It’s time for an extra bit of FUN! with the Boskone Mini Interviews. Today we bring you the delightfully fun James Patrick Kelly and Bruce Coville. Both Jim and Bruce are longtime Boskone favorites. So, while many of you may already know them, perhaps you’ll glean something interesting and new in their Mini Interviews that you haven’t yet uncovered about these two dashing characters…AND you even get to read their favorite Star Wars memories!

We hope you enjoy these Mini Interviews and may the Force be with you! Remember to pick up your Boskone 53 membership  and book your hotel room today.

James Patrick Kelly

James Patrick Kelly has written novels, short stories, essays, reviews, poetry, plays and planetarium shows. His short novel Burn won the Nebula Award in 2007. He has won the Hugo Award twice: in 1996, for his novelette “Think Like A Dinosaur” and in 2000, for his novelette, “Ten to the Sixteenth to One.” His fiction has been translated into eighteen languages. With John Kessel he is co-editor of a series of anthologies including Feeling Very Strange: The Slipstream Anthology. He has two podcasts, James Patrick Kelly’s Storypod on Audible.com and the Free Reads Podcast. He writes columns for Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine and for Mothership Zeta is on the faculty of the Stonecoast Creative Writing MFA Program at the University of Southern Maine. Be on the lookout in 2017 for Mothership, his first novel in decades. Visit James Patrick Kelly online by visiting his website, friending him on Facebook, and following him on Twitter.

What is it that you enjoy most about Boskone?

Boskone was the first convention I ever attended and over the years it has become my home con. It’s like that bar in that sitcom – what’s it called again? — the place where everyone knows your name. I can’t say that I’ve made every single Boskone in recent years, but pretty damn near! Boskone gives me a chance to catch up with my writer and reader pals, sign some books, and talk about all things science fictional, both on panels and at meals and at the many parties. Probably my favorite thing to do at Boskone is to read my own work. Those who have braved a JPK reading will tell you that I give every story the full Shatner treatment.

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

Those eight or nine fans who have been following my career know that it’s been a while since I’ve published a novel. I can’t complain; the reception that pros and fans alike have given my short fiction has been gratifying – the stuff of a young writer’s dreams, actually. But I’m not a young writer anymore and my reputation as someone who only writes short has been feeling a little tight around the collar, recently. And the sleeves aren’t long enough! So I’m happy to announce that I’ve finished an 85,000 word novel that revisits a future I created for a couple of award-nominated stories, “Going Deep” and “Plus or Minus.” I have a new agent and I hope to have sold this book, called Mother Go, by the time we all meet up at Boskone 53.

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

My feeling is that if I could describe my work to strangers, then my career would have been a failure! I’ve always been a restless writer, and I deliberately try not to repeat myself. A couple of times I have returned to a world across several stories, but that has always been because I was trying to psyche myself into writing a novel set in that world. But I’ve published a lot of different stuff in a lot of different genres. Early on in my career, the cyberpunks tried to lump me into something called the humanist movement with my best pals John Kessel and Connie Willis and Stan Robinson. So I started writing cyberpunk stories just to show ‘em I could, and got one selected for official cyberpunk anthology Mirrorshades. When I was workshopping with Karen Joy Fowler and Carol Emshwiller and Kelly Link in the 90’s, I fell in love with magic of slipstream and published a clutch of stories in that mode.

I’ve written contemporary fantasy … um … urban fantasy … er … paranormal romance. I’ve been published in YA anthologies, humor anthologies, space opera anthologies, superhero anthologies, military sf anthologies … and I’ve edited six anthologies myself! My stage plays have been performed, my audio plays produced – hell, I even wrote a couple of planetarium shows! And I write a column on the internet for Asimov’s. So how would I describe my bibliography? Probably too scattered for my own good!

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 was eight years from the demise of Star Trek to the advent of Star Wars, and like most in science fiction, I spent that bleak time in mourning. I was waiting for another dramatic space opera that could be at once delicious and nutritious. My grieving ended with the opening shot of the first Star Wars, immediately after the Alderaanian cruiser flashed across the screen and I watched the Imperial Star Destroyer giving chase. As it passed over and over and over and kept passing over, I knew that this Lucas guy had got to me where I live and wasn’t about to let me go.

Bruce Coville

Bruce Coville has published over 100 books for children and young adults, including the international bestseller My Teacher is an Alien, and the Unicorn Chronicles series. His works have appeared in a dozen languages and won children’s choice awards in as many states. He has been a teacher, a toymaker, a magazine editor, a gravedigger, and a cookware salesman. He is also the founder of Full Cast Audio, an audiobook publishing company devoted to producing full cast, unabridged recordings of material for family listening. Mr. Coville lives in Syracuse, New York, with his wife, illustrator and author Katherine Coville. Visit Bruce Coville online at his website and follow him on Twitter.

What is it that you enjoy most about Boskone?

The chance to connect with so many friends that I don’t get to see nearly often enough!

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

I’m working on the third book of “The Enchanted Files” a series that is told in diary form from the point of view of a magical being, interspersed with “supporting documents.”. The first was about a cantankerous brownie, the second about a young griffin who runs away from his aerie. The one I’m working on now is about a female troll who is passing as a human male in New York City.

So at the moment I am writing first person transvestite troll, which, yeah . . . is a bit of a challenge. But it’s also enormous fun. Which has been true for all three of these books. I have to inhabit a completely different creature each time I do one.

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

VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN! I love the Frankenstein mythos, and I’m fascinated by the new spin they’ve put on Igor. Can’t wait to see this one!

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?

A memory I cherish is having been present for the opening night of the first film way back in 1977. It was a joyful, enormously excited crowd, filled with hope for what we were about to see — and then utterly delighted when our hopes were completely fulfilled.

~

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

The Boskone Mini Interviews bring you two program participants who are brand new to Boskone: Wesley Chu and Flourish Klink. We are very excited to have them join the February fun, and we hope you enjoy meeting them both. If you have any questions or you just want to say hello, feel free to post a note in the comments below.

Also, remember to pick up your Boskone membership today and book your hotel room before they sell out.

Wesley Chu

Wesley Chu is the bestselling author of the Tao series from Angry Robot Books. He won the 2015 John W Campbell Award for Best New Writer. His debut, The Lives of Tao, won the Young Adult Library Services Association’s Alex Award and was a finalist for the Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Science Fiction. His newest book, Time Salvager, published by Tor books, was released on July 7th, 2015. For more information, visit Wesley’s website, follow him on Twitter, and friend him on Facebook.

What are you looking forward to at Boskone?
I love literary conventions. It’s a blast to talk to readers and meet (and drink) with other authors. I usually have a standard rotation of conventions I attend every year, so it’s exciting to explore new conventions. Each one always has its own unique flavor.

This year, I’m super excited to meet Richard Anderson, the Official Artist. I had the privilege of having Richard create the covers for two of my books, Time Salvager and Time Siege (they’re freaking fantastic) so I’m pumped to finally get the chance to meet him.

What are you working on now? What excites or challenges you about this project?
I’m currently working on the first book in a new trilogy based in the Tao universe called The Rise of Io for Angry Robot Books.

I’m excited about this project because in my Tao books, we had Roen, the lovable loser, and Tao, the experienced and competent alien. In the Io, I flip the narrative. The readers are introduced to Ella, a scrappy street smart con woman, who is inhabited by Io, a Quasing of breathtaking incompetence and questionable morals. The two of them have to forge an uneasy alliance in order to survive the war between the Prophus and the Genjix.

From a fan perspective, what new book, film, TV show, or comic are you most looking forward to seeing/reading?
What upcoming movie/show/book am I most looking forward to? Okay, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a no brainer so I’ll give another answer. Before I say another word, no judging, okay? Bygones be bygones and all jazz, but I’m really, really excited to see Zoolander 2.

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 line from the Star Wars movie is from Han Solo.

Han: How we doing?
Luke: Same as always.
Han: That bad, huh?

Flourish Klink

My name is Flourish Klink. I’m a writer, producer and fangirl. I’ve been blogging in various places since 1999, most recently at Tank Lady. I grew up in the X-Files and Harry Potter fandoms. I’m currently into Outlander, Sleepy Hollow, and Elementary. I’m interested in the way that people use stories to figure out their own lives. I’m vegan. I’m Christian. I hold two black belts. I attended Reed College and MIT. I’m married to poet-programmer Nick Montfort. Some people call me Flor, Fleur, or Maddy (don’t try it). I was a partner in The Alchemists Transmedia Storytelling Co., and today I’m a partner in Chaotic Good LLC, a franchise development and production company. You might know me from Lincoln, NE; Sacramento, CA; Portland, OR; Cambridge, MA; or NYC.

What are you looking forward to at Boskone?
I’m looking forward to my first time at Boskone, so it’s hard to say exactly! Boskone has been an important convention for many of my friends for many years, but I’ve never made it, so I’m really excited to get to come for the first time. Lately I’ve gone to a lot of conventions that are more commercialized. Also, so I’m looking forward to getting a chance to get back to my fandom roots and spend time in a space that’s really by the community and for the community.

What event or experience stands out as one of those ‘defining moments’ that shaped who you are today?
When I was about five or six years old, I was very ill for a whole year, and my father brought home books that people at Tower Books in Sacramento, CA had recommended to him for me. One of them was The Lives of Christopher Chant by Diana Wynne Jones. I think that might have been the most defining moment of my life, because up till then I’d enjoyed fantastical stories but I’d probably been more engaged by books like Charlotte’s Web and A Little House on the Prairie.

I don’t remember if I read it right away (it would have been definitely old for me if I had). It was the book that got me into SF&F because at the local library Diana Wynne Jones was filed with the adult SF&F rather than in the Children’s section. So through seeking more DWJ, I experienced the grown-up books for the first time, and from there…that was pretty much all she wrote for my tastes thereafter.

What are you working on now? What excites or challenges you about this project?
I’m working on a lot of things! One that I’m most excited about is an ongoing project, my podcast with Elizabeth Minkel, Fansplaining. A lot of my job, working in the entertainment industry, is explaining fan culture to people who don’t have a lot of familiarity with it—and helping people make good decisions about what to do or what not to do with beloved shows and movies. But that means I spend a lot of time talking about the surface stuff: “No, not all people who consider themselves ‘fans’ think alike,” “Just because one’s a fan of something doesn’t mean they don’t have any critiques of it,” and so forth.

Fansplaining is a chance to talk about fandom in both a deeper and broader way. It comes out every two weeks (a transcript too) and we have guests from different parts of fandom—and guests who are fans but not “part of fandom,” like sports fans and music fans who don’t necessarily see themselves as having much in common with SF&F fandom, or even media fandom more generally. I think it’s a really important thing because the internet simultaneously makes it easy to find your tribe and also makes it easy to forget that there’s anyone out there who’s not part of your tribe. So, when people talk about “fans,” they usually just mean “their friends group.” Yet there’s some issues that all fans should be concerned about: copyright and trademark issues, the way we’re portrayed in media, which particular fandoms are considered “cool” and which ones are considered creepy and what that means, and so on. Fansplaining is intended to bridge those gaps. Or that’s the hope.

I’m also working on a variety of fanfic projects, but curiously enough, my most recent fandom is One Direction—not likely to be a big hit at Boskone! (Although I’m sure there’s some secret Directioners out there… come out of the woodwork, y’all!)

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 wrote a book report on The Courtship of Princess Leia when I was in fifth or sixth grade (does that novel even count as being part of Star Wars any more now that the Extended Universe has been decanonized?). I remember very distinctly trying to express to everyone why it was the very coolest thing. Nobody else understood why I was so obsessed. I remember my teacher trying to convince me that perhaps I should read something else, something that was a little more literary, something that would actually challenge my reading skills. But never mind what she said; that was the first time I’d really geeked out on something, and even if nobody else understood why I was so interested in it, I wasn’t going to be dissuaded! (Although looking back on it, man, that book wasn’t great; my teacher was right, I could’ve found something better… oh well.)

~

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

Winter may be coming, but so is Boskone 53 and that means the Mini Interviews are back! We’re excited to bring you our first two mini interviews, featuring Robert J. Sawyer and Cerece Rennie Murphy. We hope you enjoy meeting Robert and Cerece, and we’ll see you at Boskone in February 2016!

Robert J. Sawyer

Robert J. Sawyer has won the best-novel Hugo Award (for Hominids), best-novel Nebula Award (for The Terminal Experiment), and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award (for Mindscan), plus the Aurora, AnLab, Galaxy, and Audie Awards, among others. According to the Locus Index to Science Fiction Awards, he has won more awards as a science-fiction or fantasy novelist than anyone else in history. He was the 2014 recipient of NESFA’s Edward E. Smith Memorial Award (the Skylark), and that year was also one of the initial nine inductees into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. His 23 novels include Calculating God, Rollback, Wake, Triggers, and Red Planet Blues; his next, Quantum Night, comes out March 1, 2016, from Ace. The ABC TV series FlashForward was based on his novel of the same name, and he was one of the scriptwriters for that series. Rob — who holds two honorary doctorates — has published in both the world’s top scientific journals, Science (guest editorial) and Nature (fiction). He lives just outside Toronto. For more information, visit his website, follow him on Twitter, or friend him on Facebook.

What are you looking forward to at Boskone?
It’s been a dozen years since I’ve last been to Boskone (although in 2014, NESFA was kind enough to give me its “Skylark” award). I very fondly remember the quality of the programming, and I’m looking forward to reconnecting with old friends.

What are you working on now? What excites or challenges you about this project?
I’m just finishing up the copyedit on my 23rd novel, Quantum Night, which will be officially published March 1, 2016 (although I’m hoping to convince Ace to free up a few advance copies for Boskone). One of my personal definitions is that “science fiction is the literature of intriguing juxtapositions,” and in this novel, I combine quantum physics and experimental psychology, two of my favorite fields but also disciplines that would almost never interact outside of SF. I’m an optimistic author, but never want to be thought of as Pollyannish or naïve, and Quantum Night is my attempt to wrestle with why there is so much evil in the world while still lighting the way to a better future.

How would you describe your work to people who might be unfamiliar with you?
I’m a hard-SF writer, heavily influenced by the best of Frederik Pohl (I consider his Gateway to be the finest novel our field has ever produced). I’m also liberal, even by Canadian standards, and a rationalist, a secularist, and a humanist (Humanism Canada gave me their first ever “Humanism in the Arts” award) — and my work embraces all those things. I mostly do near-future or present day stories, usually set on Earth, with a strong philosophical bent. My prose is pellucid (much more Arthur C. Clarke than Gene Wolfe) and my tone usually upbeat.

What is your favorite Star Wars memory, scene, or line? What is it that memory, scene or line that continues to stick with you today?
Honestly, I’ve never been the biggest Star Wars fan — I’m much more a classic Star Trek guy — and I do feel the public’s perception of science fiction has been diminished by Lucas’s contributions; we’re seen as adventure and escapism rather than a vehicle for rational extrapolation. But, not to be a party-pooper, my favorite line is, “So this is how freedom dies — to thunderous applause,” uttered by Padme in Episode 3, and just about the only time in the first six films that Lucas gives us what I think science fiction is supposed to provide: social comment and a reflection through a distorting mirror on current events.

Cerece Rennie Murphy

Cerece Rennie Murphy first fell in love with science fiction watching Empire Strikes Back at the Uptown Theater in Washington, DC with her sister and mother. She was only 7 years old, but it’s a love affair that has grown ever since. Mrs. Murphy’s love of the written word has grown throughout the years, evolving from reader to author of the best-selling Order of the Seers science fiction trilogy and the early reader children’s book, titled Ellis and The Magic Mirror. In addition to working on the 2nd book in the Ellis and The Magic Mirror children’s book series with her son, Mrs. Murphy is currently developing a historical adventure and a 2-part science fiction thriller set in outer space. Mrs. Murphy lives and writes in her hometown of Washington, DC with her husband, two children and the family dog, Yoda. To learn more about the author and her upcoming projects, please visit her website, follow her on Twitter, and friend her on Facebook.

What are you looking forward to at Boskone?
I love sci-fi conventions. For me, it’s a chance to connect with people who are just like me – weirdos, geeks and nerds who are inspired by fairies, aliens and super powers. It’s such a wonderful community, so I’m just looking forward to meeting new people and fully geeking-out without having to be concerned with whether or not anyone else thinks it’s strange.

From a fan perspective, what new book, film, TV show, or comic are you most looking forward to seeing/reading?
This year is an incredible fan year for me. We’ve got the new Star Wars movie coming out AND the new X-Files season on the horizon, so it pretty much doesn’t get any better for me. Star Wars got me into science fiction and the X-Files inspired my first piece of fan fiction, which got me on the road to writing my own science fiction. 🙂

How would you describe your work to people who might be unfamiliar with you?
Well, I’d have to say that as a science fiction writer, I enjoy exploring themes of community, individuality and spirituality within stories that have a lot of action and suspense. I like some romantic love in there, too, but just a bit. I’m also likely to write in any genre that suits me at the time. I just finished a children’s book with my son and I’m writing a time-bending love story now. After that, I’ll be writing a 2-part space opera and the 2nd book in my children’s book series.

Bonus Question:

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 scenes from Star Wars are all the scenes between Luke Skywalker and Yoda from Empire Strikes Back. I remember watching theses scenes in the theatre when I was 7 years old. They literally changed my perception of God, my place in the world and my potential. I realized then, as I still believe now, that we’re all Jedi, we just don’t know it. Watching Luke’s fear and doubt keep him from fully accessing his own potential was powerful for me, even then. I don’t think you can sum up the human condition any better than that. “Luminous beings are we….not this crude matter,” I really believe that the healing of our entire world could begin with this statement.

~

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

The annual Boskone Book Club continues in 2016! Join us for a conversation that brings con-goers together to consider one noteworthy work at length. This year we are reading Clariel: The Lost Abhorsen by Guest of Honor Garth Nix.

Boskone’s own Bob Kuhn will lead the discussion; Garth Nix will join the group halfway through for a short Q&A about the book. To participate, please read the book and come ready with your observations.

Clariel: The Lost Abhorsen by Garth Nix
Book 4, a prequel to the New York Times bestselling Old Kingdom series.

Award-winning author Garth Nix returns to the Old Kingdom with a thrilling prequel complete with dark magic, royalty, dangerous action, a strong heroine, and flawless world-building. This epic fantasy adventure is destined to be a classic, and is perfect for fans of Game of Thrones.

Clariel is the daughter of one of the most notable families in the Old Kingdom, with blood relations to the Abhorsen and, most important, to the King. She dreams of living a simple life but discovers this is hard to achieve when a dangerous Free Magic creature is loose in the city, her parents want to marry her off to a killer, and there is a plot brewing against the old and withdrawn King Orrikan.

When Clariel is drawn into the efforts to find and capture the creature, she finds hidden sorcery within herself, yet it is magic that carries great dangers.

Can she rise above the temptation of power, escape the unwanted marriage, and save the King?

If you wish to join the Boskone Book Club discussion, please read the book, and come ready with your observations. We look forward to seeing you at Boskone 53!

~

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

Are you planning to stay at the Westin Waterfront Hotel when you come to Boskone this year? If so, please remember to book your hotel room soon since the hotel block is sure to sell out, and you don’t want to miss out on getting your room and taking advantage of the special Boskone room rates.

Westin Waterfront

425 Summer Street, Boston, MA 02210
(617) 532-4600

Boskone Rates

• Single/Double rate: $162
• Triple rate: $172
• Quad rate: $182

These rates are available until January 18, 2016.

• Reserve a Standard Floor Room
• Reserve a Party Floor Room

If you have any issues with your hotel reservation, contact hotel@boskone.org as soon as possible.

The Boskone Guest Interview Series concludes with our Official Artist Richard Anderson. In most cases, it’s fairly unusual for a convention to feature a concept artist as a guest. However, Boskone is known for its art program and Art Show, and we are constantly striving to bring in exciting, talented artists like Richard–who you should definitely get to know. Not only is he a talented and creative artist, but he’s an incredibly nice guy. We are excited to bring him to Boskone this year.

We hope you enjoy the last of our Guest interviews. Please be sure to stop by and say hello to Richard and all of our Guests at Boskone in Feburary!

Bio: Richard is a senior artist working in the entertainment industry for over 10 years. His projects range from film, games, commercials, and publishing. Richard’s clients have included: Marvel studios, Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, 20th Century FOX, Disney, NC Soft, Studio Canal, Samsung, Psyop, StarDust, and Random House.

He started out by moving from Montana in 2000 to go to school at the Art Institute of Seattle and graduated in 2002 with a associates of applied arts in animation. He started my first job at Arena Net on the first Guildwars game in 2003, where he worked for the next 8 years. In 2011, Richard was given a opportunity to move to London and work at the effects house MPC on a few projects including Ridley Scott’s Promethius and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Richard then moved to the art department at Framestore in 2012 where he worked on Thor: The Dark World, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Edge of Tomorrow. In 2013, he was given the opportunity to go back to games, working for Rocksteady Studios on the Arkham Knight, where he works today. Visit Richard online at http://www.flaptrapsart.com

For people who are unsure of what the term means, how would you describe your work as a concept artist? Also, how do you go about developing your ideas for a new project?

Good question, I always have to re-explain kinda what I do to my dad quite a bit (with a smile). The role of a concept artist is really to solve visual problems, and to inspire the people working on the team. Bringing a lot of creative in a more visual sense. Ideas are developed for new projects by meetings and discussions with other members on the team. Usually we will produce a guide line and reference panels to run the idea off of.

When did you realize that you wanted to be an artist? Once you realized that art was your passion, what steps did you take to pursue or prepare yourself for a career in art?

Like all children, I enjoyed creating and drawing, and I feel like I had a natural passion for it, rather than talent. It also helps when people believe that you should be an artist and help drive you in that direction. I went to art school in Seattle, since it was the closest city to were I grew up in Montana, started animation school and surrounded myself with like minded artist who worked hard and helped to push each other to grow and learn more. I didn’t know at the time that you could be a concept artist. Once I researched more, I knew I wasn’t good enough to start out that way. So, I studied 3D modeling and texturing and got a job in the industry painting ground textures and modeling rocks. It was great, and it got me into the industry. About 5 years later, I was put into a full-time concept position.

What has been your favorite art project so far? What was it? What did you love about it?

My favorites have be Guildwars. It was my first. With the guys I worked with and my art director, we had a blast and learned a ton. Plus, it was a really fun game, good memories. Another one would be a few of the book trilogies I’ve been able to work on (always a goal to work on book covers), including, the Orbit series, Books of the Shaper by John R. Fultz and art directed by Lauren Panepinto, and also The Dinosaur Lords series I’ve been working on by Victor Milan and art directed by Irene Gallo for Tor publishing. Anytime you get someone like George R.R. Martin to say “what a cool cover,” it kinda goes into your favorites. Ha! Last would be Guardians of the Galaxy. It was a dream to work on movies and this was a great learning experience and I was proud to be apart of it.

What has been your biggest challenge as an artist?

I’m not sure how to answer that really, but I think getting through school was probably the hardest thing I’ve done.

What new projects are you working on now or looking forward to tackling soon?

Well, we just finished Arkham Knight and will be moving on to something new. So, that’s exciting! Also, working on finished The Dinosaur Lords trilogy, so will be starting that soon. Besides that, I’m trying to work on my own book project. Hopefully, will find time for that.

~

You can also visit the Boskone 53 website anytime to purchase your Boskone membership at the pre-convention rate. We hope you enjoy this interview, and we look forward to seeing you all at Boskone in February 2016!

The Boskone Guest Interviews continue with this year’s NESFA Press Guest, Bob Eggleton. A long time and much acclaimed SF/F artist, Bob is a wonderful addition to Boskone’s Guest list this year. From dragons to giant lizards and killer landscapes, you will love seeing what Bob has in store. We’re honored to have him at Boskone and thrilled to bring you this interview.

Bio: Bob Eggleton is an award winning science fiction and fantasy artist who works on publishing projects and film concept work (such as Jimmy Neutron and most recently, The Ant Bully). He also has a passion for landscape work, small paintings, and exploring the properties of paint. He has won multiple Hugo Awards, Chesley Awards, The 1999 Skylark Award, and 2 Locus Awards. His art can be seen on many magazines and books. He has been elected as a Fellow of The International Association of Astronomical Artists (FIAAA), and is a Fellow of The New England Science Fiction Association (NESFA). Bob has also appeared as an “fleeing” extra in the 2002 film GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA. You can keep up with Bob’s work via his blog Bob’s ART du Jour.

You have been attending Boskone for a majority of your career. When was your first convention? Did attending Boskone or any other SF/F convention affect you as a young artist?

Yes it did. I went for the day to Boskone 16 in 1979. It was an artist named Eric Ladd who, at the time was getting a lot of acclaim for his work. He took a liking to my meager efforts and recommended the show. It was a freezing freezing cold day, I’ll never forget it, and I walked from the bus to the Sheraton Boston. The day admission was a whopping $6. I saw some amazing work in the art show. I had corresponded a bit with Ellen Franklin, who was running it then. She was very nice and friendly. I didn’t enter because I just….well, was going for the day (I did end up entering work in NOREASCON 2’s show and winning some nice awards, my first). But I saw up close Michael Whelan’s then-new THE WHITE DRAGON painting, among many great artists works–Don Maitz, Carl Lundgren, Larry Blamire, etc. I had then decided this was what I wanted to do. The Sheraton was a whopping $39. a night to stay during that convention, someone told me. Has it really been 36 years???

Looking back over your career, is there anything you wish you would have known sooner or done differently?

I wished I drew “better”. I could draw really well, but I wished it was better. Granted in those days there was very little going for the up and coming artists. We did not have online communities. Art schools schooled the idea of this post-60s non-representationalism and they scrapped the fundamentals of drawing, this is just how it was then. It was really dumb. But, we had the SF con art shows and it was like an oasis of sanity. Back then, the SF bookshelves were like going to a museum of the best covers and art imaginable. Those yellow-spined DAW Books had amazing and fun covers as a good example. I also liked comic books a great deal.

Who has had the biggest influence on you as an artist? In what way did he/she influence you?

Where do I start?? I would have to go back to the classic artists such as JMW Turner, Gustave Dore, John Martin and Russian painter Ivan Aivazovsky. Of course, my “SFnal Dad” was Kelly Freas. I loved that man. His spirit and energy. In the SF field too many artists to mention!!!! I decided to go back to basics and look at what inspired people like Frazetta and others I admired… rather than copy their work. There was a lot of copying of styles going on. My idea is that you find who inspired who you love and build your own style on that. In school I had a cool guy who lived in the Hyde Park area and was in a gallery on Newbury St, Enrico Pinardi. He was very much a fine artist different from my way but he was amazing to talk with, he taught me alot about thinking about art. He also showed me some of HR Giger’s work. This was just as Giger had gained some great fame here for ALIEN designs.

In a 2006 interview, you mentioned that pencil was your favorite medium, followed by oil. Does this continue to be true? What is it about pencil that you enjoy most? In what way does pencil allow you to tap into your artistic vision?

Pencil is the first mark. It can be changed. It is the first way of getting your idea down on paper. And pencil is such an ignored medium. Geniuses like Alan Lee and Allen Williams do wonders with it. Just working in pencil. I tend to work VERY quickly in pencil if the idea is exciting I like to get it down in one hit. At that point I know if it will work as a painting.

Artists often have “periods” that represent the work that they do during a specific period of time. Picasso had a variety of periods from his Blue Period to his Cubist Period, his Surrealist Period, and others. How would you describe the various periods of Bob Eggleton’s work?

Okay….starting off, very spotty, then, VERY airbrushy and slick, and, then getting more painterly and even recently more loose. I’d say I am really happy with my look now. It took a long time to get to that.

Bonus Question: What are you working on now?

Too many things. I finished a successful issue, totally painted of GODZILLA IN HELL for IDW. I finished a plate for an HP Lovecraft book AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS to be published by Centipede Press. I am working on comic covers for a new series called PROJECT NEMESIS, and some Christopher Paul Carey books which are extensions of Phillip Jose Farmer’s ERB pastiches and are lots of fun. I have several paintings for ME that I am working on and some work with Baen and some private commissions and more FAMOUS MONSTERS covers.

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You can also visit the Boskone 53 website anytime to purchase your Boskone membership at the pre-convention rate. We hope you enjoy this interview, and we look forward to seeing you all at Boskone in February 2016!

The Boskone Guest Interviews continue! If you have been to Boskone, you know we love our filk, which is a wonderful combination of folk music and speculative fiction themes that will hook you. We are especially excited about this year’s Featured Filkers. So, without further ado, please help us welcome Vixy & Tony to Boskone 53.

Bio: Vixy & Tony started when the founding members found filk; Tony at California filk and sci-fi conventions, and Vixy at house filks and conventions in Washington. If they’d both stayed home, they might never have met, but, being wandering souls, they met in the middle at Orycon in Portland, Oregon. After a couple of successive Orycons spent listening to one another, they came together by chance in concert at one fateful Baycon in 2005 (“wanna sing with me?” “sure, why not?”) and have been performing together ever since.

Singer and songwriter Vixy is formerly of the filk group Escape Key, originally formed with her husband Matthew on guitar and their friend Audrey Eschright on flute. Their 2001 album, Shadowbeast, contains the Pegasus Award-winning song “The Girl That’s Never Been”.

As luck would have it, just as Matthew decided to quit guitar in order to spend more time on mad science and wilderness adventures, Tony relocated to Seattle. He brought with him a guitar, a golden ear, and a dream of producing an album, and Vixy & Tony was born. The first tangible result of this union, Thirteen, was released in April 2008, and was met with glowing reviews, as well as another Pegasus for the song “Emerald Green”. Thirteen also contains the long-awaited studio rendition of the popular Firefly anthem “Mal’s Song”, a brilliant blending of the TV show’s theme song with new verses written by Vixy.

Over time, Vixy & Tony expanded into a quartet, joined by cellist Betsy Tinney and violinist Sunnie Larsen, though they are keeping the band name unchanged. Now, in addition to performing at filk and sci-fi conventions, Vixy & Tony, joined by Betsy and Sunnie, can be found playing at coffee shops, bookstores, and other venues in the Pacific Northwest. Their easygoing style, catchy songs, accessible lyrics, and energetic performances can be enjoyed by both sci-fi fans and mainstream music fans alike, all of which earned them the Best Performer Pegasus Award in 2008, and the Best Writer/Composer Pegasus Award in 2009.

Disguised by day as Michelle Dockrey*, mild-mannered officemouse, and Tony Fabris, mild-mannered codemonkey, they spend their evenings and weekends in a secret underground lair known as Monkey Brains Studios, plotting world domination through audio recording. Or playing Rock Band. Whichever.

For our members who aren’t familiar with “filk,” how would you describe it to them?

Filk is the folk music of sci-fi and fantasy fandom. It’s been a tradition at SF cons for more than 50 years, and it happens naturally whenever you’ve got fans who are also songwriters. Filk songs can be serious or funny, original or parody, and can be set in a variety of different styles and instrumentations. Song topics are frequently about SF books or shows, but can really be about any topic that fans identify with. At cons, after the regular programming is done, we filkers gather in a circle with our guitars, and share our songs with each other late into the night. It’s wonderful because in filk, there are amazing songs and performers you can’t find anywhere else. Filk means different things to different people, and the songs vary widely in style, but the main commonality is that the members of the filk community self-identify as such, and we all feel at home in a filk circle. The definition of a filk song is “any song written by someone who calls themselves a filker”. The Wikipedia entry at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filk_music has more information, and is quite comprehensive.

Musicians often play a variety of genres. What is it about filk and the speculative fiction genre that inspires you?

The stories. Much of filk is about telling a story. Either re-telling of a story from existing SF/F properties in song form, or, coming up with new stories in the same universes. A lot of filk is much like Fan Fiction in that regard. For instance, we wrote a song called “Apprentice” which speculates why Inara from the TV show Firefly made the life choices she made, since it was never explained in the series. Sometimes the stories are about the shared experience of fandom itself, such as Bob Kanefsy’s “False Alarms at Baycon”, a parody song about an incident at a con hotel.

Where do you go or what do you do for musical inspiration?

We get our inspiration from other filkers of course, and also close friends who are filkers or musicians in other genres, and from modern and classic folk, pop, and rock music. We are good friends with Jeff and Maya Bohnhoff, filkers from California who play a half-and-half mix of serious music and brilliant song parodies, and who are a constant inspiration to us (and who were Boskone guests last year). We’ve done a lot of great shows with SJ Tucker and Tricky Pixie, and we share a cellist with them.

I (Tony) am a fan of classic rock and progressive rock like Rush and Yes, and Vixy has a wide musical background, having come from a family of musicians. Vixy loves old standards, musicals, and classic rock. Current folk artists we love include Dar Williams, the Indigo Girls, and Show of Hands.

We are also inspired by musicians in the Geek Folk category who, though not always directly involved much with filk, are often beloved by filkers in general: Jonathan Coulton, Marian Call, The Doubleclicks, the PDX Broadsides, Molly Lewis, and others. We have been fortunate to have been able to play shows with some of our musical inspirations on that list. Vixy and I are of course quite fond of our fiddler Sunnie Larsen and our cellist Betsy Tinney; we love the music that they make, and they are an inspiration to us every moment that we are playing together.

Do you have a favorite song that you have written and or performed? What is it about that song that stands out for you?

Most recently, we quite like the song “We Are Who We Are”, our song about what it means to be a geek, or to be “different” in some way, and about our uphill battle to make the world a better place. It’s not on an album yet, but you can find us playing it on YouTube.

You’ve done “covers” before (such as the theme song from Firefly), what covers are out there that you would like to tackle next?

The theme song is a special case, because what we perform is really a medley, only part of which is the theme song. Vixy heard the theme of the TV show, and noticed it sounded like it was incomplete. It sounded like just the chorus of a song, rather than a full song. Since no verses existed to the song yet, she wrote some, and the result is “Mal’s Song“, which is a medley of the TV show theme’s choruses, and Vixy’s original verses.

Our next album (currently in production) is slated to contain covers of two well-known and Pegasus-award-winning filk songs: “Dawson’s Christian” by Duane Elms, and “Uplift” by Andrew Eigel. But really, we have the most fun at live shows when we cover classic rock songs. When we are able to perform with Betsy and Sunnie in the band, it gives us enough instrumental flexibility to be able to do acoustic-folk versions of interesting songs that we loved from our childhood. One of our favorites is to cover Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir”, and really blow the roof off with it. Our arrangement is just acoustic guitar, fiddle and cello, and a djembe for the drum part, but the song has an amazing energy that comes through even with the acoustic-only instrumentation. And its lyrics could be interpreted as a Doctor Who filk, if you squint a bit.

We like to cover songs referred to as “found filk”: Songs which, though not originally written as filk songs, fit perfectly in the genre. A good example is “’39” by Queen: it’s a song about Einsteinian time dilation during space travel, smack dab in the middle of Queen’s most popular rock album. The lyrics are well-disguised enough that most people hearing the song don’t notice what it’s really about until you point it out to them. It makes even more sense when you learn that the songwriter, Queen’s guitarist Brian May, is an astrophysicist.

I don’t know what cover we’ll tackle next, but we’re pondering ideas. I’d love to be able to learn something like Yes’ “Roundabout”, but it’d probably kill me in the process; some songs are just out of my league.

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You can also visit the Boskone 53 website anytime to purchase your Boskone membership at the pre-convention rate. We hope you enjoy this interview, and we look forward to seeing you all at Boskone in February 2016!

The Boskone Guest Interviews continue with our Special Guests Cathy & Arnie Fenner. We are looking forward to having the Fenners with us this year and are excited to share their interview with you.

You can also visit the Boskone 53 website anytime to purchase your Boskone membership at the pre-convention rate. We hope you enjoy this interview, and we look forward to seeing you all at Boskone in February 2016!

Bio: In 1993, Cathy and Arnie combined both their personal and professional interests in the fantastic arts to form Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art—but that has not been the limit of their celebration of the field. They have written, designed, and edited a series of titles devoted to the works of Frank Frazetta, Jeffrey Jones, Jon Foster, Robert E. McGinnis, John Jude Palencar, Dave Stevens, and many others that have been published by Underwood Books. The Fenners have also co-curated (with Irene Gallo and Gregory Manchess) two Spectrum exhibits at the Museum of American Illustration in New York City and have sponsored numerous student scholarships for aspiring artists. Together they’ve received ten Locus Awards and been nominated for the Hugo Award. Cathy and Arnie are constantly thinking of ways to expand the public’s awareness of and appreciation for the fantastic arts and the people who create it; they’re currently working on a new book about the history of the field. In addition, they are the head organizers of the annual event, Spectrum Fantastic Art Live. (from the Spectrum website.)

For people who are unfamiliar with Spectrum, how would you describe it? What inspired you to start Spectrum?

Spectrum is an annual competition for “the best in contemporary fantastic art” that began in 1993. Modeled after similar competitions for the illustration field, artists, art directors, and publishers submit work for consideration. Entries are divided into eight categories—Advertising, Book, Comics, Concept Art, Editorial, Institutional, and Unpublished—and a jury of their peers selects what they consider “the best” for inclusion in the full color Spectrum book. The jury also presents a Gold and a Silver Award in each category for art they consider exceptional. The Spectrum annual has become a valuable resource for art directors and collectors looking for talent and also serves as a visual history book for the F&SF field.

The two prime inspirations for Spectrum were the 1978 art book Tomorrow and Beyond: Masterpieces of Science Fiction Art edited by Ian Summers, and the Science Fiction Exhibition at the Museum of American Illustration co-curated by Wayne Douglas Barlowe and Michael R. Whelan in 1984. Both highlighted the depth and diversity of the Fantastic Art community, but were limited to one book and one show: we believed that there was enough interest to sustain something annually and, fortunately we were right.

But another inspiration was the desire to help promote the creators and this type of art and, hopefully, grow the awareness and appreciation for it. Until Spectrum, artists were often working in anonymity and genre art was often overlooked (if not derided) in other competitions. It tended to be ignored in both the illustration and gallery markets as a whole: not anymore. Spectrum helped provide a rallying spot—a community—in which the artists could receive recognition and their voices could be heard.

What has been the most satisfying achievement, moment, or memory in in your career?

That’s a difficult question! Overall, it would be finally taking the plunge and starting Spectrum—after too many years of talking about it—and having it embraced and supported by the artists. For something more specific, it’s probably the night we hosted the first live Spectrum awards ceremony in 2012. Up until then, the jury awards were announced and mailed to the various recipients without much fanfare, but when we sponsored the Spectrum Fantastic Art Live convention we were able to present them at a gala event with all of the glitz we’ve always felt the art community deserved. We rented a historic theater, featured live performances by Android Jones and Quixotic Fusion, and put the presenters and honorees on a gigantic stage with their art projected onto a 30 foot screen in front of an audience of their friends, families, and peers. It was the artists’ time in the spotlight and was, as they say, a night to remember.

If you could work with any artist (alive or dead) on an exhibit of your choice, who would you choose? Why that person?

Wow! That’s another hard one: there are so many. Maybe Howard Pyle, widely considered “the father of American illustration,” simply because he was so influential, as both an artist and educator, when it comes to narrative art. Maybe Rose O’Neill because she was a pathfinder for many women illustrators today and by all accounts incredibly eccentric (which would make working with her interesting). And it would be nice to organize a comprehensive show devoted to the work of Leo and Diane Dillon; their contribution to our field is under appreciated and people would be surprised at both the variety and the quantity of their art. Plus, it would be fun to wrestle with Harlan Ellison—a close friend of many years—to persuade him to loan some of the major Dillon paintings in his collection for a show.

Diversity in SF/F is a very hot topic right now. While we’re seeing more diversity in fiction, is there equal attention being paid to diversity in art? Is there anyone who stands out as a rising star?

The arts community is more diverse than ever and continues to expand. Which is understandable, really. Race, gender, religion, ethnicity, or location don’t matter when it comes to being an artist; having an imagination, skills, and the driving passion to succeed is all that’s necessary. New rising stars seem to emerge every year, each special for their own unique reasons. Karla Ortiz, Jeffrey Alan Love, and Cynthia Sheppard are just three of a veritable army of young artists who come to mind that we’re sure will become icons in the coming years.

What projects are you working on now or looking forward to in the future?

We’re working on a definitive collection of Virgil Finlay’s art for Underwood Books as well as gathering material for Spectrum Paradigm, a sort of who’s-who and what’s-what for the F&SF art field. We’ve also got plans for an art magazine despite all the pitfalls and challenges that face the print format in the digital age—but if vinyl can make a comeback and find a viable audience, there’s no reason why we can’t, too. And we’ve put our heads together with John Fleskes, our successor as Spectrum Director, in planning the fifth Spectrum Fantastic Art Live convention.

This year, the Boskone Blog is hosting a special interview series during the month of September that features each of Boskone 53’s guests. We thought it would be a fun way to introduce our guests to you and to start the fun a little earlier than usual. You can also visit the Boskone 53 website anytime to purchase your Boskone membership at the pre-convention rate (and save some money).

To kick off the Boskone Guest Interview Series, we bring you Boskone 53’s Guest of Honor: Garth Nix. We are delighted to have Garth with us at Boskone this year. For those of you who haven’t yet had the chance to read his work, you are in for a treat. We hope you enjoy this interview, and we look forward to seeing you all at Boskone in February 2016!

Bio: Garth Nix was born in 1963 in Melbourne, Australia. A full-time writer since 2001, he has worked as a literary agent, marketing consultant, book editor, book publicist, book sales representative, bookseller, and part-time soldier in the Australian Army Reserve. Garth’s books include the award-winning fantasy novels Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen; Clariel, a prequel in the Abhorsen series; the cult favorite teen science fiction novel Shade’s Children; and his critically acclaimed collection of short stories, To Hold the Bridge. His fantasy novels for younger readers include The Ragwitch, the six books of the Seventh Tower sequence, the Keys to the Kingdom series, and A Confusion of Princes. His books have appeared on the bestseller lists of the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, the Guardian, and the Australian, and his work has been translated in forty languages. He lives in Sydney, Australia, with his wife and two children. For more information, visit Garth’s website, friend him on Facebook, and follow him on Twitter.

If you could read any book right now, what book would it be and why?

Right now, I am reading old books, filling in gaps. For example, I’d never read any Anthony Trollope, so I read most of his books last year. So right now I would like to discover a writer I’ve never heard about before, perhaps from the late 19th or early 20th century, who has half a dozen books I can wallow in for a while. I read very widely, so it wouldn’t have to be genre. It could be non-fiction too, since I often go on a non-fiction reading spree for a while.

You have worked in nearly ever facet of the publishing industry. How has that experience affected your career as a writer?

It has helped me greatly, because understanding how the book business works makes it somewhat more possible to get the most out of opportunities and to work more effectively with key partners: my agents, publishers and booksellers. It also helps me put both successes and failures into an overall perspective and move on from them, which is necessary for continuing to concentrate on the writing.

Many of your books are written for Middle Grade or Young Adult readers. What do you enjoy most about writing within these genres and for these readers?

I think there is a distinct difference between children’s books and Young Adult books, the former are for children (but the good ones will also have a lot to offer adults), the latter are not for children but are for adults beginning with younger ones, but are not limited by the age of the adult.

They offer different attractions as both a reader and writer. I guess I like children’s stories partly because of the purity of story, and the necessity to keep the prose sparse without necessarily sacrificing beauty. I probably like Young Adult fiction because it typically concerns a young adult and their first adult experiences, choices and consequences. But I tend not to analyze the category of what I write, I make up stories and somewhere along the way it becomes clear how they can most effectively be sold. This is not the same as who they are for, because in my mind, all my stories are for everyone once they are mature enough to safely comprehend the particular content, themes, action and so forth. This may be an intellectual/emotional age of four or fifteen or anywhere in between, depending on the story, with no upper limit.

In all of your books and stories, do you have a favorite character? Or a character who has stuck with you after the story was published? What is it about this character that has made him/her so compelling for you?

I don’t have favorite characters as a rule. I like them all, or at least all the ones that end up in the final manuscript. I have cut out characters that while being perfectly personable and interesting, haven’t added to the story or worse, have actively distracted from the story. I guess I am much more focused on the overall story than I am by character. The characters have a story purpose and to fulfill that purpose, must seem as real as I can make them, but I tend not to think about them once the writing is done. Until I need them again, of course, for a sequel or related story!

What are you working on now?

I’ve just finished a completely unexpected and unnecessary (in the sense no one is waiting for it) children’s novel, with a title that must remain secret for now. But I am also working on the next novel in the Old Kingdom series, which picks up pretty much from the end of Abhorsen and the novella ‘The Creature in the Case’. It has a secret title too, and is simply known as Old Kingdom #5. And, as always, I am noodling about with some short fiction and a screenplay or two.

FAN QUESTIONS:

Is there a particular book/story/piece of artwork that started you on the path of your career? (Valerie Alberti)

Not one in particular, but I would say that many books and artworks had a huge influence, particularly the ones I read between the ages of say seven and sixteen. A forensic literary detective (if there was such a thing) would find many very important influences in my work, including but by no means limited to Tolkien, Le Guin, Andre Norton, Robert Heinlein, Joan Aiken, Susan Cooper, Lloyd Alexander, Alan Garner, C.S. Lewis, Dorothy Sayers, John Masefield, Rosemary Sutcliff, E. Nesbit, Dickens, Asimov, Ronald Welch, Georgette Heyer, Joy Chant, Robin McKinley, Peter Dickinson, Sheri S. Tepper, Barbara Leonie Picard, J.P. Martin, Roald Dahl . . .

What are your comfort reads? (Daniel Pelletier)

All of the above! Plus many more. I like to re-read favorite books. The good ones have many layers of meaning and can offer new things as well as the comfort of the old, because as a reader I will have changed (though perhaps only a little) between readings.

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Special thanks to Garth Nix for taking the time to help us kick off the Boskone Guest Interview Series. Stay tuned for our next guest interview and be sure to visit the convention’s website to learn more about Boskone 53.