I wanted to announce — just in case anyone reading this was making plans on going there to see me or get a book signed — that I am scrapping my plans to attend this year’s New York City Comicon.

Hey, it’s still a great show, with lots of terrific guests. So attend, by all means. But not just for me… I won’t be there.

It’s nothing about the show, and certainly nothing about the city. New York is one of my favorites cities in the world, and I like to visit whenever I can. And I will try to get there sometime in the next year. Maybe in February.

This is purely a time crunch. I have two huge international trips coming up within the next couple of months. In less than two weeks, we leave for Australia for the World Science Fiction Convention in Melbourne. We will be doing some promotion and travel afterward, so I won’t be home from that until late September. Then, in mid October, we’re off to Ireland, where I am GOH at Octocon, the Irish national SF con in Dublin. After the Dublin con, I will be visiting Belfast (guess why), London (my publishers), and possibly Malta (same guess). The New York City Comicon fell square in between those two dates.

And, of course, I have this book to finish.

Australia and Ireland are conventions that I committed to years ago. Worldcon is the biggest date on the SF calendar, and I have only missed one in the last thirty-five years (Japan, 2007, which I still regret). The comicon, on the other hand, was a recent addition to my schedule. In fact, it’s not actually on my schedule, as you can see on my Appearances page. It was never more than tentative. I am not a guest of the convention (unlike Dublin, where I’m the GOH), and my presence has never been officially announced or advertised, so it’s the most painless of the three cons to scratch. My publishers had initially brought up the idea of bringing me there, but more recently seem to have cooled on that… which, to tell the truth, comes as a bit of a relief. Sandwiching in NYC between Australia and Ireland was always a bit of a push. I can accomplish more (I hope) here at home.

So… sorry, New York. I still love your football teams and your pizza. See you in 2011?

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