Welcome back to the Boskone 58 Mini Interview Series! Get to know some of the top authors, scientists, artists, and creators in the science fiction, fantasy and horror industry, why they’re looking forward to Boskone, and perhaps a sneak peek at what they’re working on next.

Today on the Boskone 58 Mini Interview Series we are with Tabitha Lord, Colin Alexander, and J.R.H. Lawless!

Tabitha Lord

Visit Tabitha Lord on their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Website!

VIDEO RESPONSE!

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Colin Alexander

Colin Alexander is a writer of science fiction and fantasy. Actually, Colin Alexander is a pseudonym, maybe an alter ego, or who the author would have been if he hadn’t had a career as a medical researcher. He’s been reading science fiction since he was ten and has published five books so far including Starman’s Saga and Accidental Warrior. His new book, Complicated: The Interstellar Life and Times of Saoirse Kenneally will be published in the winter of 2021. He’s an active member of both the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and of Mystery Writers of America. Away from writing fiction, Colin is a doctor and a biochemist whose idea of relaxation is martial arts (taekwondo and minna jiu jitsu). He lives in Maine with his wife. You can follow Colin on Amazon at amazon.com/author/colinalexander, on Goodreads at goodreads.com/colinalexander, or on Facebook @ColinAlexanderAuthor.

Visit Colin Alexander on their Facebook, and Website!

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

Kaffeeklatsches

If you were planning a holiday or vacation and could visit any location, whether in the real world or fictional worlds, where would you go? Why? 

I would want to ride a giant worm across the sands of Arrakis, see the Ringworld from space, and sail between the statues of Isildur and Anárion above the Rauros falls on Middle Earth. Those would be unique experiences, demonstrations of the wild glory and magnificence of the universes writers have created through works of science fiction and fantasy. I won’t get to do those things, of course. I’ll have to settle for touring Australia and New Zealand, which my friends from Down Under tell me are just as fabulous.

Authors, artists, and creators often listen to music while they work. If you have a playlist you’d like to share or an album to recommend, please add it here. We’ll be compiling a list of lists to help Boskone attendees get their creative juices flowing. 

Current favorite: This House Is Not For Sale album by Bob Jovi

What are you currently working on? Any new releases that fans should know about?

I’m expecting to publish Complicated: The Interstellar Life and Times of Saoirse Kenneally just in time for Boskone. The setting is a couple of hundred years from now when humanity has figured out how to open wormholes and, consequently, has exploded across a volume of space. The story revolves around its main character and her problems, both the ones she finds herself in and the ones she creates for herself. Saoirse has some positives; she?s very smart and strong in an athletic way. Unfortunately, she is also an alcoholic and addict with a big dose of self-loathing. None of the rehabs she has been in will take her back, her family has disowned her, and the story opens with her waking up in jail. It’s not a promising start. She avoids doing time by taking a two-year term of off-planet service but staying out of trouble is not her strong suit. She finds herself enmeshed in a web of corruption, interstellar drug smuggling, violence, and power politics. Ultimately, the question is: can a twenty-year old woman with a checkered past, a tenuous grip on sobriety, and an on-again off-again relationship with the truth save an entire planet from a bloody power grab? And can she save herself in the bargain? I had fun writing about Saoirse and her adventures and I hope you will enjoy reading them.

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J.R.H. Lawless

Visit J.R.H. Lawless on their Facebook, Twitter, and Website!

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

This will be my first Boskone–which is a crime in itself, since Nova Scotia and Boston are so close, in more ways than one–and I can’t wait to take part in all the fun I’ve been following from afar for the past few editions. I can’t wait to meet all the attendees, share with all the awesome panelists, and maybe even convince a few folks to nominate me for the Astounding Award, which I’m eligible for this year as a 2020 debut novelist!

If you were planning a holiday or vacation and could visit any location, whether in the real world or fictional worlds, where would you go? Why? 

I’d probably go to Jose Luis Borges’ Library of Babel, the one containing a copy of every book ever written, plus every book that *could* have been as well! On top of the infinite reading, I bet there’d be plenty of Discworld L-space opportunities there for branching out into wherever else or when I might feel like wandering.

Authors, artists, and creators often listen to music while they work. If you have a playlist you’d like to share or an album to recommend, please add it here. We’ll be compiling a list of lists to help Boskone attendees get their creative juices flowing. 

Electro Swing 2020 Playlist

What are you currently working on? Any new releases that fans should know about?

THE RUDE EYE OF REBELLION, the second book in my SF Humor series THE GENERAL BUZZ, will be releasing in paperback and audiobook around Boskone 2021, and the third book in the series should have a release date soon as well! Other than that, I’m still working on prepping two other novels for submission with my agent, as well as drafting the fourth GENERAL BUZZ novel.

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Curious about who else is coming to Boskone 58? With 3 days of over 100 top-notch items paired with top authors, scientists, artists, and creators in the science fiction, fantasy and horror industry, you won’t want to miss out. Join your fellow fans and writers by registering today!

Don’t miss out! Register for Boskone 58 today!

The Boskone Event Site is available for viewing!

This means that you can login, update your profile, and build your personalized schedule now and sign up for kaffeeklatsches.

The Boskone 58 event site is located at: https://sites.grenadine.co/sites/boskone/en/boskone-58/ and the convention schedule will run from February 12-14, 2021.

We have finished transferring the pre-convention registrations purchased through the NESFA store to the Boskone 58 event site, and we have enabled registration directly through the Boskone event platform. This means that you can purchase memberships through the Boskone event site, which gives you almost immediate access to the pre-convention content. All memberships purchased prior to February 1, 2021 as well as Boskone’s Life memberships and Past Guest memberships have also been added to the database.

You may now try logging into the site using the email associated with your registration. If it doesn’t work, please contact us at registration@boskone.org.

If you haven’t yet registered, memberships are only $25 to participate in the convention, access the pre-convention content, and watch the recorded panels through the end of February 2021. Click here to register today!

To help you know what to expect when logging into the Boskone event platform, here are some Login Quick Tips, which will be useful since many pages have content that is publicly viewable and you may think you are logged in because you can see certain information.

Login Quick Tips

Click on either of the login buttons.

• One is in the top right corner.
• One is at the bottom of the banner image.

Enter the email that you used when registering.

This is the email that you entered into the system during the registration process.

If you see an old address for yourself, please do not click “this is not me” because it will create a new duplicate record for you, which will not be attached to your registration. Instead, or if you have any other difficulties, please contact helpdesk@boskone.org.

Password vs. Magic Link

When you login, the system will ask you for your password. You may not know it, and that’s okay. All you need to do is click on the Magic Link button to have the system send you a login link to the email that you used during the registration process.

Once you login, you can go to your profile and update your information, including your password.

Your avatar appears next to a “Registered” button when logged in.

You will return to the landing page for the Boskone 58 event site. It will look the same, except that the login button will either have the preloaded Boskone image or it will  show the image that you saved to your profile the last time you logged into your account.

You can upload a new avatar image anytime through your profile page.

We hope this Quick Tip was useful. We will be sharing a few more Quick Tips before the convention.

Welcome back to the Boskone 58 Mini Interview Series! Get to know some of the top authors, scientists, artists, and creators in the science fiction, fantasy and horror industry, why they’re looking forward to Boskone, and perhaps a sneak peek at what they’re working on next.

Today on the Boskone 58 Mini Interview Series we are with Linda D. Addison, Karen Heuler, and Dr. Gillian Polack!

Linda D. Addison

Visit Linda D. Addison on their Facebook, Twitter, and Website!

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

I’m so looking forward to the same things as 3D version of Boskone and that is talking with other creative folks (friends–new and old), going to panels (as participant and audience). There is always such a wonderful variety of areas (writing, art, film, music, etc.) to visit at Boskone–it’s delightful to see similar offerings in the VR version!

If you were planning a holiday or vacation and could visit any location, whether in the real world or fictional worlds, where would you go? Why? 

My first dream now is to meet my son in NYC (he and I both moved away) and hang out with him, old friends, visit old stomping grounds, especially museums, restaurants in neighborhoods we lived in. Each year since I moved away I’ve gone back to NYC, met up with friends and I really miss it this year.

What are you currently working on? Any new releases that fans should know about?

I’m currently finishing edits on my first SF novel (which seems to be taking forever).

I have poetry in the upcoming exciting places:
-BSAM Red Spring: Curating the End of the World exhibition; online at the newyorklivearts dot org
-Weird Tales Magazine #364
-“Chiral Mad 5” & “It Came from the 80?s” anthologies

And a story in Marvel’s Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda anthology, out Feb 2, 2021!

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Karen Heuler

Visit Karen Heuler on their Facebook, Twitter, and Website!

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

I absolutely adore going to a panel discussion that opens up an idea in science and/or engineering, or that discusses a point about writing that I hadn’t considered before. The unexpected–that’s what I want to find at Boskone.

If you were planning a holiday or vacation and could visit any location, whether in the real world or fictional worlds, where would you go? Why? 

I like jungles. I miss them. I went to the Amazon solo when I was 40, and it was extraordinary. I’d love to go to Costa Rica and see both the rain forest and cloud forest there. Trees and animals give me peace, and the swift surprises of insect life make me consider how much I haven’t encountered of life on earth. I can still happen on the unexpected in cities and in parks and forests, but there’s something about being in a place that smells radically different that also fills me with joy.

What are you currently working on? Any new releases that fans should know about?

Some writers are reluctant to talk about their works in progress, and I’m one of them. It takes me a while to come up with an elevator pitch or hook and until I find the right description, anything I say sounds to me like a hand-made garment stitched together by a poor sewer. So I’ll just note: novella. novel. stories. All in various stages. And some things coming out next year.

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Dr. Gillian Polack

Visit Dr. Gillian Polack on their Facebook, Twitter, and Website!

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

I’m looking forward to Boskone itself and to the people of Boskone. I’ve heard about it for years from so many of my friends and it’s been on my list of “I only wish I could travel more” list for that long. This year it’s coming to me! I may have to stay up late and wake up early, but I will treasure every minute.

If you were planning a holiday or vacation and could visit any location, whether in the real world or fictional worlds, where would you go? Why? 

I love portal fantasies. I always dreamed of the doors in other peoples’ writing and of walking through those doors into enchanted lands. Then I wrote my own. I now want to visit the house in Borderlanders and travel to strange places. I seldom want to visit anywhere I’ve written about, for I know all the downsides of all the places, but doors that lead to hidden seas or to rooms lined with liquid glass? That’s different.

Authors, artists, and creators often listen to music while they work. If you have a playlist you’d like to share or an album to recommend, please add it here. We’ll be compiling a list of lists to help Boskone attendees get their creative juices flowing. 

Surprisingly current

 You’re the Voice John Farnham

What are you currently working on? Any new releases that fans should know about?

I have two new releases for 2020, Borderlanders (cosy fantasy) and Poison and Light (the eighteenth century in space).
I’m currently working on a shared world where dice are used by government and in the Arts and five human genders are part of the social fabric. Right now I’ve only written short stories in this world, but that could change.

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Curious about who else is coming to Boskone 58? With 3 days of over 100 top-notch items paired with top authors, scientists, artists, and creators in the science fiction, fantasy and horror industry, you won’t want to miss out. Join your fellow fans and writers by registering today!

Don’t miss out! Register for Boskone 58 today!

Boskone is going virtual this year, and there are 3 things that every member should know about the convention. With only 2 weeks until the convention, we’ve put together this simple list of things to know to keep them top of mind!

1. Boskone 58 is a single sign on event.

Wait! What does that mean? It means you only have to log into one application to participate in everything. Viola! A single sign on convention.

Based on our experiences with reCONvene 2020 and other SF conventions, we have decided to avoid a piecemeal format by stitching together multiple apps together in order to create a more cohesive and inclusive member experience.

We have used the Grenadine database to build our program for years. Most of our members have used it to set up personalized schedules in the past and to get live program updates on their phones and laptops during the con. Now, we’ll be using it as our single sign on platform for virtual Boskone 58, which means that all you have to do is purchase your membership and log into the event platform to access everything.

Your membership gives you access to the entire event site and program, including panel recordings, the Con Suite (where parties will be held in Zoom breakout rooms), the internal messaging system for chatting, and our special embedded chat windows for program items, art show, dealers, and fan tables. You only have to sign in once, and you get access to everything.

There is one caveat. If you want to play games, you do need to sign up for Board Game Arena since there really isn’t a way to incorporate the expansive and extensive online games into any platform at this point.

2. Boskone 58 panels will be recorded.

There is so much content that there is no way to participate in everything!

Wait, we have you covered!

Your $25 membership gets you access to the full website, 190 program items, and all of the available recordings. While we can’t record everything, the simple rule of thumb is that all items in the Zoom webinar format will be recorded. This covers all panels, solo presentations, and other items that are held as a webinar. The only exception to this rule is if a program participant has asked not to be recorded.

In total, there will be approximately 90 items recorded, with videos becoming available by the end of each day. There is no way (without the use of a time machine) for someone to watch all of the programming available during the con, even with 90+ items available later as recordings. So, we are keeping the Boskone 58 event site up through the end of February 2021 to give you the time you need to enjoy our recorded content all month long.

Even better! Each program item comes with its own embedded chat window that will remain in place after the session ends. This means that even if you can’t see the original airing of the item, you can still watch it and then chat with friends about the content and topics brought up in the session.

3. Boskone 58’s event site will open on February 1.

Wait, but doesn’t Boskone run from February 12-14?

The short answer is, yes! But you can still visit the Boskone 58 event site early.

The long answer is that we think it’s important for our members to get comfortable with the Boskone 58 event site before the convention begins. We want you to log into the system before the start of the convention to ensure that you login works correctly. If anything goes wrong with your login, we want to help you avoid a last minute scramble that could make you miss the start of a program item or miss your change to book a seat in the kaffeeklatch that you wanted. Sign on early, and make sure it works.

We also want you to get familiar with the interactive schedule so that you can personalize your event. With so much programming that you won’t want to miss, this is your opportunity build your perfect program, including the items that you want to watch later, by clicking on the heart icon in the upper right corner to add the item as a favorite on your schedule. Personalize your perfect schedule.

You need to log in to sign up for a kaffeeklatsch and signups open on February 3 at 12:00 noon (Eastern Time). Since some of these items will fill very quickly, please log into your account early just in case you need technical help. Sign up for a kaffeeklatch with ease.

And, that’s it! Three simple things you need to know to make Boskone 58 your favorite Boskone yet!

Curious about who is coming to Boskone 58 and what’s on the schedule? Come find out!

With 3 days of over 100 top-notch items paired with top authors, scientists, artists, and creators in the science fiction, fantasy and horror industry, you won’t want to miss out.

Join your fellow fans and writers by registering today!

The interactive Boskone schedule and event website will be available for members to explore starting on February 1, 2021. We encourage everyone to log into their account to ensure that they can get in smoothly and easily. Once logged in, you can start building your personal agenda, set up your profile, and get familiar with the event platform.

Kaffeeklatch signups will begin on February 3rd at 12:00 noon (U.S. Eastern Time). We have built in a couple days delay to ensure that everyone has a chance to successfully log into the event platform so that members have an equal opportunity for signing up for the Kaffeeklatsch of their choice.

Pre-Convention Activities:

• Available Now: Register to attend virtual Boskone 58 – Register HERE!
• Starting February 1: Sign into the event platform and familiarize yourself with the site.*
  • Update your personal profile with things you want to share including your bio, photo, etc.
  • Personalize your schedule with your must-attend items.
• Starting February 3: Sign up for Kaffeeklatsches with your favorite creators.

*Please note that some features will only become available during the live convention.

This post has been edited to include images related to signing up for a kaffeeklatsch.

Clicking the heart icon adds regular program items to your personalized schedule.

For kaffeeklatches, you need to actually sign up for them. Favoriting them does not add your name to the list of attendees for the item.

You have to click on the “+” sign once it is visible, which should be around 12:00 noon on Wednesday, February 3, 2021.

BOSKONE 58 is almost here! Register today and let us know you are coming. We look forward to seeing you there.

 With 3 days of over 100 top-notch items paired with top authors, scientists, artists, and creators in the science fiction, fantasy and horror industry, you won’t want to miss out. A Boskone 58 membership is only $25! Join your fellow fans and writers by registering today!

Don’t miss out! Register for Boskone 58 today!

Welcome back to the Boskone 58 Mini Interview Series! Get to know some of the top authors, scientists, artists, and creators in the science fiction, fantasy and horror industry, why they’re looking forward to Boskone, and perhaps a sneak peek at what they’re working on next.

Hope you enjoyed out first video response last week! We are happy to present another one again in this week’s Boskone 58 Mini Interview Series with Scott Edelman, Sarah Beth Durst, and Andrea Hairston!

Scott Edelman

Visit Scott Edelman on their Facebook, Twitter, and Website!

VIDEO RESPONSE!

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Sarah Beth Durst

Visit Sarah Beth Durst on their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and Website!

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

I am looking forward to my kaffeeklatsch (always love those!), to my panels, and to not having to worry about missing my train to Boston due to a blizzard. Let it snow!

If you were planning a holiday or vacation and could visit any location, whether in the real world or fictional worlds, where would you go? Why? 

Well, I shouldn’t visit any of my own fictional worlds. I have zero survival instincts and would last about five minutes before being torn to pieces by a malevolent nature spirit or devoured by a sea monster. So it would be best if I visited a nice, friendly fictional world — perhaps Narnia, shortly after the defeat of Jadis the White Witch. I spent a LOT of my childhood checking the back of my closet for a way into Narnia. And I still keep any eye out for Faun Tumnus whenever I’m near a lamp-post.

Authors, artists, and creators often listen to music while they work. If you have a playlist you’d like to share or an album to recommend, please add it here. We’ll be compiling a list of lists to help Boskone attendees get their creative juices flowing. 

soundtracks to How to Train Your Dragon, Wonder Woman, Moana, and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland

What are you currently working on? Any new releases that fans should know about?

I have two new books coming out in 2021, and I’m really excited about them!

THE BONE MAKER, a standalone epic fantasy, will be out on March 9th from Harper Voyager. It’s about five heroes, twenty-five years after they defeated the great evil that threatened their world. One is broken, one has gone soft, one is pursuing a simple life, one is stuck in the past, and one is dead. It’s a book about second chances. And a lot of bone magic.

And my next book for kids, EVEN AND ODD, comes out from HMH / Clarion Books on June 15th. It’s about two sisters who can work magic but only on alternating days. There’s also a unicorn named Jeremy.

I had so much fun writing both these books and can’t wait for people to read them!

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Andrea Hairston

Visit Andrea Hairston on their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Website!

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

Talking with the other science fiction and fantasy folk who will be at the con. I miss my tribe! I want to find out what people are thinking, what they’ve been dreaming and scheming! I want to know what folks are reading or what they’ve been watching/streaming since last we met. I want to hear what new projects writers/creators are juiced about. I want to feel connected to the community that is spread across the globe, hear voices, see eyes light up, laugh together.

If you were planning a holiday or vacation and could visit any location, whether in the real world or fictional worlds, where would you go? Why? 

So I want to be everywhere at once–so I’d probably get on a star ship that had beaming capabilities. I’d travel the galaxy see and take in the wonders beyond us and when back near Earth, beam to the places I did not get to visit in 2020. I join friends wherever they wanted to hook up. I love the mountains so I would visit the Alps, the Maine Coast, and the West coast north of San Francisco. I’d visit the Georgia Sea Islands too even though it’s flat land, but I do appreciate the forests to the sea..

Authors, artists, and creators often listen to music while they work. If you have a playlist you’d like to share or an album to recommend, please add it here. We’ll be compiling a list of lists to help Boskone attendees get their creative juices flowing. 

Dirty Computer; Faun: Märchen & Mythen https://napalmrecords.com/english/maerchen-mythen-cd.html

What are you currently working on? Any new releases that fans should know about?

MASTER OF POISONS, Trade Paperback (TPB) edition: Sept 2021

A poison desert blows across the Arkhysian Empire. People want to deny this and do nothing, but getting caught in a void-storm is death. Djola, advisor to the Emperor, is trying to save the land, the people, the weeds and wild things. Awa, friend to bees, crows, wild dogs, and horses seeks the story power to conjure the world she wants. Both Djola and Awa are tested, and both make enormous sacrifices trying to save the people – and the world – they love.

I am working on my next novel, ARCHANGELS OF FUNK which is part of my five book deal with TorDotCom. Five Books! I can barely believe it–but each word I write makes it more real. ARCHANGELS is the story of Cinnamon Jones, scientist, artiste, and hoodoo conjurer and takes place in an alternate present after Water Wars have scrambled the world. Bad Boys and Desperados roam the roads wreaking havoc. Invisible Darknet lords troll the internet solidifying their power. Cinnamon and her Circus-Bots are part of a community of Motor Fairies, Pedal-People, and Co-Ops trying to hold on to who they’ve been while coming up with the next world. Of course not everybody has the same vision for the future–so who gets to tell the story of our lives?

TorDotCom will release REDWOOD AND WILDFIRE February 2022.

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Curious about who else is coming to Boskone 58? With 3 days of over 100 top-notch items paired with top authors, scientists, artists, and creators in the science fiction, fantasy and horror industry, you won’t want to miss out. Join your fellow fans and writers by registering today!

Don’t miss out! Register for Boskone 58 today!

Artists Alert! Submit your art work for consideration as part of this special portfolio review and discussion with Boskone 58’s Official Artist Julie Dillon.

As part of the discussion, Julie will share some of the portfolio images submitted, highlighting the work, how to build a portfolio submission, and the types of things that artists think about when submitting their work to art directors. We would love to include your work in this special event.

Instructions for submitting your art for consideration:

• Due Date: February 3, 2021
• Submission Link: Submission Link
• File Type: JPG or PNG

Art Portfolio Review by Official Artist Julie Dillon

Session Date: February 14, 2021
Session Time: 11:30 AM (Eastern Time)

Our Official Artist has graciously offered to perform portfolio reviews for some lucky artists wishing to get direction for honing their skills. Julie Dillon is a winner of four Chesley Awards and three-time Hugo award winner in the eleven or so years she has been a professional artist. Known for her cover art for books, magazines, and record albums, artists couldn’t find a better person to peruse your portfolio.

In order to have samples from your portfolio reviewed by Julie, you must submit digital photos of 4-6 pieces of art (paintings, sketches or digital) for Julie’s review. Space is limited to 5 artists. The portfolio review will be open to Boskone members in addition to the artists whose art will be reviewed by Julie. To submit art for the portfolio review, click this link. The due date for submitting your samples is February 3, 2021. You will be notified before Boskone whether your art has been selected to be part of this portfolio review.

Welcome back to the Boskone 58 Mini Interview Series! Get to know some of the top authors, scientists, artists, and creators in the science fiction, fantasy and horror industry, why they’re looking forward to Boskone, and perhaps a sneak peek at what they’re working on next.

This week’s Boskone 58 Mini Interview Series is with Ellen Datlow, Daniel M. Kimmel, and Leigh Perry!

Ellen Datlow

Visit Ellen Datlow on their Facebook, Twitter, and Website!

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

Seeing old friends, virtually and interacting with everyone attending.

If you were planning a holiday or vacation and could visit any location, whether in the real world or fictional worlds, where would you go? Why? 

I want to return to Japan. It’s a beautiful country with great food and people. And crafts. I love pottery and there are some wonderful centers of pottery-making there.

Authors, artists, and creators often listen to music while they work. If you have a playlist you’d like to share or an album to recommend, please add it here. We’ll be compiling a list of lists to help Boskone attendees get their creative juices flowing. 

I listen to WBGO, a jazz station out of Newark, NJ on a regular basis.

What are you currently working on? Any new releases that fans should know about?

Body Shocks, a reprint anthology of body horror will be out from Tachyon in the fall, as will be my next Best Horror of the Year. Plus also my Shirley Jackson-inspired original anthology. Oh yes, and Tool Tales which is an esoteric little project that Kaaron Warren and I worked on a couple of years ago, with me photographing some of the odd tools I collect and she writing mini-stories about them. IFGW, run by Gerry Huntman is publishing it as a chapbook.

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Daniel M. Kimmel

Visit Daniel M. Kimmel on their Facebook, Twitter, and Website!

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

Reconnecting with friends, fans, and acquaintances.

If you were planning a holiday or vacation and could visit any location, whether in the real world or fictional worlds, where would you go? Why? 

Right now, at the depths of the pandemic but with the light at the end of the tunnel clearly visible, it would be to see my family.

Authors, artists, and creators often listen to music while they work. If you have a playlist you’d like to share or an album to recommend, please add it here. We’ll be compiling a list of lists to help Boskone attendees get their creative juices flowing. 

I don’t listen to music while I work, but I’m a huge fan of Stephen Sondheim.

What are you currently working on? Any new releases that fans should know about?

My current SFnal writing is my column on classic SF films for “Space and Time” magazine, “Take Two on the Movies.” I will have a satiric but non-SF novel coming out in 2021, “Banned in Boston.”

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Leigh Perry

Visit Leigh Perry on their Facebook, Twitter, and Website!

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

Seeing faces and hearing voices! I’ve been going out very little since the plague times began, so seeing faces and hearing voices talking about interesting topics? Sounds heavenly.

If you were planning a holiday or vacation and could visit any location, whether in the real world or fictional worlds, where would you go? Why? 

In the real world, I want to go back to Disneyland because I really do find it magical. When I’m feeling safer, then Hawaii, because I suspect there’s magic there, too. If not, I bet I’ll still have a terrific time.

What are you currently working on? Any new releases that fans should know about?

I’m working on a short story for an anthology based on the movies of the Marx Brothers. All the stories are named for and inspired by a particular movie. Mine is “Go West,” and the characters from my Family Skeleton series are going to a dude ranch.

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Curious about who else is coming to Boskone 58? With 3 days of over 100 top-notch items paired with top authors, scientists, artists, and creators in the science fiction, fantasy and horror industry, you won’t want to miss out. Join your fellow fans and writers by registering today!

Don’t miss out! Register for Boskone 58 today!

Welcome back to the Boskone 58 Mini Interview Series! Get to know some of the top authors, scientists, artists, and creators in the science fiction, fantasy and horror industry, why they’re looking forward to Boskone, and perhaps a sneak peek at what they’re working on next.

In honor of Boskone going virtual this year, we had a great idea about our mini interview series… video responses! Find out which one of our participants decided to give the video response a go on this week’s Boskone 58 Mini Interview Series with Sarah Smith, Steve Miller, and Les Johnson!

Sarah Smith

Visit Sarah Smith on their Facebook, Twitter, Website, Pinterest, and Instagram!

VIDEO RESPONSE!

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

Because Boskone?s virtual this year, people who NEVER COME are coming. CONNIE WILLIS. She wrote the most original book about Titanic ever, Passage. Which inspired me to write my newest mystery, Crimes and Survivors, about Titanic and Jim Crow. In both books, finding truth, like magic, has a huge cost, and like magic,finding truth is magic. Thank you, Connie Willis! Connie Willis, Max Gladstone, Allen Steele and I are talking on Friday about Michael Crichton, technothrillers, and clumsy but effective ways of writing stories.

If you were planning a holiday or vacation and could visit any location, whether in the real world or fictional worlds, where would you go? Why? 

My new story toy is about a polyamorous man who?s in love with a straight man, two women, a country, and a giant eagle. I?m researching a 19C steampunk Venice, governed by a madman and on the verge of revolution. It?s kind of great I can?t go to actual Venice now, because it?s forcing me to think outside the Venice box?to Google Earth and DeviantArt and old Scientific American illustrations. I put together a Pinterest board. You know that thing at the bottom that says ?More like this?? So useful. But I am going to Venice when I can, because as Connie Willis says, you learn things when you go there.

Authors, artists, and creators often listen to music while they work. If you have a playlist you’d like to share or an album to recommend, please add it here. We’ll be compiling a list of lists to help Boskone attendees get their creative juices flowing. 

 Music for Criminals and Survivors

What are you currently working on? Any new releases that fans should know about?

By Boskone my dining-table publishing house expects to have new editions of all the FUTURE BOSTON books, including a new novel, Jon Burrowes’ VUBRE THE GREAT.

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Steve Miller

Visit Steve Miller on their Facebook, Twitter, Website, and Patreon!

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

Just getting a chance to catch up with the people I haven’t seen for over a year even vicariously or virtually — is pretty exciting. … we missed last Boskone for multiple medical reasons and have been extra-isolated so getting a look at old faces and new is looking good.

If you were planning a holiday or vacation and could visit any location, whether in the real world or fictional worlds, where would you go? Why? 

For a grand holiday I’d love to take a train trip across Canada and then circumnavigate the US, all via rail, starting and ending the trip at the AMTRAK station in Brunswick, Maine. We’ve got thousands — closing in on a hundred thousand if I calculate right — of rail miles under our belts and love the experience. In general we enjoy the relatively low key travel, the chance to have a certain amount of pampering, and meeting other train travelers. We might even see some AMTRAK folks we’ve met on multiple trips and get to eat at some neat near-trackside restaurants.

In case you can’t tell, I’d be looking for relaxation rather than excitement here, and train trips seem to recharge my batteries pretty well.

Authors, artists, and creators often listen to music while they work. If you have a playlist you’d like to share or an album to recommend, please add it here. We’ll be compiling a list of lists to help Boskone attendees get their creative juices flowing. 

To get revved up to write? Vanilla Fudge Near the Beginning, or any three Grateful Dead albums.

What are you currently working on? Any new releases that fans should know about?

New? December from Baen: the hardcover Trader’s Leap, 23rd novel in the Liaden Universe®. In November, Ambient Conditions, a Pinbeam Books chapbook. Accepting The Lance in mass market in October. During 2020 we released two other books through Pinbeam, Splinter Universe Presents, a compilation of items previously available on our Splinter Universe site, and then The Wrong Lance, a look at how Accepting the Lance almost went off the metaphorical rails.

Meanwhile, the next Liaden books due to be turned are two “Jethri books” according to our fans, since he’s central to both. They take place several hundred years prior to the original seven. They are still Works in Progress, due RSN, alas — yes, overdue, but we’re working on them.

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Les Johnson

Visit Les Johnson on their Facebook, Twitter, and Website!

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

Being among my fellow fans. As many of us, attending a few cons throughout the year is like getting a battery recharge. 2020?s wholesale cancellation of in-person cons, with only a few having the resources to attempt virtual, left me with a nearly-depleted battery. Being a southerner, who mainly attends southern conventions, being invited to participate in Boskone will give me a chance to meet and interact with new people ? with whom I hope to establish new friendships that can be later fulfilled when in-person events return.

If you were planning a holiday or vacation and could visit any location, whether in the real world or fictional worlds, where would you go? Why? 

In the tradition of the venerable Voyager spacecraft, whose original mission was to conduct a ?Grand Tour? of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, I would board love to take a 6-month long cruise of the outer solar system. The trip would begin with a stop-over at the main belt asteroids Ceres and Vesta, followed by a lengthy visit to Jupiter, with excursions to Europa, Io, Ganymede, and Callisto. Next on the itinerary would be an in- and out-of-plane flyby of Saturn and its rings, with a special event touring the (perhaps) hollow Saturnian moon, Methone. The trip would conclude with a flyby of Uranus and a visit to the Neptune meteorological station studying the Great Blue Spot. The trip of a lifetime!

Authors, artists, and creators often listen to music while they work. If you have a playlist you’d like to share or an album to recommend, please add it here. We’ll be compiling a list of lists to help Boskone attendees get their creative juices flowing. 

Alas, I am too easily distracted and cannot listen to music while I write!

What are you currently working on? Any new releases that fans should know about?

I have had a busy year, both with my day job at NASA and with my strictly personal (not connected to my employer/work) book writing.

On the author front, my next novel with co-author Travis Taylor, Saving Proxima, is the first book in a 3-book fiction series about first contact and learning our place in the universe (to be published in hardcover on August 3, 2021). My next solo novel, Displaced!, is almost complete ? no publication date is yet set. Finally, I am working on a non-fiction book about interstellar travel for Princeton University Press that will be published sometime in late 2021.

At NASA, I am the Principal Investigator on two deep-space solar sail missions. The first, Near Earth Asteroid Scout, will be launched in September 2021 for a 2-year mission to flyby and study an asteroid. The second, Solar Cruiser, will demonstrate a 17,000 square foot solar sail when it launches in early 2025.

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Curious about who else is coming to Boskone 58? With 3 days of over 100 top-notch items paired with top authors, scientists, artists, and creators in the science fiction, fantasy and horror industry, you won’t want to miss out. Join your fellow fans and writers by registering today!

Don’t miss out! Register for Boskone 58 today!

Welcome back to the Boskone 58 Mini Interview Series! Get to know some of  top authors, scientists, artists, and creators in the science fiction, fantasy and horror industry, why they’re looking forward to Boskone, and perhaps a sneak peek at what they’re working on next.

Check out who has a new song playlist for us! And, is someone going to the beach? Find out on this week’s Boskone 58 Mini Interview Series with Gillian Daniels, Vincent H. O’Neil, and Jarvis Sheffield!

Gillian Daniels

Visit Gillian Daniels on their Facebook, Twitter, and Website!

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

I’m so happy to experience a familiar con in a new way! I’ve been attending Boskone for the better part of a decade. I’m delighted to be a part of the online version. I look forward to being reunited with regulars to the con as well as encountering people who have never been and can now attend remotely.

If you were planning a holiday or vacation and could visit any location, whether in the real world or fictional worlds, where would you go? Why? 

At the moment, I mostly want to travel with friends again. I’ve fantasized about going to places where I’ve never been, like India, Japan, and South Korea, but I’d also love to take a scenic cross-country trip along the continental United States. There’s plenty I haven’t seen in this country, either. I love kitschy tourist traps. Regardless, I can’t wait until the general population is vaccinated enough for me to visit new places again.

Authors, artists, and creators often listen to music while they work. If you have a playlist you’d like to share or an album to recommend, please add it here. We’ll be compiling a list of lists to help Boskone attendees get their creative juices flowing. 

What are you currently working on? Any new releases that fans should know about?

I have four pieces coming out in 2021, including fiction in Nightmare Magazine and Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet! I’m very excited to share more of my dark fantasy and horror with the world. You can get more details on my website at gilliandaniels.com!

Right now, I’m writing a novel about the legendary Jenny Greenteeth, a monster who devours children and people who wander into whatever body of water she’s currently occupying, and a mortal man that she simultaneously wants to eat and kiss. Maybe at the same time!

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Vincent H. O’Neil

Visit Vincent H. O’Neil on their Facebook and Website!

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

I’ve been coming to Boskone for many years, but that’s easy for me because I live in Rhode Island. Many times I’ve read or heard comments from people who’d like to attend Boskone, or would like to attend more often, but can’t because of the distance or some other travel-related concern. So this year I’m absolutely thrilled that we’re able to provide the same Boskone experience for everybody and bring Boskone to people who live far away.

My hat’s off to all the organizers, volunteers, and participants who are working so diligently to make this happen. As bad as the pandemic is, it’s truly an ill wind that doesn’t blow some good and in 2021 the Boskone experience goes global. I’m really looking forward to it, and to missing the freak but savage snowstorm that so often decides to show up over that weekend.

If you were planning a holiday or vacation and could visit any location, whether in the real world or fictional worlds, where would you go? Why? 

When I first read William Gibson’s Neuromancer, I was struck by a minor bit of dialogue that appears toward the end. One of the characters had been pulled into a virtual reality situation earlier in the story, a place that was little more than an abandoned stone blockhouse on a deserted beach. The blockhouse had a potbellied stove, a water source, and dehydrated rations, but little else. The beach itself was gray and desolate, and the character was briefly held there.

After escaping, the character describes this setting to a fantastically wealthy woman who is the descendant (more accurately, a clone) of the genius who founded her family’s financial dynasty. The founder was named Marie-France Tessier, and her descendant recognized the beach being described. Her explanation goes like this:

“Morocco. When Marie-France was a girl, years before she married Ashpool, she spent a summer alone on that beach, camping in an abandoned blockhouse. She formulated the basis of her philosophy there.”

I’ve always liked the idea that the original Marie-France went off by herself to find a spot where she could think deeply without distraction. The place is austere and monotonous, but it allowed her to leave all the chatter behind and focus on something that was very important to her. While the Tessier-Ashpool financial behemoth was the most tangible result, the phrase “the basis of her philosophy” in that explanation suggests Marie-France came up with even bigger plans during her sojourn there.

I’m not sure I’d like to spend an entire summer on that beach, but I do think it’s very important to have a place where you can tune out the static and hear your own thoughts – or tune them out too. That’s why I like that old blockhouse in Morocco so much.

Authors, artists, and creators often listen to music while they work. If you have a playlist you’d like to share or an album to recommend, please add it here. We’ll be compiling a list of lists to help Boskone attendees get their creative juices flowing. 

What are you currently working on? Any new releases that fans should know about?

I was thrilled to have my short story “In-Body” published by Escape Pod at the end of October. It’s free to all and always available, and you can listen to the excellent audio performance by voiceover artist Tren Sparks or read the complete text. An online search for “Escape Pod” and “In-Body” usually brings it right up.

In-Body is a science fiction story that touches on PTSD and survivor guilt to explore the debts we owe to others, and I hope you like it.

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Jarvis Sheffield

Visit Jarvis Sheffield on their Facebook, Twitter, and Website!

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

I am looking forward to the plethora of offerings from the awesome panelists, also the workshops and programming. Meeting new and interesting people are the best part of cons.

If you were planning a holiday or vacation and could visit any location, whether in the real world or fictional worlds, where would you go? Why? 

If I were planning a vacation I would definitely go to the beach. The soothing waves and cool breezes are fantastic. That environment is simply soothing to the soul.

Authors, artists, and creators often listen to music while they work. If you have a playlist you’d like to share or an album to recommend, please add it here. We’ll be compiling a list of lists to help Boskone attendees get their creative juices flowing. 

Sweetback, Kindred Family Soul, Anthony Hamilton, John Legend, Eric Badu, Jill Scott

What are you currently working on? Any new releases that fans should know about?

I am currently working on shoring up existing projects like www.BlackScienceFIctionSociety.com, and www.GenesisScienceFictionMagazine.com. In addition, I started a marketing website to help creators get the word out about their projects called www.GreatBusinessNetworks.com. Lastly, I am completing hopefully my last year of my dissertation which involves utilizing virtual games as educational tools.

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Curious about who else is coming to Boskone 58? With 3 days of over 100 top-notch items paired with top authors, scientists, artists, and creators in the science fiction, fantasy and horror industry, you won’t want to miss out. Join your fellow fans and writers by registering today!

Don’t miss out! Register for Boskone 58 today!