LepreCon 41

Next weekend, I’ll be a participant at LepreCon 41 in Phoenix, Arizona. The convention will be held from Thursday, June 25 through Sunday, June 28 at the Embassy Suites Phoenix North. This year’s guests include David Gerrold, Jennifer Brozek, and Dayton Ward. It’s especially exciting since I’ve had the chance to work with or alongside each of those people in at least one project. For more information about LepreCon, visit their website at http://leprecon.org

My schedule at the convention is as follows:

Friday, June 26

3-4pm – Suite E – Discovering New Worlds. A presentation about the techniques used to discover planets beyond the solar system and a look at the kinds of worlds discovered. This presentation will focus more on how new worlds are found. My presentation on Saturday called “Planets Outside the Solar System” will focus more on what kinds of planets are being discovered.

5-6pm – Suite D – How to Make Your Own Telescope. I show you how you can make a simple and stylish Newtonian telescope from easy-to-find, inexpensive parts that’s easy to transport and set up so you can enjoy the night sky

7-8pm – Suite C – East Coast Steampunk meets West Coast. How does Steampunk fashion and style differ from the east coast to the west coast? On the panel with me are Dee Astell and Ileana Herrera.

Saturday, June 27

11-11:30am – Suite E – Autographing. Bring your books for me to autograph. I’ll also have a few of my own wares along to sell.

2-3pm – Suite E – Planets Outside the Solar System. A look at how we discover planets outside the solar system, what kinds of planets we’ve discovered, what we know about them, and the future of planet hunting. This presentation will focus more on the actual planets discovered.

10-11pm – Suite C – Steampunk and History. Steampunk blends elements of history, science fiction, and fantasy. How much historical research needs to go into your steampunk story? Can you completely reinvent history for your steampunk story? Does it even have to be set in history to be called steampunk? I envisioned this as a panel with multiple people, but it looks like I’m doing it by myself, so come equipped with questions. I’ll likely do a reading or two to show how I’ve approached issues of steampunk and history.

Sunday, June 28

10-11a – Suite E – Mars: A Land Across the Aether. A presentation about Mars of the 19th century and how it became a place in the popular imagination. Where did the Martian canals come from? A look at the early debates about Martian life. Listen to Tesla’s recordings of extraterrestrial signals.

If I missed you at Phoenix Comicon, I hope to see you at LepreCon! Also, remember, the Favorite Heroines Blog Hop is still going on. Be sure to drop by my last post and enter to win a copy of Lightning Wolves.

Steampunk Academy

In a week, I’ll be over at the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California to present lectures in the Steampunk Academy series at Her Royal Majesty’s Steampunk Symposium. This may sound like pretty serious business, but in fact, it’s all great fun. The Steampunk Academy is basically the Symposium’s series of workshops and presentations. I’m working on presentations about such mad scientific pursuits as nineteenth century Martian astronomy and a telescope building demonstration. I’ll also be reading from Lightning Wolves and, as an extra special treat, if the weather is clear, I’ll bring a couple of telescopes out on deck so we can view such objects as Jupiter, the Orion Nebula and the Andromeda Galaxy.

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Here’s my tentative schedule for the event:

Friday, January 16

2pm – Verandah – Reading. I’ll be reading from Lightning Wolves and will be available to sign books.

5pm – Gazebo – Victorian Astronomy. Come learn what was going on in the world of astronomy in the nineteenth century. Afterwards, if the weather is clear, we’ll move out on deck to observe those objects which are available.

Saturday, January 17

4pm – The Board Room – Mars Across the Aether. This presentation is focused more specifically on Mars than my Victorian Astronomy presentation. Come learn about the canals on the red planet and hear extraterrestrial recordings from a Teslascope.

6pm – Gazebo – Telescope Viewing. I’ll be out with the telescopes again, weather permitting with another opportunity to see what’s in the skies over Long Beach.

Sunday, January 18

2pm – Regent Room – How to Build a Steampunk Telescope. I’ll show you how you can build your own functional telescope, and give suggestions for how you can steampunk it up to your heart’s content!

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Her Royal Majesty’s Steampunk Symposium always features great music. This year, performers include Lee Presson and the Nails, the Nathaniel Johnstone Band, and Unwoman. What’s more, the Queen Mary is a great venue for a Steampunk event. I’m delighted to be returning and hope you’ll join us if you’re able! To learn more about the event and buy tickets, visit http://hrmsteam.com

While on the subject of mad science, I’m proud to announce the release of Tales of the Talisman volume 10, issue 2. The issue features thirty stories and poems by such folks as Lee Clark Zumpe, Rick Novy, Abra Staffin-Wiebe, and Erin K. Wagner. You’ll find stories about elder gods breaking the barriers of time and space using the Large Hadron Collider, the steampunkish origins of the artificial heart and even a modern-day quest for King Arthur. Issues are available at talesofthetalisman.com, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

Wild Wild West Con 3

Only one week to go before Wild Wild West Con 3, which is held at Old Tucson Studios, outside of Tucson, Arizona. This is a great steampunk convention held at the location where many classic films and TV series were filmed, including the two Wild Wild West TV movies from the 1970s.

This year, Wild Wild West Con features concerts by Steam Powered Giraffe, The Nathaniel Johnstone Band, The Cog is Dead, and Professor Elemental. Dyno Staats will be performing his magic and there will be lots of panels and workshops. You can get all the info at: wwwc3c.oom

My schedule is as follows:

Friday, March 7

1pm at the Sheriff’s Office – Mars: A Land Across the Aether – A look at Victorian astronomers Percival Lowell and Nathaniel Green who did important work understanding Mars in the nineteenth century. Percival Lowell was the son of rich industrialists who owned an observatory in Arizona. In addition to being an astronomer, Nathaniel Green was a landscape painter and Queen Victoria’s tutor. Who had the most accurate vision of Mars?

Saturday, March 8

2pm at the Courtroom – Sparky and McTrowell’s Hot Potato School of Writing. Two teams will engage in a madcap writing event taking turns “writing” a story. It will be both instructional and fun, and has an emphasis on audience participation. Inspector Erasmus L. Drake and Dr. Sparky L. McTrowell have asked me to join them for this thrilling writing challenge. You should join us as well. It will be fun, or as Dyno Staats says, “Something could go horribly wrong!”

4pm at High Chaparral – Steampunk Authors – Steampunk and history writers Muffy Morrigan, David Grasse, and David Lee Summers gather to discuss the challenges of researching, writing, and creating. What works. What doesn’t work. Are there new challenges to getting your work published? How do you keep your steampunk writing fresh and topical? How do you find the topic for your next book?

Sunday, March 9

2pm at High Chaparral – Steampunk Magic and Science – Magician Dyno Staats and Astronomer David Lee Summers look at the worlds of Victorian era magic and science and explore the ways they advanced together.

When I’m not at these awesome events, you’ll find me over at the Stage-II Vendor Area where I’ll have an assortment of my Steampunk and Wild West books available. Come by say “Howdy!”