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

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

Scott Edelman

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

VIDEO RESPONSE!

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Sarah Beth Durst

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

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Andrea Hairston

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

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TorDotCom will release REDWOOD AND WILDFIRE February 2022.

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

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

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

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

Instructions for submitting your art for consideration:

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

Art Portfolio Review by Official Artist Julie Dillon

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

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

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

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

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

Ellen Datlow

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

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

Seeing old friends, virtually and interacting with everyone attending.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Daniel M. Kimmel

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

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

Reconnecting with friends, fans, and acquaintances.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Leigh Perry

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

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sarah Smith

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

VIDEO RESPONSE!

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

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

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

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

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

 Music for Criminals and Survivors

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

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

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Steve Miller

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

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Les Johnson

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

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gillian Daniels

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

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Vincent H. O’Neil

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

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Jarvis Sheffield

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

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

With over 3 days of Boskone’s top-notch programming, over 100 program items to choose from Boskone 58 is shaping up to be a weekend you won’t soon forget!

Check out the full schedule now 

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

We are continuing our first week of Boskone 58 Mini Interview Series with David B. Coe/D.B. Jackson, Darlene Marshall, and Sara Megibow!

David B. Coe/D.B. Jackson

Visit David B. Coe/D.B. Jackson on their Facebook, Twitter, and Website!

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

Connecting with friends and fans. Writers are, for the most part, used to a certain level of isolation. We spend a good deal of time in our own heads, alone (except for our characters!), hard at work on the next story or novel. And honestly, many of us like it that way. But even the most dedicated creative hermit would be starved for company and conversation after the year we’ve been through. And, as it happens, I’m a fairly gregarious hermit. So, I am excited to reconnect with fellow writers, to interact with con attendees, to feel again that I’m part of a community.

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

I would love to answer with some cool fantasy world that I’ve read or created — and there are so many that intrigue me. But the truth is, most of us populate our worlds with some nasty types that make me hesitant to visit. Demons, giants, evil mages, and power-hungry royals. Not that those last are absent from our own world, but there is something to be said for limiting ones interactions to the devils we know… So I would choose to visit the American Southwest. I’ve been there many times before, and I never tire of it. I’m a dedicated amateur photographer, and I am drawn to the vast, ever-changing skies, the deep reds of sandstone, the startling shapes and contrasts of cliffs and canyons, stark stone and delicate flora. Whenever I go there, I am inspired and renewed.

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

“Skip, Hop, and Wobble,” by Jerry Douglas, Edgar Meyer, and Russ Barenberg

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

I have a number of projects in the works, actually. I have been working on a trilogy of novellas set in my Thieftaker universe (written as D.B. Jackson). The novellas are interrelated and together form a novel-length story called “The Loyalist Witch. They should be out early in 2021. I am also working on a supernatural thriller, and have recently sold it to a publisher. It’s not clear yet whether I’ll be publishing that one as David B. Coe or D.B. Jackson. And I am editing a themed anthology with Joshua Palmatier for his Zombies Need Brains imprint. The anthology is called Derelict, and its stories are all focused on some sort of wrecked ship. For that one, I am co-editing as David B. Coe, and submitting a Thieftaker story as D.B. Jackson. So, 2021 is already shaping up to be a busy year!

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Darlene Marshall

Visit Darlene Marshall on their Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Website, Pinterest, and Goodreads!

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

The possibility of seeing my friends who I’d normally see in person, but the added attraction of meeting new people who might not have been inclined to travel to Boston in February in the past.

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

This is a tough one. My visceral response is to say, “I want to see my children”. One’s in NYC, one’s on the west coast, and the last time I saw them face-to-face was after Boskone57. It seems like a lifetime ago, and in some ways, it was.

My second choice is Paris because I was supposed to attend a romance writers and readers conference which got cancelled due to COVID in April, and I still hope that I’ll be able to visit in the next few years.

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

My writing music is epic soundtracks: James Horner, John Williams, Hans Zimmer, etc.

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

My brain was like tapioca through most of the spring and summer, but I’m finally back in gear. I’m working on a historical romance about smuggling in early 19th C. Florida, but my stories often veer far away from where I see them going initially. That’s half the fun of actually writing–letting the characters and the story surprise me.

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Sara Megibow

Visit Sarah Megibow on their Facebook, Twitter, and Website!

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

Cons inspire me. For Boskone 58, I’m looking forward to that feeling of excitement and connection I get from being around artists and gamers and geeks. I know the panels are virtual-only but I’m so excited to *see* people and revel in good discussions!

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

In the real world? I’m tempted to say a beach or Napa Valley or something. But in reality, what I really really want to do is just go to a friend’s house for an epic night of table top gaming, eating good food and drinking good wine. It’s the little things, right?

In a fictional world? I read two amazing books this year set in/around sea-faring worlds. I’m obsessed with both of them so I think I’d either visit the Meridian from Rebecca Roanhorse’s BLACK SUN or the world of Maggie Tokuda-Hall’s THE MERMAID, THE WITCH AND THE SEA. Incidentally, both have mermaids. Love it!

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

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

I’m a literary agent so I’m constantly working with authors on their upcoming books and 2021 is going to be epic!!

A few examples:

THREADER ORIGINS – the first in a new series by international bestselling author Gerald Brandt. String theory science fantasy – so exciting! (January 2021 from DAW Books)

TWENTY-FIVE TO LIFE by R.W.W. Greene – a road trip tale set in the near future starring those left behind when a generation ship leaves Earth (August 2021 from Angry Robot)

FORGING A NIGHTMARE by debut author Patricia A. Jackson – an urban fantasy Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse adventure. Swords, battles and magical horses – Huzzah! (November 2021 from Angry Robot)

And in series, I’m very much looking forward to SPECTRUM by Julie E. Czerneda (Book #3 of the Webshifter’s Library series) and REQUIEM OF SILENCE by L. Penelope (Book #4 of the Earthsinger Chronicles series).

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

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

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

We are continuing our first week of Boskone 58 Mini Interview Series with KT Bryski, Greer Gilman, and Marcin Klak!

KT Bryski

KT Bryski is a Canadian author, playwright, and podcaster. Her fiction has appeared in Nightmare, Lightspeed, Strange Horizons, and Augur, among others. She’s won the Parsec and the Toronto Star Short Story Contest, and she has been shortlisted for the Sunburst Award. KT co-chairs ephemera, a speculative fiction reading series occurring monthly in Toronto (or YouTube, depending on COVID-19). KT is a graduate of the Stonecoast MFA in Creative Writing, and she is represented by Kim-Mei Kirtland of the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency. When she’s not writing, KT can be found frolicking through Toronto, enjoying choral music and craft beer.

Visit KT Bryski on their Facebook, Twitter, and Website!

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

I’m looking forward to connecting with a vibrant, passionate community of readers and authors! I’ve always enjoyed Boskone (it was my last pandemic pre-COVID) and I’m pleased to experience some of the camaraderie and insights from afar.

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

Prior to the pandemic, some friends and I were planning a walking trip across Scotland. I’d still very much like to go – sometimes dreams just get delayed, that’s all.

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

Currently, I’m working on a novel based on faeries and body-snatchers (the 19th century practice of stealing recently-dead cadavers, not the aliens!). I’m also juggling a few short stories at any given time – you can find my most recent in Nightmare (CW for queerphobia/homophobic slurs): http://www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/tigers-feast/

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Greer Gilman

Visit Greer Gilman on their Website and Dreamwidth!

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

Conversation.  Faces. I’ve missed you.

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

O my. What I’m longing for is a gathering of friends from everywhere: fabulous company in an ancient many-roomed house with (of course) a great library, artworks of all centuries, a cabinet of curiosities, and windows opening on marvelous views.  Gifted musicians and great cooks would be of the party. Private theatricals…

Hey, what book is this?   Do I have to write it?

All right, we’re in a manor house in a wood between worlds. There’s a pleasant walk any way you set out: paths to any place at any period you like, or into any otherworld. If it’s countryside you want, you can stroll into May Day in the Très Riches Heures, or Mole End, with the carollers coming, or the Green Knight’s castle in midwinter, or a wood near Athens. Or if it’s cities you desire, you can spend your time in Harlem in the 1920s, or 15th-century Florence, or the Floating World, or fin-de-siècle Paris; in Xanadu, Heorot, Alexandria, Gormenghast, Time City, or Lud-in-the-Mist. Myself, I would head with friends (immune to plague) for Shakespeare’s London, to see the first performances of all his plays, not excepting Cardenio and Love’s Labour’s Won.

There are rooms for all, and doors to all your longed-for places. You’re invited.

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

https://nineweaving.dreamwidth.org/477901.html

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

How do I hedge gracefully? I don’t. Like many artists, I got stomped flat by 2020. But as the world reopens slowly, slowly? I hope to take up and re-imagine my evolving story about Ben Jonson, John Donne and his unruly daughter, and the machinations of faerie.

As long ago (or recently) as 2019, I got to write an introduction for Of Cats and Elfins, a fantastic collection of Sylvia Townsend Warner?s stories, out from Handheld Press. It includes The Cat’s Cradle Book of the folktales cats tell their kittens, and her uncollected elfin stories, above all, the magnificent, queer The Duke of Orkney’s Leonardo. I also wrote and performed in a one-act blank-verse play, Little Kingdom. Scene: the Moon. Ben Jonson has been stuck in an afterlife, auditioning for apotheosis. Now he is joined by Dame Ethel Smyth, composer, suffragist, Sapphist. Opera ensues.

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Marcin Klak

Visit Marcin Klak on their Facebook, and Website!

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

I firstly heard about Boskone a few years ago and I wanted to attend it ever since. I am especially looking forward to meeting other fans and feeling the convention atmosphere. I live in Poland and meeting fans from other countries and learning how we differ yet remain similar is a thing I really enjoy. I am also really curious about the programme and all the interesting items there.

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

That is a tough question! I have plenty of places in the real world I would love to see but if I would get the chance to go to fictional world I would definitely choose it. As a big Tolkien fan I would love to visit Middle-earth in one of the relatively calmer periods. I think that the tour around Beleriand would be perfect. It would give me the chance to not only see the beauty f the country but also meet some of my favourite characters. Yet I am really not sure how Fingolfin would react to a fanboy asking for an autograph?

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

I am not a writer or artist so there is rather no big releases from me. I am regularly writing about conventions for my blog (www.FandomRover.com). I also work on my fanzine but as it is published in Polish I am afraid most people will find it unreadable :(.

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

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

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

Our interview series culminates with our Guest interviews during the convention, including our Guest of Honor interview with best-selling fantasy author, Joe Abercrombie, moderated by Joe Hill.

Grab a cup of something refreshing and let’s kick off our Boskone 58 Mini Interview Series with Brad Abraham, Gene Doucette, and Sarah Jean Horwitz.

Brad Abraham

Brad Abraham is a multi-talented author, screenwriter and comic book creator with over two decades of industry experience. His film and TV credits include the horror comedy feature FRESH MEAT; the SyFy Channel’s smash hit TV movie STONEHENGE APOCALYPSE, and the cult classic SyFy miniseries ROBOCOP PRIME DIRECTIVES. His series work includes I LOVE MUMMY, NOW YOU KNOW, and THE CANADA CREW. His genre-busting urban fantasy novel MAGICIANS IMPOSSIBLE (St. Martin’s Press/Thomas Dunne Books) was published in 2017 to broad acclaim, recipient of starred reviews in Library Journal, Booklist, and School Library Journal, and was named Best Debut Novel by Suspense Magazine. As a comic book creator he is best known for the acclaimed indie series MIXTAPE, currently in active development with Little Engine Motion Pictures. He lives in New England with his wife and son, his collection of vintage vinyl records, and piles upon piles of movie novelizations

Visit Brad Abraham on their Facebook, Twitter, and Website!

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

I’m most looking forward to seeing how this new reality we’re living in has impacted the SFF community. Sci-Fi in particular has liked to imagine pandemic scenarios through fiction; now we’re living through an actual pandemic. I am interested in learning how other members of the community have weathered this particular storm, and how Sci-Fi cons like Boskone are managing a world where face-to-face and in-person conventions seem to be on the endangered species list.

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

I’d like to visit an alternate version of 2020 where COVID never happened and I got go on that vacation to England that had been in the works at the beginning of this strange year. How *was* that vacation? How did I find England, (beyond taking a right at Greenland)? I guess you can ask me that in 2022. I hope.

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

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

Presently I’m hard at work on the pilot for the TV series based on my comic book series MIXTAPE, which is in active development with Little Engine Moving Pictures. It’s a non-sf story set against the backdrop of the alternative rock explosion of the 1990s, detailing the lives, loves, and fears of a group of teens moving through the early years of that decade. It’s easily the most personal thing I’ve ever written and am thrilled to be making it my next project.

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Gene Doucette

Visit Gene Doucette on their Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Tumblr, and Website!

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

One thing I learned from the 2020 Nebulas (which were virtual) is that I’m MUCH better at interacting and mingling remotely, whether in panels or breakout rooms. My default introversion evidently doesn’t kick in when I can just log out, am sitting in my own house, and may not have on pants. So I’m looking forward to seeing what Boskone is like when my wallflower tendencies are disabled.

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

So I know this question is about visiting a fantastical place like Middle Earth, Narnia or Hogwarts, but coming as it does at the end of 2020–when none of us could travel ANYWHERE, all vacations were staycations, and a trip to the grocery store was a mini epic–the first place that popped into my mind was Las Vegas. I’d love to stay in a ridiculous hotel surrounded by ridiculous people doing ridiculous things, while spending too much for food I definitely shouldn’t eat. It’s not very SFF of me, but there you go. Give me something tacky and crowded.

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

I’ve got a lot going on! I’m writing this the day before the second book in my self-published series Tandemstar–it’s called THE MADNESS OF KINGS–is being released. I’m working on the third book (THE OCEAN IN THE SKY) right now and hope to have it out by late July.

Meanwhile, on May 25th, my standalone sci-fi novel THE APOCALYPSE SEVEN will be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. It’s already picking up some great early buzz.

I also have a short story called HYPNOPOMPIC CIRCUMSTANCE that will be published in Lightspeed Magazine’s May edition. And an earlier short of mine–SCHRODINGER’S CATASTROPHE–was published by Lightspeed in November 2020, and has already been selected for one Best-of-2020 collection. It’s being reprinted in translation by Science Fiction World (in China) in January.

I have a few other things going on, but I can’t talk about them just yet…

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Sarah Jean Horwitz

Visit Sarah Jean Horwitz on their Facebook, Twitter, and Website!

What you most looking forward to at virtual Boskone 58?

I am looking forward to connecting with online writer and reader friends I made during this crazy year, as well as hearing from some of my favorite creators. This is my first virtual convention, so I’m excited to see how it goes!

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

This is a very 2020 answer, but right now, the place in the world I’d most want to travel to is…*drumroll*…New Jersey. My parents live there and it has been over a year now since I’ve seen them. It would be a dream come true to be able to hug them again. After that, we’ll re-do Christmas in Hogsmeade.

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

Virtual girl group K/DA has some great tracks to write fantasy/action sequences to!

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

I’m currently working on two projects. The first is my first novel for adults; it’s a fantasy romance and has DRAGONS and lady detectives and dragon lady detectives, and some kissing. The second is a middle grade fantasy novel told partly from the point of view of a demonic sword. No new releases coming up at the moment, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a sale in 2021. In the meantime, do check out my 2019 middle grade release, THE DARK LORD CLEMENTINE.

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

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

Happy New Year, Boskone fans! As we head into the new year, it’s the perfect time to ponder what you’ve read and enjoyed this year and what you’re looking forward to reading in 2021.

Let Boskone’s program participant list inspire you to explore new-to-you authors. With over 100 program participants, it can be hard to decide what to read, so here are a couple suggestions.

• Read at least one book from the Guest of Honor, best-selling fantasy author Joe Abercrombie. Be prepared for his program items, including the Boskone Book Club discussion of A Little Hatred. 
• Pick a theme. Maybe it’s books with hard science fiction, female protagonists, new authors. Be creative and try something you’ve always wanted to read but needed a little motivation for.

Finally, for those reading printed books, we’ve created something special for you: a downloadable bookmark! Download and print at home to remind you of all the fun you’ll soon be having with your science fiction, fantasy,and horror community. We look forward to see you there!

Not yet registered? Don’t miss out! Get yours today. Memberships are only$25 and include 3 days of fantastic programming.