Welcome to a new week, Boskone fans! As we count down the days to Boskone, check out these amazing mini interviews with Grady Hendrix, Reiko Murakami & Alan L. Brown.

Grady Hendrix

Grady Hendrix is the award-winning author of the novels Horrorstor,  My Best Friend’s Exorcism, and We Sold Our Souls. He’s also the author of Paperbacks from Hell, a history of the horror paperback boom of the 70’s and 80’s, as well as the screenwrite

r of Mohawk and Satanic Panic.

Visit Grady on Facebook, Twitter or via his website.

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

Boskone is close to NYC and I’m lazy, so that’s part of the appeal, but I also love how grassroots it is. It’s a nice way to stay in touch and get drunk with people I know in the area who I don’t have an excuse to see otherwise.

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?”

Darby O’Gillis and the Little People was a movie that terrified me as a child when it was screened at Peter Mansfield’s birthday party. I hid from the TV screen in a full-blown, free-falling attack of gibbering fear. I’d love to feel that scared again.

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?

I feel a lot like the Swamp Thing: slow, stupid, and generally confused by the people around me. Also, I smell bad and live in a puddle of muck.

Reiko Murakami

Reiko Murakami, also known as Raqmo, is an award-winning U.S. based concept artist and illustrator specialized in surreal fantasy and horror characters. Her work has been published in Spectrum, Infected by Art, ArtOrder Invitational: The Journal, Exposé, 2D Artist and many others.

Visit Reiko on Facebook, Twitter or via her website.

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

I learned about Boskone from some of my artist friends who attend. I love that I get to see them there every year. The fact that it’s in Boston is great too.

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?

I use myself as a model for hands quite a lot. Especially for my personal work you can probably recognize me in their hand gestures.

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.

One time at a con I was talking to a person about my work. I was explaining the background story of the piece, which was based on very personal and emotional event, and after I was done talking the person started to share their personal event. We didn’t go too much of the details of our experiences, but it wasn’t needed. At the end of the day we felt we were connected, all because of what I painted. That was the best experience I’ve ever had, because sharing our feelings and connecting is my purpose in making art.

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?

I am working on a publication, but I cannot disclose any information yet. All I can say is it’s very exciting, I’m creating a ton of images for it, and it is the biggest projects I’ve ever done 🙂

Alan L. Brown

Alan Brown contributes bi-weekly reviews of classic SF books to TOR.com in the Front Lines and Frontiers column, reviews the Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show for the website, and occasionally contributes articles on other topics. He is also an SF author, albeit not a prolific one, having contributed to Tor’s There Will Be War series, Baen’s War World series, and John F. Carr’s small press relaunch of that same War World series. He has a story coming soon in Charles E. Gannon’s Lost Signals of the Terran Republic, shared-world anthology. He retired from the US Coast Guard Reserve as a Captain, and retired from a civil service career that included supporting the US Navy as an Emergency Manager. He is a lifelong fan of science fiction, having started on the juvenile novels of the ’20s and ’30s that his father tucked away in the basement: Tom Swift, the Great Marvel series, Don Sturdy and the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs. He started reading comics as Marvel exploded on the scene in the mid-1960s, and soon graduated to grown-up stories in Analog and Galaxy magazines, and SF and fantasy novels of all varieties.

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

Boskone was one of my father’s favorite cons, and became one of mine as well. It involves a nice mix of literary and media topics. In its current incarnation, it is small enough to feel cozy, and big enough to have a lot of options.

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?”

The movie Star Wars is the first thing that comes to mind. It was like nothing I had seen before. As if Hollywood had looked into my head, and put together just the right mix of pulpy space opera goodness to make me happy.

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’ll never forget my first interaction with an author, I was at my first con with my dad, and he called to another old timer across the huckster room. When he turned around, I saw those big muttonchop sideburns, and realized it was Isaac Asimov. I’m glad they had things to talk about, because my tongue was tied in knots. It turns out my dad had been a customer at the candy shop in NY where Isaac had worked when he was young, and had encountered him a number of times over the years.

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?

I am a regular contributor to Tor.com and I have a story coming out soon in the Lost Signals anthology, edited by Chuck Gannon.