Hi all,

As you may have noticed already, things are a bit different around here!  After some good years with the website, it was time to overhaul the old system, so we’ve installed a new WordPress friendly theme and put in a new look and feel.  Of course, the site is still under construction; we have more tweaking to do with the look, we’re planning to add a Shop page in short order, and there are still some older posts and files being migrated from the old site, so please bear with us for the next month or so as we get things squared away.  When it’s done, I think it’s going to be a great new virtual home which will get a lot of use in the years to come.  As always, the real credit for this goes to friend and webmaster Kevin Grinberg, who has not only designed a number of sites for me but has hosted files and generally been an all-around good guy for a long time (despite being one of the busiest travelers I know!).  So Kevin: thanks.  And for everyone else, please send along your feedback and let me know what you think!

Now a few updates:

1.  Icarus is moving ahead, and we look to be on target for a late October/early November release.  As we get closer to the publication date, I’ll post updates about ways you can preorder / spread the word about the book–in the first case on my Shop page, and in the second case through various social networks and the like.  I’m really excited about how the book is looking, and I can’t wait for it to come out–details to come.

2.  I’ve been remiss in posting recorded panels and readings from conferences and conventions over the last month or so, mostly because I’ve been busy with a host of writing and other projects–and, of course, conferences and conventions, where more panels get recorded, which I then need to edit and post, and…you get the idea.  But in the next few weeks, I’ll have some sample panels from Origins, Readercon and Gen Con up on my Media page.  And speaking of Gen Con…

3. I’m on my way there as we speak!  Tomorrow begins my favorite convention, the one where I began my creative writing career–this is my seventh year at Gen Con as part of the Writers’ Symposium, which is celebrating its twentieth anniversary, and it looks to be the biggest and best yet, with Guest of Honor Jim Butcher and people like Bill Willingham, Larry Correia, Saladin Ahmed, Kameron Hurley, R.A. Salvatore, Ed Greenwood and many others, including yours truly.  I’ve posted my schedule (including a reading at the IndyReads bookstore on Thursday evening) on the Schedule page; if you’re in the area, please stop by and check it out!  And speaking of people like Jim Butcher…

4.  I’m going to be interviewing him! Fellow Symposium member Brad Beaulieu and I are going to be interviewing Jim for our podcast Speculate, which is now in its fourth year of production; we’ll have the interview up sometime next week.  Speculate has just launched a Patreon, which has gotten a good response so far, and as a consequence we’ve been able to hire a dedicated editor for the shows; that will allow us to concentrate on nothing but doing the show and booking guests, and that in turn means we’ll be able to have an even more regular schedule.  We’ve got lots of cool stuff lined up with discussions with and analysis of the work of people like Ann Leckie, Lev Grossman, Michael Sullivan and many others over the next few months–so please help the show continue to grow (and get some cool perks while you’re at it) over at our Patreon site.

5.  I’m currently working on my fourth novel, shopping my third, and working on short stories–the release of the second volume of the Time Traveled Tales anthology is imminent, with my short story “The Lost Sweeper of Caldon” included, and the Heroes anthology (with my short story “The Caretaker of Mire”) will be coming out not long after that, both from Silence in the Library Publishing.  On the music front, my band will be releasing its third album, a limited release EP entitled Lament, by the end of the year.  And on the family side, all is well locally with wife, mother-in-law and daughter–the last of whom is about to enter first grade, which I can’t quite wrap my head around yet.  She’s as awesome as ever, though, so that’s still the same!

That’s all for now.  I’ll have a new update when the panels are posted in a couple of weeks; until then, thanks as always for stopping by, and thanks for your support!

Greg