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Posts by Lawrence:

Eating Authors: Tina Connolly

Written on October 1st, 2012 by
Categories: Plugs
Tina Connolly

Hello and welcome not only to this blog post, but also to the start of a new week and a new month! I don’t know about you, but I love October; there’s a freshness to the air, the promise of autumnal breezes, the panoply of leaves transforming in such dazzling displays as to make the colorblind weep with incomprehension. And, in the spirit of such portentous starts, today’s Eating Authors segment allows me to introduce you to Tina Connolly who just so happens to have her first novel, Ironskin, coming out tomorrow!

Tina is a graduate of Clarion West. She lives in Portland, Oregon, and when she’s not busy writing (the sequel to her forthcoming book is already scheduled for 2013), she works as a face painter at fairs and local festivals and fairs. She’s also busy with podcasting. You’ve probably heard her voice more than once, as she’s a regular narrator for such classic podcasts as EscapePod and PodCastle. Oh, and she just picked up a Parsec Award for her own flash podcast project, Toasted Cake.

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BUFFALITO BUFFET – According to Publishers Weekly

Written on September 28th, 2012 by
Categories: News

Coming out in time for Thanksgiving (surely a great time to buy books!), Buffalito Buffet is the third book in the Amazing Conroy series.

Here’s what Publishers Weekly had to say about it:

Starting with 2001’s “Buffalo Dogs,” this collection reprints all seven of Schoen’s short stories featuring the Amazing Conroy, a hypnotist turned entrepreneur, and his pet buffalito, Reggie (last seen in 2011’s Buffalito Contingency), along with the all-new “Barry’s Tale.” The emphasis is on sly humor and social chicanery as Conroy uses hypnotism, subterfuge, and old-fashioned people skills to interact with a universe teeming with oddball aliens and their oft-confusing customs. He breaks an alien monopoly on buffalitos, dog-sized creatures that eat anything and fart pure oxygen; learns the secret of the galaxy’s greatest recluse; gets caught up in a murder; gambles for extremely high stakes; and pursues a legendary culinary delicacy. Schoen is clearly in his element and there’s a pleasant preposterousness to the whole thing, like a series of good-natured tall tales that end too soon.

“Pleasant preposterousness.” Yeah, I’ll take that.

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My-Almost-Certainly-Final Capclave 2012 Schedule

Written on September 27th, 2012 by
Categories: News

I’ve had this information for a few days now, but I’ve been letting it sit and settle (and dry and bake and gel) in case there were any surprise changes. There haven’t been, so I’m feeling fairly confident that this is will be my schedule for Capclave next month.

Friday, October 12th:
4:00 – 4:55 (Rockville/Potomac) Comic Relief
How much comic relief can you put in a book before it gets shifted into the humor category? Does humor hurt or enhance a serious novel? Does it throw you out of the story if you expect Song of Ice and Fire and get a line right out of Xanth? What are examples of writers who get it right/wrong?
Doug Fratz, Larry Hodges, James Maxey (M)

5:00 – 5:25 (Readings Room) Reading
In an act of tempting fate, I’ll probably read something from a Conroy story. It’s also likely that I’ll be giving away a plush buffalito to someone who shows up. Yeah, shameless.

9:00 – 9:95 (Readings Room) Paper Golem Book Launch: Cucurbital 3
Nine Authors, Three Prompts, One Anthology! Drop by and help celebrate the audacity of the small press!

Saturday, October 13tht
10:00 – 10:55 (Salons A & B) As you will (M)
Anything goes? A panel without preconception or plan. Panelists talk about anything and everything.
Inge Heyer, Bud Sparhawk

5:00 – 5:55 (Rockville/Potomac) FTL what the hell (M)
Space the final frontier, how do you get characters there? Does the feasability of the described propulsion make or break a story?
John Ashmead, John G. Hemry, Yoji Kondo (Eric Kotani), Bud Sparhawk

7:30 – 8:25 (Salons A & B) Mass Signing
This is the mass signing held before the presentation of the WSFA Small Press Award.
Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Eric Choi, Brenda Clough, David Louis Edelman, Andrew Fox, Ron Garner, Morgan Keyes, Dave Klecha, Jonah Knight, Yoji Kondo (Eric Kotani), Dina Leacock, Edward M. Lerner, Craig Alan Loewen, James Maxey, Mike McPhail, James Morrow, Diana Peterfreund, Darrell Schweitzer, Alan Smale, Bud Sparhawk, Jean Marie Ward, Lawrence Watt-Evans

8:30 – 10:25 (Salons A & B) Small Press Awards
My Amazing Conroy story, “Yesterday’s Taste,” has been nominated. Competition is very stiff, and I’ve been practicing my “it’s an honor just to have been nominated” speech. Pretty easy, because it’s true.

All in all a pretty full weekend. And of course, Barry will be there too, eager to meet people and garner a few more photos for his Facebook page.

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Eating Authors: Gregory A. Wilson

Written on September 24th, 2012 by
Categories: Plugs
Gregory A. Wilson

Regardless of what’s been happening outside your door, if you live in the Northern Hemisphere (and I do) then this past weekend marked the autumnal equinox and the start of a new season. So, welcome to the first Fall installment of Eating Authors, 2012 edition.

Our author today is Gregory A. Wilson, an English Professor in New York City, bravely attempting to teach creative writing and literature at the undergraduate level. In addition to his genre fiction he’s also been known to pen plays and academic texts, but as both of those are a bit outside the scope of this particular blog, I’m going to point you toward his first novel instead, a book entitled The Third Sign.

When not writing novels, Gregory is working the other side of the street as co-host of the popular podcast Speculate! – the Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans (along with fellow author Bradley P. Beaulieu who recalled a meal with us back on May 7th of this year). Maybe after you read about Gregory’s fondly remembered meal you’ll give a click and a listen, or run out and get his book. Because, you won’t just be supporting him, you’ll be helping New York freshmen learn to write!

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Mechanicsburg or Bust!

Written on September 19th, 2012 by
Categories: News

This coming Saturday, September 22nd, I’ll be one of the speakers at Sci Fi Day. The annual event is organized by a local group, the members of the USS Susquehannock, and takes place at the Olde Town Books and Brew in Mechanicsburg, PA.

An assortment of guests will be on hand, each taking a turn to speak to the assembled masses. Stories will be told, books will be sold, autographs will be obtained.

In addition to myself the participants include: Michael Jan Friedman, Phil Giunta, Darrell Schweitzer, Jay Ansky, Beryl the Catian, the Capital City Jedi Knights, Doc the Klingon, the folks behind Fortress Publications, and MJ Rogers.

The event starts at 2pm (though you can show up earlier to schmooze) and runs until 9pm when the shop closes up. So, all in all, a fun-filled day in Mechanicsburg. You should come on by!

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Spokane vs. Helsinki: Cognitive Dissonance and the 2015 Worldcon

Written on September 17th, 2012 by
Categories: News

There are three serious bids for the World Science Fiction Convention (i.e., the Worldcon) in 2015. Orlando, Spokane, and Helsinki.

I don’t expect Orlando to win (sorry, Orlando, that’s just my opinion). In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if they end up being a spoiler for the other two, Spokane and Helsinki. Sigh.

I am torn.

I would very much like to see Spokane win the right to host the 2015 Worldcon. I know some of the talented people working on that bid, and I’m confident they’d do a fine job and it would be a glorious convention. I’ve never been to that part of Washington, and this would be a fine excuse to visit.

And yet… I would also very much like to see Helsinki win the the right to host the 2015 Worldcon. I’ve actually had some of my fiction translated into Finnish, and seriously, when am I likely to get myself (let alone my wife) over to Finland otherwise?

The vote will be taken in about eleven months at the 2013 Worldcon, LoneStarCon 3, in San Antonio, Texas. I suspect that the deciding factor will be economics and the financial burden (from the perspective of US attendees) of taking on two trans-Atlantic Worldcons in a row — for those of you who don’t have this sort of thing in the back of your mind, the 2014 Worldcon, LonCon 3, is in London, England.

And in a lot of ways I think that’s a shame. It’s the world science fiction convention, and I like seeing that aspect represented. I like meeting and doing panels alongside and chatting at parties with people from other countries and cultures.

Of course we have the better part of the year to see what happens with the economy, both here in the USA, and over in Europe. This is far from decided, which just means I need to live with my cognitive dissonance a while longer.

That’s my thoughts on the topic today. What are yours?

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Eating Authors: Jason S. Ridler

Written on September 17th, 2012 by
Categories: Plugs
Jason Ridler

And lo, another Monday has dawned, and you’ve found your way back to this blog, and the weekly Eating Author feature. Because what could be a better way to start your week than getting a peek into an author’s gustatory memories? Seriously, if I knew the answer to that, this would be a very different blog.

Our dining companion this week is Jason S. Ridler, who strikes me as the sort of person I wish I’d had teaching the various history classes that I ended up sleeping through back in my youth. In addition to his Ph.D. in War Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada, Dr. Ridler — oh, heck, let’s just call him Jay — has also put in time keeping the grounds at a cemetery, and making his way in the world as a punk rock musician. All these experiences have shaped the author inside the man. But don’t take my word for it. You can sample his short fiction in the collection Knockouts: Ten Tales of Fantasy and Noir, as well as some of his longer work such as his ongoing series of “Spar Battersea Thrillers” that include Con Job, Death Match, and Dice Roll, the last of which was just release this past weekend.

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My-Very-Early-And-Likely-To-Change Capclave 2012 Schedule

Written on September 15th, 2012 by
Categories: News

Capclave is just around the corner (if you can handle the metaphor of laying out the calendar like a road map) and I’ve just received the first in what will likely be a series of schedules. Still, it’s looking quite interesting, and I’m very fond of this convention because the programming is always fine and the people who attend are just a delight.

Friday, October 12th:
4:00 – 4:55 (Rockville/Potomac) Comic Relief
How much comic relief can you put in a book before it gets shifted into the humor category? Does humor hurt or enhance a serious novel? Does it throw you out of the story if you expect Song of Ice and Fire and get a line right out of Xanth? What are examples of writers who get it right/wrong?
Doug Fratz, Larry Hodges, James Maxey (M)

5:00 – 5:25 (Readings Room) Reading
I’m not certain what I’ll be reading yet, but it’s pretty likely that I’ll be giving away a plush buffalito to someone who shows up. So, you know, show up!

Saturday, October 13tht
9:00 – 9:55 (Salons A & B) As you will (M)
Anything goes? A panel without preconception or plan. Panelists talk about anything and everything.
Inge Heyer, Bud Sparhawk, Ian Randal Strock

5:00 – 5:55 (Rockville/Potomac) FTL what the hell (M)
Space the final frontier, how do you get characters there? Does the feasability of the described propulsion make or break a story?
John Ashmead, John G. Hemry, Yoji Kondo (Eric Kotani), Bud Sparhawk

7:30 – 8:25 (Salons A & B) Mass Signing
This is the mass signing held before the presentation of the WSFA Small Press Award.
Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Eric Choi, Brenda Clough, David Louis Edelman, Andrew Fox, Ron Garner, Morgan Keyes, Dave Klecha, Jonah Knight, Yoji Kondo (Eric Kotani), Dina Leacock, Edward M. Lerner, Craig Alan Loewen, James Maxey, Mike McPhail, James Morrow, Diana Peterfreund, Darrell Schweitzer, Alan Smale, Bud Sparhawk, Jean Marie Ward, Lawrence Watt-Evans

8:30 – 10:25 (Salons A & B) Small Press Awards
My Amazing Conroy story, “Yesterday’s Taste,” has been nominated. Competition is very stiff, and I’ve been practicing my “it’s an honor just to have been nominated” speech. Pretty easy, because it’s true.

It’s not clear yet when it will happen, but somewhere in the midst of this convention weekend there should be a small launch party for Cucurbital 3, the latest anthology from Paper Golem. I’m even expecting some of the authors to be there, so you’ll be able to get your copies signed!

And that’s the current state of my schedule. Changes will be posted as they occur.

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