Happy Friday (the 13th!)! Today we are interviewing Daniel M. Kimmel, Nightwing Whitehead, and R.W.W. Greene!

Daniel M. Kimmel

Veteran film critic Daniel M. Kimmel is the author of the Hugo nominated collection of essays “Jar Jar Binks Must Die.” He has branched out into humorous SF/F and has had a number of short stories published as well as three novels, the most recent of which is “Father of the Bride of Frankenstein.

Visit Daniel on their Facebook, Twitter, and website.

What is it about Boskone that makes this the convention you choose to attend each year?

Or if this is your first Boskone, what attracted you most to Boskone this year?

I came to organized fandom late (i.e., in my 30s) although I’d been reading and viewing SF all my life.Boskone welcomed me in as a professional film critic who celebrated SF, and let me indulge myself as both a reader and a movie/TV watcher and, more recently, as an SF writer.Plus, if you haven’t been, the Friday night dessert buffet is to die for.:)

Authors: Fans often ask authors to talk about their favorite main characters, but what about the side characters? Who is one of your favorite sidekicks or secondary/tertiary characters who have had a lesser role in your work?

I’ve had three novels and two dozen short stories published, and I’m always surprised when characters take on lives of their own. I’ve had this happen many times where the plot goes somewhere I wasn’t expecting. In “Time on My Hands,” my time travel comic novel, I had a scene where the narrator — the inventor of a time travel device — encounters Cort, whose job it is to tell time travellers that they can only travel so far into the future. Cort was just supposed to be in one scene but as I was writing I found that he was a key to solving my plot problems getting to the end of the novel. More recently I had an opportunity to do a short story focused on Cort which I’m hoping will see the light of day in 2020.

What was your first book event or literary convention? Tell us about it! Perhaps you even have a photo to share?

My first con as a participant was a Boskone where I made the classic newbie mistake of arriving for my first (and only) panel and asking, “Who’s moderating?” since no one was listed.The other panelists, with more experience than I, turned to me and said, “YOU are!”And I’ve not only come back, but have volunteered to moderate many panels since.

If you could bring any object or device into the real world from fiction or film, and it would work perfectly, what would you choose? Why would you choose that item?

Easy enough: the transporter from “Star Trek.” Instantaneous travel would make life much more efficient than relying on the MBTA.

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Nightwing Whitehead

Nightwing was born in 1958, the Barbie was born in 1959. So for a year Nightwing had nothing to do. She has been trying to make up for lost time ever since. Nightwing has been around theatrical wardrobe departments all her life, her first paying job was at an opera house in Colorado. Her creations have been seen in plays at every level from Community to Equity, as well as several independent films. She is a professional full-time enigma who, in what spare time she has, enjoys reading and howling at the moon.

Visit Nightwig on their Facebook(1), Facebook(2), and website.

What is it about Boskone that makes this the convention you choose to attend each year?

Or if this is your first Boskone, what attracted you most to Boskone this year?

It seems that all my friends, even some I have not met yet, attend Boscone. It is time I did the same.

What topics are you most looking forward to talking about at Boskone?

Anything to do with costuming. Or fabric. Or both.:-)

Authors: Fans often ask authors to talk about their favorite main characters, but what about the side characters? Who is one of your favorite sidekicks or secondary/tertiary characters who have had a lesser role in your work?

Artists: Fans love looking at the portfolio of artwork and asking artists about some of their most well known images. Which of your images, that receives less attention from fans, do you hold dear? What is it about the creation of that piece that makes it so special for you?

Filkers: Listeners often know your most popular music. Which of your other, less well-known songs, affects you deeply? What is it about that song that speaks to your creative spirit?

As a costumer, my favorite person to create is Cinderella. I love the way the audience gasps in unison when she transforms and I know it is because of my work. This is what I strive for with everything I create. Being able to help a new person, be it Bat Girl or a Princess, step forth is a true “Cinderella Moment” for me.

Looking back, what was the first piece of work (whether it be from literature, cinema, art, music, video game, toy, or whatever it may be) that first made you love science-fiction and fantasy?

For Halloween one year, when I was not yet a teenager, I was Ozma from Oz.I created my costume using what fabrics and paper I could find at home. I wish pictures of it still existed, as I looked very like Princess Leia (a full decade and more before she was on the big screen). No one knew whowas, but *I* knew, and was excited by the idea of making a character come to life.

What was your first book event or literary convention? Tell us about it! Perhaps you even have a photo to share?

My first *book* event was the annual Scholastic Readers Book Fair that visited our grade school. I would save my allowance for months getting ready for it, and would buy as many books as I could, usually reading them all before the month’s end.

My first “media” event was a TrekCon; not a lot of costumes other than Star Trek, but I did meet Leonard Nimoy and have all my poetry books signed. And, I was instantly addicted to the feeling of of coming-home.

If you could bring any object or device into the real world from fiction or film, and it would work perfectly, what would you choose? Why would you choose that item?

A friend of mine wrote a book in which the people wear clothing made of fabric that can be programmed to shift colors and patterns as it is worn. It is used by his characters to reflect their moods and to affect those the encounter. I want this fabric, and I want it NOW!

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R.W.W. Greene

R.W.W. Greene is a New Hampshire writer who once believed he’d be living in orbit by now. His debut novel, The Light Years, is out from Angry Robot February 11, 2020. His fiction has seen daylight in Metaphorosis, Stupefying Stories, and Daily Science Fiction, among other places. He collects typewriters, keeps bees, and Tweets about it all @rwwgreene.

Visit R.W.W. on their Twitter and website.

What is it about Boskone that makes this the convention you choose to attend each year?

Or if this is your first Boskone, what attracted you most to Boskone this year?

I’m still a Boskone rookie–I’ve only been attending for about a decade–but I come to this con chiefly because of the quality of the program and program participants. It doesn’t hurt that there are usually astrophysicists, biologists, astronauts, linguists, and other smart people in the audience that can round out any discussion. You never know who you’re sitting next to because there is so little ego involved. Everyone is just there to be and learn and chill.

What topics are you most looking forward to talking about at Boskone?

I tend to geek out at the science panels; it’s great to hear the ideas of people who are in the bleeding edge. I’ve also been delighted to see how much sci-fi from other parts of the world is becoming available to me through translations and NetFlix. It’s really bliss.

Bonus: Up for a challenge? Give us a haiku or limerick about Boskone!

No panel right now
Wandering the dealer room
Please don’t bump my tea

Looking back, what was the first piece of work (whether it be from literature, cinema, art, music, video game, toy, or whatever it may be) that first made you love science-fiction and fantasy?

My father took me to see “Star Wars” when I was six (1977). I remember doing a lot of duck and cover when Darth Vader came on the screen, and the experience twisted my brain. It has never recovered.

What will you be working on in 2020? Any new releases or dates that fans should be looking forward to hearing about?

Hopefully, by the time 2020 rolls around, I’ll have a new novel to pitch and another in the works. Will that in-the-works book be the one about the centaurs, the one about the sci-fi Seventies, or the one about the alien who believes it is a demonic summoning? Tune in and see!

If you could bring any object or device into the real world from fiction or film, and it would work perfectly, what would you choose? Why would you choose that item?

I don’t need a full starship, but I’d love to have a Federation runabout complete with an emergency-medical hologram. I figure I can get a lot done with a rig like that.

Register for Boskone 57 today!