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Author Interview Series #57 – James Van Pelt

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

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

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

World Fantasy Convention, San Jose – Day 2

The second day of World Fantasy proved to be just as full of pleasant surprises and meetings as the first. Among the highlights: Attending Jay Lake’s Guerilla Cheese Party, at which everyone was treated to the musical stylings of Ken Scholes with his guitar and harmonica.  Who says writers can’t be multitalented?  I think the pinnacle of that performance was likely Ken’s rendition of U2’s “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” sang as if in duet by Queen Elizabeth II and Bob Dylan.  When someone asked him how he had worked out whose voice sings which lines, he replied,Continue readingWorld Fantasy Convention, San Jose – Day 2

World Fantasy Convention, San Jose – Day 1 – Poe’s 200th Birthday

After attending the World Science Fiction Convention last year, not to mention lots of other events over the years, I had a pretty good idea what to expect from a convention like this, but I was surprised at how condensed and homey this convention is, in the heart of downtown San Jose. First of all, the venue here is palatial and compact.  Everything takes place within the hotel, unlike World Con last year where the convention venue sprawled over hundreds of square miles and numerous events were scattered all over downtown Denver.  World Fantasy ’09?  All in one place, inContinue readingWorld Fantasy Convention, San Jose – Day 1 – Poe’s 200th Birthday

Upcoming Appearance at the World Fantasy Convention

Here’s some exciting news (at least for me ;).  I’ll be doing a reading at the World Fantasy Convention in San Jose, CA, next week.  The convention runs from Thursday, October 29, to Sunday, November 1. Friday, October 30, at 9:00 p.m. I will also be participating in the Group Booksigning on Friday evening at 8:30. So if you’re attending WFC this year, look me up!

Author Interview Series #55 – Chloe Neill

Continuing a tradition of encountering really interesting people at conventions, I met author Chloe Neill this summer at OSFest, the Omaha Science Fiction Education Society’s annual sci-fi convention.  Although she’s not a katana-wielding vampire badass like the main character in her Chicagoland Vampire series, she perhaps could be with some training.  Neill grew up in Arkansas (maintains a touch of the accent) and now makes her home in Nebraska, where she recently launched her pro writing career with her first novel Some Girls Bite, out this year from Penguin.  She managed to wrangle us some interview time in the midstContinue readingAuthor Interview Series #55 – Chloe Neill

Author Interview Series #54 – Jeanne Cavelos

This week I have the distinct pleasure of interviewing a person who has had a tremendous impact on me (and hopefully my writing career!), Jeanne Cavelos.  Jeanne is a former senior editor at Bantam Doubleday Dell, and these days is the brains and (most of) the brawn behind one of the premier writing workshops for genre fiction, the Odyssey Writing Workshop.  In addition to Odyssey, she also teaches fiction writing at St. Anselm College in Manchester, NH.  One doesn’t have to look very hard to find praises being sung for the quality of the Odyssey experience, and that is dueContinue readingAuthor Interview Series #54 – Jeanne Cavelos

Heart of the Ronin to be Published in Indonesia

As my agent said, once upon a time, “good things can happen when you put the ball into play.” And if one never puts the ball into play, nothing much will ever happen, except by accident. It is indeed official. Heart of the Ronin will be released in 2010 in an Indonesian edition, translated into Bahasa Indonesia. I’m thrilled, of course, but it still seems a bit surreal to me, because this came out of nowhere.  Nevertheless, I’m delighted that the story is continuing to get out there.

Author Interview Series #53 – Paolo Bacigalupi

Paolo Bacigalupi is relative newcomer to the science fiction writing genre, but his work has already made waves, won the Theodore Sturgeon Award and the Locus Awards for Best Collection and Best Novelette for Pump Six. His work has appeared in two of the three biggest science fiction markets, Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. His short fiction collection Pump Six was released early last year from Night Shade Books.  Yours truly ran into him at Readercon in Boston in August, 2009, where he was participating in a panel on YA fiction. His shortContinue readingAuthor Interview Series #53 – Paolo Bacigalupi

Upcoming Author Panel – Border’s Shadow Lake

I will be participating at the Sarpy Area Arts Council “Arts Alive” Festival to be held at Shadow Lake Town Centre in Papillion, Nebraska, on Sunday, September 13, 2009. The author panel will consist of yours truly, along with Chloe Neill, Victoria Alexander, and Paul Rea, to be held at the Shadow Lake Border’s store, at 2:00 p.m.  The topic of the panel is yet to be determined, but all of us will be there for discussion and signing books afterward. Hope to see you there!

Author Interview Series #52 – Patricia Bray

If you ever have the chance to meet Patricia Bray in person, one of your first thoughts will be, “Wow, here is a woman with some energy.” Patricia Bray was a guest lecturer at the Odyssey Writing Workshop this year, which is where yours truly met her.  With verve, humor, and enthusiasm, she offered an excellent discussion of Heroes and Sidekicks in fiction, how to do it, and how not to do it.  In her Sword of Change series, the viewpoint character is the sidekick, not the main character of the story, which leads to some interesting storytelling dynamics andContinue readingAuthor Interview Series #52 – Patricia Bray