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!

While reviewing the complete schedule for Ad Astra which I’ll be attending next weekend in Toronto, I noticed that my panel “Using Conventions To Your Advantage” was opposite one I really wanted to see—”Zombies: The Rise to Popularity.” So I asked whether it was possible to move that first panel so I could attend the second, and the committee was kind enough to not only make the move, but add me on the second panel, too.

As if those of who you attended weren’t going to get enough pontificating out of me already!

Anyway, here’s my revised (and hopefully final) schedule.

Opening Ceremonies
Friday, April 8, 7:00 p.m.

Using Conventions To Your Advantage
Friday, April 8, 8:00 p.m.
Conventions can be important venues for writers to meet editors and publishers. Hear stories from professionals in the field on how-to and how-not-to use your con experience to network.
(with Ian Keeling and Justine Lewkowitz)

Zombies: The Rise to Popularity
Friday, April 8, 9:00 p.m.
What is the appeal of zombies? Will their popularity live on, or will it start to decompose?
with Stephen Jones, Mandy Slater, Karina Sumner Smith, Chris Warrilow

GoH Hour
Saturday, April 10, 11:00 a.m.
(with Kathryn Cramer and Elisabeth Vonarburg)

The Walking Dead
Saturday, April 10, 12:00 p.m.
Discuss the television adaptation of the graphic novel series The Walking Dead.
(with Colleen Hillerup, Ian Keeling and Mandy Slater)

Autograph session
Saturday, April 10, 3:30 p.m.

Why Professionalism Matters
Sunday, April 11, 11 a.m.
Writing is an art, but publishing is a business. How writers and artists should act, and what they need to understand when trying to sell their work.
(with Ziana de Bethune, Adrienne Kress, Matt Moore, Mandy Slater, Howard Tayler and Gregory Wilson)

Reading
Sunday, April 11, 12 p.m.
(with Matthew Johnson)

I look forward to seeing some of you next weekend!

Back in 2009, I was once again asked to participate in what I’ve grown to think of as the “speed dating” style of workshopping—three beginning writers and three (supposedly) advanced writers locked together in a room for a couple of hours so the beginners could have their work critiqued.

I always used to do it when asked, but had become disenchanted with it for a couple of reasons, the primary one being that knowing how to calmly accept criticism, even when you disagree with it, is something that (for many) isn’t innate. It has to be learned. And unlike with lengthier workshop situations such as Clarion or Odyssey during which there’s time for trust to be earned, in these quickie critique sessions the writer often doesn’t yet know how to hear, or respond to, the message.

As I explained to Oz Whiston why I was going to pass, I added that I didn’t think anyone who wanted to submit manuscripts should be allowed to take part in the WorldCon critique process until he or she sat through a panel on “How to Respond to a Critique of Your Writing.” I said it half in jest, but as soon as the words came out of my mouth, I realized … “Uh-oh.”

That’s right. Oz asked me to go ahead and give that presentation at Anticipation, the 67th World Science Fiction Convention. Which I agreed to do. The room was packed, and the advice seemed well-received, with many audience members tracking me down later during the con to thank me. And that was that.

But lately, I’ve been thinking that some of the info in the presentation might be useful to some beginning writers who weren’t at WorldCon that year. And so I turned my slideshow into an annotated YouTube video.

I’m not entirely sure how something created to be presented to a specific small group of writers who likely hadn’t been professionally critiqued before will play with a wider audience, but since I believe there’s some valuable info here that might be helpful to more than just the people who were in Montreal, here’s a re-creation of that talk.

Though I’ve used every slide, not every spoken tangential aside is in here—after all, I talked for about 45 minutes at WorldCon, whereas in the clip you’re getting a distilled 15 minutes—but I think there’s still enough meat here that I get my point across.

Speaking of points … my wife, in her wisdom, mentioned that rather that creating this clip as a stand-alone presentation on how writers should react to criticism, I’ve instead created a historical document about a presentation I gave previously, and that perhaps it should be reconfigured and couched as, “I’ve been on both sides of this thing for years, and here are some tips on how to cope with rejection” (that is, something valuable for any writing audience) vs. “I gave a presentation a couple of years ago, and for those who missed it, here’s what I said.”

You know … she has a point. And someday, when I have the time, I may revise, expand, and perfect this presentation so it does just that. But for now, I think I’ll let it stand as is. I hope someone out there gets something out of it.

A recent post over at the always wonderful Giant-Size Geek sent me scurrying to the vault. Richard Guion posted pages of Bullpen photos from the 1975 Mighty Marvel Convention booklet, which happened to include pics of both me and Irene.

In case you don’t remember those pics from previous posts, here we are again.

Didn’t we used to be cute? (Well, Irene still is. Though as for me … )

But never mind that. We’re here today to talk about the cover. Here’s the cover con attendees saw back in 1975.

If you ever wondered how that layout came to be, I’ve got the answer—because among my many other Marvel staff duties at the time, I edited that program book, and I still have Marie Severin’s original sketches showing off two possible designs. (more…)

Two weeks from tonight, I’ll be laying my head to rest in Toronto, because from April 8-11 I’ll be attending Ad Astra. I gave you my rough schedule earlier in the week, but now that the committee has finalized things—including giving the date and time for my reading—I figured I should update you.

Here’s where you’ll be able to find me up in the Great White North:

Opening Ceremonies
Friday, April 8, 7:00 p.m.

Using Conventions To Your Advantage
Friday, April 8, 9:00 p.m.
Conventions can be important venues for writers to meet editors and publishers. Hear stories from professionals in the field on how-to and how-not-to use your con experience to network.
(with Ian Keeling and Justine Lewkowitz)

GoH Hour
Saturday, April 10, 11:00 a.m.
(with Kathryn Cramer and Elisabeth Vonarburg)

The Walking Dead
Saturday, April 10, 12:00 p.m.
Discuss the television adaptation of the graphic novel series The Walking Dead.
(with Colleen Hillerup, Ian Keeling and Mandy Slater)

Autograph session
Saturday, April 10, 3:30 p.m.

Why Professionalism Matters
Sunday, April 11, 11 a.m.
Writing is an art, but publishing is a business. How writers and artists should act, and what they need to understand when trying to sell their work.
(with Ziana de Bethune, Adrienne Kress, Matt Moore, Mandy Slater, Howard Tayler and Gregory Wilson)

Reading
Sunday, April 11, 12 p.m.
(with Matthew Johnson)

And if any of you who’ll be there have suggestions or requests for which of my stories I should read during my shared hour Sunday with Matthew Johnson, please let me know!

I’ll be in Toronto April 8-11 to attend Ad Astra. I was Editor Guest of Honor there in 2000, and for its 30th anniversary year, the con is trying to get as many previous GOHs to attend as possible.

Complete programming details are still being ironed out, but here’s what I know so far:

Using Conventions To Your Advantage
Friday, April 8, 9:00 p.m.
Conventions can be important venues for writers to meet editors and publishers. Hear stories from professionals in the field on how-to and how-not-to use your con experience to network.
(with Ian Keeling and Justine Lewkowitz)

The Walking Dead
Saturday, April 10, Noon
Discuss the television adaptation of the graphic novel series The Walking Dead.
(with Colleen Hillerup, Ian Keeling and Mandy Slater)

Why Professionalism Matters
Sun, April 11, 11 a.m.
Writing is an art, but publishing is a business. How writers and artists should act, and what they need to understand when trying to sell their work.
(with Ziana de Bethune, Adrienne Kress, Matt Moore, Mandy Slater, Howard Tayler and Gregory Wilson)

I’ll also be doing a reading, date and time still to be decided.

If you’ll be there, I look forward to seeing you. And if you won’t be there … why not?

While at the World Fantasy Convention this year, I managed to hit all three restaurants visited by Adam Richman during the Columbus episode of Man v. Food. (You know that’s the show I watch while on the treadmill, right?)

Yesterday, I shared a list of the conventions I’ll be traveling to next year. And it occurred to me I should probably check–will there be any overlap between cons and food in 2011?

Yes!

First up, Man v. Food‘s Austin episode. Check it out to see where I’ll be dragging some of you during World Horror in April. (And I’ve already been to the Salt Lick, which is definitely worth the trip.)

(more…)

With 2010 winding down, I figured I’d better take a look ahead to where you’ll be able to find me in 2011, if for no better reason than to keep track of where I’ll be able to find me in 2011!

And just in case you’re wondering as you look at the list below, no, I haven’t been to a Philcon since it moved from Philadelphia, and I haven’t been to a Lunacon since it left Manhattan. (Making my last Lunacon a loooong time ago!)

See you on the road!

April 8-10
Ad Astra
Toronto, Canada

April 28-May 1
World Horror Convention
Austin, Texas

May 19-22
Nebula Awards Weekend
Washington, D.C.

May 27-30
Balticon
Hunt Valley, Maryland

June 16-19
Horror Writers Association Stoker Awards Weekend
Uniondale, New York (Long Island)

July 14-17
Readercon
Burlington, Massachusetts

July 21-24
Comic-Con International
San Diego, California

August 17-21
Renovation: the 2011 World Science Fiction Convention
Reno, Nevada

October 14-16
Capclave
Rockville, Maryland

October 27-October 30
World Fantasy Convention
San Diego, California

You’ve probably already heard this one. A couple, about to get married, go through their family albums in order to put together a wedding video and discover a photo of the two of them taken during separate family vacations at Disneyland long before they’d ever met.

Just in case this one passed you by, here’s the story:

The reason I’m bringing this up is because it got me to thinking about another photo which might exist somewhere out there—one taken of Irene and me long before we met. (more…)

I’ve only worn a costume at a science-fiction or comic-book convention once. (Unless you count that time a friend of mine and I absconded with another friend’s Mister Miracle costume and wandered Madison Square Garden in the early morning until we were stopped by the police … but that’s a story for another day.)

The year was 1975. (At least I think it was 1975. But maybe you can help me out with that.) There was a panel at Phil Seuling’s July 4th weekend New York Comic Con on comics as art or how comics can get better, and the panelists were (if I’m remembering correctly) Jim Starlin, Howard Chaykin, maybe Al Milgrom, and … I forget who else.

When the audience filed in for the panel, I was standing on a chair near the back of the room looking as you see me in the photo below taken by Bruce Mittelman. That’s a double-handed broadsword hanging under my right arm, and a bunny in my hands that I occasionally impaled on the end of it. My make-up? Done by none other than (boy, I sure hope I’m not misremembering this) Jim Starlin.

After their initial statements and a little bit of discussion, once the panel was opened for questions, a stooge stood up and asked, “What about the Silver Surfer?,” whining and pleading for the hero to get his own comic. At that point, my job was to step down from the chair, grab the plant by the collar, and pull him kicking and screaming from the room. After which the discussion was supposed to continue on its lofty plane.

And that bit of theater was, as far as I can remember, the only time I ever wore a costume at a convention.

And now … here’s how you can help me.

Anyone out there have a copy of the program for the 1975 Seuling Con so I can see who was actually on that panel, as opposed to who I merely remember as having been on that panel? (It’s not part of the program book itself, which I still have, so it must have been printed on a separate flier.)

Who knows? I might even discover that this all took place at a Creation con instead!

Anyone?