle for Norwescon.
I’m looking forward to the event itself, but I’ll be honest: I hate to fly. I think I might hate everything about it. I don’t like airports, I don’t like pat-downs (okay, sometimes I do), I don’t like being in the air, and I don’t like having to sit still for 6+ hours in a chair ill-suited to accommodate the length of my skeletal frame. The only plus side to the flight itself that I can see is that my wife will likely become so bored during it that she will finally try Professor Layton, whereupon she is all but sure to have to admit that it’s as cool as I’ve been saying.
I, for my part, will attempt to bury myself in my Kindle and try not to picture the air traffic controllers at either Boston or Seattle falling asleep at their consoles while watching Baby’s Day Out.
As for the rest, I’m looking forward to it. I’ve never been to Seattle before, and I’ve never been to a ‘con before either so the whole trip should be pretty novel. I am simultaneously excited and nervous about the reading, and sincerely hope I don’t hit some brain glitch and forget how to speak words partway through.
I don’t have a totally clear idea as to what a ‘con is all about and where I should go or be, but the whole thing sounds fun and I’m sure we’ll figure it out. I hope I bump into some of you there, as I have yet to actually meet one of my readers face-to-face (at least not one I didn’t already know) and I would like to.
Wish me luck!
. . .
. . .
Apr
05
ELEMENT ZERO Drops Today
Today marks the launch of the conclusion of the Revivors series, Element Zero.
Drop by the new website for info about the book.
While you’re there, check out a sample chapter.
Enjoy!
. . .
. . .
Apr
04
New Website is Live
…well, truth be told the team of web gnomes who are building it are still tirelessly tinkering about but still, you can go there and get a peek…update any bookmarks/links you may have, as this is going to be my new online home very shortly.
This whole blog will actually be forklifted over at some point in the near future, so this site will end up redirecting to the new one.
Oh, and by ‘team of web gnomes’ I actually mean ‘design professional Jennifer Platt Wilner‘ who has painstakingly taken my previous collection of haphazardly slapped together eye-vomit and turned it into something cohesive, easy to maintain, and nice to look at.
See you over there…
. . .
. . .
Mar
08
State of Decay Makes Compton Crook Shortlist
I received another piece of good news yesterday – State of Decay was chosen as one of the finalists for the Compton Crook Award, which is awarded by the Baltimore Science Fiction Society for the best first novel of the year in the field of Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror. They throw a shin dig on Memorial Day weekend down in Baltimore, so I’ll be heading down to check it out.
Having already been nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award, I have to say I couldn’t be happier about the reception State of Decay has been getting. When I was writing and rewriting alone all those nights my only hope was to get it to see the light of day. To have it be so well received by critics and fans on top of that is a dream come true, and this latest news is a real thrill.
This will actually make the second place I’ve never been (Seattle being the first, in April) that I’ll end up seeing because of this endeavor. It’s looking like I’ll be doing a reading during at least one of the ‘cons, something that makes me a little anxious. There was a time in my life when (although it was only a handful of occasions) I actually played guitar and sang onstage, but over the years that part of me seems to have gone dormant and I’m not very comfortable up in front of crowds. I’ll practice before I go. Also, since I’m practically a hermit, I think I may have to buy a suit.
I’m excited to go, though. I think it will be a lot of fun, and I look forward to connecting with other authors and readers. If you’re planning to go to either, maybe I’ll see you there.
. . .
. . .
