Fantastical Andrew Fox

This Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, the family and I will be at Balticon, Maryland’s largest science fiction convention, and one of the bigger regional cons on the East Coast. We haven’t gone to a convention as a family in a couple of years, due to health concerns and other worries, so this is a bit of a milestone for us. Balticon has always been one of my kids’ favorites, due to their terrific kids’ programming.

Here’s the programming I’m scheduled for, in case you’ll be able to join us:

Saturday, May 23

11:00 AM Readings: Andrew Fox, Elektra Hammond, Larry Hodges (Chesapeake)

I’ll be reading a selection from Fat White Vampire Otaku.

Sunday, May 24

12:00 PM Putting a Pretty Face on Small Press (Parlor)
Scott E Pond (M), Andrew Fox, Gail Z. Martin, Alex Shvartsman, Patrick Thomas

Covers, often the bane of small press publishers. How do you put out a nice looking book without breaking the bank? What do you need to know when designing those covers and selecting cover art? What pitfalls should you watch out for that could mean the difference between looking pro and not.

2:00 PM Starting your own Small Press (Pimlico)
Dave Robison (M), Andrew Fox, Gary L Lester, Alex Shvartsman

Taxes, registration, a company name… there are so many things to consider before you even start. Learn some of the things you should be aware of before you take that plunge into the publishing mogul pool.

9:00 PM Mom and Dad Let Me Watch WHAT? (Chase)
Katie Bryski, Andrew Fox, Nate Nelson, THE JOHN VAUGHAN

Phasers a-blazing, starships exploding, steamy alien/elven love, and vicious clowns. Come out to discuss our earliest experiences with science fiction, fantasy, and horror–and they’ve shaped us as writers today.

11:00 AM SF/F Mysteries (Chase)
Sarah Pinsker (M), Andrew Fox, John L French

From Bester’s The Demolished Man to Jo Walton’s Farthing and Chris Moriarty’s Spin State. Robot detectives and vampire detectives and android detectives. Parlor mysteries and space station mysteries. The tools of the trade in the past (Sherlock Holmes’ very Victorian method of deduction) and the future (AI, bugs, drones).

At-the-door registration rates are:
Adult Child (6-12)
Full Weekend $65 $33
Friday $32 $16
Saturday $45 $23
Sunday $40 $20
Sunday/Monday $50 $25
Monday $17 $8

For more information, go to the Balticon homepage.

I hope to run into some of you there! It’s always a good show.

Capclave Dodo: “Where reading is not extinct”

After this past year of personal tsuris, I’m easing myself back into convention appearances with a one-day stop at Capclave, the Washington Science Fiction Association’s annual convention, “where reading is not extinct.” I’m scheduled for only one event, a half-hour reading on Sunday at 4 PM, the tail-end of the convention. I’ll read an excerpt from Fat White Vampire Otaku. If you’re planning to be at Capclave, I’d sure appreciate your staying until the “bitter end” to hear me read; getting attendees for a reading is always a challenge (unless you’re the GOH, and even then it can be a challenge), and the challenge is quadrupled when your reading is the last bit of programming on the convention’s final day.

The primary accomplishment I’d like to walk away from Capclave with this year is reconnecting with friends whom I haven’t seen in a year, or making new friends. I’d especially enjoy connecting with a circle of friends in the Northern Virginia area, since Dara and I (I, especially) have found it a bit difficult to establish new social ties in the five years we’ve been up here.

Here’s the info on attending Capclave:

Location: Hilton Washington DC North/Gaithersburg,
620 Perry Parkway, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20877

Membership cost: $60 (a special rate of $25 is available for Active Military, dependents of Active Military, and students)

Guests of Honor:
Paolo Bacigalupi
Holly Black
Genevieve Valentine

“Capclave is a small relaxed literary convention with a program that usually focuses on the short fiction form. Our Guests of Honor and other notable authors, editors, artists, and fans of the short fiction form will explore the creation and enjoyment of short fantasy and science fiction genre stories.

“Past Capclaves have hosted discussions with authors and fans; readings by authors; a dealer’s room with books, magazines, artwork, crafts, and other science fiction and fantasy related items; exhibits by artists; space science presentations from NASA; a hospitality suite; room parties; interesting conversations with other fans and professionals; and a relaxed atmosphere for visiting old friends and meeting new friends.”

The science fiction website SF Signal has linked to my recent article, “The New Immortality of Authors and Books,” on its Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror Links Page for 4/17/14.

SF Signal is a marvelous science fiction, fantasy, and horror website, winner of the 2012-13 Hugo Award for Best Fanzine. The site currently has over 866 pages of content. Current contents include a podcast interview with author Daniel Price, a link to the Functional Nerds podcast, and a link to the new trailer for the upcoming film, X-Men: Days of Future Past, which, if it is anywhere as good as X-Men: First Class was, should be one terrific movie.

The article has also been linked to by Locus Online, “The Website of The Magazine of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Field” (Locus Magazine has won the Hugo Award for Best Semi-Pro Magazine I think 33 times; they should just call it the Locus Award, but then again, there already exists a Locus Award, so forget that). Locus Online is the best online source for the most recent news in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror fields, and they also include lots of book and movie reviews and author retrospectives. Edited by Mark Kelly, it is invariably a fantastic read, and is worth visiting on a weekly basis. My article was linked to in the Blinks section on the left hand side of the web page for 4/17/14.

Here’s a link to the original article, “The New Immortality of Authors and Books.”

Unfortunately, I have had to severely truncate my list of upcoming appearances, due to my son Levi’s health situation. At present, I am unable to leave Dara, my wife, alone with Levi and his brothers for any extended period of time (such as the full weekend nearly all science fiction conventions take up). However, I expect to go to at least a day or two of CapClave 2014 in Rockville, Maryland in mid-October, since Rockville is only a ninety minute drive from my house and I can “commute.”

My updated list of planned and past convention and readings appearances can be found here.

Capclave Dodo: “Where reading is not extinct”

What an enjoyable convention! Many thanks to Bill Lawhorn, the Capclave committee, and all the volunteers. This year I got to attend all three days (a minor benefit of the federal furlough). I met some wonderful new friends. A few of my personal highlights:

Allen Wold’s Writer’s Workshop — This was my second turn assisting Allen with his frequently offered workshop. We had a large turnout this time – eighteen participants. We four reviewers (including Allen’s daughter, Darcy, who intends to take over management of the workshop when her father retires… “two years after he’s dead”) heard a lot of strong story beginnings, all composed “on the fly” in the first fifteen minutes of the workshop. Following the two sessions, I had a chance to have very enjoyable chats with participants Ron Jones, Chris Addotta, and Jennifer Delare (who recently returned to the U.S. after having spent eighteen years living and teaching in Italy). I had a terrific time, learned a few things myself, and would be very happy to continue assisting Allen.

Are Prose Superheroes Still Novel? — This was just a fun topic and a fun panel. Any discussion in which I get to bring up Robert Mayer’s Superfolks and Michael Bishop’s Count Geiger’s Blues is a darned good discussion, I’d say!

Name Drop and Quote Panel — The easiest job of moderating I’ve ever had. Didn’t have to say a word. As soon as we sat down, Scott Edelman and Steve Stiles started swapping stories about working in the Bronze Age Marvel Bullpen with Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Sal Brodsky; Michael Swanwick kicked in with tales of being a “young gun” among the old pros at the science fiction conventions of the early 1980s; and Steve told us all about his first and only orgy during the Swinging Seventies (the story not at all what you’d expect).

Fire On Iron Reading — I had an audience! Not a big audience, but an attentive and appreciative one. It’s always good to have an audience (not always a given at a fiction reading)! I read the Mikithi summoning scene; very vivid, lots of drama and action. Also lots of fun to read aloud.

Miscellaneous Smilies — It was great to meet Clarkesworld editor Kate Baker’s young daughters and to see them having such a wonderful time at the convention… fun kids! I hope they get to meet my boys at one of the Virginia conventions coming up this winter. I just loved getting to know Betsy Riley and to share two discussion panels with her (both of which I moderated), “Blood in Southern Waters” and “Self Publishing and You;” she is a real hoot! I’d like to pick up one of her books and see how well it reflects her lively personality. Alethia Kontis, thanks for reminding me that I have my own Harlan Ellison story to tell on some future panel devoted to funny Harlan stories! Barbara deBary-Kesner, thanks for sharing a wonderful but bizarro conversation with me – yakking it up about the federal acquisitions process in the con suite of a science fiction convention, rather than talking up sci-fi interests in the lunch room of a federal workplace! The world turned upside-down!

Another month, another Virginia-based science fiction convention (they seem to come hot-and-heavy in the winter months). This weekend, Levi, Asher and I are heading south/south-west to Roanoke. MystiCon has a tradition of strong programming for kids (a big plus in my household), and they also offer the quirky but undoubtedly fascinating (especially to my sons) attraction of a video gaming room featuring working home video game consoles dating from the 1980s to the present, a kind of hands-on museum of home video gaming. We’ll be at the convention from late Saturday morning to con closing on Sunday afternoon. Here’s some basic information on MystiCon:

Mysticon 2013, February 22-24
Holiday Inn – Tanglewood, 4468 Starkey Road, SW, Roanoke, VA 24018
540-774-4400
Full weekend registration: $45
Friday only: $25
Saturday only: $30
Sunday only: $20
Kids Aged 9-12: $20
Special Guests: Orson Scott Card (author); Peter Davison (media); Larry Elmore (artist)

And here’s my schedule for the weekend (for in-between times, check for me and my boys in the dealers’ room, the kids’ programming, or the con suite, most likely):

Saturday, February 23

World Building – “Can I Cook Or Can’t I”
Boardroom 1 (50 min) 3:00-4:00 PM
The creators of some of the most fantastic and out‐of‐this
world settings discuss the creative process.
Peter Prellwitz (M), Andrew Fox, Misty Massey, Charles
Matheny, Jason Oliveira, John Watts

Spooky Ghost and Horror Stories
Rm 533 (50 min) 11:00 PM-Midnight
Readings from several of our paranormal and horror authors.
Andrew Fox, Pamela Kinney, KT Pinto
(I’ll read a brief selection from The Runaways of Mount MonstraCity)

Sunday, February 24

Andrew Fox & Misty Massey Guest Signing
Signing Table (50 min) 11:00 AM-Noon

Building Post-Apocalyptic and Steampunk Vehicles
Boardroom 1 (50 min) Noon-1:00 PM
Dreaming of driving your very own Steampunk Time Machine
into the sunset? Or would you prefer racing in the dusty
aftermath of the apocalypse? Join our panelists for a look at
how you too can make your dream car set sail.
Emmy Jackson (M), Brian Brindle, Andrew Fox, David Lee

“Hook, Line and Sinker” How to Begin and End A Story
Ballroom E (50 min) 1:00-2:00 PM
Join our panelists as they discuss how to create a captivating
beginning that lures readers in and an ending that satisfies.
Peter Prellwitz (M), Betty Cross, Glenda Finkelstein, Andrew
Fox, Tera Fulbright, Zachary Steele

I hope to see lots of our friends there (and that we make some new ones, too)!

For the third year in a row, I’ll be heading down to Williamsburg, Virginia for MarsCon. Unfortunately, this year, unlike last, I won’t have my family with me. One by one, the boys have been dropping with various varieties of the winter crud. It’s a real shame, because MarsCon features one of the best tracks of family/children-friendly programming that I’ve ever encountered. And the boys were tremendously looking forward to it (and to the indoor swimming pool at our hotel). (Whoops! Not so fast! See update at the bottom of this post.) I’m not in the best of shape myself, with my wheezing and sneezing, but it looks as though I will drag myself to the con, anyway, because (a) I don’t like backing out on commitments, and (b) I booked my hotel room through Priceline, and my booking is non-refundable. So, if I’m paying whether I go or whether I stay home in bed, I might as well go stay in bed at the Clarion and drag my carcass over to the con as needed.

Here’s the general info on the con:

MarsCon 2013
Crowne Plaza Williamsburg at Ft Magruder
6945 Pocahontas Trail. Williamsburg, VA 23185
(hotel is currently sold out; if you want to go, check with the Clarion down the road, where I’ll be staying)
Writer Guest of Honor: David B. Coe (very nice guy!)
At the Door Registration Rates for the Weekend:
Adult – $45.00
Children (6-12rs Old) – $22.00
Children (1-5 yrs old) – Free with adult
Student/Military Rate:
This year MarsCon will offer a discount to Students and Active Military, for a Saturday Only! pass, of $25.00. ID must be presented.

For anyone interesting in where I’ll be at the con, here’s my schedule:

Friday, January 18, 2013

They Rise Again! Discussing Reborn Monsters like Vampires, Zombies, Mummies & Frankenstein
8 PM – General Longstreet’s
Tony Ruggiero (M), Tim Liebe, Andrew Fox
Undead monsters are doubly appropriate to our theme of rebirth: they’ve been reborn from the dead, and every few years their popularity is born again. Our panel of experts will examine as many classic and current favorites from fiction, film, and elsewhere as their hour of time will allow. Come prepared to share the undead that are unforgettable to you.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Writing 101 Workshop
11 AM-1 PM – Abraham Lincoln
Allen Wold, David B. Coe, Darcy Wold, Danny Birt, and Andrew Fox
Hundreds of writers have benefitted from Allen Wold’s instruction at MarsCon in the years that he has led our writing workshop. Sharpen up your pencil or charge up the laptop’s battery and come ready to write and take constructive criticism from Allen and his team of successful writers.

Guest Authors Reading
4 PM – Stuart’s Redoubt
Steve White (M), Marina Sergeyeva, Will McIntosh, Andrew Fox, Barbara Friend Ish
It’s a second hour of MarsCon’s fantastic writer guests featured in eight minute sets. This is your chance to see what’s forthcoming from these creative talents, get an autograph, or see which writer’s works you’ll want to seek out for your next read.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Post with the Most: Starting a Blog
10 AM – General Early’s
David Coe/D. B. Jackson (M), Tamora Pierce, Andrew Fox
Think you’ve got something to say? Perhaps blogging is for you. And who better to learn about it from than three of MarsCon’s best authors, including two Guests of Honor. They’ll explore both the mechanics of starting a blog, hints for finding readers, and advice for crafting the best of posts. Get up and get motivated with this excellent session.

Updating a Classic Group Write: Authors Re-imagine a Classic Scenario Live
Noon – General Hooker’s
Danny Birt (M), Stephen Simmons, Andrew Fox, Patrick Vanner
Four great writers will create a new version of a classic story with help from suggestions from the audience regarding the story to revise, the characters, the setting, and the some of the conflicts and plot elements. With your help, they’ll spin a new tale from familiar straw. Come and get insight into the creative process at work and enjoy a great story at the same time.

Remembering Ray: a Bradbury Memorial Hour
2 PM – Stuart’s Redoubt
Andrew Fox (M), Diana Bastine, Lyn C.A. Gardner, Mary and Terry Gray
We lost one of the all-time greats last year, that grand old man of science fiction and fantasy, Ray Bradbury. The panelists will each discuss the influence Bradbury had on their writing or fandom and offer appreciations of some of his great works such as Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, Dandelion Wine, and Something Wicked This Way Comes. Then they’ll open up the floor for your remembrances of Ray. Think about when you first encountered this giant or what you took away from one of his masterworks and come prepared to share.

UPDATE: No sooner than ten minutes after I posted this, my wife called to report that the boys are (a) devastated at her announcement that they won’t be going to MarsCon, and (b) insisting that they’re all feeling better. And (b) appears (at least according to Dara) to not be complete BS. So, now it appears I will have the full family in tow, after all. Much happiness ensues! I only hope their recoveries can last through the full weekend.

Capclave Dodo: “Where reading is not extinct”

This Saturday and Sunday, I’ll be attending my local(ish) science fiction convention, Capclave. Capclave is a personal favorite because of its literary-focused programming and its abundance of books dealers. Here are the details:

Capclave 2012
October 12-14, 2012
Hilton Washington DC North/Gaithersburg,
620 Perry Parkway, Gaithersburg, Maryland
$60: All Weekend
$20: Friday
$40: Saturday
$20: Sunday
Special Pricing for Students, Active Military, and Active Military dependents: Saturday $20 / All weekend $25

And here’s my schedule:

Saturday, October 13

Unsung Author: Robert Sheckley (10 AM, Bethesda Room)
Panelists: Michael Dirda (M), Tom Doyle, Andrew Fox
Robert Sheckley. He was nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula awards. SFWA awarded him the 2001 Author Emeritus award. Learn more about his career and writings.

Reading (1:30 PM to 1:55 PM, Room 254)
I’ll read a brief selection from my new middle grades book, The Runaways of Mount MonstraCity

Young, Adult, or Both? (4 PM, Salons A&B)
Panelists: Andrew Fox, Ron Garner, Victoria Janssen (M), Morgan Keyes, Diana Peterfreund
How does a YA differ from a children’s book or an adult book? How is the pacing, characterization, and language different or the same? Are there things you can do in one and not the other? Are these distinctions needed? And what about series like Harry Potter in which the children grow up?

RIP Bookstores or Not Dead Yet? (6 PM, Rockville/Potomac Rooms)
Panelists: Andrew Fox, Katie Hartlove (M), Michael D. Pederson, Steve Stiles
With the growth of Amazon online, the demise of Borders, and the rapid adoption of ebooks, does the traditional bookstores have a future? What is the role of bookstores in the age of instantly downloadable ebooks and Amazon Prime? Can we do anything to save the bookstore?

Mass Signing (7:30 PM, Salons A&B)
Panelists: 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, Lawrence M. Schoen, Darrell Schweitzer, Alan Smale, Bud Sparhawk, Jean Marie Ward, Lawrence Watt-Evans
This is the mass signing held before the presentation of the WSFA Small Press Award.

Sunday, October 14

WWI comeback (11 AM, Bethesda Room)
Panelists: Tad Daley J.D., Ph.D., Andrew Fox, John G. Hemry, Victoria Janssen (M), Jean Marie Ward
It has been nearly a hundred years since the War to end all wars, is this a setting that still has potential? Will the movie “War Horse” and the tv show “Downton Abbey” spark a new interest in fiction set during World War One?

The Bradbury Effect (3 PM, Frederick Room)
Panelists: Roger MacBride Allen, Marilyn “Mattie” Brahen, Andrew Fox (M)
How Ray Bradbury affected authors through his writing and contacts.

I’m really looking forward to the Bob Sheckley and Ray Bradbury panels. Hope to see some of you there!

Dara, the boys, and I are heading off to Balticon this weekend. We’ll be there Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. This will be our first Balticon, and we’re really looking forward to it.

The Balticon 46 hotel is the Marriott Hunt Valley Inn, 245 Shawan Road, Hunt Valley, Maryland 21031 (Phone: 410-785-7000). The at-the-door rates are $62/$31 (adult/child 6-12) for the full weekend, and daily rates range from a high of $44/$22 for Saturday to a low of $17/$9 for Monday.

Here is my line-up of programming. There is also a ton of kids programming at this convention, so Levi, Asher, and Judah should not get bored.

Saturday, 2:00 pm (50 Minutes) (Salon B)
A Cthulhu Out of the Hat
Writing Prompts for the Deranged, panelists and audience write
science fiction stories based on the items pulled out of a hat.
Panelists will read their stories at the end, audience members
will share their resulting stories at 11 PM on Sunday (Salon B).
(M): Andrew Fox, (S): Larry A. Reclusado, Gabe Fremuth, Cindy
Young-Turner, Hildy Silverman, Brandon (Brand) Gamblin

Saturday, 5:00 pm (50 Minutes) (Salon A)
Readers Ask Why
A changing panel of authors is on the hot seat as their fans ask
why their characters behave as they do, why the author chose
this sort of magic instead of another, why the world a book is
set in has certain dominant properties/elements. Once a panelist
(or moderator) answers a question, they’ll swap seats
with a panelist waiting in the first row to replace them. Audience
members who take over 30 seconds to ask their question
will get buzzed and must sit down and shut up with their question
unanswered! Panelists who take more than 2-1/2 minutes
to answer a question must take the moderator role and can
only answer another question after all the panelists at the table
when they took the moderator seat have swapped out. Oh!
And one more thing: Panelists who write SF/Fantasy/Horror
under more than one name can swap in again under their other
pen name IF they — literally — wear a different hat.
Starting Out: Moderator: Catherine A. Asaro; Panelists: John G.
Hemry, John C. Wright, Danny Birt, Steven H. Wilson
Panelists swapping in: Andrew Fox, Chuck Gannon, Nathan O.
Lowell, Janine K. Spendlove

Sunday, 9:00 am, (50 minutes) (Parlor 1041)
The Technology of Steampunk
A Roundtable Discussion. What does and doesn’t fit into a
steampunk world? How does the setting shape technology and
how people relate to it?
(M): Emilie P. Bush, (S): Elektra Hammond, Rebecca K. Davis,
Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Bernie Mojzes, C.J .Henderson, Andrew
Fox

Sunday, 5:00 pm (50 Minutes) (Parlor 304)
Philip K. Dick — Hollywood’s Favorite Author
A LOT of Phillip K. Dick’s work has ended up on the silver screen.
Panelists discuss what makes his work so Hollywood-sympatico
and talk about the ones that were great, not so great and, well,
blaghhh!
(M): D. Douglas Fratz, (S): Billy Flynn, Andrew Fox, Bernie Mojzes,
Daniel M. Kimmel, Marty Gear, Richard Allen Leider

Sunday, 7:00 pm, (1 Hour) (Maryland Foyer)
Autographing: David Allen Batchelor, Andrew Fox and
Veronica R. Giguere

Sunday, 10:00 pm (50 Minutes) Belmont Room
You Got Your Horror in My Fantasy!
Psychological horror as fantasy exploration. Panelists discuss
what they like and dislike about and what they think does and
does not work with this blending of sub-genres.
(M): Paul Elard Cooley, (S): Andrew Fox, S. Phil Giunta, Richard
Allen Leider, T. C. McCarthy

Monday 10:00 am (50 minutes) (Salon B)
The First Fast Food Joint on Epsilon V
What parts of our culture will we bring with us to the far
reaches of the galaxy and beyond? As we spread our wings
to the stars, what parts of our culture will journey with us?
What institutions and traditions will we carry to new worlds?
Will those cultural trappings be American or other? Or are our
cultural trappings tied to our current world and will we travel
outward without them?
(M): Andrew Fox, (S): Jody Lynn Nye (Guest of Honor),Noam R.
Izenberg, Patrick Scaffido, James Maxey

Monday, 11:00 am, (50 minutes) (Salon B)
Sci Fi In Comic Books Revisited
What is the relation of science fiction to comics? How have
the concepts been used? What shows’ plot points have been
adapted to comics and vice versa?
(M): Larry A. Reclusado, (S): Wayne Arthur Hall, Rebecca K.
Davis, Andrew Fox, Ray Ridenour

Monday, 1:00 pm (50 Minutes) (Pimlico)
Readings: Andrew Fox and Georgiana Lee

I hope to see some of you there!