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Eating Authors: Rolf Nelson

1 Comment » Written on June 1st, 2015 by
Categories: News
Rolf Nelson

Hey there. I’m back from BEA/Bookcon (which was insanely glorious, by the by), but I’m just here long enough to do some laundry, repack my suitcase, and post this EATING AUTHORS entry before I fly off to Chicago for the 50th annual Nebula Awards weekend conference where it will be revealed if I have piled up sufficient karma points to come back home with a nice new paperweight. Hey, I can dream, right?

But before any of that happens, we need to continue our presentation of memorable meals by this year’s Campbell Award nominees. Visiting today is Rolf Nelson. He’s most known for his novel, The Stars Came Back, which he describes as “a sci-fi space-western, or maybe military fiction, with a bit of mystery to it, set circa 2655 AD.” So basically a little bit of something for everyone.

I had to wrestle with Rolf a bit to get him here, as the parameters of this blog series didn’t mesh well with his world view (as you’re about to see). Still, he eventually came up with a meal that served his point and met my needs, and so here we are.

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My Shiny One-Day Balticon 2015 Schedule

No Comments » Written on May 19th, 2015 by
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So here’s the deal. I’m doing way too much travel this spring. I just returned from a trip to southern California. Next week I’ll be up in NYC for BEA/Bookcon. Mere days after returning from that, I’m flying out to Chicago for the Nebula Awards Conference. So, while I do realize that the Memorial Day Weekend is traditionally one of the busiest convention weekends for Science Fiction, I just can’t swing it this year.

And that’s a huge shame, because I was looking forward to attending ConQuesT 46 in Kansas City, seeing old friends, hanging out with so many of the Hadley Rille Books authors, playing games like “Story in a Bag” with members of both courts of NobleFusion, and arranging for a cage match between two different publishers of Nebula-nominated Amazing Conroy novellas (sorry, Barbara and Eric). But it is not meant to be.

But I can’t just go cold turkey.

So the folks at a Balticon 49 have generously agreed to let me do a couple panels on Saturday, which means I’ll be making a daytrip that day, showing up at the convention quite early and getting back in my car quite late (okay, technically, it’ll likely be Sunday by the time I reach home again, but this is NOT a technical blog, so shut up).

Here’s we’ll you’ll find me when I’m not in the bar/greenroom/at-breakfast/lunch/dinner/partying:

Saturday, May 23rd

2:00 – 4:50 p.m. | Derby | Targeting Submissions: The Pitch
How do you pick the best publications to send your work to? How do you sell them on your ideas and craft?
Joy Ward, Jennifer R Povey, Aaron Rosenberg, Bud Sparhawk, and me.

6:00 – 4:50 p.m. | Salon B | How Do You Work Technology into your Story
You spent five pages describing the workings of that ray gun. It needed to be credible, you thought. Sorry, but your readers fell asleep after the first paragraph. Hint: your story ain’t about a ray gun. Discover what to keep in and what to leave out in your fiction.
Walt Boyes, Jack McDevitt, Mark L Van Name, and me.

In addition, I’ll have copies of Paper Golem’s purfect new anthology Cats in Space with me and I will let you buy them (because I’m a nice guy like that).

Also, Barry will be with me, and he’ll have a couple copies of Calendrical Regression to sell you (get it before its Nebula fate is decided at week later), as well as free ebook copies.

It’s going to be a wild and very full day, and I’m looking forward to seeing you and you and you (and yes, even you) there.

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Eating Authors: Kary English

No Comments » Written on May 18th, 2015 by
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Kary English

And so it begins. For the fifth year in a row, it is my great pleasure to use EATING AUTHORS as a platform to draw attention to those authors who have been nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer!

The nominees this year are Wesley Chu, Jason Cordova, Kary English, Rolf Nelson, and Eric S. Raymond. Wes is nominated for the second time, and his most memorable meal has already graced this blog, but I’ve invited the other four to drop in, beginning today with Kary English.

Kary is probably best known for her short stories, which you’ve doubtless encountered in Writers of the Future anthologies, as well as Mike Resnick‘s Galaxy’s Edge Magazine. But like so many of us, she’s being lured to greater word counts, and there’s a novel-length manuscript with her name on it in the hands of a publisher right this very minute, and the first book in a ghost-written series coming out in 2016.

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My (probably) Final Ravencon 10 Schedule

No Comments » Written on April 10th, 2015 by
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RavenCon 10

In two weeks I’ll be heading down to Richmond, VA where I’m among the GOHs for Ravencon.

Here’s the full lineup:

AUTHOR: Allen Steele
ARTIST: Frank Wu
GAMING: Brianna Spacekat Wu
SPECIAL AUTHOR: Jack McDevitt
SPECIAL AUTHOR: Lawrence M. Schoen
PLUSH: Barry Mantelo

That’s right, Barry is a GOH. He has his own room in the hotel (okay, it may be a safe in someone’s closet, but it’s all his!), his own guest liaison, and first class travel to and from Richmond (you wish you could fit in a jiffy mailing bag, don’t you?).

While there’s always the chance that some last minute changes will pop up, here’s what I currently believe is my schedule:

Friday, April 24th

7:00 p.m. | Rooms E & F
Opening Ceremonies

Saturday, April 25th

10:00 a.m. | Anna Writing Dialogue
Panelists discuss writing convincing, interesting dialogue. What about accents, physical quirks, and differing vocabulary from character to character. How can you use physical beats and dialogue tags to pace a conversation?
Lou Antonelli, Noah McBrayer Jones, Karen McCullough (M), Kate Paulk, and me.

11:00 a.m. | Dealers’ Room Signing
That’s right, this is your chance to have me sign a copy of one of my books. What? You don’t have any of my books? Not a problem, I’ll have some at the table to sell you!
Just me (and Barry).

1:00 p.m. | Room G How to Remember ANYTHING!
I’ll discuss some of the kinds of memory that human beings have, and then walk you through the underlying principles that make them work. Then we’ll go through both mnemonic techniques and mnemonic systems, and end by teaching you one of the latter so you can amaze your friends with your incredible memory!
Me (and anyone who remembers to show up).

3:00 p.m. | Board Room Reading
I’ll read a story the opening of my new novel Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard, and if there’s time tell talk about a completely different book I’m working on.
Me (and a throng of eager readers!).

6:00 p.m. | Chesterfield Pictionary: Authors vs. Artists
This is going to get ugly, ain’t no doubt. My only hope is that the artists can draw pretty but suffer from aphasia, lockjaw, or are eating peanut butter.
Victim List Still in Progress

Sunday, April 26th

10:00 a.m. | Room E No Right Way To Write: Techniques for New Writers
There is no one correct way to write. One of the challenges for new writers is to find the way that works best for them. Some people need strict outlines. Others require only bullet points. While still others want for nothing more than an idea and a few notes scrawled on a dirty napkin. Panelists will discuss a variety of methods they’ve used, and offer you a range of options for you to try out on your own.
Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Mary Miley, Robert Sommers, Allen Steele, and me as your Sunday morning moderator.

1:00 p.m. | Anna The Best Critique Group For You
Critique groups are a great way for both new and experienced writers to improve their stories, but for many these gatherings may seem mysterious or even intimidating. What do writing groups do? How can you find one? We’ll share our experiences, offer our advice, and then send you loose into the wild.
J.T. Glover, Darin Kennedy, Robert Sommers, Meryl Yourish, and moderator me.

That’s pretty much it. At this point, it’s not clear if there will or will not be a San Marino Worldcon Bid Party (but if there is, it will be Saturday night — unless, um, it’s not).

See you in Richmond!

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Novella Nebula Nomination Hat Trick

No Comments » Written on February 20th, 2015 by
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Nebula Awards 2015

I’ve been sitting on this news since Monday and now I can finally share it. I am deliriously happy to announce that for the third consecutive year a story featuring the Amazing Conroy — my stage hypnotist in space — has landed on the Nebula ballot for Best Novella!

My thanks go out to Barbara Hill for giving it a home, and to everyone who took the time to read it and found it worthy of your attention.

Congratulations to the awesome authors sharing this category with me, and who make me look good by allowing me to be counted among them.

Daryl Gregory for We Are All Completely Fine, (Tachyon)
Nancy Kress for Yesterday’s Kin, (Tachyon)
Ken Liu for “The Regular,” (Upgraded)
Mary Rickert for “The Mothers of Voorhisville,” (Tor.com 4/30/14)
Rachel Swirsky for “Grand Jeté (The Great Leap),” (Subterranean Summer ’14)

This also means that you have unlocked the “Tuxedo Gambit” achievement. I’ll be continuing my regimen of exercise and healthful eating so that I can show up at the Nebs at least fifty pounds lighter than in 2014, and create the comparison photo in dueling tuxedos.

See you in Chicago!

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Novelocity – Favorite Parts of the Writing Process

No Comments » Written on February 6th, 2015 by
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Novelocity

My apologies. I’ve been a bit lax when it comes to putting up posts when a new Vector shows up at Novelocity.

The current topic is our favorite parts of the writing process.

Here’re my thoughts on the topic, written back in January:

I’ve just finished responding to the copyedits of my next novel, and that may be biasing my answer, but I have to say it was at one and the same time a terrifying and giddy experience.

The terrifying part (at least for me) stems from the uncertainty when first looking at page after page of notes and comments and corrections. Is the copyeditor going to find huge, gaping holes, or embarrassing bits of grammatical flaws, or perhaps just not get the point of the book or the voice and style.

The giddying part though (again, at least for me) is seeing how someone new responds to the book, and realizing how the copyedits actually improve the reading experience and make me look damn clever!

But that’s just me. To see how the others in our little group responded, just head on over to Novelocity.

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Cover Reveal – BARSK: THE ELEPHANTS’ GRAVEYARD

4 comments Written on February 5th, 2015 by
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Barsk: The Elephants' Graveyard

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Internet, may I present for your anticipation, gradual build-up of ultimately brain-wrenching desire, and immediate viewing pleasure, the cover of my forthcoming novel, Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard.

My editor informs me that the release doesn’t happen until December, but the way I choose to spin that is it creates an opportunity for a solid ten months of buzz, and a cover reveal is an awesome beginning.

The cover art is by Victo Ngai, a Society of Illustrators NY Gold Medalist (she actually has a stack of gold and silver medals), and depicts her conception of one of the artificial “vents” that occur within the rainforests of the islands of Barsk. Specifically, a shaft visited by Pizlo, a young boy whose very existence is outside the strictures of Barsk culture.

He hung in open air, ruminating, suspended upside down in a well-tended shaft walled on all sides with living green. Seven such chimneys existed on the island of Keslo; every island on Barsk boasted at least one. Fant society created the insubstantial monuments as part memorial and part warning. Few reached all the way to the uppermost limits of the forest, or ran all the way down to its roots.

Barskg is a world of almost constant rain and breaks in the cloud cover are infrequent. Rarer still are the times when the clouds happen to part and allow a glimpse of any of the planet’s moons. In the scene Victo Ngai referenced for the cover, Pizlo has gone to a specific chimney at a specific time, following the urging of the voices in his head, to see his third of Barsk’s seven moons. Pizlo is a weird little kid, and he’s convinced the moon not only speaks to him, but tells him secrets.

So, now that you’ve seen the cover and read a snippet, it’s time to tease you a bit more. How am I going to do that, you ask? Why, by sharing with you some of the remarks from other folks, Big Name Authors all, who have already read the finished book:

“The second you encounter the arboreal uplifted elephants who speak with the dead, you know you’re reading a work of singular imaginative power.  It’s a delight from beginning to end.”

—Walter Jon Williams, Nebula Award-winning author of The Green Leopard Plague

“Weird, wise, and worldly, Barsk: The Elephant’s Graveyard is a triumph.”

—Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Red Planet Blues

“Grand in scope, yet deeply intimate. Schoen gives anthropomorphism some serious spirituality. It got inside my head in the way that only an exciting new idea can.”

—Howard Tayler, Hugo Award-winning creator of Schlock Mercenary

“Combines excellent characters and a fascinating world.  What really makes it work is how he deftly weaves together startling SFnal ideas with character-based intrigue.  You’ll really care for these characters, even as you find them believably alien.”

—Karl Schroeder, author of Lockstep

“A heartfelt and wonderfully weird book: a space opera about kindness and memory. Read it. Meet these people. Listen to their dreams, and to their moons.”

—Max Gladstone, author of the Craft Sequence

And that’s going to have to hold you for a while, but I promise, there’ll be more hooplah in the weeks and months to come.

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Boskone 52 Schedule (more than a month out!)

No Comments » Written on January 11th, 2015 by
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Bucking the trend of recent conventions, this morning I received an email from the programming people at Boskone revealing what they referred to as my “final schedule,” and including a note that the full schedule is up on their website

I am agog!

Not just because lately it’s been much more common to get my schedule in the final week before the con (and often much less), but because of the incredible array of authors who will be showing up at the convention, folks like Elizabeth Bear, Charlie Stross, Karl Schroeder, Allen Steele, Carrie Vaugh, Walter Jon Williams, and many more. And, it certainly doesn’t hurt that Steven Brust is their GoH, as I am a long time fan and collector of his work.

Anyway, without further ado, here’s my schedule:

Friday, February 13th
3:00 p.m. – 3:50 p.m. | Burroughs | Food in Fiction
Stories that make you go, “Yum!” How do you describe food to convey mood or set the scene? Join our panelists as they dish on the culinary delights that tantalize us in fiction, from regional teas to kingly feasts. What works? What doesn’t? And what should you know about a food-centric scene?
with Carrie Cuinn (M), Steven Brust, James Cambias, Fran Wilde, and me!

4:00 p.m. – 4:50 p.m. | Galleria-Kaffeeklatsch 2 | Kaffeeklatsch
Let’s talk about psychology, linguistics, Klingon, hypnosis, small press publishing, award nominations, my forthcoming book from Tor, or whatever else you want to ask me about as we enjoy coffee, tea, or in my case a Diet Cokeâ„¢. Sign-up is required at Program Ops in the Galleria, but I’m sure we can fit you in.

Saturday, February 14th
10:00 a.m. – 10:25 a.m. | Independence | – Reading
I’ll likely read from my new novel, Barsk: The Elephants Graveyard, unless people would rather hear a bit from my recent Amazing Conroy novella, Calendrical Regression. Either way, come on by, show me some love, on this cold Valentine’s Day morning (sniffle, cuz my wife is back in Philadelphia).

2:00 p.m. – 2:50 p.m. | Galleria-Autographing | – Autographing
This is your chance to bring stuff for me to sign! I know, it’s exciting!
with M.L. Brennan, Daniel M. Kimmel, and me!

5:00 p.m. – 5:50 p.m. | Burroughs | – Rejectomancy
Is there really a blue sheet of death? Does an encouraging form letter mean less or more than a generic personalized response? These are just a few of the questions that new writers ponder as they try to read between the lines of the rejection letters they receive. Every new writer goes through this dreaded stage (better known as “rejectomancy”) as they try to glean some hidden meaning within the text. Writers who have been there share their own rejectomancy stories and give some helpful advice on ways to avoid the “rejectomancy” trap.
with Stephen P. Kelner (M), Craig Shaw Gardner, James Patrick Kelly, Margaret Ronald, and me!

And of course, Barry will be on hand to pose for photos with you. See you in Boston!

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