Origins 2012 Report

This was the first time for me at Origins, and as promised I wanted to post a couple of my impressions about the experience.  Short version: I had a great freaking time.  The longer version: 1.  This is the second time I’ve been in Columbus, OH for a convention (the first time was for World […]

Continue reading →

Origins

This is my first time at Origins, its writing track now run by the inimitable Jean Rabe, and since Jean is the mastermind behind the runaway success of GenCon I expect things to run without a hitch.  Even if it doesn’t, the gaming emphasis (and presence of a lot of friends from the writing biz) […]

Continue reading →

Off to Ohio!

In just a few short hours I’ll be on my way to Ohio for Origins–my first conference of the summer and the real kickoff to what promises to be a busy writing season.  I’m looking forward to it qute a bit, insofar as I’ve heard a lot about it and never been able to make […]

Continue reading →

Brandon Sanderson–Q and A with Fantasy Fiction Course at St. John’s University, March 2012

I’d love to take total credit for this one, but in some ways this opportunity sort of fell in my lap. I met Brandon Sanderson, New York Times bestselling fantasy author and one of the ones I most admire in our field, at Worldcon in 2011, hoping to get him to agree to an interview for my podcast Speculate!; during the course of our conversation, he not only agreed to do that but volunteered to do a video session with my fantasy fiction students the following semester. We ended up studying his brand new novel The Alloy of Law, and as promised Brandon spoke with my class from his home in Utah for nearly an hour, fielding questions from my students and me. As expected, my students loved the experience, and (though I admit to being a bit biased) they asked a lot of great questions…so it worked out well for all concerned. The video quality isn’t amazing, but I think it’s clear enough to give you a sense of the session.

Ad Astra, April 14, 2012–Villains 101

Kind of a follow-up to last year’s panel on heroes (and with most of the same participants), this panel focused on the construction of a compelling villain, including examples of the characters we love to hate in speculative fiction–like Satan, Grendel, and Darth Vader, to name just a few. David Clink, Ed Greenwood, Gabrielle Harbowy, Rob St. Martin and I tackled the subject for nearly an hour, with some interesting contributions from the audience as well. Not recorded: the “villain” who demanded we start the panel or risk him destroying the world. I think he was kidding.

Ad Astra 2012

This is the fourth time around for me at Ad Astra, one of my favorite conventions (and my only regular international one).  The schedule is as follows: Fri 9 pm    Floor 2, Salon 2     The Intersection Between Academic and the Creative in       Speculative Fiction           JM Frey, Herb Kauderer, Gregory A. Wilson, Leah Bobet Sat 10 […]

Continue reading →