Keith R.A. DeCandido's Blog, page 6

my Dragon Con 2025 schedule

As usual, I will be at Dragon Con 2025 over Labor Day weekend, and as usual, I’m doing a ton of things. Here’s my schedule:

Thursday

7-8pm: “Starship Smashdown,” w/Van Allen Plexico and others (Hyatt — Embassy AB)

Friday

11.30am-12.30pm: “Muppets Sci-Fi — Favorite Series Recast,” w/Darin Bush, Kathleen O’Shea David, Esther Friesner, and Anya Martin (Hyatt — Embassy AB)

1-2pm: autographing (America’s Mart — Missing Volume, Booth 1300)

2.30-3.30pm: “Military Sci-Fi Writers & Creators — Media Edition,” w/Jonathan Brazee, James Henson, John Jackson Miller, Melissa Olthoff, and Van Allen Plexico (Westin — Chastain DE)

5.30-6.30pm: practical self-defense workshop, w/Wayland Smith (Hilton — 404-405)

8pm-midnight: The Gather, w/a ton of other authors also selling things (Hyatt — International Ballroom)

Saturday

11.30am-12.30pm: reading, almost definitely from Supernatural Crimes Unit: NYPD Book 1 (Hyatt — Learning Center)

2.30-3.30pm: “Fandom Feud,” w/Sue Kisenwether and a bunch of other people (Marriott — M103-M105)

5.30-6.30pm: Peter David Memorial, w/Kevin J. Anderson, Kathleen O’Shea David, Colleen Doran, Paul Jenkins, Norm Rapmund, and Garrett Wang (Hyatt — Regency VI-VII)

7-8pm: “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Anniversary Pizza Par-taaaaay,” w/Michael Falkner, Nick Frutiger, ToniAnn Marini, and several others in all likelihood (Marriott — M103-M105)

8.30-9.30pm: “Dick Tracy Movie,” w/Michael Bailey, Michael Wesley Collins, Nick Frutiger, Daniel Griffith, ToniAnn Marini, and Sarah J. Sover (Marriott — M103-M105)

Sunday

10-11am: “Blending Magic & Reality: Worldbuilding in Urban Fantasy,” w/Eric R. Ashers, R.E. Carr, Richard Kadrey, Jennifer Morris, and Anne Schlea (Westin — Chastain 1-2)

11.30am-12.30pm: “From Page to Scream…and Beyond,” w/Charlaine Harris, Andrew E.C. Gaska, Jonathan Maberry, Mari Mancusi, and Alex White (Westin — Peachtree 1-2)

2.30-3.30pm: autographing (Westin — Overlook)

7-8pm: “Saturday Night Live Classic TV Table Read,” w/a bunch of folks (Marriott — M103-M105)

10-11pm: “Eye of Argon Continued,” w/Ian Randal Strock and Jean Marie Ward (Hyatt — Embassy AB)

Monday

10-11am: “Writing Star Trek,” w/Dan Jolley, John Jackson Miller, and R. Alan Siler (Hilton — Galleria 2-3)

2.30-3.30pm: “The Last Thing You Want to See at Dragon Con: The Trek Track’s Peter David Memorial,” w/Kathleen O’Shea David (Hilton — Galleria 2-3)

If you want to get an autographed book from me, the best opportunities to do so will be the Gather Friday night, the two autographings, my reading, and my self-defense workshop. Looking forward to seeing folks!

autographed books for sale!

I have several of my books available to purchase autographed copies of. I’ve stocked up for Dragon Con, where I’ll be selling my tomes at my two autographings, my reading, my self-defense workshop, and the Gather Friday night. How-some-ever, not everyone goes to Dragon Con (it just feels that way), and I don’t want folks to feel left out. Sooooo…..

The list below is everything I’ve currently got available for sale. If you want any of them, add up their cover prices, add $8 for domestic shipping (for international shipping, just send the cover prices and I’ll bill you for the amount of the shipping after I know what it is), and send me the amount, which you can do one of five ways:

PayPal to krad@whysper.netZelle to krad@whysper.netVenmo to @keith_decandidoVia credit card — provide me with an e-mail address that I can bill you with via SquareCheck or money order made out to Keith R.A. DeCandido mailed to PO Box 4976, New York, NY 10185-4976

Here’s what I got:

The Precinct series

Dragon Precinct — $16Unicorn Precinct — $16Goblin Precinct — $16Gryphon Precinct — $16Mermaid Precinct — $16Phoenix Precinct — $16Tales from Dragon Precinct — $17any three of the above — $45any four of the above — $60any five of the above — $70any six of the above — $85all seven of the above — $95

The Adventures of Bram Gold

A Furnace Sealed — $16Feat of Clay — $17both of the above — $30Systema Paradoxa: All-the-Way House — $14

Sherlock Holmes/Shirley Holmes

Cases by Candlelight Volume 2 — $15Cases by Candlelight Volume 3 — $15Eliminate the Impossible — $15

Media tie-in stuff

Alien: Isolation — $10Aliens: Bug Hunt — $18Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars — $10Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda: Destruction of Illusions hardcover — $20Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness: The Beginning graphic novel — $16Spider-Man: The Darkest Hours Omnibus — $17Star Trek: A Singular Destiny — $25Star Trek: “The Mission” and Other Stories — $25Star Trek: “A Year to the Day that I Saw Myself Die” and Other Stories — $25Supernatural: Nevermore — $10Supernatural: Bone Key — $10

Anthologies, magazines, and collections

Altered States of the Union hardcover — $50An Assembly of Monsters trade paperback — $18An Assembly of Monsters hardcover (with a second story by me) — $40The Eye of Argon and the Further Adventures of Grignr the Barbarian — $15The Four ???? of the Apocalypse — $20Phenomenons: Every Human Creature — $16Phenomenons: Season of Darkness — $16Phenomenons: The Wind and Fire — $16all three Phenomenons anthologies — $42PRISM: The Mission Files — $16The Shadowed Alcove — $20They Keep Killing Glenn — $15A Trove of Legacies — $20Weird Tales #371 — $20Weird Tales: 100 Years of Weird — $28Without a License: The Fantastic Worlds of Keith R.A. DeCandido — $17Zorro’s Exploits — $20

Essay collections

D20 or Die!: Memories of Old-School Role-Playing Games from Today’s Grown-Up Kids — $15Jack of All Comics: A Fan Conversation About the King of Comics — $15The Man Who Laughs: Exploring the Clown Prince of Crime — $15Walking the Wider Web: A Fan’s Journey Through One of Comics’ Greatest Series — $15

If you have any questions, e-mail me at krad@whysper.net or comment below. Thanks!

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’s “The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail”

It’s a great use of SNW‘s status as a prequel, it’s a great episode of Star Trek, and it’s a great use of the entire ensemble, as everyone participates. My review of the latest Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode, “The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail.”

An excerpt:

One of my favorite touches in the episode is on the bridge, and everyone is tossing options around, something we’ve seen a lot on SNW, because Pike encourages that. But Kirk shuts it down, saying that all the chattering means he can’t think. And then he goes off into the conference room. It’s a clever way of showing differing command styles. We never did really see Kirk ask for options among the bridge crew—partly because 1960s television didn’t do that sort of thing, the square-jawed hero in the center seat did all the cool shit—and I like making that difference into a story point here.

Babylon 5 Rewatch: “Shadow Dancing”

The penultimate episode of the third season has one plot that’s exciting and one plot that’s reminiscent of Superman III, which is pretty much a cardinal sin. The Babylon 5 Rewatch does some “Shadow Dancing.”

An excerpt:

I’m always happy to see Ivanova-Cole banter—the on-screen chemistry between Claudia Christian and Jason Carter is superb—plus the tension of their confrontation with the scout ship was beautifully handled by Straczynski’s script, the performances, the excellent direction by Kim Friedman, and fine work by the special effects crew. The limitations of B5’s nascent CGI effects are minimized here mostly by keeping everything moving fast, by intercutting with the human action inside the ships, and also by the fact that the ethereal Shadows are better served by the style of effects. (Until around 2010, CGI was always crap at conveying mass, but that’s not an issue in certain cases—like, say, the acrobatics of Spider-Man and Daredevil, or the insect-like Shadows.)

I’m on It All Comes Back to Superman talkin’ Superman: Man of Tomorrow

My pal Michael Bailey has been doing a series called “Moving Kryptonian Images,” looking at a bunch of Superman movies, leading up to discussing the new James Gun Super-movie. I’m on the latest episode, talking with Michael about the 2020 animated film Superman: The Man of Tomorrow.

Check it out!

see me on the Nightmare Hunter podcast!

If you missed the livestream this past Wednesday, fear not! My appearance in the Author’s Lounge on Nightmare Hunter Podcast with D.A. Roberts and Robby “Jed” Raines has been archived on the Tube of You! See me talking about writing and Star Trek and Supernatural Crimes Unit: NYPD and any number of other things!

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’s “Through the Lens of Time”

Hey look, it’s an episode of Strange New Worlds where they go a strange new world! Radical! We also get some setting up of the original series’ “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” with the Chapel-Korby romance and both the right and wrong way to do a redshirt. My review of SNW‘s “Through the Lens of Time.”

An excerpt:

This episode also touches on another of Trek’s tropes, and manages to do it right and wrong at the same time. Chris Myers has been in each of the three prior episodes to this one, and he and the writers have given us a friendly charming character in Gamble. His death here carries more weight because we’ve gotten to know him and like him. In addition, N’Jal’s death is effective, as both the script and [Ish] Morris’ understated performance make him feel like a real person, not just a plot device, and his death is mentioned several times over the course of the episode, not forgotten like side character deaths often are.

But then we have the poor science officer whom Gamble kills off-camera (we just see his corpse on the deck when security captures him) and the security guard that Gamble later kills when the creature gets strong enough to walk through the brig’s force field unharmed. While it’s nice to see that La’an’s security team is competent—they capture Gamble and the one guy only dies because of the unforeseen possibility of his not being affected by the force field—neither of those dead-meat characters get a name or a mention of their deaths after it happens. The penultimate scene has an eye-rolling comedy moment, as Pelia makes a stentorian pronouncement, not because she thinks what she’s saying is important, but because she wants to sound cool in Beto’s documentary. This results in a chuckle from Pike, which is so totally inappropriate for the debrief of a mission in which four people died.

Weird Tales #371 is out in audio with me reading me!

The eBook and audio of Weird Tales #371 are both now available. You can either get it electronically or the spoken-word version — and the latter has me reading my own story! Yes, it’s my first time as a professional audio reader person! Yay!

Hear me read “Order Up,” plus lots of cool folks reading stories by other cool folks. (Full table of contents can be found here.)

Check it out!

order the eBookorder the audioorder the print magazine

Babylon 5 Rewatch: “And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place”

A minister, a rabbi, an imam, and a monk walk into a space station…. No, not the beginning of a joke, but rather the beginning of a great episode. Plus, Mollari seems to be setting up G’Kar for a fall, but instead is setting up Refa for a bigger one. The Babylon 5 Rewatch runs to the rock to hide its face, “And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place.”

An excerpt:

Truthfully, this episode is owned by guest Mel Winkler. [J. Michael] Straczynski shows an excellent understanding of how to write religious characters (something the show has been excellent at generally, notably with Rabbi Koslov in “TKO” and [Brother] Theo), and Dexter is magnificent here. It’s hard to say which bit of his is best, his declaration that it’s better to do something instead of nothing at dinner; or his excellent sermon (that applies to the U.S. of 2025 as much as it does the Earth Alliance of 2260) about how fear, hate, and ignorance are the enemy, not the other; or his great late-night conversation with Sheridan.

It’s probably the latter, just because Dexter so perfectly reads Sheridan. And when he crosses a line by telling Sheridan that Delenn loves him (which is blindingly obvious to everyone, truly), he backs off and finds a different approach. I especially like that, when Sheridan—more than a little snidely—asks if Dexter is saying that Sheridan should turn his problems over to God, Dexter’s dry reply is: “When God comes knocking at your door, you won’t need me, or anyone else, to tell you what that sound is.” He’s not proselytizing. The best religious leaders are also communityleaders, and you get to be that way in part by being able to read people, and in part by understanding people. Dexter gets what Sheridan is going through, partly because of his experience as a chaplain in a war. Though it takes an anecdote about his relationship with his wife, rather than his time on the front lines, to get through to Sheridan.

my Sunday feeling

I have been playing percussion since college, when I attended the Musician’s Coffeehouse every Wednesday night at Fordham University in one of the dorm lounges. A wonderful fellow student named Sean O’Heir became my percussion mentor, and by the time I graduated, I had bought my own set of bongos. I even sat in with the band that played at my first wedding in 1992 for a few songs.

From 1993 to 2000, I was with the Don’t Quit Your Day Job Players as their percussionist, recording two CDs and playing gigs that ranged from science fiction conventions (where the band got its started, doing jam sessions at room parties) to NYC clubs to colleges to state and county fairs. After the DQYDJP broke up, I played with various folks, including former bandmates David Honigsberg and Steven Rosenhaus, as well as filling in for the Randy Bandits’ percussionist on a couple of gigs. In 2006, I joined the Boogie Knights, with whom I have continued to play, generally also at science fiction conventions, as we are regulars at Shore Leave (where the Knights were born in 1983), Farpoint, and ConVivial.

And this past weekend, I got to add another band to my resume: The Chris Abbott Band.

This past week was Chris’s 51st birthday, and he had a celebration at the BarrelHouse in Killingsworth, Connecticut. Chris was going to be jamming with his band, the aptly named Chris Abbott Band, and I asked if I could bring my percussion and sit in. Chris said, “YES, ABSOLUTELY! Bring the whole rig! Our drummer can’t make it!”

So I brought the whole rig.

It was glorious.

I’ve known Chris for five years now, and we’ve worked together on a number of projects (three Sherlock Holmes anthologies, with more Holmes stuff to come, plus we’re both in the new PRISM shared-world anthology), but we’ve never done music together — until last night. I knew that Chris sang and wrote songs and played guitar, but until last night, I had no idea how fucking amazingly good he is at those three things. (Yes, I knew he was a good writer, but writing prose and writing songs are very different skills.)

And I’m pleased to say that I fit right in with the band. The night primarily consisted of Chris, Frank Natter, and Mary Cowles trading lead vocals and all three playing guitar, with me and Mark Zanardi backing them up on, respectively, percussion and bass. Also at one point, Gary Torello came up and did a bunch of songs, accompanied by Chris, Mark, and me.

Don’t get me wrong, I am extremely happy and proud to be a member of the Boogie Knights — but what the Knights do is a very specific thing (parody), plus instrumentally, it’s just me and a guitar (and the occasional kazoo). For that matter, I absolutely loved the haflas I participated in at Pennsic last year, which were basically drum circles with accompaniment, and it was great freeform music.

But it had been ages since I just played percussion backing up a full band playing songs and it was spectacular. And the band was very happy to have me, as I fit right in. One of my superpowers has always been to be able to figure out the percussion part for a song after just hearing a couple of notes, and I did a pretty good job with that last night. (My favorite was when I pulled out the doumbek for a country song. Worked beautifully. Hey, I spent years with the DQYDJP perfecting blues bongos, so why not country doumbek?)

Mark had the best compliment to me of the evening: “You always hit the 1.” That is the nicest compliment you can give a member of your rhythm section.

This is definitely not the last time I’ll be playing with the Chris Abbott Band, I can tell you that…..

The rest of the weekend has been spent working on a short story that’s due Tuesday and writing the B5 Rewatch for “And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place,” plus watching ahead to the next few episodes (we’re coming up on the end of season 3, which is some great stuff).

Tomorrow I try to finish the story — and that’s pretty much it, I gotta finish this damn thing, as Tuesday is a hard deadline………