Category: News

Don’s Boskone 55 Schedule

I know, I know — this is a really cheap way to do this. Life’s been busy. Not too busy, however, to pass up an opportunity to once again take up space in the program! Here’s where you can find me…

And if you don’t catch me at these panels, I’m sure you’ll catch me at others or roaming the halls or in the con suite. Step up and say hi!

Don’s Boskone 54 Schedule

I’ll be at Boskone in February for two out of its four days and again, they’ve allowed me to take up space in the program! Here’s where you can find me  — come say hi!

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17

7:00 PM
So You Wanna Be a Time Lord
Jim Mann, Don Pizarro (M), Kate Baker, John Chu, LJ Cohen
Marina 4
The time for a new Time Lord is fast approaching. Peter Capaldi is on his third season, which means his stint as The Doctor is likely nearing an end. We’ve seen speculation about casting the next Doctor, but maybe Capaldi isn’t ready to go, especially since his character is starting to gel. What are our hopes for the future? Do we want to keep Capaldi? Whom would we like next? Maybe we can even ask our panelists why they might make a good Time Lord….

(Oh, I will ask. I will…)

8:00 PM
The Horror Boom and the Second Wave
Jack M. Haringa (M), Don Pizarro, Christopher Golden, John Langan, Grady Hendrix
Harbor II
Horror boomed in the 1970s and 1980s, before fading into subplots within romance, SF, and fantasy, as critics proclaimed, “Horror is dead!” Fortunately, horror is too clever — and necessary — to be beaten by Death. In fact, horror is back, bigger and badder than ever! The Second Wave of horror is hot, and it’s unabashedly horror again. What drove the first horror boom? What “killed” it? What fearsome forces are driving this Second Wave?

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18

12:00 NOON
Fear Factor: “What Are You Scared Of?” “I Don’t Know!”
Gregory Feeley (M), Trisha Wooldridge, Grady Hendrix, Don Pizarro, Jon Hunt
Marina 2
H. P. Lovecraft says, “The oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” Peter S. Beagle says, “It is the shadow that terrifies, not the monster it hides. The monster is an actor in a monster suit. The shadow is always real.” Should moviemakers reduce screentime for their favorite CGI monstrosities? Should horror writers concentrate on explaining the really scary stuff less? What storytellers excel in making us jump at shadows?

8:00 PM
Open Mic: Villains!
Kenneth Schneyer (M), Linda Addison (M), C. S. E. Cooney, Kate Baker, Milton Davis, Ada Palmer, Vincent O’Neil, Don Pizarro, Tom Kidd, Julie C. Day, Emma Caywood
Galleria
Live from Boskone… enjoy the unsavory stylings of our program participants and audience members. They share their open mic skills in the second annual Boskone Open Mic, which this year features our favorite fictitious villains! Each person gives his/her best 5-minute villainous performance — story, poem, song, skit, interpretive dance, or whatever!

If I don’t see you at any of these panels, you’ll see me at others because holy crap, this programming is packed full o’ goodness! Or, I’m sure you’re bound to catch me walking to/from the bar…

ICYMI: a Con and a Publication

BOSKONE 53. In case you missed it, I’ll be in Boston this weekend, doing the panel/reading/drinking thing. I won’t be hard to find, so come say hi!

COMING SOON. A short essay of mine will appear in THE CLEVELAND NEIGHBORHOOD GUIDEBOOK by Belt Publishing, which drops in May. It aims to be “… the most useful, least authorized resource for Clevelanders, Cleveland ex-pats, visitors, and potential new residents.” And to that end, I plugged a small corner of my former patch of Greater Cleveland.

Where I’ll Be at #Boskone

Gonna be at Boskone 53 the weekend of February 19? I am. Here’s my mini-interview with those fine folks, and here’s where I’ll be…

What’s New In Comics?
Friday 17:00 – 17:50, Burroughs (Westin)
Accessing information about DC and Marvel releases is pretty straightforward. But what are the other must-read comics that might be flying under your radar? Whom should you keep your eye on? The comics universe is always expanding; which are the new voices you mustn’t miss?
James Moore (M), A.C.E. Bauer, Robert Howard, Don Pizarro

Reading: Don Pizarro
Friday 19:00 – 19:25, Independence (Westin)
(…wait, wut?)

Hidden Heroes
Saturday 10:00 – 10:50, Harbor III (Westin)
Sometimes the hero of a story isn’t its true protagonist. A commonly accepted example is Sam Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings, who more and more centers the action as the story concludes. What other examples occur to us? Why might an author choose to focus on someone other than the hero? Can the hero ever be the antagonist?
Michael Swanwick (M), Chris Irvin, Mary Kay Kare, Don Pizarro, Beth Meacham

How You Get the Word Out: Starting and Running a Successful Podcast
Saturday 14:00 – 14:50, Harbor III (Westin)
Podcasting gives us an outlet to share our thoughts and ideas with the world, and everyone seems to have something (perhaps a lot) to say. But is podcasting right for everyone? How do you go about “bootstrapping” a podcast? What do you need and what do you need to know? How do you attract and keep an audience? Where do you find a place to host your site? Successful ‘casters pass on their secrets.
Steve Miller (M), Kate Baker, C.S.E. Cooney, Don Pizarro, Brianna Spacekat Wu

How Binge-Watching Could Change TV
Saturday 16:00 – 16:50, Marina 4 (Westin)
The binge-watching phenomena has clearly changed the way we watch television, in-genre or out. Is it also altering the way they create it? Marathon viewers are a mindful audience, who retain more information and understand longer story arcs. Is this leading to more complex characters, more complicated plots — more compelling shows?
Ginjer Buchanan (M), Garen Daly, Daniel M. Kimmel, Don Pizarro, Steven Sawicki

Superhero Open Mic
Saturday 21:00 – 22:20, Marina 1 (Westin)
Kapow! Live from Boskone … enjoy the knock-out stylings of our program participants and audience members who share their open mic skills in the first-ever Superhero Open Mic. Each person gives his/her best 5-minute superhero performance – story, poem, song, skit, interpretive dance, or whatever! OPTIONAL: For extra appeal, feel free to come dressed as a superhero!
Walter H. Hunt (M), Kenneth Schneyer (M), C.S.E. Cooney, Carrie Cuinn, E.C. Myers, Garth Nix, Don Pizarro, Lauren Roy, Mary Ellen Wessels

Come say hi!

World Fantasy Convention 2015; Borgesian Philippines; What I’m Reading

WORLD FANTASY CONVENTION 2015. Took a hop northeast from Ithaca to Saratoga Springs last weekend, despite the Piss Poor Harassment Policy kerfuffle. Managed to not only keep my running streak of being on WFC programming (3 for 3), but I actually appeared on two panels: “Real World Nomenclature, Taboos, and Cultural Meaning” (There’s a pretty good summary here.) and “Bibliofantasies.” Or, as I call it, “Bibliofantasies 2: Electric Bugaloo” since I was also on a panel of the same name at WFC 2012. After all, how the fuck else I could I sit on a panel with Michael Dirda, John Clute, Robert Eldridge, Paul Di Filippo, and Gary Wolfe? The socializing, always the best part of any con, was more targeted now that I’ve been at enough of these things not to fanboy over everybody in the room, and to instead spend the time with people – old and new friends – that I want to spend time with. Okay fine, I finally got to meet Jeffrey Ford and squee about what a big fan I am. Happy?

Not a hoax. Not a dream sequence.

BORGESIAN PHILIPPINES. Missed a talk by Gina Apostol, author of the upcoming novel William McKinley’s World on the Philippine-American War. In it, she makes the disturbing observation about how hard it was to find first-person Filipino voices in records of the period, and where she did find it “…occurring mainly in captured documents within military records, the Filipino voice being a text within a text, mediated, annotated, and translated by her enemy.” There’s a bittersweet Romantic tragedy about how this mediated story of the Philippines casts it as a place that’s as fantastic as Borges’ Tlön. This is relevant to a project in progress….

WHAT I’M READING. My personally inscribed copy of Mary Rickert’s collection You Have Never Been Here, worth the cover price for the single previously unpublished story “The Shipbuilder.” Pieces of The Best American Travel Writing 2015 edited by Andrew McCarthy, for another project in progress, Laszlo Bock’s Work Rules!, and when I can, Felicia Day’s You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost). Yes, that’s an awful lot of nonfiction, I know. What’s your point?

Where I’ll Be at the World Fantasy Convention

Gonna be at the 2015 World Fantasy Convention? I am, and here’s where I’ll be…

Thursday, November 5, 3:00, City Center 2A
Real World Nomenclature, Taboos, and Cultural Meaning

The panel discusses the thorny issue of real world terms that often bear loaded meanings and concepts being transported wholesale into Fantasy worlds. Swearing, cursing, and racial epithets can cause controversy and out-cry. Commonly accepted terms change meaning over time and become taboo. As the politics of the real world change, is there a concurrent transposition into Fantasy worlds? 
A.M. Dellamonica (mod.), Didi Chanoch, Steve Erikson, Don Pizarro, Mark van Name

Saturday, 5:00, City Center 2A
Bibliofantasies

Unaccountably, there is no entry for Bibliofantasies in the Encyclopedia of Fantasy by John Clute and John Grant [Orbit 1997]. Your intrepid panel will attempt to remedy that lacuna by discussing bibliofantasies with a view to creating an entry. 
Michael Dirda (mod.), John Clute, Robert Eldridge, Paul Di Filippo, Don Pizarro, Gary Wolfe

Come say hi!

My #Boskone Schedule

Yes, I’ll be at Boskone this weekend, weather permitting.  And not just barconning it, either.  I have actual panels AND a reading!!

Off the Air
Friday, February 13, 7:00 pm, Marina 2

Why does good television fail? Panelists talk about SF/F/H TV shows that died too soon, including Firefly, Alphas, The Tomorrow People, Millennium, Jericho, Almost Human, and more. Were they as good as we think? What are we missing?

Stephen P. Kelner (M), D. Lynn Smith, me, Ken Altabef, Susan Jane Bigelow

Father, You Made Me
Friday, February 13, 8:00 pm, Harbor III

From Dr. Frankenstein and his monster to Darth Vader and his son, speculative fiction uses fantastical ways to explore the special relationship between fathers and sons. What about the relationships between mothers and daughters? Panelists explore notable parental relationships within fiction and how those relationships shape characters and the choices they make.

Me (moderating–can you believe it?), ML Brennan, Theodora Goss, Max Gladstone, Alexander Jablokov

Reading
Friday, February 13, 9:00 pm, Independence
(My first official con-sanctioned, non-guerrilla reading!)

Finding Diverse Fiction
Saturday, February 14, 12:00 pm, Marina 2

There is a clear desire for increased diversity within SF/F fiction and fandom. There are also a lot of emerging writers who are bringing diversity to the genre, but many of them are still flying below the publicity radar. Authors and publishers come together to share their “must read” lists and tips on where to find some of the new up-and-coming authors.

Charles Stross (M), Susan Jane Bigelow, Bill Campbell, me, Lauren Roy

What’s Hot in Comics?
Saturday, February 14, 1:00 pm, Marina 2

Now that the zombie craze has peaked, and every major comics publisher has delved into horror-related titles, how has this impacted the mainstream’s monthly superhero titles? Does rampant fan interest in The Walking Dead eclipse the latest issue of Superman, Batman, X-Men, or Avengers? We’ll take a look at current comics trends, to see what types of comic books are winning the battle for readers.

Brenda Noiseux (M), Craig Shaw Gardner, Christopher Golden, me, Thomas Sweterlitsch

The Jodorowsky Effect
Saturday, February 14, 10:00 pm, Burroughs

Alejandro Jodorowsky, a Chilean filmmaker, author, and surrealist, influenced some of the greatest cult SF/F works of the last 60 years. He directed the first midnight cult film (El Topo), his comic series The Incal inspired The Fifth Element, and he spearheaded a failed effort to film Dune — “the greatest SF movie never made.” Jodorowsky’s production art for Dune inspired Star Wars, Alien, Heavy Metal, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and others. His other work is also critically acclaimed and hugely influential. Panelists discuss Jodorowsky’s legacy, his “Psychomagical Realism, ” and his influence on contemporary work.

Paul Di Filippo (M), Carrie Cuinn, Daniel M. Kimmel, me, Steven Sawicki

#

Come find me and say, Hey!

Today: New Pub at LAKESIDE CIRCUS. Tomorrow: Readercon!

A flash piece o’ mine called “Life After Wartime” dropped today over at Lakeside Circus!

“Bu-bu-but… I like my stories read to me out loud,” you say.  That’s cool, because you can have that, too!

And, if you want to tell me to my face what you think about this story, I’ll be at Readercon tomorrow night through Sunday.  Let’s hang out!

“Making my entrance again with my usual flare…”

It’s been a publishing dry spell, folks.  No one’s fault but my own.  But now I’m back, both barrels blazing!

Because I have a face made for radio, I’ve made my first foray into the wide, wonderful world of podcasting with “The Naturalist Composes His Rebuttal” by Fran Wilde in the latest issue of Lakeside Circus!

I have a story in there too, which should go live next month.  And, I’ll be recording that one, so stay tuned!