There was no Instagram 10 years ago when we gathered in New York City for the 2007 Nebula Awards weekend—but if it had existed, the festivities might have looked something like this.

Hanging out with John Kessel

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When I moved out of New York more than 30 years ago, there was no such thing as authentic BBQ there. (Well, as far as I knew. Feel free to prove me wrong.) But all that’s changed, as my visits to such places as Hometown Bar-B-Que and BrisketTown show. So when this episode’s guest recommended we record at John Brown Smokehouse, which Eater has called “the most faithful rendition of Kansas City-style barbecue in NYC,” I was so in.

My guest for this 28th episode of Eating the Fantastic is my former Syfy boss of more than 13 years, Craig Engler, who’s now the Co-Creator/Writer/Co-Executive Producer of the hit zombie TV show Z Nation, which was recently renewed for a fourth season on Syfy. (And would you like to see me taking a bullet in the head for Craig? Of course you would!)

Join us as we discuss what life’s like when you’re a professional game player for Nintendo, how running the Syfy Channel’s digital side led to him getting a shot at writing TV movies such as Zombie Apocalypse, why he wrote Weight Hacking, his geek guide to losing weight and getting fit, plus much more, including behind-the-scenes secrets on the past, present, and future of his hit zombie TV show Z Nation.

Here’s how you can share the BBQ— (more…)

While trying to distract yourself from yesterday’s heartbreak, did you happen to catch last night’s Z Nation? If so, in the Season 2, Episode 10 episode titled “We Were Nowhere Near the Grand Canyon,” you’d have seen one of my favorite writers zombified.

No, I don’t mean George R. R. Martin! Besides, that was a couple of episodes ago. I mean this guy.

That’s right—me!

So how’d that happen? (more…)

As some of you may recall, I arrived in Spokane last month for Sasquan several days earlier than necessary, which allowed me to spend nearly every waking moment the Monday before Worldcon doing something super sekrit which I could not share then but promised I’d share someday.

That someday is today.

Because tonight, the second season of Z Nation premieres on Syfy at 10/9 Central. And if you keep tuning in each Friday night, eventually you’ll see this guy.

Recognize him?

Here’s how I turned from the me you know into that shambling wreck above.

Craig Engler, who was my boss at Syfy for more than a decade as I edited Science Fiction Weekly, SCI FI Wire, and Blastr, plus a print magazine, is the co-creator and co-executive producer of Z Nation, which coincidentally films in the city that hosted this year’s Worldcon. Once I realized this many months ago, I asked whether it would be possible for me to watch filming one day.

Because I love zombies. How much do I love zombies? So much I’ve got a collection out featuring nothing but zombie stories.

After I asked whether I could witness some zombie action, Craig promised he’d do better than that—he’d see if I could actually be a zombie, assuming zombies were needed during filming when I’d be in town.

And lucky for me, they were!

That’s all you’ll get out of me for now, because I wouldn’t want to spoil any of the scenes in which you might spot me. I’ll share more once my specific episode airs and giving you more details wouldn’t ruin it for you.

For now, just enjoy my official set photo above … and try not to say, “gee, I guess they didn’t need that much makeup” … OK?

Way back on August 15, 1995, my life changed, only I didn’t know it at the time. That’s because on that date, Craig Engler launched Science Fiction Weekly, which a few years later he would sell to the SCI FI Channel. And a few years after that, over the Labor Day weekend in 2000 at the Chicago World Science Fiction Convention, he gave me the chance to take over from then-editor Brooks Peck.

Here’s how I looked that fateful weekend as I considered the offer, having tried to contact my wife so any decision to leave my then-current job at Satellite Orbit and sign on for the gig would be a joint one. I was wondering … will this Internet thing last? (Hey, it was a very different online world back then.)

Well, it has lasted, and I’ve worked for what’s now called Syfy for more than 13 years, editing Science Fiction Weekly, then SCI FI Wire, and for the past few years, Blastr. (And a print magazine for a while there, too.) But though the Internet and Syfy and Blastr go on, I do not, for today those 13+ years come to an end.

Today marks my final day working for Syfy. It was an amicable parting, but it means I’ll begin 2014 looking for new worlds to explore, both as an editor and a writer.

In my first Science Fiction Weekly editorial back in October of 2000, I explained who I was and why I thought I deserved to be there. (more…)

So yesterday, my boss and pal Craig Engler tweeted a pic of three oranges. He said it was a snack, but it sure looked like he was about to juggle to me. That’s when I learned he’s an accomplished juggler, who’s not only juggled clubs, but fire!

How did I not know that about a guy I’ve known for maybe 20 years? No idea. But what he didn’t know, and what you probably don’t know either, is that I was once in the Guinness Book of World Records—for juggling!

Back in the early ’80s, I learned to juggle—and so did my brother and Dad. We were pretty new to it in 1983 when we heard that year’s International Jugglers’ Association convention would be held at nearby Stony Brook University, but we were having so much fun tossing stuff in the air (and not letting it fall to the ground) that all three of us went.

Which resulted in us talking part in an attempt to break the record for the most number of people juggling the most number of things at the same time. This photo captured the moment when 476 of us juggled 1,867 objects, and ended up on the wraparound cover to the association’s September 1983 magazine. (more…)