There are only a few more days before this year’s Balticon begins, so I checked the final program to see whether there’d been any changes to my schedule from when I last shared my planned appearances with you. And surprise—there were!

One programming item has been switched to a later time, new co-panelists been added and old ones deleted, and panel descriptions had been added as well.

And so … here’s you can really find me—

Saturday, May 27

Tales from the Slush Pile
11:00 a.m.
Editors share tales of some of the gems they’ve received, and give advice on how to avoid becoming fodder for future panels like this.
with Scott Andrews, Erika Pryor, and Joshua Bilmes

Writing Interesting and Effective Short Stories
12:00 p.m.
Science fiction and fantasy literature has been the domain of the short story since before even the first pulps,. To this day, it’s often how readers discover new authors, new authors gain exposure, new concepts are explored, and new styles are developed. What makes a short story effective? How can you condense the universe you’re building into a small space and still have enough to hold the reader’s attention? How is prose and characterization handled differently in a short work, and how do you know when to end it?
with Hildy Silverman, Malka Older, Jean Marie Ward, and Fran Wilde

How to Incorporate Critique
5:00 p.m.
They’ve read your work, and you’ve got your response… now what do you do with it? How do you take someone else’s advice and still keep the story your own? How much (and when) should you change to meet a reader’s expectations?
with Joshua Bilmes, James Minz, Sarah Pinsker, and S.M. Stirling

How to Self-Edit That Lousy First Draft
6:00 p.m.
“The first draft of anything is lousy”, is a quote attributed to many writers (usually with more colorful language), but knowing that, how do you make it better? What steps can you take before you show it to an editor? How can you keep from getting frustrated trying to make the version on paper look like the version in your head?
with David Keener, Sarah Avery, and Steve Brust

Sunday, May 28

Kaffeeklatsch
10:00 a.m.

Being a Fan of Problematic Things
12:00 p.m.
We love things. Sometimes they’re problematic. Sometimes their creators are. We’ll explore how to be a fan of those things without making the problems worse, or maybe even while making them better.
with Martina Fetzer, Eric Hardenbrook, Nobilis Reed, and S.M. Stirling

Reading
5:00 p.m.
with Day Al-Mohammed and Catherine Asaro

But remember—those aren’t the only places to find me. At some point during the con, I plan to plop myself down with a dozen donuts and record another lightning-round episode of my Eating the Fantastic podcast, similar to the one I did at Readercon. Watch my Twitter feed to find out where and when.

And if you spot me in the halls, the dealers room, or the bar, be sure to say hello!

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!

And so Eating the Fantastic says farewell to Balticon … by saying hello to writer, editor, publisher, foodie, baseball enthusiast (and more!) Cecilia Tan.

Cecilia is the publisher of Circlet Press, the author of the Slow Surrender trilogy and the serialized Darron’s Guitar Chronicles, the cowriter of The 50 Greatest Yankee Games and The 50 Greatest Red Sox Games … but that’s just a partial list of her accomplishments, as this episode will reveal. We broke away from Balticon for lunch at Family Meal (the site of my earlier chats with Sarah Pinsker and Fran Wilde), as the restaurant’s not only good, but extremely close to the con hotel.

Cecilia and I discussed how her self-published Telepaths Don’t Need Safewords gave birth to the Circlet Press empire, the advice she received from Tor publisher Tom Doherty, her love for the Legion of Super-Heroes, the lesson you should learn from the fact mass market publishing finally caught up with what she’d been doing all along, and much more. Plus a few things you might not know about her, such as her teen presidency of the largest Menudo fan club in the English-speaking world!

Here’s how you can eavesdrop— (more…)

For the latest episode of Eating the Fantastic, I broke away from Balticon for lunch with Fran Wilde at a restaurant extremely close by, and in doing so ended up replicating for you an aspect of con-going I’d yet to bring to you before—the fact we sometimes get so busy at these events that it’s impossible to squeeze in a leisurely meal.

And so this is an Eating the Fantastic first—an episode recorded not just during lunch at Family Meal, but also later, back at the con over cookies from Vacarro’s (because there had to be food involved, of course), in a room set aside for kaffeklatches.

Fran is the Nebula Award-winning and Compton Crook Award-winning author of Updraft, plus the host of the Cooking the Books podcast, which has a writers + food focus just like mine.

We talked about what she lost the night she won her Nebula Award, her love for Anne McCaffrey’s The Ship Who Sang, the power of poetry, why she tries to do one thing a month that scares her, her Cooking the Books podcast, and much more.

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

I’ll be attending three conventions over the next two months—Escape Velocity, Readercon, and Worldcon—but before those roll around, I have a couple of things to share with you about the two most recent conventions in the rear view mirror.

First—I already shared pics of the remarkable suit I wore when the Horror Writers Association handed out its Bram Stoker Awards in Las Vegas last month. But would’t you like to see that suit in action?

Here I am with Weston Ochse, handing out the award for Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel … and immediately becoming a punchline for one of Jeff Strand’s jokes. Wait for it!

In another video recorded last month, I was captured wearing clothes of a decidedly darker hue. Check me out as I read the opening to my story in the latest issue of PostScripts, “The Man Without the Blue Balloon and the Woman Who Had Smiles Only for Him.”

And if you happen to be at Readercon next month, you might hear me read the entire thing!

Balticon’s coming up next weekend, and it’s not just any Balticon—it’s the 50th Balticon. And this year the committee has gathered together as many former Guests of Honor as possible from previous incarnations of the convention.

Who else will be there?

Me!

If you’ll be there, too, here’s where to find me.

Gimungous Autograph Session
Saturday 2:00-3:15 p.m. (Kent)

The Fine Art of Rejection
Saturday 5:00-15:50 p.m. (Parlor 9059)
Editors answer the hard questions. What are your deal-breakers? How do you winnow that mountain down into the select few choices? What makes your task harder? How do you decide when a story deserves more than a form rejection?

Readings: Christiana Ellis, Scott Edelman, Christopher Rose, Don Sakers
Saturday 16:00-16:50 (Parlor 9059)

How to Give and Get Critiques
Monday 11:00-11:50 a.m. (Parlor)
What goes into being a good critiquer. How to listen to others’ critiques of your work. Where to find critique partners, online and in person.

What’s Hot in Short Fiction?
Monday 12:00-12:50 p.m. (Parlor 8029)

See you there!

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.

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!

I spent yesterday at Balticon, doing a shared reading with Danielle Ackley-McPhail and John Mierau (you can see me and John in Adam Corbin Fusco‘s photo below) and taking part in a panel on The Walking Dead, in which we compared the two seasons so far and speculated on what’s to come in season three. We also gave our opinions as to how long the series would last and theories as to how it would end.

While at the con, I broke bread with Karen and Charlie Newton, Sandy and Risa Stewart, and Patrick Darby, and chatted with the rest of the usual Balticon suspects.

I find myself surprisingly worn out from having spent one day at what I generally consider a relaxicon, especially since last weekend’s Nebula Awards, at which far more partying and schmoozing went on (as captured below by James Patrick Kelly), didn’t leave me a fraction as tired. John Ordover speculated over on Facebook that I’m older now, but … by one week?

Am I deteriorating that quickly?

And that word “deteriorating” makes me think of zombies again, so I’ll toss out what I’d presented yesterday as my thoughts on how The Walking Dead would come to a conclusion, which should only be read by those who don’t care whether I might accidentally spoil something for you. (more…)