Flights of Foundry

When I was a newbie writer, one of the things I was told was to go to a convention as a way to pick up tips on the craft and perhaps make a few contacts. I hated the idea of "networking" (talking to people, what is that?) even though I didn't mind the idea of learning, but one thing was a major barrier towards attending, and that's cost.

However, there is one convention for beginning creatives that is happening this month, and it's virtual so no travel is required. Also, it's completely free, though donations are appreciated. And that's the Flights of Foundry convention being run by the Dream Foundry.

It's being held the weekend of May 16th-17th and has multiple guests of honor (writers, editors, artists, and also translators!), just like a physical convention in meat space. Programming should run most hours of the day, though the bulk of it will be during waking hours for those in the US.

The Dream Foundry's work is intended to support multiple disciplines, so there should be something available for everyone.

If you're worried about the tech requirements, everything you need is listed in the FAQ. The social and networking aspects will happen on Discord.

World Fantasy Convention 2019

I'm going to be at the World Fantasy Convention this coming week and I have two panels.

California Screaming: Modern Golden State Horror Stories and Writers
31 Oct 2019, Thursday 14:00 - 14:55, Marquis 4-6

The Fantasies of Hayao Miyazaki
2 Nov 2019, Saturday 14:00 - 14:55, Marquis 4-6

Feel free to catch me at either of them. I expect to be at the convention all four days though, so even if you can't make those, I'll be running around, or possibly be working in the lobby!

After all, NaNoWriMo is starting and if I have a few minutes to myself I might break out the laptop and get a few words in.

Loscon 43

I'm going to be at Loscon 43 and will be there for all three days. My panel times and locations are below and because they're evenly spread out I will have plenty of time to talk both before and after panels in the event anyone would like to catch me.

Reboots, Reimagining and Fandom FRI 16:00 Boston

All About Editing and Editors - SAT 11:30 Chicago

Best Advice I Never Got - SUN 14:30 Marquis 2

I did not request an autograph table, but if you run into me and have something you would like me to sign, feel free to ask. I'll have a pen on me.

Also! If you have a 3DS, I will have mine with me at the convention. I'm not currently playing anything on it, but I love Streetpassing and I have a ton of puzzle pieces. If that's your thing, you want to bump into me! :)

Solaris Rising Now Out in Stores

The anthology Solaris Rising: The New Solaris Book of Science Fiction is now in stores (Amazon, B&N, Mysterious Galaxy)! Thanks go to my fellow WotF winner Adam Colston for giving me a photo of the copy he found in the wild. I haven't been in a bookstore since my local Borders closed so it was a pleasant surprise to know the book's out.

I've been a bit hermit-like the past couple weeks, working on writing in between weekend events (took some time off from the day job), but I have good news. I've been contracted to do another story for Story Portals, this time for their upcoming Qi Lin property. Just got the signed paperwork back a few days ago.

And my previous Story Portals story, "The Nightmare Beast," has been collected into the ebook anthology of Katya, Lady Assassin stories: The Taste of Waterfruit and Other Stories.

I had a fantastic time at Blizzcon last weekend, and it turned out more useful from a writing standpoint than I thought. Richard Knaak and Christie Golden, who I read while I was in high school, were both there doing book signings as well as on a panel discussing their tie-in work with Blizzard.

Upcoming Travels

October's a busy month for me. Fortunately the day job is winding down so I should be able to take a vacation soon. First up is a wedding, second is BlizzCon, and third is the World Fantasy Convention.

BlizzCon is purely for fun since I'm a World of warcraft player and I'll be attending with a few of my guildies. If you happen to going and would like to meet up, I'd be happy to do so, though I'm not there in any writerly capacity (though if Blizzard is looking for another writer for their books I'd be happy to talk about it!).

I mostly plan on being a fan that weekend and soak up all the WoW and Diablo III news I can. Oh, and attend the Foo Fighters concert that closes out the con. I just hope my ears will be able to take the screaming.

WFC will be my first major spec fic convention and I hope to meet a lot of fellow writers I've only met on forums up until this point, as well as a few familiar faces from Writers of the Future. Again, I'll be happy to meet up sometime. From my understanding, WFC is on the small side since the number of attendees is restricted, so it shouldn't be difficult for find people.

After that, in November I plan to be at LosCon, the local LA convention, again. I'm really more of a stay-at-home type, so this is mind-bogglingly busy for me.