I’ve participated in hundreds of panels during my decades of going to conventions, but the two I took part in yesterday at Awesome Con (sponsored by the Museum of Science Fiction) were a first, in that I can say, without fear of contradiction, that all the other panelists were far more qualified than me to speak on the topics at hand. They’re actual scientists, you see, dedicated to making real the technologies of which we spoke, while I’m but a writer of fiction, who takes what they’re doing in life and tries to imagine what implications their reality might have 50, 100, 1,000 years down the road.

My morning panel was 3D Printing: Replicating Success, on which I pontificated with Mason Peck, PhD (Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University), Nathan Castro (PhD Candidate at GW’s Lab for Nanomedicine and Tissue Engineering), Lewis Sloter, PhD, PE (Associate Director of Materials & Structures at US Department of Defense), and Jamie Gurganus, PhD (Associate Director of Engineering Education Initiatives at UMBC).

See what I mean about feeling outclassed? (more…)

There were many wonderful moments during last weekend’s Balticon, such as my reading, and the podcast I recorded with Brian Keene (about which more later), but the panel I enjoyed most was Saturday’s “Tales from the Slush Pile,” during which I shared a few intriguing letters I received while editing Science Fiction Age from 1992-2000. (I almost wrote “amusing” rather than “intriguing,” but I was not at all amused by the writer who threatened that if I didn’t do what he wanted, he’d behave like Carlos the Jackal.)

One of those letters, a response to one of the approximately 800 rejections I was forced to send out each month, was not only my favorite such response, but was so popular with the audience I thought it worth sharing here.

And so, in the video below, you can hear me read the only response to a Science Fiction Age rejection I ever liked … as well as offer a few words of advice.

I wish I could have shared the laughter and applause as well which attended my performance of this letter Saturday night, but as they say, you had to be there.

The World’s 50 Best Restaurants won’t be announced until Monday, but to whet our appetites, the organization behind the list has announced what they consider to be the best restaurants 51-100.

I’ve eaten at three of these, which you can click through to and check out my experiences below. Sadly, I never made it to #92, St. John, but rather the spin-off St. John Bread and Wine, for reasons explained at the link.

There are a few surprises here—The Fat Duck, which had been #33 in 2013 and #47 in 2014, has fallen out of the top 50 and is now #73.

Manresa, which in 2014 was #62, this year dropped to #100, almost falling off the list entirely. Of course, it was closed for many months due to a fire last year after my meal there. (I had nothing to do with it, I swear!)

51. Geranium, Copenhagen
52. Tim Rau, Berlin
53. Hertog Jan, Bruges
54. Hof Van Cleve, Kruishoutem, Belgium
55. The Clove Club, London
56. Saison, San Francisco
57. Septime, Paris
58. Quay, Sydney
59. DiverXO, Madrid
60. Hedone, London
61. Martin Berasategui, San Sebastian
62. 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana, Hong Kong
63. L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, Paris
64. Maaemo, Oslo, Norway
65. Combal Zero, Rivoli, Italy
66. Amass, Copenhagen
67. Nomad, New York
68. Nerua, Bilbao
69. Momofuku Ko, New York
70. Waku Ghin, Singapore
71. De Librije, Zwolle, Netherlands
72. Restaurant at Meadowood, St. Helena
73. The Fat Duck, Bray, UK
74. Jaan, Singapore
75. Coi, San Francisco
76. Fu He Hui, Shanghai
77. Indiana Accent, New Delhi
78. La Maison Troisgros, Roanne, France
79. Ryunique, Seoul
80. Daniel, New York
81. Joe Beef, Montreal
82. Le Louis XV, Monte Carlo, Monaco
83. Tegui, Buenos Aires, Argentina
84. Sepia, Sydney
85. L’Effervescence, Tokyo
86. Hajime, Osaka, Japan
87. Brae, Birregurra, Australia
88. The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Français, Franschhoek, South Africa
89. Zuma, Dubai
90. Estela, New York
91. Belcanto, Lisbon
92. St. John, London
93. Jungsik, Seoul
94. Masa, New York
95. FU1015, Shanghai
96. Mikla, Istanbul
97. Esperanto, Stockholm
98. Vila Joya, Albufeira
99. Lung King Heen, Hong Kong
100. Manresa, Los Gatos, CA

One more thing—I’m hoping the absence of Boragó from the extended list—where it was #91 last year—means it has risen into the Top 50, rather than having fallen out of the Top 100, because Chef David Kinch and staff certainly deserve it.

I spent nearly five hours out back yesterday taking down trees and clearing brush around my stand of bamboo, so I’m happy I’ll be doing nothing more strenuous today than pontificating on panels over at Balticon. All that work is necessarily because my bamboo needs more sunlight in order to become the grove I know it has the potential to be. It’s already my favorite spot on our property, not only filling me with peace and joy but also providing a place for me to get lots of writing done.

Yesterday, I discovered I’m not the only one who likes to hang out there.

As I was about to fire up my chainsaw, I happened to glance up and see what I thought was a leaf which had fallen and landed on the head of the statue of Buddha by the bamboo. Then I looked more closely and saw … that was no leaf.

Buddha had a visitor! (more…)

I told you the other day where you’d be able to find me at Balticon, which is coming up this weekend, but there have been a few changes to programming, so instead of being able to catch me on three items Saturday and two Sunday, it’s now the other way around.

Here’s my new and improved agenda—

Tales from the Slush Pile
Saturday, May 23, 8:00 p.m.
Join our panel of editors as they read some of the worst stories to grace their desks.
with Scott H. Andrews, Rosemary Edghill, and Joshua Bilmes

What’s so Great About the Undead?
Saturday, May 23, 9:00 p.m.
A panel/roundtable discussion about why zombies and other undead creatures have such enduring popularity.
with Larry Hodges (moderator), Christiana Ellis, Gary L. Lester, and Jay Smith

Reading
Sunday, May 24, 2:00 p.m.
with Stephen Granade

Autographing
Sunday, May 24, 3:00 p.m.
with Rosemary Edghill and Tom Doyle

What Makes a Story Long-Lived?
Sunday, May 24, 6:00 p.m.
Discuss stories that are remembered, quoted, redone long after publication.
with Jack Campbell/John Hemry, Steve Lubs, Darrell Schweitzer, and Robert Waters

Hope to see you there!

Balticon is coming up this weekend at the Hunt Valley Inn in Hunt Valley, outside of Baltimore, Maryland. Will you be there? If so, here’s the programming on which you’ll able to find me.

Reading as a Writer
Saturday, May 23, 2:00 p.m.
How do writers interact with fiction they’re reading? How do you read not only for pleasure, but to improve your craft?
with Bugsy Bryant (moderator), Sarah Avery, Katie Bryski, Stephanie Burke, Jack Campbell/John Hemry, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Tim Dodge, Gary L Lester, Jack McDevitt, Sunny Moraine, Hugh J O’Donnell, Scott Roche, James Daniel Ross, Hildy Silverman, Jay Smith, Chris Snelgrove, Steven R Southard, Jean Marie Ward, and Trisha J Wooldridge

Tales from the Slush Pile
Saturday, May 23, 8:00 p.m.
with Scott H Andrews, Joshua Bilmes, Rosemary Edghill

What’s So Great About the Undead?
Saturday, May 23, 9:00 p.m.
A panel/roundtable discussion about why zombies and other undead creatures have such enduring popularity
with Larry Hodges (moderator), Stephanie Burke, and Gary L Lester

Autographing
Sunday, May 24, 3:00 p.m.
with Rosemary Edghill and Tom Doyle

What Makes a Story Long-Lived?
Sunday, May 24, 6:00 p.m.
Discuss stories that are remembered, quoted, redone long after publication.
with Steven R Southard (moderator), Jack Campbell/John Hemry, Darrell Schweitzer, Robert Waters, Jeff Young, and Steve Lubs

I hope to see you there!

Last month, I picked up a copy of Bryan Voltaggio’s new cookbook, Home, while he was making an appearance at a Barnes & Noble in Frederick. I’ve been to all of his restaurants often, and was looking forward to preparing some of my favorites at, well, home.

I assumed the first recipe I’d attempt would be his Chicken Pot Pie Fritters, but when a friend invited us to her 60th birthday party, I realized I’d have to start with something else, because fritters don’t travel. So I decided to whip up the Blueberry Cake with Peanut Streusel, which according to the cookbook photo is to supposed to turn out looking like this. (more…)

For nearly forty years, I’ve been trying to find out the truth of something that happened to me—and I’m starting to realize I may never know that truth. Recently, I decided to pitch This American Life on the idea of doing a story on the incident, thinking they could either find out what really happened, or failing that might be interested in pulling together a themed episode on multiple people who have mysteries about their lives which may never be solved. And when I mentioned on social media that I’d done this, a few of you were intrigued, and wanted to know more about this mysterious event.

Since it’s unlikely This American Life will be interested, and since, who knows, perhaps one of you could solve this mystery, I figured, why not share it here?

This incident occurred in the mid to late ’70s, prior to November 2, 1978. I say this because that’s the date on which I began keeping an almost daily diary, and when I searched through my entries for a contemporaneous accounting from then until the day I left New York in 1985, I found nothing. I would surely have written about this, so it had to have happened earlier, probably in 1975 or 1976, when I would have been 20 or 21.

One afternoon, I was sitting in front of the McGraw-Hill building on Sixth Avenue with my back to a giant, gleaming triangle that tracks solstices and equinoxes. (If you live in New York, you’ll know exactly where I mean.) I often hung out on that spot, because my father was an Art Director for McGraw-Hill, and I’d wait there until it was time for us to have lunch, or for him to get off work. But on that day, something unusual happened. (more…)

I was reading the latest issue in my lifetime subscription to The Paris Review today—a gift subscription from my wife that’s been going on for more than 35 years (so I got that going for me, which is nice)—and because the interviews have always been my favorite part, I started by reading the first one, which is with Hilary Mantel, best known as the author of Wolf Hall.

One of the things she had to say about her approach to writing resonated with my own—

With historical fiction, the big thing is the constant check you keep on information. What have I told my readers? Of what I’ve told them, how much do I think they hang on to, at first reading? Have I told them too much, have I spoon-fed them? Or have I told them too little, mystified them? It’s not just historical fiction, of course, all fiction is like that. And if it’s a choice between spoon-feeding and mystification, I think choose mystification, because you always have to assume that your reader is at least as intelligent as you are, if not more so.

Between the two, I, too, choose mystification.

How’s that working for me?

Well … it’s working for me.

As to whether it’s working for anyone else … that’s a question which has yet to be fully answered.

I had such a great time at last year’s Awesome Con that I decided to do it all over again. So three weeks from tomorrow, on Saturday, May 30, I’ll be back at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. to pontificate at Awesome Con 2015.

I’ll be taking part in the following panels sponsored by the Museum of Science Fiction and the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office—

3D Printing: “Replicating” Success
11:30 a.m.
The idea of a machine making what you want, when you want it, is common in science fiction. From The Diamond Age’s matter compilers to Star Trek’s replicators, the future promises the perfect cup of Earl Grey without waiting to heat the water. Scientists working at the cutting-edge of 3D printing technology (a.k.a. additive manufacturing) will discuss the real future possibilities of this science fiction trope. Perhaps we are a long way off from printing an entire being like in The Fifth Element, but 3D printing of organs and tissues for transplant is already under development. Astronauts and soldiers might not be ordering their favorite tea, but field-printed meals ready to eat (MREs) customized to a warfighter’s nutritional needs by way of a wearable sensor is already on the horizon.

Nanotechnology: Fact from Fiction
4:45 p.m.
Could Tony Stark really take a bullet in the face and be protected by transparent graphene? Could a ship heal itself without Cylon organic resin? Could nanobots repair my broken leg or would that rob the Universe of energy? These are the types of questions scientists will answer during Nanotechnology – Fact from Fiction. An integral part of this panel is allowing the audience time to engage with the scientists. As such, each panelist will discuss the reality behind nanotechnology-specific pop culture references. Then the real fun begins. Audience members can share their thoughts, questions, and expectations about nanotechnology with the experts.

And in-between those two panels, you can find me on the exhibit floor, where I hope to track down a few old Marvel Comics Bullpen buddies who I haven’t caught up with in decades, such as Ron Wilson.

I looking to seeing (some of) you there!