Tag Archives: convention

The Author and Politics

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(Another in the continuing series of quotes to start the week.)

This past Saturday, at the ConCarolinas science fiction and fantasy convention, I was part of a panel called “Author and Politics” which was both well-attended and well-run. We agreed on some points, we disagreed on some points, but we did so like grown-ups — respectfully and without rancor.

It was, in the end, quite refreshing.

So when it came to figuring out a good quote to start the week, I thought of this one from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, which I copied out of The Gulag Archipelago many years ago.

Is it not true that professional politicians are boils on the neck of society that prevent it from turning its head and moving its arms? And why shouldn’t engineers have political views? After all, politics is not even a science, but is an empirical area not susceptible to description by any mathematical apparatus; furthermore, it is an area subject to human egotism and blind passion.

That quote has always resonated with me, mostly because of the imagery in the first sentence but also because I was trained as an engineer and still to a small degree think of myself as one. And it hasn’t lost any of its power: certainly we saw in our most recent election plenty of instances of “human egotism and blind passion.”

Republican Elephant & Democratic Donkey - Icons
The parties don’t often see eye to eye, do they? (Image: “Republican Elephant & Democratic Donkey – Icons,” by DonkeyHotey, on Flickr under Creative Commons.)

But when I have experiences like the panel on Saturday, and I recall the adage that “all politics are local,” I am a bit more hopeful that if we conduct ourselves well we can avoid (at least in the small circles of our friends) the worst excesses of either side, and chart a course that’s mutually beneficial.

I admit that I may be hopelessly naïve about such things.

After all, I’m The Anti-Candidate, and I approved this message.

___
Related Items:
– Listen to “I Think I’ll Run for Congress”, from the album Truths and Lies and Make-Believe
– Listen to “The Anti-Candidate Song”, from the album Distorted Vision

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ConCarolinas — Science Fiction, Carolina Style!

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This weekend we’ll be celebrating science fiction and fantasy in Charlotte — at the Hilton Charlotte University Place, specifically — for ConCarolinas. ConCarolinas is always a fun convention, and the Guests of Honor this year are pretty amazing:

  • Music and Artist GOH, Aurelio Voltaire
  • Writer GOH, bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon
  • Science GOH, Stephanie Osborn
  • Gaming GOHs, Clint and Jodi Black

In addition, Baen Books’ Publisher Toni Weisskopf is the Literary Special Guest, and the Music Special Guests include my friends The Blibbering Humdingers, Mikey Mason, and Valentine Wolfe.

I don’t have any solo events — no concert, no reading, no signing — but I have a few panels and other fun things that will get me into trouble:

Friday:

  • 4 p.m. — The Dreaded Synopsis (panel)
  • 7 p.m. — Princess Alethea’s Traveling Sideshow (variety show)
  • 11 p.m. — Campfire Songs (music)

Saturday:

  • 3 p.m. — Let’s Write a Filk Song (music panel)
  • 5 p.m. — Write What You Don’t Know (panel)
  • 6 p.m. — Author and Politics (panel)
  • 10 p.m. — Filking the Night Away (music)

Sunday:


(Love this badge logo from the 2010 ConCarolinas, by Bob Snare.)

It should be fun — hope to see you there!

___
Related Items of Interest:
– Because it’s science fictional and filkish and fun, the “Tauntauns to Glory” music video
– Also speaking of filk, listen free to both of my albums, Distorted Vision and Truths and Lies and Make-Believe

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What’s Going on in Williamsburg?

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RavenCon, baby!

Yes, this weekend I’ll be at the RavenCon science fiction and fantasy convention in Williamsburg, Virginia.

I have a few events to keep me busy:

Friday:

  • 5:25 p.m. — Reading (Room 4)
  • 7 p.m. — Opening Ceremony (Large Auditorium)
  • 10 p.m. — Panel: “The Dystopia is Already Here…” (Room E)

Saturday:

  • 4:30 p.m. — Baen Books Traveling Road Show (Room 8)
  • 6 p.m. — Panel Moderator: “As You Know, Bob…: The Fine Art of Exposition” (Room G)
  • 10 p.m. — Panel Moderator: “How to Read Aloud” (Room G )

Sunday:

  • 10 a.m. — Panel: “Should J.J. Abrams be Beaten with Hammers…” (Room E)

The only open filking session is on Sunday morning from 10-12 a.m., so that’s a little odd, but maybe I’ll be able to find a quiet corner and play some tunes. Regardless, it should be fun — hope to see you there!

___
Related Items of Interest:
– Speaking of filk, watch the music video of Tauntauns to Glory
– Also speaking of filk, listen free to both of my albums, Distorted Vision and Truths and Lies and Make-Believe
– Speaking of reading aloud, watch my Public Speaking Tip: The Value of Inflection
– Speaking of nothing in particular, visit my Online Store

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New Schedule for MystiCon

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The MystiCon science fiction and fantasy convention starts the day after tomorrow, but I’ve had a new event added to my schedule:

Friday:

  • 5 p.m. in Dogwood 1 — “Where No TV Show Has Gone Before” panel
  • 10 p.m. in Dogwood 1 — The “Eye of Argon” dramatic presentation

Saturday:

  • 10 a.m. in the Main Hallway — signing copies of Distorted Vision, Truths and Lies and Make-Believe, etc.
  • 11 a.m. in Room 533 — “Face to Face Slushpile” workshop
  • 2 p.m. in Ballroom C — Baen Books Traveling Road Show
  • 7 p.m. in Room 533 — reading, maybe singing …
  • NEW! 8:30 p.m. in Dogwood 1 — “Whose Line Is It, Anyway?”

Sunday:

  • 9 a.m. in the Vista Room — Non-Denominational Service

If you’re at the convention, I hope I get to see you!

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It’s No Mystery, But It Will Be MystiCon

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Next weekend (24-6 February) I’ll be in Roanoke, Virginia, for the MystiCon science fiction and fantasy convention. This year one of our most highly-esteemed authors, David Weber, is the Literary Guest of Honor!

If you’re at the convention, here’s where you’ll find me:

Friday:

  • 5 p.m. in Dogwood 1 — “Where No TV Show Has Gone Before,” a panel that has something to do with, as one Big Bang Theory character has it, some “Star War Trek thing”
  • 10 p.m. in Dogwood 1 — “The Eye of Argon,” a dramatic presentation of an infamous fantasy story

Saturday:

  • 10 a.m. in the Main Hallway — signing (and selling!) copies of Distorted Vision, Truths and Lies and Make-Believe, and possibly other things
  • 11 a.m. in Room 533 — “Face to Face Slushpile,” a workshop that folks liked so much last time that they put it back on the schedule again … we’ll see if I make anyone cry this year
  • 2 p.m. in Ballroom C — Baen Books Traveling Road Show, where we show folks what’s coming out in the near future and give away some free books!
  • 7 p.m. in Room 533 — reading something, and maybe singing … who knows?

Sunday:

  • 9 a.m. in the Vista Room — Non-Denominational Service

MystiCon is a nice little convention, and always a lot of fun — hope to see you there!

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illogiCon: SF&F in the Research Triangle

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(Professor Schrodington, the illogiCon mascot.)

The illogiCon science fiction and fantasy convention starts tomorrow! I’m going — are you? If so, stop in and see me …

Friday:

  • 7 p.m. in the Cameron Room — Nerd Music Unplugged, with Madison “Metricula” Roberts
  • 9 p.m. in the Smith Room — “Hell Week” Panel, a look at the Space Shuttle disasters
  • 10 p.m. in the Crescent Room — Drop-in Music and Filk Circle

Saturday:

  • 11 a.m. in the Cameron Room — “Famous First Words” Panel, a look at story & novel beginnings
  • 12 p.m. in the Cameron Room — “Famous Last Words” Panel, a look at story & novel endings
  • 1 p.m. in the Crescent Room — Reading … possibly something from my forthcoming novel?
  • 2 p.m. in the Reynolds Room — Baen Books Traveling Road Show
  • 4 p.m. in the Smith Room — “Live Action Slush” Panel, in which we consider the story openings of brave volunteers
  • (Tentative) 10 p.m. in the Crescent Room — Open Filk

illogiCon includes a number of unique events, including the illogiCon Brewmaster Competition, which has a “Steampunk” theme for 2017. I’m honored that they chose my tune, “Another Romulan Ale,” as the competition’s theme song!

Hope to see you there!

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Dragon Con Approacheth!

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Over Labor Day weekend I’ll be in Atlanta, Georgia, with 70 or 80 thousand of my closest friends at the Dragon Con science fiction and fantasy convention. The Author Guest of Honor is Jim Butcher, the Artist GOH is Stephan Martiniere, and many of my friends are also guests, attending professionals and performers at the convention.

I’m giving a solo concert (4:00 p.m. Sunday afternoon — add it to your schedule now) and participating in a number of other events. If you’re there, I hope I get to see you!

Here’s a rundown of all my events:

Friday

  • 4:00 p.m. — Art Show “Concert-that’s-not-a-concert” — playing and singing for the art patrons
  • 7:00 p.m. — Princess Alethea’s Traveling Sideshow — I’ll be narrating a live-action “fairytale rant” version of “The Little Mermaid,” and performing one of my filk songs — hosted by Alethea Kontis, with Leanna Renee Hieber, Mari Mancusi, E.C. Meyers, and special musical guest S.J. Tucker — always a fun time!

Saturday

  • 2:30 p.m. — Baen Books Traveling Road Show and Prize Patrol — with a whole cadre of Baen authors!
  • 4:00 p.m. — Panel, “Short or Long? How Do You Know?” — on short stories versus novels, with Sharon Ahern, Jaym Gates, Mike Resnick, Anne Sowards, Fran Wilde, and Timothy Zahn

Sunday

  • 10:00 a.m. — “Ecumenifilk” — I’m hosting a session of music focused on spiritual themes
  • 11:30 a.m. — Baen Books information and author signing booth, in association with The Missing Volume bookstore — I’ll be stationed there (Booth 1301 in Americas Mart Building 2) until 2:00 p.m.
  • 2:30 p.m. — Decisions, decisions … attend the first-ever Dragon Awards, or the Doubleclicks’ concert? Anyone have a Time Turner I can borrow?
  • 4:00 p.m. — Dragon Con Filk Music Track Solo Concert — come hear songs from my albums Distorted Vision and Truths and Lies and Make-Believe, as well as several new songs

Monday

  • 1:00 p.m. — Another turn at the Baen Books information and author signing booth, this time until 4:00 p.m.

At off hours, you might find me attending concerts by my musical friends, chatting with Baen Barflies in Barfly Central, hanging out in the bar with my writerly friends — or quite probably wandering around looking dazed. Be sure to stop and say hello if you get the chance!

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Music and More at ConGregate

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This weekend is the ConGregate science fiction and fantasy convention in High Point, North Carolina. The Author Guest of Honor is Steven Barnes, the Artist GOH is Lindsey Look, the Special Writer Guest is my friend A.J. Hartley, and the Special Musical Guests are the incomparable Valentine Wolfe.

Even though I’m not the Master of Ceremonies at this convention, and don’t have any readings or panel discussions on my schedule, I’m going to be fairly busy — and doing a lot of music!

Friday

  • 5:30 p.m. — Concert
  • 10:30 p.m. — “Campfire Songs” — a fannish singalong!

Saturday

  • 2:00 p.m. — “Songs and S’mores” — kid-friendly songs and yes, I understand actual s’mores will be served
  • 4:00 p.m. — Baen Books Traveling Road Show and Prize Patrol — see what new releases Baen has coming out, and possibly score a free book!
  • 8:00 p.m. — “Confronting the Publishing Gatekeeper” Workshop — known at other conventions as “Face-to-Face with the Slushmaster General”
  • 9:30 p.m. — “Camp ConGregate: the Final Jam” — a musical roundtable “from filk to gothic and everything in between”

Sunday

  • 9:00 a.m. — Nondenominational Prayer (and Praise) Service
  • 11:00 a.m. — Filking Workshop

I was pleased to be part of the first ConGregate two years ago, and it’s gotten better every year. I expect the trend to continue, and I’ll do my best to help ConGregate be its best!

Hope to see you there!

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Mastering the Ceremonies at LibertyCon

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I’m on the road again today, this time to the 29th annual LibertyCon science fiction and fantasy convention! The Author Guest of Honor is Jonathan Maberry, the Artist GOH is Todd Lockwood, the Science GOH is Dr. Ben Davis, and the Special GOH is artist Melissa Gay.

If it’s not obvious from the title, I’m the Master of Ceremonies for this convention. Here’s what I’ll be doing:

Friday

  • 1:00 p.m. — Face to Face Critiques from the Slushmaster General
  • 4:00 p.m. — Reading
  • 5:00 p.m. — Opening Ceremonies
  • 9:00 p.m. — Concert

Saturday

  • 10:00 a.m. — Autograph Session (with GOH Jonathan Maberry and Chuck Gannon)
  • 12:00 noon — Horror-themed Luncheon Banquet and Guest of Honor Speeches
  • 2:00 p.m. — Baen Books Traveling Road Show and Prize Patrol
  • 10:00 p.m. — Filk Sing!

Sunday

  • 10:00 a.m. — Kaffeeklatsch
  • 2:00 p.m. — Panel, “Changes in the World of Publishing”

My two big ceremonies to master are, of course, the Opening Ceremonies today and the Luncheon tomorrow. I will make the rounds of some other panels and events, though, and expect to make an appearance at the Closing Ceremonies on Sunday as well!

Let’s have some fun!

___
Shameless plug: I brought many copies of Distorted Vision and Truths and Lies and Make-Believe that I’d love to get rid of, plus a few other goodies as well. Flag me down if you want something!

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This Weekend’s Convention: Publishers and Aliens

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I’m on the road again today, this time to the ConCarolinas science fiction and fantasy convention. The Author Guest of Honor is Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, the Media GOH is Nana Visitor of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the Artist GOH is Ursula Vernon, and many of my writing and music friends will also be there!


(Love this badge logo from the 2010 ConCarolinas, by Bob Snare.)

My schedule is busy, and heavily weighted toward the literary end of things. The only individual event I have is my “real-time story submission” workshop on Saturday afternoon; I don’t have any readings or signings or concerts or the like. Here’s how the weekend stacks up for me:

Friday

  • 7:00 p.m. — Panel, “Designing the Reasonable Alien” — It’s been said that, because sentient aliens can never be fully “knowable,” they can only be written as metaphors of human characters or conditions. But hard science fiction accepts concepts that are “true to, or reasonably postulated from, science as it is known at the time of writing.” So why not a “reasonable” alien? And how might one go about designing one? — with Paula S. Jordan, Jeanne Adams, Wendy S. Delmater, Stuart Jaffe, and Allen L. Wold — Carolina A/B
  • 9:30 p.m. — Filking the Night Away! — with whoever shows up — Harrisburg A

Saturday

  • 10:00 a.m. — Baen Books Traveling Road Show — See what new releases Baen has coming out, and possibly walk away with a free book. — with Tony Daniel, David B. Coe, and Kelly Lockhart — Concord J
  • 1:00 p.m. — Panel, “What Publishers Do” — What do publishers do? Take a quick tour through the hurricane of activity surrounding each book that gets published – editing, cover art, marketing text, categorization, hype, formatting, and more – and learn what you can do to help sell your book. — with Tony Daniel, Ronald T. Garner, John G. Hartness, Rebecca Ledford, and Edmund Schubert — Carolina A/B
  • 2:00 p.m. — Panel, “What Publishers Look For” — What do publishers look for? Specific types of characters, settings, plot lines? Does length matter? Get a better understanding of what publishers look for, and how to increase your chances of getting published. — with Edmund Schubert, Ronald T. Garner, John G. Hartness, Nicole Givens Kurtz, and Rebecca Ledford — Carolina A/B
  • 4:00 p.m. — Workshop, “Face-to-Face with the Slushmaster General” — Have you been collecting rejection slips on a science fiction or fantasy novel, but haven’t been able to figure out why? Do you have thick enough skin to take direct, honest, face-to-face critique? Bring your cover letter, the first 5 pages of your story, and your 1- or 2-page synopsis and get real-time feedback. First-come, first-served, and volunteers only! If time permits, we may discuss short fiction; however, novels will have first priority. Learn what happens to manuscripts when you send them to a publisher, and how to make yours stand out … in the right way. — Piedmont

Sunday

  • 9:00 a.m. — Nondenominational Praise & Prayer Service — Gazebo
  • 10:00 a.m. — Panel Moderator, “Sharp SF” — Once they called it hard SF – space ships and robots everywhere. Then came soft SF, explorations of alien social systems and cybernetic awareness. Nowadays we have sharp SF, a mixture of both. Let’s talk about the ways hard and soft SF have blended in the new millennium. — with Jim Bernheimer, Alexandra Duncan, Paula S. Jordan, and James Maxey — Carolina C
  • 11:00 a.m. — Panel, “Intersection of Faith and Science” — A less adversarial discussion of how much faith and science have in common. — with D.L. Leonine and James McDonald — Concord C
  • 1:00 p.m. — Panel, “Getting to Know Your Aliens and Other Non-Humans” — A writer’s approach to non-human personality. OK, you’ve designed your own fantasy or alien world, or you’ve selected a real one from NASA’s now-vast catalog, What aspects of that world, or any (likely varied) cultures that develop there, might be useful in providing insights for the design of the typical residents’ personalities? An atypical resident’s personality? — with Paula S. Jordan, Jake Bible, Wendy S. Delmater, Margaret S. McGraw, and Leigh Perry — Carolina A/B

I’m a little surprised that the only open filking appears to be the Friday night session, but maybe some of us will get together at some other time and take over a room — or the hallway! — and play a few tunes. Stop by and sing along!

Hope to see you there!

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