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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Three weeks from today, I’ll be at Balticon, which means that if you’ll also be at Balticon, we’ll be able to see each other.

Here’s where you can find me—

Saturday, May 27

Tales from the Slush Pile
11:00 AM
with Scott Andrews, Erika Pryor, and Joshua Bilmes

Writing Interesting and Effective Short Stories
Saturday May 27 12:00 PM
with Hildy Silverman, Sarah Pinsker, Jean Marie Ward, and Fran Wilde

How to Incorporate Critique
Saturday May 27 05:00 PM
with Joshua Bilmes, James Minz, Sarah Pinsker, and Malka Older

How to Self-Edit That Lousy First Draft
Saturday May 27 06:00 PM
with David Keener and Sarah Avery

Sunday, May 28

Kaffeeklatsch
10:00 AM

Reading
Sunday May 28 11:00 AM
with Mattie Brahen and Amy Kaplan

Being a Fan of Problematic Things
Sunday May 28 12:00 PM
with Martina Fetzer, Chris Lester, Holli Mintzer, and Nobilis Reed

But remember—those aren’t the only places to find me. If you spot me in the halls, the dealers room, or the bar, be sure to say hello!

During last year’s Capclave in Gaithersburg, Maryland, Brenda Clough tantalized me with tales of JDS Shanghai Famous Food, telling me they made some of the best soup dumplings in the D.C. area. So when it was time for her appearance on Eating the Fantastic, how could we go anywhere else?

Brenda has published short fiction in Analog, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, my own Science Fiction Age, and many others, and was nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for her novella “May Be Some Time.” She’s also written many novels across multiple series, and teaches writing workshops at the Writers Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

We discussed how Superman started off her science fiction life, whether she’s a steeplechase horse or a Kentucky derby horse, the time Harlan Ellison phoned to tell her she wrote like an angel, how surrendering to the concept of “false endings” helped her become a better writer, why she’d never want to be one of her own characters, which Anne McCaffrey book she threw in the trash, why she decided to knit a life-sized giant squid, and more.

Here’s how you can dine on dumplings with us— (more…)

I bought my first Fitbit—a Flex—four years ago today, on May 4, 2013. Several months ago I was forced to switch to a new Fitbit because, after all those years of use, the Flex battery was no longer holding a charge for more than an hour. So I now wear a Charge 2, which in addition to counting steps and miles, also keeps track of the number of stairs I’ve climbed, plus my pulse rate.

So after four full years of Fitbit, how’d I do?

I’ve taken a total 15,695,164 steps, broken down as follows—

Year 1:
4,078,838 steps
11,174 daily step average

Year 2:
4,107,515 steps
11,253 daily step average

Year 3:
3,900,704 steps
10,657 daily step average

Year 4:
3,608,107 steps
9,885 daily step average

The reason for the drop-off in year four was due, bizarrely, not to my feet, but to my teeth! I’d had to have several root canals, and was in such intense pain before, during, and after that it hurt whenever I’d walk vigorously. So there were many weeks during which my step count was way down.

Still … even though I’d have preferred to have gotten an additional 115 steps per day during year four so my daily average would hit 10,000, I still ended up walking more than I would have in my time before Fitbit. So—the device is doing its job.

I look forward to seeing what year five has in store for me!

As I told you earlier, going into Saturday’s Bram Stoker Awards ceremony I was tied at 6-0 with three other writers for the most nominations without ever having won. I even wore a button throughout the weekend to ensure the other StokerCon attendees knew of my exalted state, as this Thursday night selfie with Becky Stratford, the Librarian Guest of Honor, proves.

What waited for me on the other side of that ceremony was either an award for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction … or something far more historic. How historic? So much so that emcee Jeff Strand felt moved to take notice of my potential achievement during his opening monologue.

Give a listen to what he had to say … (more…)

I wish I could get to Baltimore’s Woodberry Kitchen more often. This should help you understand why: Bill Addison, Eater’s restaurant editor, has written of Woodberry Kitchen that when it opened in 2007, “it was the most forward-thinking Baltimore restaurant in years,” and in 2016 he included it on his list of 38 restaurants that shaped and defined American dining.

So I was glad to be able to return for a meal with K.M. Szpara, who has published short fiction in Lightspeed, Shimmer, Glittership, and other magazines, and has recently completed his first novel. He edited the acclaimed anthology Transcendant: The Year’s Best Transgender Speculative Fiction, about which Kirkus wrote that it “challenges readers’ expectations in ways that few have managed to do before.”

Listen in and learn about his formative years writing Hanson and Harry Potter fanfic, which darlings he had to kill to complete his first novel, why rewrites are like giving a floofy poodle a haircut, what he didn’t know about short stories when he began to write them, the many ways conventions are like big sleepovers, the reason he was able to eat one of George R. R. Martin’s dragon eggs, and more.

Here’s how you can join us at the table— (more…)

And now for something completely different—the first (and likely only) episode of Eating the Fantastic to be recorded during a live-streamed fundraising telethon.

I’d been trying for quite a while to schedule the recording of an episode with Brian Keene—on whose podcast The Horror Show I appeared nearly two years ago, inspiring me to create this podcast. Unfortunately, our schedules never synced.

But when it came time for Brian to record the 100th episode of The Horror Show as a live 24-hour-long telethon to raise funds for the Scares That Care charity, he had a brainstorm—that I invade his event with a meal of some sort, and record my own show as part of his livestream.

So that’s what I did—show up at a conference room of a Hunt Valley hotel with a ton of takeout from Andy Nelson’s Barbecue, which has repeatedly been voted best BBQ by Baltimore Magazine—bringing enough to feed Brian, his co-hosts, and some of the live studio audience you’ll hear in this episode, too.

Brian’s published more than 40 novels, including the best-selling The Rising, and he’s the winner of the 2014 World Horror Grand Master Award. He’s also written comics, including the adventures of the Doom Patrol.

We discussed why the ending to The Rising isn’t as bewildering as some seem to think it is, whether new horror writers should try to replicate his career path, how Marvel Comics creator Steve Gerber is responsible for him becoming a writer, the shady way Brian amassed the largest comics collection in the sixth grade, if he’s a Scully who changed into a Mulder as he got older or if he’s been a Mulder all along, and more.

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

The World’s 50 Best Restaurants for 2017 were announced earlier today, and it turns out I’ve been to seven of them, one fewer than off the 2016 list. But that’s only because Chef René Redzepi shuttered Noma, which held the #1 spot back when I had my birthday dinner there in 2015. You’ll find my reactions to those seven meals here, as well as a write-up of Manresa, which came in at #90.

My reaction to this year’s list is—man, do I need to get to Spain!

Also—I really must go back to Eleven Madison Park. For—as you’ll see if you read my linked review below—while the food was flawless during my visit, I felt the presentation and ambience had been harmed by an overreaction on the part of the restaurant to a then-recent negative review. (At least, that’s my interpretation of what I experienced here.) Now that time has passed and that year’s historical NYC menu is no more, I hope to encounter the restaurant anew.

Here’s the full 2017 list:

1. Eleven Madison Park (New York City)
2. Osteria Francescana (Modena, Italy)
3. El Celler de Can Roca (Girona, Spain)
4. Mirazur (Menton, France)
5. Central (Lima)
6. Asador Etxebarri (Axpe, Spain)
7. Gaggan (Bangkok)
8. Maido (Lima)
9. Mugaritz (Errenteria, Spain)
10. Steirereck (Vienna, Austria)
11. Blue Hill at Stone Barns (Pocantico Hills, New York)
12. L’Arpège (Paris)
13. Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée (Paris)
14. Restaurant Andre (Singapore)
15. Piazza Duomo (Alba, Italy)
16. D.O.M. (São Paulo)
17. Le Bernardin (New York City)
18. Narisawa (Tokyo)
19. Geranium (Copenhagen)
20. Pujol (Mexico City)
21. Alinea (Chicago)
22. Quintonil (Mexico City)
23. White Rabbit (Moscow)
24. Amber (Hong Kong)
25. Tickets (Barcelona)
26. The Clove Club (London)
27. The Ledbury (London)
28. Nahm (Bangkok)
29. Le Calandre (Rubano, Italy)
30. Arzak (San Sebastian, Spain)
31. Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen (Paris)
32. Attica (Melbourne)
33. Astrid y Gastón (Lima)
34. De Librije (Zwolle, Netherlands)
35. Septime (Paris)
36. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal (London)
37. Saison (San Francisco)
38. Azurmendi (Larrabetzu, Spain)
39. Relae (Copenhagen)
40. Cosme (New York City)
41. Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet (Shanghai)
42. Boragó (Santiago, Chile)
43. Reale (Castel Di Sangro, Italy)
44. Brae (Birregurra, Australia)
45. Den (Tokyo)
46. L’Astrance (Paris)
47. Vendôme (Cologne, Germany)
48. Restaurant Tim Raue (Berlin)
49. Tegui (Buenos Aires)
50. Hof Van Cleve (Kruishoutem, Belgium)

I doubt my travels will allow me to hit any additional restaurants off this list during 2017—none from either Helsinki or St. Petersburg are present after all—but perhaps 2018 will be kinder toward me.

If everything had gone according to plan, you would have heard an episode of Eating the Fantastic recorded at Convivial, a restaurant in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, D.C., last February with guest Tom Doyle in Episode 4. But reservations were hard to come by, because the spot was #5 on Tom Sietsema’s list of the Top 10 restaurants in The Washington Post’s 2016 Fall Dining Guide and #9 on Eater’s Winter 2017 list of The 38 Essential D.C. Restaurants.

One year later, though, I had better luck, and so was joined there by Sunny Moraine, who has published short fiction in Clarkesworld, Strange Horizons, Apex, Uncanny, Lightspeed, and other magazines, as well as many novels, and was dubbed in Locus Online to be the most promising author of 2013.

We discussed the best writing advice they’ve heard, how being named the most promising author of 2013 messed with their mind, their favorite Ray Bradbury story (which is one of their all-time favorite stories period), why they write Walking Dead fan fiction, the contradictions of writing a breakout book, how they decided their trilogies were meant to be trilogies, and more. (They refused, however, to tell me for whom the bell actually tolls or why birds suddenly appear every time you’re near.) Plus—I reveal how Tim Burton prevented me from eating a perfect sticky toffee pudding!

Here’s how you can get convivial with us— (more…)

Michael Bailey just announced the names of two more contributors to Adam’s Ladder, an anthology he’s co-editing with Darren Speegle for Dark Regions Press—and one of those two names is mine!

Michael’s a fan of the slow reveal, and so plans to spill two new names each week until the full table of contents has been released. As you can see from the latest iteration of the cover, my co-conspirators so far include Damien Angelica Walters, John Langan, Roberta Lannes, Tim Lebbon, Erinn L. Kemper, Laird Barron, and Brian Evenson. I am honored to be among them … as well as those still to come. Keep checking Michael’s Facebook page for future updates.

The title of my 6,425-word short story, as you might have already figured out by matching up the list on the front cover with the one on the back, is “Pity This Busy Monster Not.”

Adam’s Ladder will be published later this year.