In just a matter of days, I will be attending the World Fantasy Convention in Columbus, OH. I know there was some problems with the programming this year, but thanks to Ellen Datlow I’m happy to be part of some interesting discussions. My schedule is below:

Thursday, October 27

5 PM – Reading: I think I’m going to read from an unpublished story that fits with the theme of the convention (Flights of Fantasy)

Friday, October 28

5PM – A Golden Age of Contemporary Asian Fantasy: There are some fantastic people on this panel including Brenda Clough, Mary Soon Lee, Amal El-Mohtar, Don Pizarro, and Mimi Mondal

Saturday, October 29

4PM – An Aviary of Beasties: w/ Auston Habershaw, Dan Koboldt, E. J. Stevens, and Susan Shell Winston

If you’re going, I hope to see you there!

I’ve been trying to sneak out promotional links a little at a time, but today I have a few that all came at once:

• First up is an interview with me about writing and books and other things at Civilian Reader.
• Then there’s the video from Tuesday night’s NYRSF reading with Michael Swanwick. 
• Finally, LitReactor published my second writing post, this time about the writing of Rising Tide.
• And finally, just a reminder that Rising Tide is out on October 6. If you think you might want to read it, please consider pre-ordering it.

I’m late in getting the word out, but I will be reading on September 8 at the New York Review of Science Fiction Reading Series along with a young upstart named Michael Swanwick. The reading will take place at The Commons in Brooklyn and will start at 7:00 PM. This will be my second NYRSF reading and the first to feature Rising Tide, my novel which will be out on October 6. If you’re local, please come out.

It’s a new year and yet I was remiss in not posting about some things that happened last year, particularly related to Falling Sky:

• I appeared on the Functional Nerds podcast with John Anealio and Patrick Hester in December. If you missed it, check it out here. We talk a bit about holiday movies, but hopefully that won’t bother you seeing as it’s after the holidays.
• I also read at the KGB Bar in December as part of the KGB Fantastic Fiction Reading Series along with Steven Gould. Pictures can be seen here and an audio recording of the evening is available on the Fantastic Fiction website. I’ve been attending KGB readings for about 10 years now and it was a dream come true to read there myself.
• A little further back, in October, I was a guest on (brilliant author) Fran Wilde’s podcast, Cooking the Books. We talk a bit about Falling Sky and Twinkies and the website includes a recipe that might exist in the world of the novel.

I love podcasts and hope to appear on more of them in the future. What’s better than talking with smart, talented, and interesting people? If you have any that you love and would recommend, leave them in the comments.

As previously mentioned, this past long weekend I was up in Burlington, MA at Readercon and I had a wonderful time. Most of my time was spent seeing old friends and meeting new people. I won’t post a list as I’d be certain to leave someone out, but if you were there, and I saw you, it was wonderful to see you.

Some personal highlights were seeing Zombies: Shambling Through the Ages at both the Prime and Lethe Press tables in the Dealer’s Room. It helped convince me to read my story from the zombies anthology, “Hauntings and Hungers on the Banks of the Vipasa” in the Altered Fluid reading on Saturday. It just so happened that the timing of the story worked out really well.

I also got a look at the ARC of Suffered from the Night, the other upcoming anthology I’m in coming out from Lethe Press.

Then there were all the great readings, the great beer, the parties, and all the writing inspiration. I always come back from the con feeling energized (at least creatively). Case in point, last night, while exhausted and trying to fall asleep, my fatigued brain combined two disparate concepts that I had been considering into one project that I have decided to start writing. Not that I need another novel in the queue, but, hey, I’ll take the inspiration.

Now to catch up on sleep and settle back into a more regular rhythm…