Plugs

I’m preparing today’s installment of EATING AUTHORS more than a week in advance because I’ll be on my way back from California when it posts, returning first from a bit of vacation, which will have been followed by the 2013 edition of the Nebula Awards conference. That’s going to serve as a segue into today’s guest, Howard Andrew Jones, who I first met earlier this year at a different convention.

It happened the way it often does, a bunch of authors hanging about as part of a “meet the pros” event, gathered in an otherwise empty ballroom, drinks in hand, doing that combination of mingling and telling lies that you find at such events. Depending on the venue, you’re more apt to spend your time chatting with other authors than fans, and that was the case this time out, which led me to meeting Howard, so it all worked out.

While’s he’s toiled behind the scenes as the managing editor over at Black Gate since 2004, in more recent years he’s been coming on strong as a novelist. 2011 saw the release of his debut novel, The Desert of Souls, which he followed up with sequel The Bones of the Old Ones last December. More is surely coming.

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As has been mentioned here previously, long before I became a writer, I was a fan. And though I’m now a card-carrying member of SFWA and feel comfortable sending out email to assorted “Big Name Authors” and calling them by their first names at parties, there are still a few for whom I am a fan first and a colleague a distant second. One of these is Lois McMaster Bujold.

I’m going to assume you know who she is, because you should. Lois has won the Hugo Award five times (four for novels, and don’t be surprised if she picks up another one this year), the Nebula Award twice, plenty of assorted other awards, and a long long list of nominations. She is best known for her Vorkosigan series, and I don’t mind admitting that the last bit in Cryoburn brought me to tears.

Our paths rarely cross, which is why a few years back when she was a special guest at Boskone, I showed up in her autograph line. Small problem: as often happens with famous authors, the convention imposed a “three books only” policy for autographs. This was totally fair, since after getting your three books signed you could always get back in line again for another three. Except… I had brought a suitcase—yes, literally, a suitcase—of her books. And it was full. I was in that line, over and over, a very long time. And I wasn’t alone. And Lois, bless her, kept on signing long after her hour was up, determined to put her autograph on every book that had been brought in for that purpose. What else can I say, she’s a class act. Oh, and she writes a damn fine story too.

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For the last few years, I’ve had the task, pain-in-the-ass job, honor, pleasure of being responsible—though fortunately, not solely responsible—for the annual elections of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (what we call SFWA). The process involves strong-arming people to volunteer to run for one or another office, badgering them for platform statements, disseminating those statements to the membership at large, pissing off my letter carrier as the ballots all come to my house, and then opening, vetting, sorting, and counting the votes. When the dust finally settles, I inform the sitting president of the results.

That last bit happened at the end of April. Soon after, the word went out to the membership at large as to who won and who didn’t and by how much. So, I’m not giving away any secrets now by telling you that commencing July 1st, the new president of SFWA will be Steven Gould. And what better way to celebrate his coming reign than to have him here on Eating Authors?

Steven is probably best known for his 1992 novel, Jumper, which spawned two sequels, a movie, a novelization of the movie, and a sequel to the parallel universe story of the movie (I think I have that right). He’s been twice nominated for the Hugo Award, once for the Nebula Award, took home a Hal Clement Award for his second novel, Wildside, and has been recognized by no less an organization than the National Library Association for the quality of his young adult fiction.

I’ve been a fan of his work since 1992 when I picked up Jumper, and one of the high lights of the Reno worldcon for me was getting to hear Steven read from the then-still-unfinished third (or fifth, depending on how you count) book in the series, Impulse, which finally came out this past January.

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Welcome to another Monday. This week’s guest fascinates me, not only because of his fiction but the man himself. We’ve only met a few times, exchanged barely a handful of emails, and yet there’s just something about him that captures my imagination. And the same is true for his fiction. David Brin has won the Hugo, the Nebula, and the Campbell (the one they give for a specific book, not the other one, though he was nominated for that one). He’s carved out a legacy for himself in the genre with his Uplift series, and continues to break new ground. And don’t get me started about his short story collections, just follow the link below, trust me.

David has a PhD in physics, has seen his work adapted to the movie screen, and been the Guest of Honor at a Worldcon. After a career like that, what’s left but to talk to me about food?

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I’m writing this up on Sunday night, at about 11:00 p.m. I’ve just returned from the airport. A few hours before that I was in Atlanta, which is where I spent the weekend talking about science fiction and the Klingon language at a very small but very enjoyable convention where they did not allow me to go to bed. All in all, I think I’ve managed eight or nine hours of sleep for the weekend and really, what I should be doing right now is enjoying the comfort of my own bed as I study the inside of my eyelids.

But no, I need to write this up, because as Tom Hanks personally told me (well, okay, he was on the screen, but still), tomorrow the sun will rise. And when it does you need to be able to come here to this blog and read about Matthew Hughes. He is not your typical writer. Matt has an amazing voice that has often be likened to Jack Vance, and while I can see that, he’s also very much his own storyteller, and the world of science fiction is a better place because of it. And while I am a huge fan of his Archonate series, it wasn’t until preparing this introduction that I learned he also writes media tie-in work under the name Hugh Matthews, as well as crime fiction as Matt Hughes. Do take the time to click on some of the links below and check him out!

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My guest this week here on EATING AUTHORS is unstoppable. She’s earned a doctorate in chemical physics from Harvard, been a ballet dancer, two-term president of SFWA, multiple time winner of the Sapphire Award, the Prism Award, and the Nebula Award. She’s a member of SIGMA, the SF authors think tank that advises the US government. And, oh yeah, she’s a rockstar (literally).

I’m talking of course about Catherine Asaro, known to readers far and wide as the author of the Skolian Saga, a seemingly infinite series of novelettes, novellas and novels that combine politics, hard science, and romance amidst their science fiction plot lines. And despite being well known as an Analog author, she’s also found time to write fantasy, as demonstrated by her very popular Lost Continent series.

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As reported elsewhen on this blog, earlier this year I had the pleasure to attend a convention in a part of the country I had never been, at least not in my guise as an author. Part of what made this so special was it allowed me to see several old friends that I might not have run into again for a good long while, and it introduced me to some new folks I’d not yet met. One such new encounter was with Peter Orullian. We had been assigned a shared reading slot that turned out to be (ahem!) less than overflowing with eager fans. Peter and I passed the time reading to one another and chatting about our projects (and you really should check out his novel, The Unremembered), and while neither of us got the chance to thrill a rabid throng of potential new readers with our work, I know I had a pretty good time.

Naturally, I invited him to come here and tell us about his most memorable meal. Of course, that was too simple. Peter is a bit of an overachiever, as demonstrated by his graduating from high school as class valedictorian, finishing college as Magnua Cum Laude, with a Bachelors in Honors English and Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi keys thrown in for good measure. How did that manifest when I asked him this blog’s weekly question? Well, you’ll see for yourself?

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As you probably know, this year’s list of Hugo nominees was revealed over the weekend, and before we go on to talk about this week’s featured guest here on EATING AUTHORS, it’s worth posting a link for you to go back and review them at your leisure.

Well, now that that’s done, let’s talk about Charles E. Gannon. The trick with Chuck is there’s so much to cover it’s hard to know where to begin. He’s a Fulbright Fellow, a Distinguished Professor of English, a gamer, a well-established short story writer, and a member of SIGMA, the SF Think Tank. His fiction has been known to take him into other authors’ playgrounds, such as the worlds of Eric Flint’s Ring of Fire series, David Weber’s Honorverse, the Man-Kzin Wars, and more.

But perhaps the most exciting thing I can tell you about him is that tomorrow is the release date for his new novel, Fire with Fire, and I’m very pleased to share that news with you and encourage you to rush right out and pick up a copy.

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