Month: November 2009

Author Interview Series #58 – Gail Carriger

Cat Links Author Interviews, General, Writing Posted on Travis

I hadn’t been sitting at the bar in the Fairmont Hotel at the World Fantasy Convention, nursing a Bombay Sapphire and tonic, when this dame slides onto the stool next to me.  But a second glance proved this to be no dame, but a lady looking as if she had stepped out of a 1940s noir film. I wondered if she was packing heat in that little clutch. Wearing a vintage ensemble complete with white gloves, Gail Carriger made a striking first impression, and the conversation quickly went interesting places, her book that just came out, her career as anContinue readingAuthor Interview Series #58 – Gail Carriger

Author Interview Series #57 – James Van Pelt

Cat Links Author Interviews, Writing Posted on Travis

At the Mass Book Signing at the World Fantasy Convention on the Eve of Halloween, I had the good fortune to share a table with James Van Pelt.  He’s been selling short stories for 20 years, with nearly a hundred published to date, including appearances in Asimov’s, Analog, and Year’s Best Science Fiction, and being nominated for the Nebula in 2004. We discussed writing as a career and how even well-established authors experience bolts of fan-ness in the presence of so many other accomplished professionals.  Jim maintains a teaching career as well, and the speculative fiction community can applaud himContinue readingAuthor Interview Series #57 – James Van Pelt

Author Interview Series #56 – David Drake

Cat Links Author Interviews, Writing Posted on Travis

Major conventions like the World Science Fiction Convention and the World Fantasy Convention are the still the best way to meet authors whose work you’ve known and respected for a long time. At World Fantasy two weeks ago, yours truly had the great fortune to meet at least a metric ton of such folks, so herewith is the first of many interviews with other World Fantasy attendees.  I first encountered David Drake’s work back in the 1980s with his military science fiction Hammer’s Slammers series, plus reading Ranks of Bronze, a book about Roman Legionnaires taken to serve as interstellarContinue readingAuthor Interview Series #56 – David Drake

World Fantasy Convention, San Jose – Day 3

Cat Links General Posted on Travis

Day Three of the World Fantasy Convention for me was punctuated by a spasm of fanboyishness. I was walking through the lobby of the hotel, noticing that there were an inordinate number of tuxedos and evening gowns milling about when I noticed a woman standing nearby.  A couple of double-takes later, I realized that it was Amber Benson, author of Death’s Daughter and interviewee around these parts.  And, oh yeah, she played the good witch Tara on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, not to mention being involved in numerous other creative endeavors. So, like a Nebraskan Spotted Geekmoth to a flame,Continue readingWorld Fantasy Convention, San Jose – Day 3