I’ll be in Austin for the World Horror Convention two weeks from now. Though that might just be what I’m telling people. Sometimes I think I may actually be going for the BBQ. I remember the Salt Lick as being THAT good.

In any case, if you make it Austin, too, here’s where you’ll be able to find me. At least, officially.

Artists Are People Too!
Friday, April 29 at 4:00 PM
Panel description: Thanks to the Internet, a right-click of the mouse lets anyone copy an artist’s work right off the Web. It’s not unusual for someone to look at a piece and declare, “My kid could paint that!” or to assume that art’s easy—just be creative once in a while and then the money flows in. We’ve heard from writers about their rights; now it’s time to hear from artists. [So what am I doing on this panel? I’ve been told that I’m the wild card non-artist to talk about my experiences with those strange creatures.]
with Russell Dickerson (M), Vincent Chong, Steve Niles, GAK

Reading
I’ve decided to read “Are We Not a New People?” from the anthology Zombie Apocalypse … though that could change, depending on the audience.
Saturday April 30 at 11:00 a.m.

Guest of Honor Q&A
In which I interview Steve Niles.
Saturday, April 30 at 5:00 PM

Hope to see you there!

I’ve been biting my tongue since Monday because the Shirley Jackson Awards committee wanted to keep the news secret until its site could be updated, but I can now reveal here that my short story collection What Will Come After is a nominee in the category of Single-Author Collection.

Since you can easily find the full ballot elsewhere, I won’t repeat the list, but here are the nominees in my category. (And I hope it won’t be seen as an insult to the writers with whom I’ve appeared on any previous ballot if I say that collectively, this is the most talented group with whom I’ve ever competed. Seeing those other names fills me with awe and has me thinking … “Do I really belong there?”)

Occultation, Laird Barron (Night Shade)
The Ones That Got Away, Stephen Graham Jones (Prime Books)
The Third Bear, Jeff Vandermeer (Tachyon)
What I Didn’t See, Karen Joy Fowler (Small Beer Press)
What Will Come After, Scott Edelman (PS Publishing)

The winners of the 2010 Shirley Jackson Awards will be announced in July at Readercon, a convention I’ve been attending since 1987. I love that con more than any other, and the sense of anticipation I’ll be feeling throughout that weekend could make it the best Readercon yet!

Hope to see you there!

I’d heard that my short story collection What Will Come After was going to be released as an ebook for those who prefer their zombies pixelated. But I don’t think I knew that Pete Crowther of PS Publishing had actually pulled it off until a number of people at Ad Astra last weekend told me they’d purchased it for their Kindles.

And it wasn’t until after Robert Shearman’s reading Sunday that I had proof.

Robert, who when we first met on Friday had told me he’d already bought an e-copy of the book, whipped out his Kindle and showed me what the book looked like on his screen.

I think that looks rather nice, don’t you? And if you’d like it looking rather nice on your own e-reader, you can order it from PS Publishing here.

In other electronic news, StarShipSofa 184 features a podcast of my story “A Very Private Tour of A Very Public Museum.” I think Jeff Lane has done an excellent performance of the piece, far better than I did myself the one time I read it aloud at Readercon. So if you’d like to hear one of my stories rather than have to read it, you know what to do.

On April 10 at Ad Astra 2011, I read my short story “The Only Wish Ever to Come True,” which had originally been published in Talebones magazine. I shared the hour with Matthew Johnson, seen sitting next to me, waiting his turn to read. I’ll upload his performance in a separate video.

I chose that story because Matthew had indicated that he’d be reading a fantasy, so I thought I should, too, so that the flavors would blend together well for any audience. Also, I’d only read “The Only Wish Ever to Come True” once before, at a Readercon, and it was unlikely anyone attending Ad Astra would have heard it before. Don’t want to be repetitive!

Anyway, I recorded the hour so that what happens in Toronto doesn’t have to stay in Toronto.

(Please note that for some reason I’ve yet to figure out, the first few seconds of the last couple of videos I’ve uploaded are wonky, but that clears up quickly before the story begins. But if anyone has any suggestions as to why this is happening, please let me know!)

Earlier this year, faced with some expiring miles from an airline I no longer fly, I exchanged them for a bunch of magazine and newspaper subscriptions. One of them was to The New York Observer, which I find so annoying I’m looking forward to my subscription lapsing so I’ll no longer have to suffer its whiny sense of entitlement.

It’s as if the go-go ’80s never went. Several times an issue I’m tempted to throw the magazine across the room and shout, “Die, yuppie scum!”

Surprisingly, the April 4th issue had a couple of quotes worth sharing, which I never expected. And to show I’m unafraid of exposing my ignorance, I’ll add that they’re both from writers I hadn’t heard of before. I’m assuming that when you hear their names, you’ll think, “Has this guy been living in a cave?” But I’m risking your disapproval anyway.

First, a review of Otherwise Known as the Human Condition by Geoff Dyer contains this quote from that author:

“As the ball hangs there, moon-white against the wall of cloud, everything in the world seems briefly up for grabs and I am seized by two contradictory feelings: There is so much beauty in the world it is incredible that we are ever miserable for a moment; there is so much shit in the world that it is incredible we are ever happy for a moment.”

I happen to be a “Life is a banquet and most poor bastards are starving to death” kind of guy, but still, I found the second half of that passage quite moving.

Later in the issue, Lynne Tillman is quoted in a review of her new short story collection Someday This Will Be Funny:

“I don’t want this backstory business,” Ms. Tillman said. The word “backstory” might as well have been “incest” coming from her mouth. “I just think that’s horrible. I mean, backstory? What are you talking about? So often in writing classes you hear students say to one another, ‘But I’d really like to know more about that character.’ And I have to restrain myself. That’s not the story. You don’t get to know everything about the character. You get to know what’s necessary.”

I couldn’t agree more. Not all questions need to be, or should be, answered. It’s said of performers, you should always leave them wanting more. It should be said of short stories, too.

Anyway, thanks for surprising me, Observer. I hope you can manage to do it again.

Sunday morning at Ad Astra started off with me writing here about my Saturday at Ad Astra, after which I quickly checked out of my room and headed to my panel on “Why Professionalism Matters,” which was tangentially related to my Friday panel on “Using Conventions to Your Advantage.” Both were primarily concerned with not doing shooting yourself in the foot during faanish and professional interactions.

Something said by one of the co-panelists, Howard Tayler, creator of Schlock Mercenary, sparked an anecdote that hadn’t even occurred to me until he started talking about comics, and that is—professionalism matters because it allows not-quite-that-talented, yet professionally behaving creators to find work out of the disasters created by the far-more-talented, yet not as reliable creators. And I shared how I got to pick up such crumbs, getting to write issues of Master of Kung Fu and Omega the Unknown not because I was supremely qualified to do so, but because the editors knew I would deliver on time and cause fewer headaches.

Next up for me was my shared reading with Matthew Johnson. He read “Holdfast,” which had been published in Fantasy magazine, and I read “The Only Wish Ever to Come True,” which had appeared in Talebones. I’ll share videos of those two readings with you soon.

There wasn’t much time between my reading and the next event I wanted to see, an hour shared between Derwin Mak and Robert Shearman. Since I’d been warned by Glenn Grant that the lobby restaurant was slow, I headed to the basement buffet so I could grab something quick. I found Derwin there, and we ate together, catching up until it was time for his reading. (BTW, I was very pleased to learn from him that there’ll be lots of Chinese restaurants within walking distance of the World Fantasy 2012 hotel.)

Then it was off to the shared reading. I recorded Derwin with my Flip, only to have the battery give out halfway through his performance. It was only when Robert Shearman readied himself that I remembered I could also record with my iPhone. I wasn’t happy with how my iPhone had performed when recording a panel,= during the Australia Worldcon, but I thought it might work for a single speaker. And it did.

I absolutely adored Robert’s story, “One Last Love Song.” How much did I love it? So much that I’m sharing it with you even before I’m sharing video of my OWN reading! The story is from his collection Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical, and I’m sure that after you hear him read, you’ll want to buy it. (For some reason, something strange happened to first few seconds of the clip, but don’t worry—that passes before the actual story begins.)

Once the reading ended, I bought a copy of Robert’s book (as you will also do now, of course), and chatted with him as long as I could spare until it was time to get my luggage from the concierge and head to the airport with Eric Flint. Along the way, Eric and I discussed our encounters with the elder gods of science fiction, and I remembered the early conventions at which I got autographs from Arthur C. Clarke and Ted Sturgeon and Poul Anderson and Gordie Dickson—and others—all on the same day.

My final Ad Astra encounter of the day turned out to come in an unexpected place—at the border. When I explained why I’d been in the country, and mentioned science fiction, my customs agent told me all about the closing of Silver Snail Comics. I’d found a fellow fan of sorts, which helped me pass through a little more smoothly.

And that was that for Ad Astra. Which means I can now start thinking about the World Horror Convention, only 2 1/2 weeks away!

On April 10 at Ad Astra 2011, I read my short story “The Only Wish Ever to Come True,” which had originally been published in Talebones magazine. I shared the hour with Matthew Johnson, seen sitting next to me, waiting his turn to read.

Yesterday began here in Toronto with scavenging breakfast in the well-appointed Ad Astra Green Room. Who doesn’t want to start the day with homemade scones? Then, after schmoozing for awhile with the usual gang of idiots friends, it was off to my first program item of the day—my shared Guest of Honor interview with Kathryn Cramer.

Kathryn had been a Guest of Honor in 1996, and I’d been one in 2000, and since there were so many of us there—this being the 30th Ad Astra, the committee attempted to get as many possible previous GOHs to return as possible—we were paired up in twos and threes and asked to interview each other. Kathryn and I have known each other for so long I no longer remember how long, so it was a pleasant hour chatting.

I recorded the full hour, and may someday, when I’m not living on con brain, post longer selections from it, but meanwhile, here’s a taste—a few minutes during which I explain why I chose to pursue writing over acting, when at one time I was equally involved in both.

As soon as our talk ended, I rushed off to my noon panel on the TV series The Walking Dead, which proved to be livelier than expected, as the panelists had extremely different reactions to the show. For example, our moderator, Colleen Hillerup, hates zombies but loves the show anyway because of the people and the series’ soap opera aspects, while co-panelist Mandy Slater loves zombies (she’d better, considering we’re in the book Zombie Apocalypse together), but is irritated by the people, and jokingly calls the show The Talking Dead because there’s more yammering than zombies. Meanwhile, Ian Keeling and I occupied the middle ground and stayed in less controversial territory. (more…)

Ad Astra 2011 was so overflowing with Guests of Honor (since it was the con’s 30th year, the committee attempted to bring back every previous Guest of Honor) that rather than have us give Guest of Honor speeches or be interviewed individually, the con doubled (and sometimes tripled) us up for low-key chats. Here’s Kathryn Cramer and I rambling on for what’s hopefully an entertaining hour.

(And please forgive the ambient noise seeping through from the hallway. It took awhile before an audience member thought to shut the doors. But I think you’ll be able to understand us throughout anyway.)

My trip to Ad Astra began much too early yesterday. I’d set the alarm for 4:15 a.m. so I could make the 8:12 flight to Toronto out of Dulles, but I ended up waking at 4:03 and couldn’t get back to sleep. I guess the universe didn’t want me to get those extra 12 minutes for some reason!

I’d hoped to nap on the plane, but the guy sitting next to me proved talkative, which normally would have irked me, since I usually sleep through flights, but luckily, he turned out to be talkative in a good way. He was actually interesting! He was a Canadian who lives in Kuwait and works for the university system there, and we traded stories of our various world travels and what we’d learned of the differing cultures. How he got out of China after Tiananmen Square was a nail-biter. In an extremely rare move for me, we ended up exchanging contact info.

I was met at the airport by Heather King and Roxanne Learn, who got me to the con hotel where I met up with Ellen Datlow and Shawna McCarthy for our preplanned trip to Chinatown for dim sum. With all our overlapping programming, Friday before everything really got started seemed the only day for that kind of excursion. We ended up at Forestview Chinese Restaurant, which we loved—it was busy, crowded, and we were among the very few non-Chinese there, all of which is what I like to see—so I’m glad we hadn’t read the Yelp review first, because that might have scared us away. Because the food was good, and I’d return for more on a future trip to Toronto.

Then, after a visit to the Bata Shoe Museum, which wasn’t at all my suggestion, but proved not to be as dull as this non-Jimmy Choo-wearing guy imagined it would be, Shawna figured out the train system enough to get us to the stop closest to the hotel so we could grab as cheap a cab ride back as possible. (Well, it would have been cheap if not for a cabbie who kept taking wrong turns even with the use of a GPS.)

Back at the hotel, I hung in the bar for a bit, meeting Rio Youers and others for the first time, before going to the opening ceremonies, which was more formal than most because it featured an introduction by The Honourable David C. Onley, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, and friend to Ad Astra.

Then, it was immediately off to two panels. First, “Using Conventions to Your Advantage,” with Ian Keeling and Justine Lewkowitz, during which I explained that what to do was the opposite of whatever I did when I first started out. (For example, I was so ethically rigid that I deliberately avoided meeting editors, because I wanted them to judge my stories based entirely on the words on the page, and not be influenced by any possible positive encounter with me. Kids, don’t do this at home!)

This was immediately followed by a panel on “Zombies: Rise to Popularity”, with Mandy Slater, Stephen Jones, and Karina Sumner-Smith. That’s me and Karina with Steve above, and the reason we’re bookending him like that is because I’ve got the first story in his upcoming Best New Horror anthology, while she’s got the last one. So we replicated in real life what Steve’s done with his book. It was a great panel, if for no other reason than I got to hear Steve rave about my writing multiple times through the course of it. Don’t know that the audience made of that, but I loved it!

After that, I spent several hours in the green room, but that early rising took its toll, so I went back to the room, uploaded all of my Ad Astra photos so far to Flickr, and then crashed. And now a new day begins. If you’re here, come to my panel about The Walking Dead at noon!