Curtis C. Chen's Blog, page 8

Crazy Squirrel

There are lots of squirrels running around our apartment complex. Sometimes we throw peanuts out onto our back patio for them to eat. We try not to do it while they’re watching, because we don’t want them to get the idea that we’re feeding them directly.

But lately there’s this one squirrel who’s been running around right outside our front door. We see him several times a week as we’re leaving to go out, and he always runs up and stares at us like “whaddya got for me?”

He does run away when w...

Waypoint Kangaroo is an Endeavour Award Finalist!

ICYMI last weekend: my debut novel is one of this year's finalists for the Endeavour Award, "for a distinguished SCIENCE FICTION or FANTASY BOOK written by a Pacific Northwest author or authors and published in the previous year." Hearty congratulations to my fellow finalists:
Arabella of Mars by David D. Levine, Tor Books Dreams of Distant Shores by Patricia McKillip, Tachyon Eocene Station by Dave Duncan, Five Rivers Publishing Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff, HarperMore information from the pre...

Kangaroo Cocktails

As you know, Bob, space tourism features pretty heavily in both of my Kangaroo books: the first one takes place mostly on an interplanetary cruise spaceship, and the second book sees Kangaroo going undercover as a civilian on the Moon.

And, of course, tourism often involves drinking. Like modern cruise ships, the Dejah Thoris in Waypoint Kangaroo encourages its passengers to imbibe early and often; and the Hotel Tranquility in Kangaroo Too boasts a well-stocked, all-hours lobby bar (liquor law...

Waypoint Kangaroo is a Locus Award Finalist!

This pleasant surprise appeared in my inbox today (email truncated):


http://www.locusmag.com/News/2017/05/2017-locus-awards-finalists/

I'm flattered that enough people voted for Waypoint Kangaroo to put it in the top ten for the first novel category, and I'm honored to be listed alongside these outstanding works:

The Reader , Traci Chee (Putnam) The Star-Touched Queen , Roshani Chokshi (St. Martin’s) The Girl from Everywhere , Heidi Heilig (Greenwillow; Hot Key) Roses and Rot , Kat Howard (Saga) Ninefox...

My Norwescon 40 Schedule

Earlier today I realized that Norwescon is NEXT WEEK. Time to start making plans! Here's where you can find me at the con (other than the bar):


Thursday, April 13
Write Your Elevator Pitch Workshop
Cascade 12
2–3 p.m.
Got a good elevator pitch for your manuscript? Whether you’re seeking an agent and traditional publisher, or planning to self-publish, you need to have an elevator pitch of your book. Loglines and elevator pitches are ways to explain your story/series and pique interest in your work...

I Got Yer Oscar Nominations RIGHT HERE

TL;DR: I care about the Academy Awards and I care about data reporting.

This year's Oscar nominations (honoring films released in 2016) were announced on January 24th, and ever since then I've been checking Oscars.org periodically to see if they've published the "view by film" tab on the nominations list. Several news outlets reported on the numbers of nominations different films received, but usually the Academy posts a full list of nominations for each film.

Well, that tab still hasn't appear...

How Far I'll Go

Short answer: Hong Kong, in April.

Long answer: Below is a list of all my currently scheduled author events and appearances in 2017. Bookmark curtiscchen.com/events for the most current details, and contact me if you'd like to invite me to something in your neck of the woods!

January 28th (Saturday), 2pm - reading/signing at Vintage Books in Vancouver, WA with fellow local author Alexis Radcliff. January 31st (Tuesday), 7pm - SFWA Reading in Kirkland, WA with Fonda Lee and Randy Henderson.
Feb...

#Xmasmoviethon Index, 2016 Edition

Every year around Christmastime, DeeAnn and I spend an entire day at the movies seeing as many first-run shows as we can. Here are some statistics recounting how we spent our Boxing Day this year...

(with apologies to Harper's )

Movies seen: 5

Musicals seen: 3

Animated movies seen: 2

Disney movies seen: 2

Animated Disney movies seen: 1

Movies set in the past: 3

Movies with Alan Tudyk in a supporting role: 2

Movies in which Alan Tudyk played a human: 0

Movies DeeAnn compared to No Country for Old Men: 1

M...

Saturday Night #LongKiss2016

WHAT: livetweeting movie THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT
WHEN: 8:00PM Pacific Time (UTC/GMT-8) on December 24th (Xmas Eve)
HASHTAG: #LongKiss2016

You may recall this film from Day 15 of #42Movies, my birthday blog series last year. A few of our live-tweet participants have never seen it before, and I'm looking forward to seeing their reactions, and how well this flick holds up after the last two decades of tumultuous American history.

Want to follow our featured commentators? Subscribe to this Twitter li...

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about my post-election ennui. Now I'm doing something about it.

Today is #GivingTuesday, and regardless of how you feel about the proliferation of Thanksgiving holiday adjuncts (Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, etc.), there are many opportunities to amplify your donations today and this week due to other people and organizations matching funds.

And sure, those folks could just give their money freely instead of digging a hole in the ground, but...