Welcome back to our Boskone 56 Mini Interviews! Today was are talking with Victoria Sandbrook Flynn, R.W.W. Greene, and M.R. Richardson!

Victoria Sandbrook Flynn

Victoria Sandbrook is a speculative fiction writer, freelance editor, and Viable Paradise graduate. Her short fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in SWORD & SONNET, PODCASTLE, SHIMMER, CAST OF WONDERS, and elsewhere. In her editorial life, she recently published STARTING FROM SCRATCH: A Primer on Writing and Editing Cookbooks through the Editorial Freelancers Association. She is an avid hiker, sometimes knitter, long-form talker, and initiate baker. She often loiters around libraries, checking out anything from picture books to monographs. She spends most of her days attempting to wrangle a ferocious, destructive, jubilant tiny human. Victoria, her husband, and their daughter live in Brockton, Massachusetts. Find her on victoriasandbrook.com and on Twitter at @vsandbrook.

Visit Victoria Sandbrook on her Facebook, Twitter, Website, and Goodreads!

In 10 words or less, how would you recommend Boskone to a friend or fan?

A comfortable, focused, thought-provoking gathering of SFF pros and fans.

If you could relive your first experience with any book or film, which one would you pick? What is it about this book or film that you want to experience again for the “first time?”

There are a handful of books, stories, and movies I’d love to revisit with a fresh mind, but I’ll go with the film 28 DAYS LATER. It was the first zombie flick I’d seen and I had no idea of what to expect, no experience with the genre’s tropes or history in book, film, or comic form. My husband made me a plate of food about halfway through watching and I was so entranced, revolted, and engaged I couldn’t bear to eat. I couldn’t move. The sensation of being totally carried away by a story, of being unmoored from everything you expect, is precious for anyone who works with words.

What is your favorite memory of a fan interaction at a convention? It could be you as a pro interacting with one of your fans or you as a fan meeting someone you admire.

In my past-life as an in-house development editor of nonfiction, I worked (and worked and WORKED) on THE UNOFFICIAL GAME OF THRONES COOKBOOK, which by chance debuted the same year as A FEAST OF ICE AND FIRE, the *official* compendium of recipes. The publishing company where I worked had established this unofficial line years before with some success, and we followed our format very carefully so as to not step on the toes of the official property. Well, of course that was also the year George R. R. Martin came to Boskone. I dared myself to have him sign it. He did, with a firmly raised eyebrow, of course. But it was a very proud moment for me: I’d put a lot of work into this fan-work and got to connect my face and name with the end-result (which so few editors get to do). And George was gracious about it, thank goodness. It’d take me a few more years to feel less star-struck around published authors I respected, but that was definitely a step in the right direction.

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 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. Greene on his Facebook, Twitter, and Website!

With many conventions to choose from and limited time in your schedule, what attracts you to Boskone?

I have always liked that Boskone has such a strong focus on writers and literature, and the event is small enough that you can easily meet and hobnob with some of the best speculative-fictions producers in the biz. As an added bonus, you never know if you will be sitting next to an astronaut, a glassblower, or a chemical engineer, and that diversity of background and knowledge makes discussions lively. The SF-Fantasy gestalt at Boskone is deep and wide and powerful.

If you could relive your first experience with any book or film, which one would you pick? What is it about this book or film that you want to experience again for the “first time?”

I’m going to change this prompt a little to my first experience with a character, and I’m picking Spock as played by Leonard Nimoy and expanded upon in the James Blish novelizations. Spock taught me a lot about masculinity, emotional control, and the power of knowledge and invention. So many of my pre-Spock “heroes” were the cowboys, the take-charge-and-punch-faces guys. Spock showed me a different way of doing and behaving.

Do you have a favorite photo from a book event or literary convention? If so, when and where was it taken? What do you enjoy most about this photo?

The photo I picked was taken during a book-launch event on Oct. 26, 2018 (my 47th birthday) at the Bookery in Manchester. NH. It was the local launch of “Writers Resist: The Anthology,” a collection of poems, essays, and short stories written in wake of Donald Trump’s election to the U.S. presidency. There also were launch events in San Diego, Bethesda, MD, and Brooklyn, NY. I like the pic, not only because I am proud of my inclusion in the anthology, but (notwithstanding the dance step I seem to be doing) because I appear sanguine about doing my thing and sharing my work. It has taken me a while to get to that point.

Can you share some details about upcoming projects or what you’re working on now? Do you have releases in 2019 that readers should look for?

Eh … 2019, as I sit here in December, seems so far away. The short answer is: Yeah, I’m working on a book and shopping short stories, but I don’t know what will hit when. I can tell you that, in the waning days of 2018, some stuff came out. “Writers Resist: The Anthology” came out in October 2018. The Manawaker Flash Fiction Podcast audio-published my story, “Love in the Time of Light Speed,” in November 2018, and the same story was included in “Passages: Best of NewMyths Anthology, Vol. 1,” which came out in December 2018. Incidentally, “Love in the Time of …” first saw daylight at the Boskone Flash Fiction Contest a few years ago, and it inspired the book “The Light Years,” which I am currently shopping around.

M.R. Richardson

M.R. Richardson with a clear mastery of world-building creates compelling wild, cutthroat novels. Balancing vivid action, with personal reflection, existential dilemmas, and richly detailed worlds, his space operas are far more complex than first meets the eye. Combining war, politics, and intrigue, his first novel Galactic Mandate: A Radical Cause is an epic debut.

Visit M.R. on his Facebook and Website!

With many conventions to choose from and limited time in your schedule, what attracts you to Boskone?

It’s on the east coast so I will meet new people and new types of people. It is fun to get out of my area.

If you could relive your first experience with any book or film, which one would you pick? What is it about this book or film that you want to experience again for the “first time?”

District 9, Because it opened my eyes to what a film could be

They say you can find hints of creators in their work. Looking back at your work, which character, piece of art, song, poem, article, etc. most closely resembles you? Why?

All of them. Because I can see myself doing/ saying/ being any of my characters if I had their backstory.

What is your favorite memory of a fan interaction at a convention? It could be you as a pro interacting with one of your fans or you as a fan meeting someone you admire.

I like meeting authors I admire and seeing how humble they are.

Do you have a favorite photo from a book event or literary convention? If so, when and where was it taken? What do you enjoy most about this photo?

Not yet but I’m hoping to make some.

Can you share some details about upcoming projects or what you’re working on now? Do you have releases in 2019 that readers should look for?

Look out for Galactic Mandate: The Scream and Galactic Mandate Trail of Destruction

Register for Boskone 56 today!