And here’s my appearance in Seattle, courtesy of Vimeo, Suvudu, and the University Book Store.
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Any resemblence to my pre-signing remarks in Burlington, New York City, Indianapolis, San Diego, LA, Redwood City, Denver, and Lexington is entirely… ah… intentional.
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For those of you who couldn’t be there, here’s my interview at Google.
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The Google campus was pretty amazing. Must be a fun place to work. I especially liked the slide who those who want to get to the ground floor quickly…
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I’m off to San Diego tomorrow morning, for comicon.
Tickets have been sold out for months, alas. But for you lucky 150,000 who will be lucky enough to get in, here’s my current schedule of signings, panels, and other public events.
THURSDAY, JULY 21
10:00 am – 12 noon Daniel Abraham and I will be signing copies of the FEVRE DREAM graphic novel at the Avatar booth (#2701),
12 noon – 1:00 pm EPIC FANTASY panel, rm 6A
1:30pm – 2:30 pm The panelists from Epic Fantasy will be signing in autograph area AA1
3:00pm – 4:00 pm The GAME OF THRONES panel, an hour long discussion of the HB0 series with showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and actors Lena Headey (Cersei), Peter Dinklage (Tyrion), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys), Jason Momoa (Khal Drogo), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Nicolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime). I’ll be moderating.
4:30pm – 5:45pm The GAME OF THRONES cast and I will be signing posters at the Warner Brothers booth #4545.
FRIDAY JULY 22
10:00 am – 11:00 am I will be signing copies of the DOORWAYS graphic novel at the IDW
booth (#2643)
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm John Picacio and I will be signing copies of the 2012 Ice & Fire calendar in the autograph area, AA 21 I will also be signing A DANCE WITH DRAGONS and my other Ice & Fire books during this appearance.
SATURDAY JULY 23
1:00 pm – 3:00 pm I will be signing A DANCE WITH DRAGONS, the other Ice & Fire books, and anything else you care to bring in the autograph area, AA 18.
5:00pm – 6:00 pm Tor Books will be giving away complimentary copies of INSIDE STRAIGHT at their booth, and I’ll be on hand to sign them, along with Melinda Snodgrass, Daniel Abraham, Carrie Vaughn, and other members of the Wild Cards crew. We’ll also be glad to deface FORT FREAK and any other Wild Cards books you care to present to us.
SUNDAY JULY 24
10:30 am – 11:30 am WILD CARDS panel. Half a dozen of your favorite Wild Cards writers will assemble to talk about the past, present, and future of the long-running shared world series in the field.
12:00 noon – 1:00 pm The Wild Card panelists will adjourn to AA1 to sign your books.
Later that afternoon, I will heading over to Mysterious Galaxy for my signing there, but that’s offsite, and not an official part of the SDCC schedule.
A couple of notes about the signings:
1) as on my tour, I will be autographing your books, but I won’t be able to inscribe or personalize them (unless by some chance you catch me at a slow time when there’s no line),
2) many of these signings are keyed to particular books and projects. At Avatar, I’ll be signing FEVRE DREAM, at IDW it will be DOORWAYS, for Tor WILD CARDS. The place to get your DANCE WITH DRAGONS signed is at the big general signings on Friday and Saturday. We’ve scheduled me for four hours of signing between those two days… so please, respect my other publishers and DO NOT ask me to sign your Ice & Fire books at the booth signings. Those are meant to promote my other projects.
[[AFTER THE CUT IS NSFW. ]]
Of course, there are certain things I am always willing to sign.
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Now that Kong has fallen, all the smaller monkeys who were hiding in his fur have come out and began to howl and chatter and beat me about the head and shoulders.
I got one off my back yesterday (though not one that most of you will care much about): my bloody taxes. At least, I got them to my accountant, so he can file my returns by the June 15 deadline. I had to take an extension back in April, since I was deep in the throes of wrestling Kong and did not have the time to deal with all those little bits of paper. I try not to bitch about taxes too much, mind you. As a good liberal, I don’t actually mind paying taxes. (And I pay a LOT of taxes). I know taxes are the price of a civilized society. That being said, I hate DOING taxes. It has gotten easier in recent years, with Ty doing a lot of the prep work and my accountant doing the final prep and filing the return… but somehow it still always seems to come down to me at three in the morning, zonked on coffee and staring at a faded receipt for $8.17 and trying to figure out what it is, where it’s from, and whether it’s deductible.
Anyway, that’s done. For one more year, at least.
Which is not to say that my back is without monkeys.
Here’s the stuff I am dealing with right now:
— reviewing pitch proposals and putting together the overplot for the new Wild Cards mosaic novel, LOWBALL,
— writing the first draft of my script for episode nine of season two of the HBO series GAME OF THRONES, “Blackwater,” and damn, but this one is a bitch of an adaptation, the original author made the damn battle way too big and too expensive,
— working on a Nicholas van Rijn story for the Poul Anderson tribute anthology Gardner Dozois and Greg Bear are editing (an especially noisy monkey, since the deadline was today and the story is a long way from being done),
— getting back into THE WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE, the long-promised concordance I am doing with Elio and Linda, which is almost three years late at this point, and needs to be finished and delivered by year’s end,
— roughing out the next Dunk and Egg novella, the next story in the queue after I finished the “Blackwater” script and the Poul Anderson story,
— planning for a long summer of travel: the visit to Poland and Slovenia, the book tour, San Diego comicon, worldcon in Reno, Bubonicon, and maybe another trip overseas in the fall for the HBO show, depending,
— working on a complete redesign of my website, much needed and long potsponed,
— supervising and reviewing and approving materials for the games, the cards, the video games, the comic books, the replica swords, the miniatures, etc, etc.
I am exhausted just typing about it.
And behind all that, of course, lurks Son of Kong: the WINDS OF WINTER.
Why am I writing this damned post??? I need to get to WORK!
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Looks like I will be coming out to LA in early January, to talk about the HBO show at the TCA.
That one is for television critics only, I’m afraid… but I’m looking to set up a couple of public events while I am in town. Watch this space. We will probably do a signing, most likely somewhere in the San Fernando Valley. And our friend Lodengarl, founder and prince of the Brotherhood Without Banners, is going to come down from the Bay Area to organize a BWB event the same day. Details when we have ’em… but angelenos, mark down January 9 on your calendars.
(Might have an exciting announcement that day as well. Maybe two. But don’t quote me on that).
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The Wild Cards gang — the New Mexico chapter, anyway — will be gathering tomorrow at Page One Bookstore in Albuquerque to sign copies of the new Tor reissue of WILD CARDS, volume one, the book that started it all (with Extra! Added! Content!!). I’ll be on hand, natch, along with Melinda M. Snodgrass, John Jos. Miller, Victor Milan, Walter Jon Williams, Ian Tregillis, and Daniel Abraham. Seven signatures, one stop!
WILD CARDS will be the featured volume, but copies of INSIDE STRAIGHT, BUSTED FLUSH, and SUICIDE KINGS will also be on hand, and available for autographing.
So will a whole bunch of my other recent releases, including
— the new Tor edition of SONGS OF THE DYING EARTH
— the hardcover of SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH
Books by Melinda Snodgrass, Daniel Abraham, M.L.N. Hanover, Victor Milan, Walter Jon Willianms, and Ian Tregillis will also be available. So will ACES & JOKERS, the latest game supplement from Green Ronin, by Steve Kenyon and our own John Jos. Miller.
Page One is at 11018 Montgomery NE in Albuquerque. Check out their website at http://www.page1book.com/
If you cannot make the signing in the flesh, it is still possible to order a signed book or three by phone, mail, or email. The Page One staff will be glad to take your order, set the book aside, have it signed, and ship it to you. Call their toll free number at 1-800-521-4122 or email the service department at books@page1book.com.
Signed books make great Christmas presents… so if you’re anywhere near Page One tomorrow, stop on by. The signing begins at 3:30 in the afternoon. See you there!
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Off to San Diego tomorrow, to teach my week at the famous Clarion Writers’ Workshop.
Yes, I will be doing a public appearance while there — Wednesday night, at the wonderful Mysterious Galaxy bookshop. Click on the link on the appearances page of my website for full details. I’ll be reading a chapter from A DANCE WITH DRAGONS, and defacing various copies of my books with my infamous illegible scrawl.
Unless provoked, I will try to be good and avoid any mention of last season’s Jets / Chargers playoff game. Honest, I will.
I don’t carry a laptop on the road, so I won’t be checking in here much, if at all, while I’m gone. Sorry, no hints or casting announcements until the 11th. At least not from me.
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I’ve received my schedule for the Chicago Comics Expo next month (see my Appearances page for a link with further details as to date, place, etc.)
I’m coming in to promote the release of the first issue of the FEVRE DREAM comic, scripted by Daniel Abraham (of Albuquerque) and illustrated by Rafa Lopez (of Spain).
Here are the scheduled public functions:
FRIDAY
12 noon – 2pm signing at Avatar booth
4 pm – 6 pm signing at Avatar booth
8pm – 10pm Avatar Friday Night Event – reading from A DANCE WITH DRAGONS
(this item requires a separate admission, available from Avatar)
SATURDAY
11 am – 1pm signing at Avatar booth
3 pm – 6 pm signing at Avatar booth
SUNDAY
11:15 am – 12:15 noon Q&A panel, room E353
1 pm – 4 pm signing at Avatar booth
As you can see, I will be spending a lot of time hanging at the Avatar booth. I expect there will be some “down times” when I’ll be glad to chat… but that depends on the crowds. I have never done this con before, so I don’t know what to expect.
Avatar will have copies of the first issue of FEVRE DREAM for sale at their booth, and I am told they also plan to stock many of my books.
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Judging by the emails I receive, there are a lot of aspiring writers among my readership.
I wanted to make mention of a couple of summer writing programs that might be of interest to you.
First, the legendary Clarion workshop, which began with Damon Knight in Clarion College, Pennsylvania, and is now in scenic San Diego. An intensive six-week writer’s boot camp that will make you, break you, maybe change your life. I will be one of the instructors at this year’s Clarion, along with Delia Sherman, Dale Bailey, Samuel R. Delany, Jeff Vandermeer, and Anne Vandermeer. For more details, check out
http://clarion.ucsd.edu/
Applications for Clarion are being accepted now, and will close on March 1… so if you’ve ever wanted to have me read and critique your work, and learn the secret handshake and the diagonal relationship, speak now or hold your peace until the next time I do a workshop (which probably won’t be for a few more years).
[[ I do NOT read unpublished manuscripts that are mailed or emailed to me, so don’t even think that. I do my teaching and critiquing only with a workshop context. And sorry, no, I won’t be your mentor.]]
Clarion has been helping to turn out professional SF and fantasy writers since the 60s. Maybe you’re the next one. You’ll never know unless you apply. But be warned, only a few are chosen. Admissions are extremely competitive, with only one of five applicants getting in.
For writers who are already published, but are looking to take the next step in their careers, there is the Taos Toolbox, founded and run by my friend Walter Jon Williams and held right here in scenic New Mexico.
http://www.taostoolbox.com
Walter Jon’s pitches his Toolbox as more of a “graduate study” program, for writers with a bit more experience. Graduates of Clarion, Clarion West, and Odyssey, neopros with a few sales under their belts, even journeymen looking to improve. I am not connected with the Toolbox, but I did a guest lecture there a few years ago, and it struck me as a great program. This year Nancy Kress will be assisting WJW with the teaching, and Carrie Vaughn (of Kitty and Wild Cards fame) will be giving a guest lecture. And when you’re not writing, reading, critiquing, or listening to lectures, hey, you’ll be in Taos.
Clarion Workshop and the Taos Toolbox. If you want to write, check ’em out.
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