How To Annoy a Science-Fiction Nerd Today

It is May the 4th! Star Wars day!

May the 4th be with you!

Of course, if you like to have a little fun, either in an attempt to annoy science-fiction nerds or perhaps just to throw a little confusion into the mix, you can share one of the many silly memes that involve mixing memes or confusing popular quotes from a variety of sources. And, of course, providing fictional attribution at the same time.

Here's one I was toying with earlier today.

 

If I counted correctly, I think this visual meme refers to thirteen different movies or television shows. I suppose I could have tried to add more, but I was already getting dizzy. Can you name the thirteen that I referenced?

Writers of the Future

I just got back from five days in Los Angeles at the annual Writers of the Future celebration.

Being a writer of speculative fiction, I have long known about the awards and have even entered a couple of stories there (before I had made enough pro sales to disqualify me from entering again) - and that's one of the great things about WOTF. It is designed to provide a platform (and launching pad) for beginning writers.

WOTF Vol 30 - Kobo Link

Created in 1983 by L. Ron Hubbard as a way of discovering and nurturing new talent in science fiction, fantasy and horror, the competition has no entry fee and winners who are published received pro rates and a chance to win the grand prize of $5000. Past winners of the contest have gone on to win every major science fiction award (the Hugo, the Nebula, the John W. Campbell, the Bram Stoker, and the Locus Award) some have also gone on to win mainstream literary awards such as the National Book Award, the Newbery and the Pushcart Prize.

The stories are read blind by a panel of distinguished judges who are a veritable who's-who of the biggest most influential people in speculative fiction.

But beyond winning, what I learned more about this past week was the intensive five day master-class workshops lead by several of the biggest names in sci-fi. These workshops teach them so many of the skills that are important to a writer's success and were held in the Author Services office which is located on Hollywood Boulevard just down the street from where all the big glamour Hollywood action happens.

Me getting out of the limo-van at the red carpet

I was most impressed at the afternoon where Galaxy Press publisher John Goodwin spent four hours working with the students on their PR and self-promotion skills, helping them refine their "story pitch" when speaking with media and providing them all with professional, high quality media kits (which included pictures and video of them on the red carpet and on stage receiving their prestigious awards - similar packages were sent out to each author and illustrator's respective local media).

The buzz and business of the red carpet

I mean, my non-fiction publisher, Dundurn, is great and has a fantastic author-relations program, newsletter and digital eduction program and wonderful publicists - but wow, I've never seen a publisher do so much for beginning writers, and doubt I will ever see an anthology give such an amazing promotional platform for its contributors.

But let's get back to the red carpet, shall we.

A long-shot of when I first walked onto the stage for my talk

Yes, the awards ceremony, which were held on Sunday April 13, were held at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre, had all the glamour and ritz of a major Hollywood movie premiere. (The book nerd in me was, admittedly, overwhelmed with excitement and a special thrill - THIS is the type of buzz that should exist more for books)

There was a fantastic dinner followed by a red carpet entrance with buzz and media and a 3 hour gala event with musical and dance performances and black tie celebrations.

I was delighted to be invited to be a guest speaker at the event and was asked to talk about the future of publishing. I surprised the winners (13 writers and 12 illustrators) with Kobo Aura HD's preloaded with their newly published anthology.

Cool to see my name spelled correctly - and my tie is even straight!

(I have to pause to say that, though I have done speaking engagements in four different countries and on all types of stages, this was the first time I had the pleasure of being able to read my speech from a teleprompter - pretty darned cool!)

I was delighted to speak alongside people like Nancy Kress (who presented the Writer's Digest Award), Keynote Speaker Leland Melvin (Aerospace Engineer and NASA Astronaut) as well as so many amazing NYT Bestselling authors: Kevin J. Anderson, Doug Beason, Eric Flint, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Todd McCaffrey, Rebecca Moesta, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Tim Powers, Mike Resnick, Robert J. Sawyer and Dave Wolverton.  WOW! (Yes, I geeked out just a little, several times that evening and throughout the week when I got to hang out with many of these wonderful folks)

Here is the full video of the WOTF 2014 Awards - (I appear a little after 42:00 minutes and speak for about 5 minutes) - [EDIT: The video of just my speech - a little over 5 minutes, is here]

Below is just my talk about the Future of Publishing

Because I was set to go on stage right after Orson Scott Card received his Lifetime Achievement Award (which starts at 36 minutes), I got to watch his acceptance speech from the side of the stage.

Oh yeah, and right after the awards, I met Nancy Cartwright, the actor who does the voice for Bart Simpson. Ay Carumba! That was pretty darned cool.

Though she did the voice, which was cool, Nancy didn't have a cow when I asked for a picture

The Wilshire Ebell Theatre, which apparently was standing-room only, holds about 1200 people. And afterwards, most of the folks from the theatre gathered in the ballrooms, art galleries and courtyard of the Ebell. At this gala reception, all the writers and illustrators signed copies of the book. It was amazing to see such a gigantic lineup of people waiting to get autographs. It took me a full hour to made the circuit and get everyone's signatures. What an amazing experience for these author (for several this was their very first book signing experience - pretty awesome!)

The whole Writers of the Future was an amazing experience and the good folks from Author Services (the agency representing the literary, theatrical and musical works of L. Ron Hubbard) and Galaxy Press (publisher of Hubbard's fiction) were exceptional hosts and were so incredibly gracious and supportive of not just the winning authors and illustrators, but of all their guests.  (I was quite impressed with the amazing collection in their library of all of the books from past winners and esteemed judges).  The judges and past winners themselves were, in that same spirit, particularly generous of their time, wisdom and knowledge -- I have to say the "pay it forward" sentiment that was continually at the forefront was quite spectacular.

These folks certainly know how to promote and encourage great writing and creative achievement and it was an honour and a pleasure getting to spend time helping celebrate the amazing new talent that will help continue to shape the field of speculative fiction.

Tesseracts Sixteen Launch

This Saturday, at Bakka-Phoenix, a must-go bookstore for science-fiction and fantasy readers in the Toronto area, Tesseracts Sixteen: Parnassus Unbound, a science fiction anthology that I recently edited, will celebrate it's official Toronto Launch.  It takes place Saturday Sept 29th at 3 PM (Bakka-Phoenix is located at 84 Harbord, just off Spadina)


See the Facebook event here.

Tessaracts Sixteen (or T16 for short) is the latest in the award-winning speculative fiction series and focuses on speculative writing where art, literature, music and culture play a central role.  Each tale involves one or more of those cultural elements (which is where the term Parnassus is derived).  T16 features a wonderful medley of short stories and poems by: Neil Peart & Kevin J. Anderson, Robert J. Sawyer, Ryan Oakley, Steve Vernon, Hugh A. D. Spencer, Sandra Kasturi, Michael Kelly, Rebecca Senese, Randy McCharles, Chadwick Ginther, Stephen Kotowych, Carolyn Clink, J. J. Steinfeld, David Clink, Robert H. Beer, L. T. Getty, Scott Overton, Sean Costello, Virginia O'Dine, Melissa Yuan-Innes, Derwin Mak, Kimberly Foottit, Matthew Jordan Schmidt, Adria Laycraft and Jeff Hughes.

Apart from the fantastic writing included inside, the book sports a truly spectacular cover by Jeff Johnston which perfectly captures the theme.

I had long wanted to edit an anthology with this theme, and am delighted with the incredible stories collected together here.  And I can't wait to share this book which I am proud and honoured to have been a part of.  Joining me at the book launch on Saturday at 3 PM will be:  David Clink, Sandra Kasturi, Michael Kelly, Derwin Mak and Hugh A.D. Spencer

The KJA In TO For CA

Imagine if someone wrote the novelization for Pink Floyd's The Wall, The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band or the Rush album 2112 at the same time the music was being produced.

That's exactly what the novel Clockwork Angels by Kevin J. Anderson is.

Anderson and Rush drummer/lyricist Neil Peart collaborated on the project. The Rush album Clockwork Angels is set in a steampunk universe in an orderly and controlled world ruled by The Watchmaker. The entire album explores the theme and story of Owen Hardy, an apple farmer who seeks to explore the wonders of this world and sets out on his adventure.

It is a fantastic science-fiction novel by one of sci-fi's most talented minds. Combine that with the creative spirit and energy that goes into a Rush concept album and you have a fantastic mix of music and prose, certain to delight fans of the band and sci-fi fans alike.

Kevin J. Anderson is appearing tonight at the Chapters on John and Richmond (142 John Street) at 7 PM for the world premiere launch of this book, which is published by Toronto publisher ECW Press.

I'm sure there'll be a huge line up.

I'm hoping to be one of the first in line.

KJA at BEA in NY in June 2012

Delighted To Announce Tesseracts Sixteen Contributors

I am not only honoured to be the latest editor of the award-winning Tesseracts anthology series, but am absolutely delighted with the line-up of authors who will be featured.

Selecting stories and poems for Tesseracts 16: Parnassus Unbound was not an easy process.  Just ask any of the contributors who patiently waited for me as I struggled to stay on track and on time with this one.  (Or ask the incredibly patient Brian Hades of Edge Publishing, who, miraculously, didn't release bloodhounds to come find me while I kept plugging away in the final throes of manuscript completion)

One of the main reasons it wasn't easy is that there was an incredible amount of phenomenal material submitted.  I had so much great material, in fact, that I could have easily put together two or three volumes.

Alas, I ended up having to reject a lot of really good material -- this was extremely difficult, because I wasn't just looking at great writing, but I was trying to have the pieces all fit together in a way that they either played off one another, acted as contrasting approaches to a similar theme, or merely flowed well back to back.  I also tried to ensure that as many different elements from art, literature, music and culture were represented, so that the pieces themselves created a wondrous mosaic of the talent flowing through the Canadian speculative landscape.

But I am delighted and thrilled with the result.

Tesseracts Sixteen: Parnassus Unbound will include fiction and poetry by:

Neil Peart & Kevin J. Anderson, Robert J. Sawyer, Ryan Oakley, Steve Vernon, Hugh A. D. Spencer, Sandra Kasturi, Michael Kelly, Rebecca Senese, Randy McCharles, Chadwick Ginther, Stephen Kotowych, Carolyn Clink, J. J. Steinfeld, David Clink, Robert H. Beer, Leia Getty, Scott Overton, Sean Costello, Virginia O'Dine, Melissa Yuan-Innes, Derwin Mak, Kimberly Foottit, Matthew Jordan Schmidt, Adria Laycraft, Jeff Hughes.

And, I'm in awe of the absolutely gorgeous cover that Jeff Johnson created.  It perfectly matches the theme of this great collection.

Tesseracts Sixteen: Parnassus Unbound will be released in September of 2012. The paperback will be listed at $15.95 US and the eBook at $9.99.

It is already available for pre-order at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, IndieBound and McNally Robinson.  Of course, you can always request it from your friendly neighbourhood bookstore.  Better yet, request two, so you can buy one for someone you love.

Sign up for my monthly newsletter and I'll share the entire TOC with you.  I'll also reveal some interesting trivial details related to Tesseracts 16 that you might find interesting and you'll have a chance to win a Tesseracts Sixteen 6 X 9 notebook, which are in extremely limited supply.

An 80's Geek's Bookgasm

I think the best way that I can describe Ernest Cline's Ready Player One is as an 80's Geek's Bookgasm.

I'd leave it at that, but I feel I should at least discuss how I came to discover and enjoy the book.

First, let me blame Mark and Jon of The Enthusiasticast. It was in Episode 72 that Jon starting talking about this novel by Cline. Before he was even half-way done, I was practically salivating and knew I wanted to read it.

No, I didn't want to read it.

I wanted to listen to the audio version read by Wil Wheaton. (I'd previously enjoyed listened to Wheaton read a few of his own books and knew he was an excellent narrator. Having Wheaton as the voice for this 80's "nerdgasm" was the perfect fit.

Throughout the listening (most of which was done via my 1.5 hour commute from Hamilton to Toronto), there were times when I just sat in the car and kept listening to the novel. And half the time, when traffic was so bad that I was stuck on the highway for up to 2 hours or more it didn't bother me in the slightest - because it meant I had more time to listen to the book. It was the perfect thing to soothe this commuter's soul . . .

In a nutshell, Ready Player One is set in a dystopian future in which a huge cross between social media and online gaming exists in a virtual world called The Oasis. The Oasis was created by billionaire James Halliday -- (think of him as a cross between Steve Jobs and Howard Hughes - hmm, maybe more of a John Hughes, given his love for that film-maker`s popular movies from the 80`s)

When Halliday dies, there is an announcement that his entire fortune will go to the person who can succeed in finding the 3 hidden Easter eggs that he planted somewhere in The Oasis. An entire culture of people dedicate their lives to finding these eggs - and it is, the way online gaming can become for some, an overwhelming obsession that takes over their lives.

A good deal of the Gunters (the "Egg Hunters") role is studying and leaning about Halliday - about the things he wrote, the things he said, the things he loved. Because Halliday was a product of and a huge fan of the 80`s (he was a teen in the 1980's) a good deal of understanding of where he might have hidden the eggs comes from understanding and knowing 80's pop culture.

This element of the book makes it an incredibly wonderful trip down memory lane for anyone who enjoyed the John Hughes teen movies of the time, playing Dungeons & Dragons, the very first text-based adventure games, the hype of Pac-Man and the video game arcade frenzy, and a slew of other pop culture music and movie references from the time.

Combine that with an intriguing set of characters (who are often extreme in their dedication to this virtual world and the hunt), a beautiful mirror held up to our current fascinating with online and mobile connectedness via social media, and an easy to approach style of writing made this a fantastic novel that I simply couldn't get enough of.

To top it off, the Canadian rock trio Rush ends up playing a significant role in the novel -- as a huge Rush nerd that completely blew my mind.

Being a fan of sci-fi, a fan of dystopian fiction, a lover of the 80's, a lover of Rush and a fan of Wil Wheaton it seems as if this novel was written for me -- or at least that I was one of the intended audience for this book.

But perhaps you might see how this novel was a kind of bookgasm for this particular 80's book nerd.

Thanks, Mr. Cline. Escaping into Ready Player One the way that many of the characters of the novel escape into The Oasis was a glorious treat that I fully enjoyed. Having the book read by Wil Wheaton was the perfect icing on that cake.

Needless to say I highly recommend this novel - but only if you're serious about 80's geek culture. If you are, chances are you'll have similar strong feelings. If you're not, you'll likely still enjoy the storyline, the twists and turns and the tension, along with the various plot strings that Cline sets up, but it's hard to say how you'll react to the strong 80's presence in the book.

EerieCon 13 Panel (World Building)

Following up on some more notes I took during EerieCon 13 in Niagara Falls, New York a couple of weekends ago, I thought I'd share a little bit about World Building from the discussion which took place on the Sunday afternoon.


WORLD BUILDING
How do you go about it? Where do you start? Do you have a formula? What works and what doesn't? Panelists: Anne Bishop, Lois Gresh, Alex Pantaleev, Larry Niven. Moderator: Mark Leslie.

World Building Panel at EerieCon 13 - Photo by Bill Hilliker

I was delighted to be the moderator on this panel because it was a great cross-section of various different types of world building. And getting to ask really smart and talented people questions is, simply, wonderfully entertaining for me.

This panel had a lovely cross-section of talent from across the genres/spectrum on it. From Larry Niven and the hard science POV, to Anne Bishop, who writes mostly in the realm of dark fantasy. Lois Gresh writes both hard science fiction and dark fantasy as well as a wonderful mix of everywhere in between. And as an interesting addition, the panel had Dr. Alex Pantaleev, who builds worlds and teaches world building to game designers.

The discussion was fruitful and lively, and I loved the comparison between creating worlds for fictional characters to move through in a story or novel and creating a world for gamers to move through independent of the creators. (IE, the concept of non-interactive VS interactive worlds)

I had been curious about different types of indexes or maps and how each writer organized their research, but was fascinated to learn some interesting details such as a good white board was sometimes all that was needed to keep things straight (as were hand-drawn maps). Also, Lois and Larry seemed to take delight in the research itself, enjoying getting into the hard science whenever possible, and it was interesting to learn how Niven's The Ringworld Engineers (1980) was inspired by various engineering problems his fans had written to him about from his original Ringworld novel in 1970.

And I find it interesting that I was privileged to get to interview these four great minds about world-building at EerieCon, because it had been the previous year when I'd conducted a podcast interview with Robert J. Sawyer to talk about the very same topic (although, as often happens, I slide a little off course every once in a while, all in the name of fun and interesting conversation, of course).

You can listen to that interview here:  The Writing Show Podcast interview with Robert J. Sawyer.

Not bad, (if I'm allowed to brag for a moment), for a guy who hasn't really built any worlds in his fiction, but rather, casts dark shadows across the world we know through his writing.

Post-EerieCon 13 Bloggy Stuff

I got back yesterday afternoon from EerieCon 13 feeling a little tired, but mostly satisfied and energized.

It was a great weekend spent with some amazing people, talking about writing and reading speculative fiction and related topics (technology, culture, society). And to boot I got to meet and hang out with yet another iconic writer whom I grew up reading: Larry Niven.

After trying not to gush over Larry while asking him to sign some books (among them a well-worn/well-loved mass market paperback version of Lucifer's Hammer) I got to sit with him on a few panels, learned more fun "behind the writing" bits from several of his novels, and sat beside him during the WHAT LINES' MINE panel, helping him along - as it had been his first exposure to this unique game (more on this panel/game below).

During that session, the EerieCon organizers surprised Larry with a large slab cake (April 30th was his 73rd birthday) with the entire Ballroom audience singing "Happy Birthday" to him. I snapped a couple of quick pictures of the moment.

Larry standing while the crowd sings & cheers

A view over Larry's shoulder of his cake & stage-right side of the audience

WHAT LINES' MINE is a unique EerieCon game where quotes from anywhere within the entire body of the panel authors' works are read aloud out of context and the authors have to guess which one of them wrote it by holding up name cards in front of them. The scoring is standard fare when you get one right, but if you get your OWN quote wrong, you lose points big time. 

There is a lot of fun-spirited cheating during this game (which leads to much amusement between the panel and the audience and lends to a lot of the game's fun). There are some great running jokes involving Anne Bishop's use of particular recurring subject matter in her writing, and references to long-running panelists, even when they're not there (like Josepha Sherman and Carolyn Clink who weren't physically there, but were in spirit)

I, of course, had the biggest advantage over the other panelists since I'm pretty sure I had the least amount of published material out there and was thus most likely to be able to recognize my own writing from within that smaller pool.

But it was a fun game. I came in first and my friend James Alan Gardner came in last, winning the Hal Clement memorial award for the lowest score. (The lowest score was given that name in honour of Hal, who absolutely adored sitting on this panel/game and cherished every moment of it, but consistently came in last)

I met and chatted with so many great people this past weekend.  At events like this, sure, the panel discussions are good, but the hallway and ConSuite chats can be just as illuminating and fun.

As I often do while sitting on panels, I jot down notes of interesting things that the other panelists say - I tend to take more notes when I'm moderator, which allows me to draw on things they've said, explore concepts they raise further and tie in things that each person said. I continually learn as much if not more as a panelist than when I'm sitting in the audience.

During one of the panels about writers using social media, there were so many great questions from the audience as well as so much interesting discussion from my fellow panelists that we ran out of time. I promised the folks who still had more questions that I'd do my best to sum up the things discussed as well as put out a blog post regarding that topic.  Thus, later this week, there'll be a few "follow-up" posts about EerieCon 13, in particular a "Reader's Digest" version of the social media panel, complete with links and other info I think would usefully answer several of the questions.

I wanted to extend my thanks to the volunteers from the Buffalo Fantasy League who, for thirteen years now have put together a great weekend filled with lots of fun, learning, networking and intimate, lively discussion. I look forward to being there again next year. Great job!

Getting That Eerie Feeling Again

This evening, I'm heading down to Niagara Falls, New York to attend EerieCon - a convention celebrating science fiction, fantasty and horror. I've quite enjoyed this smaller convention that allows for great interaction, fun conversation and interesting discussions.

This year's guests of honour are Larry Niven and Derwin Mak.  Other guests include:

Anne Bishop, David Clink, Jennifer Crow, David DeGraff, Lynna Eldritch, Carl Frederick, James Alan Gardner, Mark Garland, Lois Gresh, Marvin Kaye, Greg Lamberson, Mark Leslie, Alex Pantaleev, John Allen Price, David Sakmyster, Darrell Schweitzer, Josepha Sherman, Edo van Belkom.


I'll be participating in the following panels/events.

Friday

10pm LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW (Ballroom A)
Jim Gardner, abetted by useless sidekick Ed McClink, pries interesting tidbits from guests.
Bishop, Schweitzer, Mak, Gresh, Leslie, Price, Kaye. Top 10 by John-Allen Price.

Saturday

10am READING: Mark Leslie (Salon)

11am IS THE SHORT STORY DEAD? (Rainbow B)
Has the novel taken over completely? Are on-line short stories the answer?
Leslie, Gresh, Sakmyster, Frederick, Mod: Schweitzer.

12pm A To Z BOOK COLLECTING (Rainbow A)
What authors, from Brian Aldiss to Roger Zelazny, should be in your collection? Do you just buy authors you enjoy or buy as an investment?
Niven, Kaye, Leslie, Mod: Schweitzer.

1pm I ROBOT YOU NOTHING (Rainbow B)
Jobs are being lost to robot arms and computer technology faster than new ones are being created. Can machines take all our jobs? What will we do for a living?
Stephenson, Leslie, Pantaleev, Mod: DeGraff.


3pm WHEN GENRES COLLIDE (Rainbow A)
Combining two genres in one book is a lot of work and may make some fans unhappy. Why do it? Are there tricks to make it easier or better?
Gresh, Sakmyster, Garland, Mod: Leslie

5pm WHAT LINES' MINE? (Ballroom A)
See guests embarrass themselves by not recognizing lines they wrote, taken out of context. Hosted by Amy Kauderer and able crew. 
Bishop, Leslie, Gardner, Gresh, Price, van Belkom, Schweitzer, Crow, Niven


11pm PIZZA & WINGS FOR GoHs (Con Suite)
Have some pizza & Buffalo Wings with the guests. The Chapbook raffle will be held.
ALL ARE WELCOME!
(I just HAD to include this, since I rather enjoy participating in pizza, wings and beer)

Sunday

10am I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU SAID THAT! (Rainbow A)
How do you handle all the social networking; Facebook, Twitter, Blogs? What if someone gives you a bad review?
Gresh, Pearl, Harlacher, Mod: Leslie

12pm WORLD BUILDING (Rainbow A)
How do you go about it? Where do you start? Do you have a formula? What works and what doesn’t?
Bishop, Gresh, Pantaleev, Niven, Mod: Leslie

1pm WHY CAN'T I WRITE LIKE HIM OR HER? (Rainbow A)
Do you try to write like someone you admire? Is it possible to do so successfully?
Niven, Martineck, Garland, Leslie, Mod: Frederick.

Let Books Transform You

Prompted by the charismatic Jen Knoch of the Keeping It Real Book Club, I recently recorded a video in support of the Toronto Public Library's Keep Toronto Reading Festival (which runs April 1 to 30, 2011).

Jen and I met at the CBC studios in Toronto a few months ago when we were both guests on CBC's Fresh Air and were talking about our love for Canada Reads. Her passion for reading is contagious, we had a great time in the studio with Fresh Air host Mary Ito, and I had a really fun time recording this video.

This year's theme for Keep Toronto Reading is:  Let Books Transform You.

For that reason, I chose Robert J. Sawyer's novel Rollback.

This is, in my mind, the perfect science fiction novel for people who have never read science fiction or claim that they wouldn't like sci-fi. Rollback is a novel that helps people transform their idea of what science fiction is and can be. I have been able to put Rollback into the hands of people who say they hate science fiction or have never been able to read it and have them return to me raving about the novel and to ask for more sci-fi title suggestions, as well as interested in seeing what else Sawyer has written.

Simply, if you enjoyed Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife (and you'll notice I don't risk mangling the author's name in my video), you'll likely fall for the beautiful love story unvealed in Sawyer's novel as a couple that has been together for 60 years facing an incredibly powerful and sudden change in their relationship when one of them undergoes an experimental "rollback" procedure that restores their physiological body to the equivalent of the age of 20.



In any case, I'm always happy to share great books and hope that adding my two cents to the wonderful Keep Toronto Reading festival inspires folks not just in Toronto, but everywhere, to keep reading.