American Writers in Paris...

As promised in an earlier post, here's that photo of Patrick Rothfuss and me in France. Having a beer. Just hanging out in Paris. You know, your everyday get together of two American fantasists on European soil. Must happen everyday, right?

Man, that was a good trip...

Pat on the Release of Book Two

I have this friend Pat. You might have heard of him. He wrote a book. People loved it. Made him famous and wealthy. His readers then promptly began demanding another book. Pat, being the generous guy that he is, wants to produce said book. Actually, he wants to have produced it like a year ago. Alas, easier wished for than done...
This is one of several cartoons Pat has up on his blog. Also, he has a long, detailed explanation of what's up. I think it's a brave, honest and insightful mediation on the creative process and the pitfalls of... well, massive success.

If you haven't already, go take a look: Pat's Post.

Pat Rothfuss and Heifer International

A while back Pat approached a bunch of us writer types, asking for book donations that he could then use as lures to get people donating to his favorite charity, Heifer International. He got plenty of yesses - including one from me - and he's started to post about the books that are to be given away - and he's clearly been pulling in cash for a wonderful cause.

I'm writing this to encourage you to check it out. The first post about it can be found HERE, although that was from two weeks ago. Subsequent posts give more info and show some of the books on offer. I just sent mine recently, but I think it'll make an appearance there in the weeks to come.

Go take a look!

Pat Rothfuss Fans Should Thank Me

Yesterday Patrick Rothfuss, author of the hugely successful The Name of the Wind (and I do mean HUGELY successful), was kind enough to blog about me. Seems he had some misconceptions about ole' Dave at the start, but was pleasantly surprised by the real thing...

If you want to know why his fans owe me a debt of gratitude, take a look. Here's the post. He's a funny guy. Be ready to chuckle.

Some WisCon Connections

This is the post when I mention the fellow writers that I got to schmooze with. (I know, the conference is more than a week in the past, but I've been on the road and/or moving house since then. I'm behind. Here's an attempt to be a little less so.) I don’t mind admitting that this is a pretty big part/benefit to going to cons – making connections. I can't possibly manage to recall and mention everyone I spoke to at WisCon. As ever with these things, one does meet a lot of people. So, with no desire to slight anyone, I'll just mention a few folks that I had some in depth time with, especially those to whom I can point you in the direction of their work.

Let me begin with the Bearded One... Yes, once again I got spend time with Patrick Rothfuss! We’ve hung out of several occasions. Always a pleasure. I’d said in a previous post that I’d try to get Pat to pay for a drink. Considering that he’s a NY Times bestselling author now, one assumes he can afford it. But, yet again, he seemed completely oblivious to the process of paying the bill. I – perhaps being too aware of such things – jumped on it and, once again, the credit card flashed and swooped and that was that. Next time, though. Next time I’m gonna hold out…

On that note, I owe one to Ekaterina Sedia. I haven’t forgotten that, Kathy, and I’ll make it up next time.

Knowing that I was going to be on a panel recommending writers of color, I got my butt in gear (mostly) and read a few of the titles I’d had on my shelves. One of them that I really liked was The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor-mbachu. I’ve mentioned Nnedi before, but I hadn’t dove in completely until recently. She’s really good. What she does, in some ways, is simple. She wrote a futuristic coming of age story in a world where national boundaries have collapsed, where many technologies have been lost and others developed, where environmental degradations and years of global war have reshaped nation states… Sound familiar? Okay, but The Shadow Speaker is set in West Africa. It’s about Africans! Amazingly, Africans are a part of the future too! And I don’t mean as computer geeks or medical officers in a future still predominantly white. In this case the novel is just about Africans, in Africa, infused with African folklore and religion and customs. It’s a novel of a brown segment of the earth’s future. Oh, and it’s well written, smart, fast paced and thoughtful on a variety of levels. Nnedi rocks, and I was happy to be able to tell her so in person. I also understand she has an adult themed novel completed. Perhaps we’ll see that before too long.

Meeting Tobias Buckell was a great treat, too. It was especially cool because just hours before meeting him I'd been ripping through his first novel, Crystal Rain, loving it. What do I like about it? Well, it's fast, smart, slick and well-written. You're dropped into the action straight away, and he manages to develop a rather complicated world while still keeping his foot on the gas. And... it's about a future on a planet settled by descendants of Caribbean and Aztec cultures. Cool. He followed it with Ragamuffin and a third, Sly Mongoose, is coming out soon. Check him out if you haven't already. I knew he had good taste - since he liked Acacia - but now I also know he's a skilled writer himself. Tells a good yarn, too. I mean a sitting over coffee type of yarn.

Mary Robinette Kowal is very cool also. She’s in the running for a Campbell Award – so we’re competitors of sorts – but I ended up feeling that was a point of camaraderie instead of competition. Wish we’d talked longer, and I plan to at Denvention! Not only is she a first rate writer, she's a puppeteer...



It was great talking with Alaya Dawn Johnson again. It was a treat when Elizabeth Bear made a point of introducing herself, and it was good catching up with Debbie Smith also (yeah Stonecoast!). Ah… it was fun in lots of ways. If you were there or have heard other folks write about it, you probably know there was a major stomach flu going around. It was ugly. I didn't want to mention it before because I was fully focussed on beating it back so that it wouldn't spoil my BEA trip. I'm glad to finally say that I managed that. Phew.

Soon I'll write up something about BEA. For the moment, though, I'm off to shift books and boxes and various other things... And then jump in the pool...

Fantasy Matters Conference (or, Proof of the Growing Geek in Me)

I'm just back from the Fantasy Matters Conference at the University of Minnesota. It was good stuff. I liked this event the minute I heard about it because its a rare academic conference devoted to Fantasy Literature. Lots of papers, lots of panels, lots of readings, lots of authors!

I got to spend time quite a bit of time with Patrick Rothfuss. We'd just hung out a couple weeks back at World Fantasy, but it was nice to actually sit down and get to know each other. He's absolutely a great guy, an ambitious writer and really smart (and funny) in talking about literature. His debut, The Name of the Wind, has been kicking ass all year, but it hasn't gone to his head yet - and I don't think it will. He's taking his sophomore effort seriously, and I've no doubt he's going to be a fantasy star for a long time to come.

It was terrific to meet Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu. Her debut, Zahrah the Windseeker, was well-received, and her second novel, The Shadow Speaker, looks great too. (She's got blurbs on the new book from Tananarive Due, Diana Wynne Jones and Ursula K LeGuin!) And Drew Bowling (the absurdly young guy in the picture with Neil Gaiman below) was a ball of energy and enthusiasm. This kid was born when I was a junior in high school, and already his first book is out to strong reviews, and he's working on the next two of his trilogy as he works through college. He's got strong opinions on dragons. Jim C Hines was great to hang out with. He writes about Goblins and Princesses, and from what I heard his writing is sharp and witty. So that was all good fun. It was nice to meet Caitlin Kittredge and Bryan Thao Worra also.

One of the highlights, though, was meeting Neil Gaiman. I'd heard tales of the rock star effect Neil has on people. I knew he was suppose to have the biggest fan base in fantasy, but I hadn't thought much about it ahead of time. I'd been casual speaking with lots of famous authors just a couple week’s back, so why should Neil be any different?

I don't know. I really don't, but he is. When I first saw him, instead of running over with my book in hand I found myself lurking behind columns, strolling by nonchalantly, circling. I had a sudden fear of opening my mouth. What stupidity would jump out if I did?

I might not mention this reaction to anybody if it hadn't been so universally shared by all the other authors. Nnedi looked like she was going to faint after speaking to him. Drew, after debating buying a copy of American Gods, decided to buy three. Patrick was shocked and a bit unnerved to hear that Neil was actually waiting to meet him. When I did speak to him I was fairly close-mouthed, just covering the basics, getting the signatures, choosing to listen instead of talk much.

Perhaps part of the whole strangeness of his effect on people is that he's so terribly nice. He's also funny, yes. His intelligence is clear. He manages to mention everything from his friendships with all sorts of famous people to his various movie projects without the slightest pretension. But at the end of it all is just the fact that he seems an attentive, generous, nice person. He took a picture with anyone that asked. And was as courteous to the last person at the end of his massive signing line as he was to the first person. So not only is he a superstar in the comic world and a first rate novelist and a great short story writer and a wonderful children’s author and a scriptwriter and film producer and husband and father... he's also a model of how to contain all these gifts with class. I took notes.

Which leads me to conclude that - in addition to getting on with my work as an author - I want a black leather jacket for Christmas. Or something else to build my "signature" look... Suggestions?...

Oh, and, yes... I did manage to do my duty in self-promoting terms. Neil walked out of there with a signed copy of Acacia in hand. Hee hee.

World Fantasy Hangover

Okay, so I went all the way to Saratoga Springs for the World Fantasy Conference. I talked, drank, talked, drank, and talked some more with a stunning array of writers, editors, artists and many that aspire to become the same. I took my camera with me, but (here’s the confession part) it never got out of my hotel room. I don’t know, my mind was always on something else at the time. I have seen one photo of me on Paul Witcover’s blog, though. It’s a snap of James Patrick Kelly, a guy called Flat Stephen and me. Jim Kelly is a great guy; Flat Stephen, however, well, he took some getting used to. (Although his eventual endorsement of "Acacia" wine sort of won me over. Photo evidence on Paul's blog.)

Anyway, all that’s a way of saying I won’t be offering any pictures here just now. And, honestly, coming off the thing I’m so drained it’s hard to know where to begin with writing about it. I'll say a little bit, though…

First off, I was struck immediately by how friendly and accessible everyone was. This may be old news to Con-goers, but coming from a literary side of things I’m used to writers of any stature placing some boundaries between themselves and their fans (including other writers). Not so in this case. I had an absolutely great time talking George RR Martin, for example. I’m pleased to say he knew of my book and said he’d heard good things about it, and we sat together during the signing portion of the evening. I’ve seen it mentioned on a couple of blogs that I had the unenviable task of sitting next to GRRM. I understand the sentiment. Who would possibly want to embarrass themselves by sitting line-less beside the most popular author in a very big room? Well, me, actually. I jumped at the chance. I knew it wouldn’t change the length of my line, but it did provide me the rare opportunity of chatting with someone I admire for about two hours. That was worth it.

Had a great time with Patrick Rothfuss. He’s a very good guy, lots of fun, solid sense of humor and wonderful humility with his very successful debut. I’m glad to say I’ll be hanging out with him (and Neil Gaiman!) in a couple of weeks at the Fantasy Matters Conference in Minnesota.

Enjoyed talking with Steven Erickson and Ian Cameron Esslemont (also of Malazan), Paul Park, Guy Gavriel Kay, John Kessels, just to name a few. I accosted Garth Nix outside the Orbit party. It was as geeky a moment as any for me considering that I really enjoyed The Abhorsen Trilogy, and I admire the trajectory of his career (selling millions now).

I'm leaving out a lot of people, but it's hard not to. It was such a full-on interactive experience. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention meeting the Angry Black Woman. For someone who is supposed to be so angry, she also manages to be great fun, smiles and wit and humor - and she knows everyone! Also, wouldn't have been the same without the myriad short conversations I had with Lou Anders of Pyr. He was the coolest guy in the room on every occasion I observed. John Picacio was kind enough to introduce me to a blur of folks. Much appreciated.

There were, of course, lots of interesting panels. I'm tempted to mention a low point, though, in the panel roster. I won't mention the panel specifically, especially because I missed the very beginning and the very end, so maybe there was something on either end to put it into context. The problem with this panel was that the moderator simply would not let the panel members really talk. He had an agenda that was at odds with the panelists, clearly. He seemed a bit like a Fox News host. He barely let any of the panelists speak before he'd be shaking his head and grabbing the conversation back. His agenda, by the way, was well-meaning. I think he likely thought he was being inclusive and broadly minded. Problem is, I think, his agenda was based on a limited understanding of the topic at hand. The panelists could have (and wanted to) helped to round out his awareness and provide him food for thought, but he never let go of the reins enough to let that happen - for himself or for the audience. Unfortunate. Happily, though, this was one of few sour notes.

On the more positive side, lots of people had heard of Acacia. Most of them hadn’t read it, but when they saw my name tag many people said, “Oh, Acacia, I’ve heard good things about that!” I’m pleased. And we’ll build on it!

I'll close just by congratulating those that did walk away with award recognition. If you're interested in the full list you can see it here at the Locus site.

Fantasy Matters! It really does...

Or so I think. I'm not the only one, though, which I'm glad to hear. I've been invited to attend an academic event on the subject this fall. The Fantasy Matters Conference at the University of Minnesota will take place November 16-18 . It's meant to be a scholarly conference that just happens to have fantasy as its subject, with the premise in there that fantasy is worthy of study and potentially literature in its own right. I'm all for that - for discussing the possibilites at least, for putting imaginative works through the same scrunity as literary texts and giving respect to them when respect is due.

I'm also just chuffed about the company I'll be keeping. The keynote speakers are none other than Neil Gaiman and Professor Jack Zipes. Other announced readers are Patrick Rothfuss, whose The Name of the Wind is the hottest fantasy debut so far this year, and Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu, whose first novel, Zahrah the Windseeker, brings some much-needed diversity to the YA fantasy universe. Pretty good for a graduate-organized conference without much of a budget! Go figure.

I'm looking forward to it already. Might be a bit chilly, of course, but I can take that for a few days.