Home /Newsletter: Week of 21 Feb 2020

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Newsletter: Week of 21 Feb 2020

Week of: 
Friday, February 21, 2020
Newly published: 

"The Reference Library" book review column in Analog March/April 2020. Read online for free.

Upcoming deals: 
20-24 Feb 2020 • PsiScouts #1: At Risk • Kindle 99¢
27 Feb - 2 Mar 2020 • The Curse of the Zwilling • Kindle 99¢
Upcoming appearances: 
Farpoint 27
Highlights: 

If you're at Farpoint this weekend, be sure to come by one of my events, Here's my schedule:

  • Legacy Of LeGuin (Panel) - Friday 4:00 PM - Salon C
  • Movie Party (Storytelling) - Friday 8:00 PM - Belmont
  • Book Fair - Friday 10:00 PM - Midnight - Hunt Valley Foyer
  • DC’s TV Crisis (Panel) - Saturday 1:00 PM - Salon A
  • Indie Publishing 101 Panel) - Sunday NOON - Salon C
  • Author Readings (Sakers/Hutsell) - Sunday 1:00 PM - Salon E
  • Did We Win? The Mainstreaming Of Geek Culture (Panel) - Sunday 2:00 PM - Chase

This week is about getting ready for the con. In addition to packing clothes and such, there are also the writing-specific things to remember. Handouts and flyers for books (I have a new brochure, be sure you get one). Books to show off at the Book Fair (and, possibly, to sell). I'll be doing a reading, so I have to decide what to read—and make sure I have copies. Because appearing at cons is time-intensive, I make sure I have snacks and hydration available. I also need to prepare for my panels, doing whatever research I need and noting things like the names of newer authors in the LeGuin tradition (Karen Lord and Karin Tidbeck, for example). 

Projects: 
  • For many years now, I've been scanning  most of thre books I own (excepting those books that I treasure as physical objects, a few hundred all togther). This week I passed a minor milestone, scanning my 9,700th book. I would guess I'm about two-thirds of the way through the project.
  • I run a website devoted to the Legion of Super-Heroes, and this week I made various additions and essential edits. If you're a comics reader. you might want to take a look.
Thomas and Betsy at Farpoint 2019

Thomas G. Atkinson and Betsy Anthony Childs at Farpoint 2019

Currently reading: 

The Fabulous Riverboat by Philip José Farmer

Articles: 
Recommended (book): 

Raft by Stephen Baxter

Recommended (TV/movie): 

The Conners

Recommended (other): 

The Simpsons: Tapped Out video game from Electronic Arts

"The world is not made of atoms. It is made of the stories we tell about atoms."

-Damien Walter

Thank you to: 

Ernest, tech at Apple Store, Columbia, MD. I took in my poor six-year-old iPad Air 2, which was growing senile. Ernest diagnosed the problem—the battery was shot—and gave me a fresh iPad, of the same model and capacity, for only $99. Ernest not only surpassed my expectations, he obliterated them.