Want to attend Boskone? We’d love to see you there. All attendees need to purchase a Boskone 53 convention membership. Click here to buy yours today! 

Full Weekend Rates

• Adult Full Convention: $65
• College Student Full Convention: $40 (school ID required)
• K-12 Full Convention: $25 (school ID may be required)

One Day Rates

• Friday One Day: $25
• Saturday One Day: $45
• Sunday One Day: $25

If you prefer not to use a credit card, you can also register at Boskone for either a Full Weekend or One Day pass.

Kids Memberships

All children (ages 7–12) who use Dragonslair services must be convention members. Generally, children under 5 who stay with their parents at all times can be considered “kids-in-tow,” and need not have memberships. If you have any questions about the “kids-in-tow” classification, please contact Registration since Boskone. (“Kids-in-tow” do not receive any convention materials.)

We are not able to offer babysitting through the convention.

Boskone 53, February 19-21, 2016, held at Boston’s Westin Waterfront Hotel, is the longest running science fiction convention in New England.  Featured guests are Guest of Honor, author Garth Nix, Official Artist, Richard Anderston, Special Guests Arnie and Cathy Fenner, and NESFA Press Guest Bob Eggleton.

“Imaginative Art from the Pages of Spectrum“, this year’s Boskone Special art Exhibit, showcases work that has appeared in the first twenty volumes of the acclaimed, Hugo winning, Spectrum series of art books. Edited by Boskone Special Guests, Cathy and Arnie Fenner, the Spectrum series has become known as a Who’s Who of imaginative illustrators.

Our exhibit features 70 pieces that have appeared in Spectrum from the beginning through the last issue the Fenners edited.  The exhibit is sourced from both artists and collectors, who have enthusiastically contributed both paintings and 3D pieces.

Works will be on display from more than 35 artists, including Julie Bell, Brom, Jim Burns, Thomas Canty, Vincent Di Fate, Dan Dos Santos, Eric Fortune, Randy Gallegos, John Harris, Nicholas Jainschigg, Jeff Jones, Thomas Kuebler, Jody Lee, Greg Manchess, Petar Meseldzija, John Jude Palencar, David Palumbo, Mark Poole, Boris Vallejo, Vincent Villafranca, Ron Walotsky, Michael Whelan and Mark Zug.

In addition, we expect a number of artists represented in the exhibit to be in attendance at Boskone, including Rick Berry, Kristina Carroll, Scott Grimando, Stephen Hickman, Ingrid Kallick, Tom Kidd, Gary Lippincott, Omar Rayyan, Ruth Sanderson, David Seeley, and of course Boskone Official Artist Richard Anderson and NESFA Press Guest Bob Eggleton,.

Don’t miss this opportunity to appreciate a fabulous selection of art that has appeared in the most prestigious series of art books in the field.  Attend a docent tour, talk to the artists and our guests, or simply wallow in the sense of wonder that this art engenders.

For more information about the convention, go to http://b59.boskone.org/

~

Register for Boskone today. Join us February 19-21, 2016

Registration Rates (good through January 19th):

• Adult rate: $50
• College student rate: $35
• K-12 student rate: $25
• Friday: $25; Saturday: $45; Sunday: $25

At Boskone, you’ll find folks working on a wide variety of projects in the realm of science fiction and fantasy. From urban fantasy, military science fiction or SF/F mysteries, today’s mini interviews from Dana Cameron, Brendan Dubois and Charles Gannon will give you a little taste of the variety Boskone offers.

Dana Cameron

Dana Cameron’s fiction is inspired by her career as an archaeologist. In addition to the six Emma Fielding mystery novels and her “Fangborn” urban fantasy novels, Dana’s short fiction covers the spectrum, including mystery, historical, noir, thriller, SF/F, Sherlockian pastiche, and horror. The latest novel in the Fangborn series, HELLBENDER (47North, 2015), combines archaeology with werewolves, vampires, and oracles. Her work has won multiple Anthony, Agatha, and Macavity Awards, and has been nominated for the prestigious Edgar Award. Dana lives in Beverly, Massachusetts. Check out her website or find her on Twitter or Facebook.

What is it that you enjoy most about Boskone?

Seeing old friends and making new ones!  I got to know Boskone through the mystery world and realized that there was a lot of overlap among the many genres represented at Boskone.  A place where I can spend the weekend talking about comics, Dr. Who, Sherlock Holmes, monster, movies, and SF/F? Sign me up!

What event or experience stands out as one of those ‘defining moments’ that shaped who you are today?

The time a guy with a gun who came to the archaeological site where I was working was pretty definitive.  He showed up and started to use a metal detector, and when my boss protested, the site looter pulled a pistol on us.  A lot of things run through your mind at a moment like that, but I figured the only thing I could safely do, in that moment, was memorize his description, license plate, etc.  Eventually he left and we were able to make a report to the sheriff.

A few months later, I was telling a friend about that event, and she said, “you should write it down.”  A blinding moment of satori, and I realized I needed to write a novel.  That led to the six Emma Fielding archaeology mysteries, which led to everything else.

What are you working on now? What excites or challenges you about this project?

I’m working on a whole flock of things!  My second Sherlockian pastiche will be published next year in Echoes of Sherlock Holmes, edited by Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger.  My fifth Anna Hoyt colonial noir short story will also be published by Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.  And my very first science fiction will also be out this year.  There may even be another Fangborn short story in the works—my latest Fangborn UF novel, Hellbender, came out this past March.  I’m very proud of these stories, and the more I can write across genres, the happier I am.

The novel project I’m writing next will be a noir crime novel based on the Anna Hoyt character.  It’s very dark, and frankly, she’s not easy to live with.  She’s not what you’d call a role-model for finding peaceful solutions; on the other hand, she’s a great vehicle for sneaking in some of my feminist politics.  It’s set in 18th-century Boston, and I really enjoy bringing in my expertise on that period to my fictional work.

What is your favorite Star Wars memory, scene, or line? What is it that that memory, scene or line that continues to stick with you today? (It could be a moment from within any of the films, a moment associated with the films, or something inspired by the films.)

My favorite Star Wars memory comes from the first time I saw the movie (“A New Hope”), and Princess Leia picked up a blaster and started searching for a way to escape.  I really didn’t understand at the time why that made me so incredibly happy, but after more than a decade of having watched so many princesses literally sleep through the action and wait for someone to save them, I realize now that I was more than ready for a female character like Leia.

 

Brendan Dubois

Brendan DuBois of New Hampshire is the award-winning author of eighteen novels and more than 150 short stories. His first true science fiction novel, “Dark Victory,” was published in January 2016 by Baen Books, and he’s currently working on its sequel. His short fiction has appeared in Playboy, Analog, Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and numerous anthologies including “The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century,” published in 2000, as well as the “The Best American Noir of the Century,” published in 2010. Two of his short stories have appeared in Gardner Dozois’ “The Year’s Best Science Fiction” anthologies. His novel, “Resurrection Day,” won the Sidewise Award for Best Alternate History Novel of the Year. His stories have twice won him the Shamus Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and have also earned him three Edgar Allan Poe Award nominations from the Mystery Writers of America. He is also a “Jeopardy!” gameshow champion. Visit his website or find him on Facebook.

What are you looking forward to at Boskone?

I’ve been to several Boskones before, but this upcoming one will be very special for one simple reason:  a month earlier, my very first science fiction novel, Dark Victory (Baen Books) will have been published, and it will be a treat indeed to be at a science fiction convention as an SF author.  It will be great to mingle with readers and fans as a published science fiction author (although my first published novel, a mystery called Dead Sand, was published in 1994.)

What event or experience stands out as one of those ‘defining moments’ that shaped who you are today?

That event happened to me as a high school student while attending my very first Boskone, in 1977.  In the pre-Internet days, one experienced science fiction fandom through magazines and fanzines.  It was a thrill beyond belief to be among fellow SF and fantasy fans, to know you weren’t alone.  As chance would have it, on Friday, the very first night of the convention, I struck up a conversation with author David Gerrold, who invited me to go out to dinner with his friend, fellow author Larry Niven, and Larry’s wife Marilyn.  To spend a few hours with this charming group inspired me to become a published author, no matter the struggles, no matter the obstacles.  And after years of effort, that happened… and I know it all came from that night at Boskone.

What are you working on now? What excites or challenges you about this project?

I’m currently working on the sequel to Dark Victory, called Red Vengeance. Except for my Lewis Cole detective series, this will be the first sequel I’ve ever written, and I had a lot of fun doing it, and returning to the science fiction universe of Dark Victory. I do hope that this second book will set the stage for a third, and possibly a fourth…

 

What is your favorite Star Wars memory, scene, or line?

Again, it was Boskone in 1977.  At the time the con would run 24-hour a day films, cartoons, shorts, reels and previews.  I had heard buzz of a new movie called “Star Wars,” and they had a trailer available.  The crowded room broke out in cheers after seeing the preview… it was something so new, so terrific and different, every there knew it was going to be a hit.

Charles E. Gannon

Dr. Charles E. Gannon ‘s award-winning Caine Riordan/Terran Republic hard sf novels have been multiply best-selling and Nebula finalists He also collaborates with Eric Flint in the NYT and WSJ best-selling Ring of Fire alternate history series. His other novels and short fiction straddle the divide between hard SF and technothrillers and have appeared through various imprints and in various magazines.

A Distinguished Professor of English and Fulbright Senior Specialist, his best known work of non-fiction, Rumors of War and Infernal Machines, won the 2006 American Library Association Award for Outstanding Book.  He is a recipient of five Fulbright Fellowships and Travel Grants and has been a subject matter expert featured in  various national magazines, as well as media venues such as NPR and the Discovery Channel.

A member of SIGMA, the “SF think-tank,” he has served as a consultant for  various intelligence and defense agencies , including DHS, Pentagon, Air Force, Army, Marines, NATO, DARPA, NRO, NASA, and several other agencies and defense contractors with whom he signed NDA’s.

Prior to his academic career, Dr. Gannon worked as a scriptwriter and producer in New York City, where his clients included the United Nations, the World Health Organization, and The President’s Council on Physical Fitness.  He also has many credits, in game design, including GDW’s Traveller, 2300 AD, and Dark Conspiracy RPGs.

What is it that you enjoy most about Boskone?

I enjoy the con’s “classical” feel. Don’t get me wrong: I have a blast at Comic cons and other conventions which are fusions of both old and new SF/F gathering modes. But Boskone is not only keeping alive a con tradition, but is one of the last, true “traditional cons.” It’s hard to say exactly what produces this sensation for me: it could be the sustained focus on literary tracks, or the great art show, or a demographic that cuts across age and interest groups wonderfully. But whatever it is, Boskone is one of the very “best” of its breed: a large regional con with national reach and an interest in bringing in both new, cutting-edge names as well as old favorites. So, yeah: I’m a huge Boskone fan, and am glad to be back!

What are you working on now? What excites or challenges you about this project?

Right now, I’m working on the fourth book in the Caine Riordan/Terran Republic series, Caine’s Mutiny. I am excited by this project because it is actually a much more focused story-line than the first three in the series. I enjoyed the sweep of the earlier books, particularly Trial By Fire (#2) and Raising Caine (#3), but right now I’m ready for something a little different. The largest challenge is to keep the Big Idea hard SF mood of the third book fresh and strong in the dramatic pith of this new novel. Big Idea SF usually flies best on a big canvas. This is going to have a lot less room to turn, so to speak—but I am actually looking forward to working with that.

How would you describe your work to people who might be unfamiliar with you?

My novels—which to date have been almost all hard SF—have won awards, has garnered two Nebula finalist nominations, and were multiple best-sellers but for all that, they are a distinct fusion of old and new. In short, I wanted to revisit and re-energize a lot of the tropes of classic SF while doing so through prose styles and cultural sensibilities that were distinctly modern. I also determined that I wanted to make the Caine Riordan novels a subgenre mashup that hadn’t really been attempted before: mid-future hard sf with political/techno-thriller. Nothing says “today” more than cutting edge thrillers. They are immediate and visceral. And I wanted to bring that same sense of gritty urgency and reality to my SF. In short, I wanted to imbue a future history with a narrative style that imparted a sense of present-day urgency.

Most far ranging SF or sf-fantasy tends to place us in a far-future world with what I will call the Utopist’s Device: the universe depicted is separated from us by a signifcant gap in  time and historical linkages. It is A Very Different Place that only faintly points back to its origins in this, our contemporary moment.  So, somehow, humanity crossed from the humble banks of our every-day river of reality to that far shore of a wondrously different world. I think this is fine, and I like a whole lot of this literature. I write some of it myself, but it is not, in my opinion, a distinctive project. Lots of people do it. In the Tales of the Terran Republic, I chose to do something very different.

I site my series neither on the banks of contemporary experience, nor on the far shore of a distant future, a point so far removed from today’s realities that we can’t really assess how we could have reached that destination from our current circumstances. Rather, for the Caine Riordan series, I chose a narrative vantage point places the characters squarely upon the bridge of change, the bridge that we must ever build as we move from the present day toward the far shore of the future. And when the series is assembled as a mosaic (my intent from the start), I hope readers will, in retrospect, not only reflect upon how far we have come and how fast, but also, how in getting there, the characters did not experience the journey as an endless rollercoaster of dislocating jolts. Rather, the progress into that vastly changed future seemed deceptively, almost insidiously, gradual, more marked by it seeming normative rather than stupendous.

This is fundamental to my interest in creating immersivity, in creating a world that feels real because it follows a key feature in our experience of change: it does not arrive as a fast cascade of momentous events. Rather, most change comes daily, on cat’s feet, and we only realize how far we have come when we glance in the rearview mirror. Being utterly committed to verisimilitude (because: immersivity), I want that experience to track into my fiction; in short, that change is something we feel more in retrospect than in any given moment.

What is your favorite Star Wars memory, scene, or line? What is it that that memory, scene or line that continues to stick with you today? (It could be a moment from within any of the films, a moment associated with the films, or something inspired by the films.)

Okay, I’m sure mine is the same as so many others: Empire Strikes Back. “Luke, I AM your father.” Firstly, this made the whole story arc ring with real classical gravity—and it also showed that Vader was not a simple, brutal villain. He had complex motivations as well as extraordinary power.

AND…I knew from that moment that the Emperor’s prophesy referred to Luke only indirectly; I knew knew *KNEW* that Vader was going to be the one to kill Palpatine in an act of fatal redemption. I was, as the English say, pretty chuffed when I saw the end of the third movie….

Come join the fun at Boskone 53’s Book Party, and meet the presses and authors who have new books coming out at Boskone! This is your chance to see what’s new from authors you already love as well as those you have yet to discover.

Boskone is once again holding a book party on Saturday night during the convention to give our authors and publishers the opportunity to show off their newly released titles.

The Boskone 53 Book Party

Day: Saturday, February 20th
Time: 6:30-7:45 pm
Location: Con Suite, in the Galleria Level, Westin Waterfront Hotel

Authors & Publishers: If you have a new book that was (or will be) published within a few months of Boskone, we invite you to participate in the Boskone 53 Book Party. Bring your books and swag to share with readers who come to mix, mingle, and talk fiction with Boskone’s authors.

Authors and publishers (with a new book and a membership for Boskone 53) who would like to join the party, should email us at Program@boskone.org with your book’s information, including:

• Title:
• Author Name:
• Release Date:
• Publisher:
• Cover Image URL (if available):

Please note that space is limited. So, please be sure to contact us as soon as possible to let us know that you’re interested in joining the party. The more the merrier!

You still have a little time to get your advertisement into the Boskone 53 Souvenir Book, which is given to ALL members who attend Boskone! This is a beautiful handout that is packed with great information about our guests and the convention, and it’s a smart way to get your books, art, conventions, and services in front of fans.

The deadline for ads is January 20, 2016. So, please be sure to contact b53ads@boskone.org for more information today.

Souvenir Book Advertising Rates

TYPE OF AD	PRO	FAN
Back Cover (color):	$495	$350
Back Cover (greyscale):	$400	$270
Inside Cover:	$330	$215
Full Page:	$260	$95
1/2 Page:	$160	$65
1/4 Page:	$95	$35

• Downloadable Ad Rate Sheet.
• Please email b53ads@boskone.org for more information.
• Pay for your ad here.

One of the books that NESFA Press is launching at Boskone 53 is a special limited hardback edition of The Grimm Future, edited by Erin Underwood. The Grimm Future is a new science fiction anthology of reimagined Grimm fairy tales that features original fiction by Boskone 53’s Guest of Honor Garth Nix as well as Boskone 53 program participants Dana Cameron, Max Gladstone, Carlos Hernandez, John Langan, Peadar O’Guilin, and more!

A special reading for The Grimm Future will be held at Boskone this year and we will be highlighting the anthology at the Boskone Book Party on Saturday night. We look forward to seeing you at Boskone. Buy your copy of The Grimm Future at Boskone 53 by visiting the NESFA Press table in the Dealers Room.

About the Book

Blending fresh new science fiction with a futuristic dash of magic, The Grimm Future is a unique anthology of reimagined Grimm fairy tales from some of today’s most exciting authors—along with the original stories that inspired them. The Grimm Future examines our humanity and what that term might come to mean through the eyes of future generations as society advances into an age when technology consumes nearly every aspect of our lives or has ultimately changed life as we know it. How might these timeless stories evolve? Given the relentless onrush of technology, there is even greater need for fairy tales and Grimm magic in our future. Read on!

Table of Contents

• “Introduction” by Erin Underwood
• “Pair of Ugly Stepsisters, Three of a Kind” by Garth Nix
  based upon multiple Grimm fairy tales, including Little Brother and Little Sister, Rapunzel, Little Red-Cap, and Cinderella
• “The Iron Man” by Max Gladstone
  based upon Iron John
• “Zel and Grets” by Maura McHugh
  based upon Hansel & Gretel
• “For Want of a NAIL” by Sandra McDonald & Stephen D. Covey
  based upon The Nail
• “The Shroud” by Dan Wells
  based upon The Shroud
• “Long-Term Employment” by Mike Resnick
  based upon Death’s Messengers
• “Swan Dive” by Nancy Holder
  based upon The Six Swans
• “The White Rat” by Dana Cameron
  based upon The White Snake
• “Origins” by Carlos Hernandez
  based upon The Star-Talers
• “Angie Taylor in: Peril Beneath the Earth’s Crust” by John Langan
  based upon The Brave Little Tailor
• “The Three Snake-Leaves” by Jeffrey Ford
  based upon The Three Snake-Leaves
• “The Madman’s Ungrateful Child” by Peadar Ó Guillín
  based upon The Bremen Town-Musicians
• “Stories of the Trees, Stories of the Birds, Stories of the Bones” by Kat Howard
  based upon The Juniper Tree
• “Be Still, and Listen” by Seanan McGuire
  based upon Little Briar-Rose

Book Information:

Publisher: NESFA Press
Price: $35.00
ISBN-13: 978-1-61037-315-9
Release Date: February 19, 2016 at Boskone 53 in Boston, MA

Editor: Erin Underwood
Cover Art: Richard Anderson
Cover Design: Alice N. S. Lewis
Interior Design: David Grubbs

Richard Anderson, cover artist & Boskone 53 Official Artist
Richard Anderson began his art career as a freelance concept artist before joining Seattle-based ArenaNet in 2003 as a 3D artist for the GuildWars franchise. In 2011, he moved to London to work on a variety of films, including Thor: The Dark World, Prometheus, and Guardians of the Galaxy. Richard is currently at Rocksteady Studios, where he serves as their Senior Concept Artist for the Arkham series. He created his first book cover for Tor Books in 2008 and continues working on covers for publishers such as Tor, Orbit, Random House, Amazon, and Harper Collins.  In 2011, Richard received a Gold Award from Spectrum.

Erin Underwood, editor
Erin Underwood is a writer, editor, and convention runner. She is also the founder of Underwords Press, a small press that specializes in young adult science fiction. Her fiction has appeared in various anthologies. Her non-fiction regularly appears in the Science Fiction Writers of America’s Bulletin and Amazing Stories Magazine. She is also the editor of Futuredaze: An Anthology of YA Science Fiction (Feb 2013), Futuredaze 2: Reprise (Aug 2014) Geek Theater: 15 Plays by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers (Oct 2014), and The Grimm Future (Feb 2016).

~

Register for Boskone today. Join us February 19-21, 2016

Registration Rates (good through January 19th):

• Adult rate: $50
• College student rate: $35
• K-12 student rate: $25
• Friday: $25; Saturday: $45; Sunday: $25

We’re getting closer and closer to Boskone! We also have three new Mini Interviews for you today! Come meet E. J. Stevens, Errick Nunnally, and N.A. Ratnayake. You may have seen them at Boskone before, but this is their first time attending as program participants. So, please help us give them a warm welcome this year!

E. J. Stevens

E.J. Stevens is the author of fourteen works of speculative fiction, including the Spirit Guide young adult paranormal romance series, the Hunters’ Guild urban fantasy series, and the award-winning Ivy Granger urban fantasy series. She is known for filling pages with quirky characters, bloodsucking vampires, psychotic faeries, and snarky, kick-butt heroines. Visit her on her website, follow her on Twitter, friend her on Facebook, and find her on Goodreads.

What are you looking forward to at Boskone?

I am looking forward to so many things at Boskone 2016. I love seeing old friends and discussing books and writing with people who share my passion for speculative fiction, but the thing I look forward to the most at events like Boskone is spending time with my readers.

What are you working on now? What excites or challenges you about this project?

I’m currently working on Hound’s Bite, the fifth full-length novel in the award-winning Ivy Granger, Psychic Detective urban fantasy series.

The greatest challenge when writing a novel in a long running series is to maintain consistency while demonstrating character growth and, of course, holding the reader’s interest. So much has happened in the previous books of this series—assassination attempts, trips to the Otherworld, and attacks on the city of Harborsmouth by bloodthirsty water fae, a demonically enhanced abductor of fae children, a serial killer skilled in necromancy, and a horde of pyromaniacal imps—that reader expectations are high. I’m excited to say that readers anticipating another wild ride with Ivy Granger and her supernatural allies have something special to look forward to with the July 2016 release of  Hound’s Bite.

From a fan perspective, what new book, film, TV show, or comic are you most looking forward to seeing/reading?

I am a HUGE fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and I have been increasingly impressed with the two Netflix Original series Daredevil and Jessica Jones that released in 2015. As my readers may have deduced, I love damaged characters. The more broken a hero or heroine is the better. Matt Murdock and Jessica Jones are exquisitely damaged by their pasts and tortured by the weighty responsibility of their supernatural gifts. I can’t wait to see what happens with these characters in season two.

What is your favorite Star Wars memory, scene, or line? What is it that that memory, scene or line that continues to stick with you today?

My favorite Star Wars scene is when Han is about to be frozen in carbonite. Leia blurts out, “I love you” and Han replies, “I know.”

At this point in The Empire Strikes back, Leia has endured imprisonment at the hands of the Empire, and had to watch as her family was murdered and her home world was destroyed. Her reaction to losing Han is all the more heartbreaking when you consider what she has already had to endure. But then Han flashes that crooked grin and replies, “I know,” and the scene becomes even more powerful, because here is a man about to face possible death and he is being strong, not for himself, but for the woman he loves.

I also have the following Star Wars lines displayed in my writing space to help keep me motivated.

“Do. Or do not. There is no try.” –Yoda
“Never tell me the odds.” –Han Solo
“I find your lack of faith disturbing.” –Darth Vader
“In my experience there is no such thing as luck.” –Obi-Wan Kenobi
“Impressive. Most impressive.” —Darth Vader
“Stay on target.” –Gold Five

Errick Nunnally

Born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, Errick A. Nunnally served one tour in the Marine Corps before deciding art school would be a safer—and more natural—pursuit. He strives to develop his strengths in storytelling and remains permanently distracted by art, comics, science fiction, history, and horror. Trained as a graphic designer, he has earned a black belt in Krav Maga with Muay Thai kickboxing after dark. Errick’s successes include: the novel, Blood For The Sun; a comic strip collection, Lost in Transition; and first prize in one hamburger contest. The following are short stories and their respective anthologies: Lycanthrobastards (Wicked Seasons); Harold At The Halfcourt (Inner Demons Out); Legion (Doorways to Extra Time); The Last Apology (A Dark World of Spirits and The Fey); You Call This An Apocalypse? (After The Fall); Recovery (Winter Animals: stories to benefit PROTECT.ORG); PROTECTORS 2 (stories to benefit PROTECT.ORG) and The Elevation of Oliver Black (Distant Dying Ember). He also has two lovely children and one beautiful wife. Visit him on his website and follow him on Twitter.

What are you looking forward to at Boskone?

No idea! Well, finding out what it’s all about, I’ve never been. Ironically, I have picked up a friend from the airport and driven him there without any clue as to what was going on there. He’d done some work with Ian Tregellis, developing the author’s web site. When I dropped him off, I spotted a Toyota hybrid with the custom plate “MONTAG” and knew I was missing something.

What event or experience stands out as one of those “defining moments” that shaped who you are today?

Not too long after buying a home in Boston (Dorchester), the company that I’d been happily working for (a graphic design firm) closed it’s doors. I decided to work for myself for a while and I set five goals for myself during that time. One of them was to finally write the book that I’d been putting off since my final years in college. “Blood for the Sun” came to fruition and it took some time, but I refined it enough to sell to a publisher. I suppose the defining moment came when I finally realized, after over a decade, that I should do more to follow my heart’s desire rather than half-step through the world, coloring within the lines. Nothing lasts forever, of course, and I headed back into the workforce a couple of years after completing the book. Since then, it’s been one epic battle after another to redefine my life so that it satisfies my soul rather than someone else’s bottom line.

If you could recommend a book to your teenage self, what book would you recommend? Why did you pick that book?

I tend to write somewhere around the thriller genre with elements of science fiction and horror. When I was much younger, I spent a great deal of my time reading sci-fi and other forms of speculative fiction. To be as involved as I am with monsters and the noir-ish side of the supernatural, I wish I’d read some more of what’s considered the horror classics. Most of my early horror influences came from movies rather than the books those movies were adapted from. It’s actually something I regret. With that in mind, instead of recommending a particular book (or books), I’d recommend a few authors to dig into. The obvious one is Stephen King. I’ve enjoyed his short fiction up to novellas, but his longer stuff has always left me cold. Still, I wish I’d read Salem’s Lot, Cujo, and Carrie a lot earlier in my life. The works of Rick Hautula, John Skipp, Craig Spector, Chet Williamson, Jack Ketchum, and later: Ray Garton and Joe Landsdale would have been fine, earlier additions to my reading repertoire.

What is your favorite Star Wars memory, scene, or line? Why does it continue to stick with you today?

I was all of nine years-old when Star Wars premiered in 1977. My mind was blown when I first saw that movie–like so many others my age. I remember begging everyone and anyone to take me with them when they went to see it and it resulted in my going to the theater eleven times. Each time, the crowds were more and more dense until I recall stumbling out of the place shoulder to shoulder with scores of excited people.

In the intervening years, I became a Star Wars “truther.” Han Solo shot first and Lucas’ tinkering with the character’s continuity and other aspects of Star Wars was an atrocity!

(Also, those other three films were planned, but never happened; only one actor portrayed Khan Noonien Singh and embodied the character so well that no other actor dared take the role, and Michael Jackson died shortly after recording “Off The Wall,” his last and greatest album.)

How would you describe your work to people who might be unfamiliar with you?

M work is a mishmash of my genre favorites, sculpted into something I wanted to see out in the wild. In my case, noir-ish crime thrillers with hefty doses of supernatural horror and science fiction influenced by my background in the military, close-combat training, and growing up in Boston’s inner-city. Two of my favorite comments about my first novel: “A love letter to fandom” and “Everything a gritty urban fantasy thriller should be.” I write what I love and I want to share that with fans of the same.

N.A. Ratnayake

N.A. Ratnayake is a former NASA engineer turned science teacher and science fiction writer. His short story “Remembering Turinam” received an honorable mention in Gardner Dozois’s The Year’s Best Science Fiction, Thirty First Edition. His new novel, Red Soil Through Our Fingers, explores human rights in a future of corporate expansion and colonization of space.

What is it that you enjoy most about Boskone?

It’s a certain caliber of nerd that travels to New England in February for the sake of a science fiction convention. And for those who live around here, any extra shoveling and time spent on the MBTA in the winter is a true sign of dedication. The eclectic mix of intellect, passion, curiosity, and creative energy at Boskone is wonderful. Every year I leave the con refreshed with new ideas, writing knowledge, and creative projects to consider.

What are you working on now? What excites or challenges you about this project?

My new novel, Red Soil Through Our Fingers, was recently released in January. The book is the first in a series, so I’m now working on laying out the two books that will follow it.

Red Soil Through Our Fingers was very challenging for me, being my first novel-length work. I had to learn so much about writing, revision, publication, and marketing over the last couple of years. I’m hoping that the second one is easier, at least logistically, now that I’m a little further along the learning curve.

I’ve started to embrace the idea of this series as a political thriller in space. It’s been exciting to learn more about the thriller genre and what makes them work, then trying to imagine what these elements would look like in a hard sci-fi future setting.

How would you describe your work to people who might be unfamiliar with you?

My stories tend to feature stubborn idealists of various flavors in conflict with social or political systems that are oppressive or unjust in some way. Though I have harsh criticism for some aspects of our present society, I also believe in actively presenting a positive way forward into a better future.

I’m an aerospace engineer and science teacher professionally. I love realistic space settings and credible projections of technology. However, I believe a great story is ultimately about people, not the technical details. I try to create a rigorous, believable, and technically-consistent world, and then move it to the background where it belongs.

If you enjoy being at the intersection of people and ideas, I invite you to give my stories a read!

What is your favorite Star Wars memory, scene, or line? What is it that that memory, scene or line that continues to stick with you today?

When we were little, my brother and I used to enjoy impersonating all of the characters and improvising our own new (hilarious) plot lines, in the vein of what Robot Chicken has done now. So I have lots of good brotherly memories of the two of us being silly.

My favorite moment from the movies is Vader’s redemption just before he dies. I think that scene in the context of the whole trilogy says a lot about the nature of evil. I remember it being a very powerful moment when my twelve-year-old self realized that even this baddest of bad guys had a good person sort of trapped inside a dark shell. In retrospect, I think it marked the beginning of a slow realization that good and evil are not absolute, mutually exclusive, binary concepts.

~

Register for Boskone today. Join us February 19-21, 2016

Registration Rates (good through January 19th):

• Adult rate: $50
• College student rate: $35
• K-12 student rate: $25
• Friday: $25; Saturday: $45; Sunday: $25

Happy New Year from Boskone! Today we bring you two new mini interviews that are sure to put a smile on your face and kick off 2016 with a bang. Please welcome Esther Friesner and Grady Hendrix to the Boskone Blog. I think you’re really going to enjoy these two interviews.

Also, a quick note that Boskone’s pre-convention membership prices go up on January 19, 2016. So, please don’t delay! Get your memberships now while you can still take advantage of the lower price.

Esther Friesner

Nebula Award winner Esther Friesner is the author of over 40 novels and almost 200 short stories. Educated at Vassar College and Yale University, where she received a Ph.D. in Spanish, she is also a poet, a playwright, and the editor of several anthologies. The best known of these is the Chicks in Chainmail series that she created and edits for Baen Books. The sixth book, Chicks and Balances, appeared in July 2015. Deception’s Pawn, the latest title in her popular Princesses of Myth series of young adult novels from Random House, was published in April 2015. Esther is married, a mother of two, grandmother of one, harbors cats, and lives in Connecticut. She has a fondness for bittersweet chocolate, graphic novels, manga, travel, and jewelry. There is no truth to the rumor that her family motto is “Oooooh, SHINY!”

Visit Esther online by following her on Twitter and friending her on Facebook.

What are you looking forward to at Boskone?

The thing I enjoy most about Boskone is the sense of camaraderie, being with so many people ready and willing to have interesting, fun conversations about just about anything.

What event or experience stands out as one of those ‘defining moments’ that shaped who you are today? 

I’ve had several “defining moments” in my life. Setting aside the important family-related ones, almost all of these have to do with stories. When I was little, my father’s idea of great bedtime story material was Walt Kelly’s POGO comics. That’s where I learned that language is a playground and that humor can talk about some extremely serious subjects, including extreme censorship (this from the McCarthy era strips where one character opined that there’s nothing quite so pretty as the sight of a brightly burning book). My mother filled long car rides by telling me stories from American literature, like “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” I kept begging for more until she finally said, “Learn to read and you can have all the stories you want!” Both of them were right and I am so grateful!

What are you working on now? What excites or challenges you about this project?

Right now I’m trying to get back to publishing more short stories while at the same time thinking deep and dangerous thoughts about doing something new as far as novel-writing goes. The latter is still in the think-it-through stage, which is both exciting and challenging since even I don’t know how it will all turn out, happy-ending-wise. It’s rather like riding one of those scary-huge roller coasters, but as long as I find joy and satisfaction in all parts of the writing process (and I do), it’s going to be a great ride!

What is your favorite Star Wars memory, scene, or line? What is it that that memory, scene or line that continues to stick with you today?

Much as I love the original Star Wars film, I’m going to be a rebel and say that my favorite Star Wars memory is the Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars special. And okay, putting the Adulting Hat back on for a second, I must think back to seeing Star Wars in the theater and beholding the opening chase scene where the Bad Guys’ ship just keeps going and going and going and GOING. That was pretty much when I knew it was going to be awesome.

Grady Hendrix

Grady Hendrix is the author of the novel Horrorstör, about a haunted IKEA. It’s been translated into 14 languages and is being adapted into a TV series by Gail Berman and Charlie Kaufman. He is the screenwriter for the upcoming movie, Satanic Panic, and his new novel, My Best Friend’s Exorcism, will be published in May, 2016.

Visit Grady on his website, friend him on Facebook, and follow him on Twitter.

What are you looking forward to at Boskone?

I’ve never been to Boskone before, so I’m really hoping that no one stabs me, locks me in a closet, sets my luggage on fire, or tells me it’s a “clothing optional” party and then I show up and everyone is fully clothed except me.

What are you working on now? What excites or challenges you about this project?

I just wrapped up my new novel, My Best Friend’s Exorcism, which comes out in May, 2016 from Quirk Books. It’s all about friendship, high school, demons from Hell, tapeworms, bodybuilders, possession, exorcism, and the Eighties. They say “Write what you know,” and I had to dig deep for this one. Except for the tapeworms, it’s all based on my high school experience, which is a bit uncomfortable.

If you could recommend a book to your teenage-self, what book would you recommend? Why did you pick that book?

The Physician’s Desk Reference. We all would have made so many better decisions about what we were ingesting, if we’d had one of these back then.

What is your favorite Star Wars memory, scene, or line? What is it that that memory, scene or line that continues to stick with you today?

My older sister saw Star Wars way before I did, and so I had to rely on her blow-by-blow of the movie which revolved entirely around the trash compactor scene for some strange reason. So for about six weeks I thought it was a movie about a long, hairy monster that lived in garbage on a Death Star full of garbage, and it had to protect itself from people who wanted to steal its garbage.

<In honor of Grady’s trash compactor Star Wars memory, here’s a little something you guys might enjoy! …and if you are one of the five people in fandom who haven’t yet seen any of the Star Wars movies, this video clip might be a spoiler. *grin*>

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U3Oti2L8S4]

~

Register for Boskone today. Join us February 19-21, 2016

Registration Rates (good through January 19th):

• Adult rate: $50
• College student rate: $35
• K-12 student rate: $25
• Friday: $25; Saturday: $45; Sunday: $25

As we head into the final days of 2015, Boskone brings you two new Mini Interviews that feature returning Boskone participants Janet Catherine Johnston and Jon Hunt. If you’ve walked through the Art Show in the Galleria at Boskone, you’re sure to have seen Jon’s work or if you have attended one of the science talks, you’ve probably heard Janet speak. However, you may not have had the chance to meet them. So, it is our pleasure to introduce you to Janet and Jon. When you see them at Boskone this year, be sure to say hello.

Janet Catherine Johnston

Janet Catherine Johnston is a published science fiction author, playwright, master costume designer, fashion consultant, private pilot, fortune teller, singer, Middle Eastern Dance performer/choreographer, seismologist, astrophysicist and engineer. She holds four degrees from MIT in four different disciplines. Born in Manhattan, she moved to Massachusetts in 1971; although she has visited or worked in over 45 countries, lived in New York, Virginia, London and Moscow, she always returns to her beloved Plum Island home, where she has lived since 1976. Her hard science fiction stories have an unsettling edge to them and have been described as “H.P. Lovecraft meets Arthur C. Clark.”

What is it that you enjoy most about Boskone?
The level of knowledge of the fans there. They have read such a wide range of authors, spanning many years of publication. I always come away with a new perspective on some science fiction topic and suggestions for reading new (old) books and authors.

What event or experience stands out as one of those ‘defining moments’ that shaped who you are today?
The death of a man I loved. I became kinder and more tolerant. My eyes even changed color, I thought it was from all the tears, but if eyes are truly the window to soul then I have independent evidence I really changed.

What are you working on now? What excites or challenges you about this project?
I’m working on a screenplay based on my novella, “Lune Bleue,” (Analog 2013). It’s about 3 people struggling to survive on the Moon in the wrong place, at the wrong time, having to deal with creepy, autonomous robots, failing life support facilities, giant mutant rats, and World War III–and did I mention one of them is crazy? I thought this would be relatively straightforward after turning two of my short stories into one-act comedy science fiction plays that kindly were produced at Arisia last year, but a screenplay is yet a different animal!

What is your favorite Star Wars memory, scene, or line? What is it that that memory, scene or line that continues to stick with you today?
Although much of my life philosophy comes more from Star Trek, the scene in Empire Strikes Back where Yoda raises Luke’s fighter out of the swamp after Luke exclaims ‘shuffling stones around is one thing but this (lifting the fighter) is totally different’. To this “It’s only different in your mind,” Yoda says and this is my favorite line. As a congenital amputee, I have tried not to let things that at first glance seem impossible discourage me from at least trying. Things like getting a pilot’s license and teaching Martial arts, or sewing and winning a worldcon masquerade…

Jon Hunt

​I work in both traditional and digital media for book jackets, storyboards and concept art, collectible card games, role playing manuals, music videos, and magazines. I freelance for Frombie where I work with a talented group of young artists designing collectible toys, comics, pins, posters and more. In addition to my freelance work, I have developed my own line of creepy character pins called EEPz. I also write a bi-monthly column called “Art Drone” for Art Hive Magazine and am an adjunct illustration professor at three colleges. For more information, visit Jon’s website, friend him on Facebook, and follow him on Instagram.

What are you looking forward to at Boskone?
I really enjoy the atmosphere. Boskone is one of the most laid back and conversation-friendly conventions I have ever attended. A bunch of us got snowed-in last year–which was annoying at first, but it actually ended up being a great experience (there’s no better way to end a long weekend than sleeping on a hotel room floor with 4 other illustrators and writers)! Since I am an illustrator, the Art Show is definitely a focal point for me. I can always count on being humbled by a diverse and inspiring selection of paintings and prints by some of the most talented and influential artists working in the genre. And this year’s guest list is stellar! I look forward to catching up with friends as well as networking with artists, art directors, editors and fans.

What are you working on now? What excites or challenges you about this project?
I teach illustration as an adjunct at the college level and I have been working on a variety of freelance illustration projects. This year, in addition to 6 book covers, I have done concept art for games and a comic, created a logo design for a clothing company and labels for beer bottles. I drew storyboards for TV commercials and old-school comic-style illustrations that were animated for a documentary about the dangers of fracking. I write a bi-monthly column on art and creativity for the arts and entertainment magazine Art Hive. The diversity of the subjects that I tackle in my freelance work is both exciting and challenging and really keeps me on my toes. It’s a good thing I love research!

From a fan perspective, what new book, film, TV show, or comic are you most looking forward to seeing/reading?
I was disappointed with Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium, but I feel he redeemed himself with the quirky moral ambiguity of Chappie. I am especially looking forward to seeing what his unique take will be on the Alien property!

What is your favorite Star Wars memory, scene, or line? What is it that that memory, scene or line that continues to stick with you today?
I was nearly 11 years old when the first Stars Wars (A New Hope) was released. I grew up watching Saturday morning Creature Features and science fiction movies from the 1940s-1960s. So, despite being a bit clumsy and cheesy by my adult standards, back in 1977 Star Wars was an epiphany for me on so many levels. Lucas’ film was the modern incarnation of everything that I loved from those old movies. When I walked out of the theater that afternoon in 1977, my fate was sealed: To this day, through my own art and writing I am still trying to re-live the wonder and awe that the film and the concept art of Ralph McQuarrie inspired in me.

~

Register for Boskone today. Join us February 19-21, 2016

Registration Rates:

• Adult rate: $50
• College student rate: $35
• K-12 student rate: $25
• Friday: $25; Saturday: $45; Sunday: $25

It is such a pleasure to bring two longtime Boskone favorites to you in this set of Mini Interviews. Whether or not you have had the opportunity to meet Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, authors of the much loved Liaden Universe®, they are two people you will enjoy knowing. So, without further ado, here are their Mini Interviews, which we hope you enjoy.

Also, be sure to pick up your Boskone 53 membership  before the price increase in January and book your hotel room before the block sells out.

Sharon Lee

Sharon Lee is one-half of Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, best known for their collaborative work in the Liaden Universe®, a space opera geography of their own devising. Their latest novel — their 22nd collaboration; and the18th set in the Liaden Universe® — was Dragon in Exile (June 2015, Baen); upcoming is Alliance of Equals (July 2016, Baen). Sharon has also written a contemporary fantasy trilogy, set on the coast of Maine — Carousel Tides, Carousel Sun, Carousel Seas — published by Baen. Sharon lives in Maine with her husband, Steve Miller, and four Feline Companions — Maine Coon cats Belle, Sprite, and Trooper; and Scrabble, the office manager. Visit Sharon Lee online at her website, follow her on Twitter, friend her on Facebook, and check out her Live Journal.

What is it that you enjoy most about Boskone?

Well, I’ve always been fond of the Blizzard Betting Pool, but you can’t really say that it’s of, or about, Boskone.  The thing I enjoy most at Boskone is The Big Living Room.  I love the comfy chairs and the groups of people knitting, or reading, or talking, or all of the above, just like an extended family which has come together to celebrate a major holiday, and catch themselves up.

What event or experience stands out as one of those ‘defining moments’ that shaped who you are today?

Well, let’s see.  I was in my early 20s, I guess, working full-time as a secretary at a university.  One of the benefits I received from my job was that I could attend classes at the university for free. I had determined to be a writer, and had written what I fondly believed was a Novel. A fantasy novel.

Now, I had a speech impediment; I stammered — not so much, by then, but occasionally, mostly when I was tired or nervous. In addition, unless I concentrated very closely, I got the words in my spoken sentences all in the wrong order, and it was sometimes quite a job of work to untangle everything into sense.  As a result, I didn’t talk very much, and when I did, I spoke briefly.  In fact, I had determined to be a writer exactly because, when you write the words down, they stay where you put them.

Since I got those free courses as a benefit of my employment, I was taking a creative writing course at the university.  Some months in, I screwed up my courage to ask my instructor if he would read my novel.  He said that he would, but the next time I saw him he told me that, because he was Iranian, he felt that he couldn’t do justice to the fantasy elements, which he felt might carry cultural cues with which he was unfamiliar.  He had therefore passed my work on to one of his colleagues, who taught long-form writing, and who was an American.  I should make an appointment to speak with her, he said.

Well, I did that.  I was very nervous, and the long-form professor was not, I felt, particularly welcoming.  She had me sit down in the chair next to her desk and proceeded to quiz me on what I had been trying to achieve with the novel, my perception of the character’s journey, what the magic symbolized in the story. . .  The easy questions, you perceive.

Long story short, I stammered, and got every single word in every single sentence in as compromising a position as possible, until the professor said, “I thought so,” reached into her drawer, hauled out my manuscript and slammed it onto the desk.

“I think you’d better leave,” she said, coldly. “I don’t know what you’re trying to prove, but I do know that no one who speaks like you do could possibly have written this!”

Yeah, I grabbed the novel and ran.  My victory was that I didn’t cry, then, though I did, later.  I thought about how I was going to have to give up on being a writer, and, boy, didn’t that make me cry some more. . .

And then it occurred me, that speaking and writing are two different processes. That I wanted to be a writer precisely because I could build, on the page, those perfectly ordered and modulated sentences, which would convey exactly what I meant to say.

That I spoke so differently than I wrote?  That wasn’t a bug; it wasn’t even a feature.

It was *proof* that I was, and could be, a writer.

And so. . .here I am, forty years, 28 novels, and a bunch of short stories later — a writer.

Sometimes, y’know?  I think that I ought to try to find that professor — and thank her.

How would you describe your work to people who might be unfamiliar with you?

I do a couple of different things.  With Steve Miller — my husband and my co-author — I’ve written 23 novels, 22 of them are science fiction, and 19 of *those* are set in the Liaden Universe(R), which is space opera geography of our own devising.  We take the whole “opera” thing very seriously, in a let’s-have-fun sort of way.  The stories may be adventure, romance, intrigue — any or all.  They may be very large stories, involving the Fate of the Universe(tm); or they may be very small stories, involving the relationship between two people from very different, and possibly incompatible, cultures.

Our publisher, Baen, has made two complete Liaden novels available as free downloads, from their site (baen.com), and from Amazon:  The very first novel Steve and I wrote together in the Liaden Universe®, Agent of Change; and Fledgling, which is the beginning of a story arc within the Universe, and introduces a new character with troubles of her own.

Under my own byline, I’ve written a contemporary fantasy trilogy based in a Maine seaside resort town (Carousel Tides, Carousel Sun, Carousel Seas).  Those are a little less over-the-top sci-fi fun (though they’re still fun, of course).  They want to talk about the small magics, and the value of change, and the responsibility we hold for the land.  And? There’s a haunted carousel.

Steve Miller

Adopted Mainer Steve Miller is a lapsed journalist, publisher, con-running fan, poet, and librarian who writes SF professionally, mostly in the Liaden Universe® shared with Sharon Lee. Originally a Baltimore area convention and fanzine fan, writer, special collections librarian, art agent, and genre book store owner, he survived Clarion West and has participated in hundreds of SF conventions across North America including more than a dozen as a Guest of Honor. Recipient of Boskone’s 2012 Skylark Award as well as the Hal Clement Award for Best YA Novel, Steve was also an ebook publishing pioneer with his BPLAN Virtuals imprint in the late 1980s and early 1990s while his SRM Publisher imprint ran for 17 years and included chapbooks, mass market, trade paper, and hardcover originals. Locus Bestseller Dragon in Exile is the most recent of 25 novels, Liaden Universe Constellation No.3 the most recent short story collection, and the next of five contracted Liaden novels, Alliance of Equals, is due to hit the stands in July 2016. Visit him online on his website, follow him on Twitter, friend him on Facebook, and check him out at Patreon.

What is it that you enjoy most about Boskone?

Split decision here, fan-side and pro-side, but overwhelming is the sense of community, of coming home to friends.

I’ve been coming to Boskone whenever I could since the mid-1970s and so one part of me likes the fannish side with a great art show and dealer’s room, the generally low-key parties, and the chance to catch up with lot of old friends and meet new ones at those parties. The con’s at a good hotel so I’m pleased not be a commuter, and the feeling of community is a real plus, especially coming after the cabin-fever generated by Maine winters.

The Other side of me is the pro side and I appreciate the challenging programming and the chance to work with newcomers I’ve not met before. The constants — readings and signings and kaffeeklatsches  — are always well done and now that they’ve been merged into the living room environment alongside the art show and dealer’s room the feeling of community is reinforced.

What event or experience stands out as one of those ‘defining moments’ that shaped who you are today?

Not a single moment, but a moment two months long. In July and August of 1973 I took leave from my stereo & carpeting sales position and traveled by Greyhound bus from Baltimore to Seattle, attended Clarion West (SF writing workshop) and returned to my home north of Baltimore, totally changed. The workshop itself was six weeks long, and I had my 23rd birthday there. I met and worked with Joanna Russ, Peter Beagle, James Salis, Ursula LeGuin, Harlan Ellison, Terry Carr, and Vonda McIntyre as well as my 20-some fellow workshoppers; I went from thinking I might want to be a full-time writer to knowing it. The intensity of writing six and seven days a week and getting high level reaction from some of the top writers in the field — wow!

I returned to my sales job for a few weeks, but clearly my heart was no longer in it and I began freelancing for a dozen small newspapers, quit selling stereos — and then got an offer to take over the new SF collection at UMBC as Curator.

What is your favorite Star Wars memory, scene, or line? What is it that that memory, scene or line that continues to stick with you today?

The first seven and a half minutes of the first film still sticks with me. The wonderful planet and moons scene giving way to a space ship grabbed me, and then there was the “that’s not a space ship, this is a spaceship!” moment of the Imperial cruiser closing in. From there to the escape of a droids — clearly science fiction flicks and expectations had entered a whole new era.

~

Register for Boskone today. Join us February 19-21, 2016

Registration Rates:

• Adult rate: $50
• College student rate: $35
• K-12 student rate: $25
• Friday: $25; Saturday: $45; Sunday: $25