Where I’m Going, Where I’ve Been

How this writing thing works WHILE YOU WERE GONE hits shelves today!

Where I’m Going, Where I’ve Been

(I should totally apologize to Joyce Carol Oates for that title.)

Hey! It’s been a crazy couple of months, which has made for a lonely little blog. But it’s been the good kind of crazy. The kind of crazy that comes with pictures to share.

Westercon

July started with a bang (ha) with a trip to San Diego for Westercon! While I’ve been to more than a couple comic conventions, I’d never been to a science fiction convention, so I didn’t really know what to expect. All I can say is, wow! What a cool experience! While most of the comic conventions I’ve been to focus on the latest pop culture experiences, Westercon was a convention about ideas. The panel topics varied from climate change to colonies on Mars. It was brainy and scientific and I absolutely loved it. One of the highlights was being on panels with William F. Nolan and Larry Niven. (!!!) I also made some new author friends: Lisanne Norman, Fred Wiehe, Thomas Voorhies, and Jason V. Brock. Such a cool convention. If you get a chance to go next year (in Portland), definitely check it out.

Here are a couple of pics:

With Fred Wiehe, Lisanne Norman and Thomas Voorhies

Panel with Larry Niven, William F. Nolan and Jason V. Brock

San Diego Comic-Con

Two days after Westercon ended, I turned around and headed back to San Diego for SDCC 2015.

Ahhh, SDCC. This year was magical to say the least. Not only were my books on display at the Random House booth:

Now That You're Here and While You Were Gone

The amazing marketing ladies of Random House

But over the course of the con, I met Peter Capaldi, Guillermo del Toro, Tom Hiddleston, Greg Grunberg, and Curtis Armstrong. I also went to a bunch of NerdHQ panels, asked Zachary Levi to smolder, attended both Nerdist podcasts, played both Battlefront and Project Morpheus, and walked my feet off. It was amazing. Here are some pics:

Curtis Armstrong at the SherlockeDCC party

Tom Hiddleston and Guillermo del Toro at the Nerdist podcast

Chuck Wendig signing at the Del Ray booth

Wristband ticket to meet the cast of Doctor Who

About to meet Tom Hiddleston and the cast of Crimson Peak

Steven Moffat and Sue Vertue at SherlockeDCC

Teen Lit Fest

The weekend after SDCC, I participated in Teen Lit Fest at the Southeast Regional Library in Gilbert, AZ. I was just one of a dozen or so authors appearing at the event. I not only got to see a few of my friends in the AZ author community there (Tom Leveen, Bill Konigsberg, Amy Dominy, Brian Augustyn, Sara Francis-Fujimura, Mark Rude), I also made friends with new authors and chatted with a bunch of teen readers. It was a really fun event, one I hope to be invited back to in the future. Here are a couple of photos:

Payson Book Festival

And this last weekend, I traveled to northern Arizona to participate in the first ever Payson Book Festival! I shared a table with my friend and fellow author, Patricia Grady Cox, and we had a great time spending the day together up in the cool Payson pines. Here’s a pic of us at work:

The Schrödinger Sessions: Science for Science Fiction Authors

This weekend I’ll be attending the Schrödinger Sessions at the Joint Quantum Institute a the University of Maryland. Holy guacamole, I’m getting a crash course in quantum mechanics! If I’m not too busy entangling my brain with quarks, I’m going to post some blog updates. We’ll see. If not, a full recap and pics when I get back.

WHILE YOU WERE GONE Book Launch!

To cap it all off, next Tuesday (August 4), my second novel, While You Were Gone, hits shelves! I’ll be having a couple of events in August to celebrate the launch. Hope to see you there!

Thanks for being on this journey with me!