My Worldcon 2018 Schedule

I'll be in San Jose next week for Worldcon 76, and wonder of wonders, I am actually scheduled to be on some programming items! Here's where you can find me:

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FRIDAY, 17 Aug 2018

SFWA Business Meeting
08:00 - 10:00, 210DH (San Jose Convention Center)
All SFWA members are welcome!
Cat Rambo (M), Kate Baker, Curtis Chen, Andy Duncan, Erin M. Hartshorn, Jeffe Kennedy, Terra LeMay, Sarah Pinsker, Lawrence M. Schoen, Steven Silver, Nathan Lowell

Autograph Session 1 of 2
12:00 - 12:30, SFWA autographing table (exhibit hall)
I'll sign anything except body parts! You can also pick up a FREE Kangaroo-themed postcard from Mars or the Moon.

Lighting a Creative Spark Without Burning Out
14:00 - 15:00, 211C (San Jose Convention Center)
An entire novel in a month? A new song every week for a year? A drawing a day for a 31 days? Time-based artistic challenges like NaNoWriMo, the Song A Week Challenge, Inktober, National Poetry Writing Month, and others can stretch your creative chops, but they might also burn you out. Our panelists will discuss their experiences with creativity challenges. Learn what worked for them and what didn’t, how they were impacted when they did not meet their goals, and what success meant for each of them.
Pablo Defendini (M), Cameron Steiman, Curtis Chen, Sara Felix

What Can SFWA Offer Me?
15:00 - 16:00, 210F (San Jose Convention Center)
Learn what SFWA has to offer authors at all stages of their careers, from networking opportunities to sample contracts to the grievance committee. SFWA's officers will provide an update on what SFWA is doing and where the organization is going and answer questions from potential (or current) members.
Kate Baker (M), Cat Rambo, Curtis Chen, Erin M. Hartshorn, Jeffe Kennedy, Lawrence M. Schoen

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SATURDAY, 18 Aug 2018

Autograph Session 2 of 2
12:00 - 12:30, SFWA autographing table (exhibit hall)
I mean it, folks. NO BODY PARTS. Maybe you have the August 2018 issue of Locus Magazine, which includes an interview with me? Or the March/April 2018 issue of Playboy Magazine, which includes my short story "Go, Space Racer!"? Or even a hardcover of my award-nominated debut novel, Waypoint Kangaroo, or the sequel, Kangaroo Too? You gotta work with me here.

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MONDAY, 20 Aug 2018

Reading with Zandra Renwick
14:30 - 15:00, 211A (San Jose Convention Center)
My awesome friend Zandra is very generously sharing her reading time slot with me! Come let us share some words with you before the closing of the con.

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ALSO

On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights I'll be staffing the SFWA Member Hospitality Suite (open to SFWA members and their guests only; members, check your email for details in The Singularity #49). Otherwise I'll generally be around. Probably at the bar.

Follow me on Twitter for the latest updates!
Follow @curtiscchen

2017 Year-End Writerly Post

It's that time of the year when writers blog about their award-eligible works published in the last calendar year. Well, I only had one work published in 2017:

If you read and enjoyed Kangaroo Too, please talk it up anywhere and everywhere you like!

And now I'm going to direct your attention toward some other writers who have published outstanding fiction in 2017. In no particular order:

• Claire Humphrey
• A. Merc Rustad
• A.C. Wise (ADD 30 Dec 2017: see also her What Have You Done, What Have You Loved? 2017 Edition blog post)
• Rich Larson
• Caroline M. Yoachim
• John Wiswell
• Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam
• Erica L. Satifka
• Kelly Robson
• A.T. Greenblatt

FULL DISCLOSURE: I have personal connections to all of the above writers through conventions, workshops, professional organizations, and/or living in the Pacific Northwest.

Check out Cat Rambo's 2017 roundup for a more complete list of award-eligible works.

And don't forget, if you want to nominate for next year's Hugo Awards, you need to buy your Worldcon membership by this coming SUNDAY, December 31st!

My OryCon 39 Schedule

This coming weekend I'll be at OryCon, a science fiction/fantasy convention held annually in Portland since 1979. This year it's at the Red Lion Hotel on Jantzen Beach. When not at the bar, here's where you can find me (moderator for each session in bold):

Friday, November 17th

2:00pm-3:00pm
Getting Your First Professional Sale
Thrawn - 252
An author can struggle for months or years before achieving their first success, but even after writing their opus, they can be tripped up by a process which is both entirely new to them and yet critical to their success. This panel describes what an author may experience as they revel in their first success.
Clayton Callahan, Tina Connolly, Curtis C. Chen, Sheila Finch, Annie Bellet

4:00pm-5:00pm
Comics Created Our Modern Mythologies
Wenatchee - 166 Parlor
How comics conquered our art, stories and media.
Lee Moyer, Curtis C. Chen, Benjamin Hsu, Eva L. Elasigue

6:30pm-7:00pm
Endeavour Awards
East Ballroom
The Endeavour Award honors the best SF/F book written by a Pacific Northwest writer. This year's finalists are Arabella of Mars by David D. Levine, Dreams of Distant Shores by Patricia McKillip, Eocene Station by Dave Duncan, Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff, and Waypoint Kangaroo by Curtis Chen.
Page Fuller, Jim Fiscus, Curtis C. Chen, Sheila Simonson, David Levine, Sara Mueller,
Patrick Swenson, Brenda Cooper

Saturday, November 18th

10:00am-11:00am
SFWA Regional Business Meeting
Thrawn - 252
The Secretary will give a briefing on the latest in SFWA and the business, as well as answer questions.
Curtis C. Chen, Jim Fiscus

12:00pm-1:00pm
Publishing Ethics
216 Presidential
What should the relationship between publishers and writers look like? Between writers and readers? Both require respect. What does that look like?
Patrick Swenson, Curtis C. Chen, Susan R. Matthews, Ann Gimpel, Doug Odell

3:00pm-4:00pm
Star Trek: Discovery
Lovejoy
Whoo hoo! Another Star Trek series! It's been far too long. What do you think?
John C. Bunnell, Rob Wynne, Marshall Ryan Maresca, Jennifer Willis, Curtis C. Chen

8:00pm-9:00pm
Sci Fi Ask Me Another! (Quiz Show)
216 Presidential
Curtis Chen and Jeff Soesbe present a variety of games involving science fiction and fantasy trivia, puzzles, and wordplay. Audience participation is required, and rewarded! Can you make it to the final Elimination Game? Come have fun while competing for prizes!
Jeff Soesbe, Curtis C. Chen

Sunday, November 19th

1:00pm-2:00pm
Trades versus Weeklies Economics
Wenatchee - 166 Parlor
Comic collections or issues? Why have one when we already have the other?
Robert B McMonigal, Eva L. Elasigue, Jeff Soesbe, Curtis C. Chen

Check out the full OryCon 39 schedule on SCHED.



And if you can't make it to the con, I'll also be at Powell's "Sci-Fi Authorfest" in Beaverton on Sunday afternoon from 4:00pm to 5:30pm. Come meet 20 different speculative fiction authors, buy our books, and get them signed!

Here endeth the schedule.

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, Harper

More information from the press release over at File770.com.

As with the Locus Awards, I don't expect to win at all, but it is truly an honor to have made the shortlist. Come see me be a gracious loser in person at OryCon!

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 laws are a little looser on Luna). I have been known to take a drink now and then, myself, and I had fun writing some beverage-fueled encounters into both books.

Enter my friend Huw Evans, one of the workshop administrators for Clarion West (the writing boot camp I attended in 2014) and a real-life cocktail enthusiast, among other things. I had the wacky idea to ask him if he wanted to actually come up with a recipe for the vaguely described "Zero-Gravity Football" drink from Waypoint Kangaroo, and he did! So of course I also asked him to do the same for Kangaroo Too this year, for the unnamed cocktail that Kangaroo shares with Breyella Wilgus in chapter eight.

The point of all this is to say that it's nice to have people who support your wacky ideas and help you celebrate things. I look forward to many more book launches, readings, and afterparties with Huw and my other Seattle-area friends.

Below you'll find the complete recipes for both Kangaroo cocktails. Enjoy in good health and good company!

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 Gambit, Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris US; Solaris UK)
• Arabella of Mars, David D. Levine (Tor)
• Infomocracy, Malka Older (Tor.com Publishing)
• Everfair, Nisi Shawl (Tor)
• Vigil, Angela Slatter (Jo Fletcher)

The Locus Awards Weekend is open to all (tickets are $60 each), and includes readings and workshops with the likes of Connie Willis and Carrie Vaughn. Will I see you in Seattle next month? Leave a comment and let me know!

My OryCon 38 Schedule

Next weekend (Nov.18-20) I'll be reading, paneling, and drinking at Oregon's premier, fan run, annual science fiction/fantasy convention held in Portland. Please stop by the Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront if you're around. We can raise a glass to freedom, if nothing else...

Thursday night 11/17 (pre-con)

Karaoke with friends. Contact me for details, if we be friends.

Find me to get KANGAROO swag!

Friday 11/18

4pm - Reading from Kangaroo Too - Hawthorne (2)
You won't believe where the superpowered secret agent is going next, in the forthcoming sequel to Waypoint Kangaroo! #clickbait

5pm - Panelist: "Social Media and the Modern Writer" - Meadowlark (3)
with Lizzy Shannon, Stephanie Weippert, Elton Elliott, Katie Lane
Websites, Facebook fan pages, email lists, contests, twitter, tumblr, Pinterest, ads, blogs and that annoying thing called a "platform": what works, what doesn't, and why you need to care (spoiler: you do).

Saturday 11/19

11am - Moderator: "First Page Idol" - Douglas Fir (3)
with Annie Bellet, Doug Odell, David Levine
Submit the first page of your novel to our talented author panelists, and listen to them read aloud that first page(keeping the writer's identity anonymous) and give thoughtful reactions. ADD(14 Nov 2016): E-mail your first page submission (please omit the author name) to: ww@orycon.org

2pm - Panelist: "How to Blurb Your Novel" - Meadowlark (3)
with Dale Ivan Smith, Tori Centanni, Lizzy Shannon
We all need them, we all hate them. Summing up our books may be harder than writing them in the first place! Learn techniques to write compelling book descriptions (aka "blurbs"), and hook readers.

3pm - Co-Host: "Sci Fi Ask Me Another! (Quiz Show)" - Columbia (L)
with Jeff Soesbe
Curtis Chen and Jeff Soesbe present a variety of games involving science fiction and fantasy trivia, puzzles, and wordplay. Audience participation is required, and rewarded! Can you make it to the final Elimination Game? Come have fun while competing for prizes!

7pm - Moderator: "The Star Trek Universe: My, How You've Grown!" - Columbia (L)
with Alma Alexander, Jennifer Willis, Phyllis Irene Radford
A wide ranging panel, with the changes (or consistencies) found in TOS, TNG, DS9, and all movies being fair game. Gene Roddenberry tried to create a future without racism or hatred, and a Federation that prioritized peace and non-interference. Yet disagreement, jealousy, envy, war, and a monetary system for keeping score of one's successes are all excellent literary plot devices. With the benefit now of 20/20 hindsight, did the writers succeed? Is the Star Trek future one you'd want to live in?

Sunday 11/20

11am - Panelist: "Feedback Workshop" - Douglas Fir (3)
with Susan Matthews, David Weber, Richard A. Lovett, David Levine
Bring your questions, manuscripts, critiques, etc. A hands-on workshop on how to apply the feedback you get from readers, editors, writer's workshops, critique groups, etc.

1pm - Autograph Session - Autograph Area (LL1)
with Blythe Ayne, Joyce Reynolds-Ward, Deborah Ross, David Dvorkin
Get your books (or whatever) signed by your favorite authors!

2pm - Panelist: "Hold on to Your Reader" - Douglas Fir (3)
with Caroline M. Yoachim, Maura van der Linden, Shawna Reppert
The wrong word choices can throw your reader right out of the story. Learn how to maintain suspension of disbelief.

4pm (offsite) - Powell's Sci-Fi Authorfest 10 (Cedar Hills Crossing)
"A starfleet of science fiction and fantasy authors descends for one galactic booksigning event. Meet Brent Weeks, Timothy Zahn, Daniel H. Wilson, Annie Bellet, Tina Connolly, David Levine, Curtis Chen, Lili Saintcrow, Dave Barra, Wendy Wagner, Jennifer Brozek, Mike Moscoe/Shepherd, J. A. Pitts, Devon Monk, Steve Perry, Patrick Swenson, Rhiannon Held, Diana Pharaoh Francis, Kevin James Breaux, and Deborah Ross."

For complete details, visit: orycon38.sched.org

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ALSO: I will not be running the ORCs (Open Read & Critique sessions) this time around, but I've passed the torch to three new facilitators! If you're a writer looking for some fast feedback, see if any of these sessions will fit into your OryCon weekend:

1. Friday 1pm with Jeremiah Reinmiller
2. Friday 2pm with Stephanie Weippert
3. Saturday 1pm with Stephanie Weippert
4. Saturday 2pm with Mark Niemann-Ross
5. Saturday 3pm with Jeremiah Reinmiller
6. Sunday 1pm with Mark Niemann-Ross

Look for ORC rules and sign-up sheets outside the Willamette room (lobby level).

Saturday Night's Alright for #WritersWithDrinks

September's Writers With Drinks includes multi-award-winning author Anuradha Roy. Plus survival poetry, kickass comedy, and tons of science fiction and fantasy!

When: Saturday, September 10 from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM, doors open 6:30 PM
Who: Anuradha Roy, Margaret Wappler, Hollie Hardy, Naamen Tilahun, Dominique Gelin and Curtis Chen!
How much: $5 to $20, all proceeds benefit the CSC
Where: The Make Out Room, 3225 22nd. St., San Francisco, CA

About the readers/performers:

Anuradha Roy's latest book, Sleeping on Jupiter, won the DSC Prize for Fiction 2016 and was nominated for the Man Booker prize 2016. It has been nominated for various other literary prizes, including the FT/ Oppenheimer Prize, Hindu Prize for Best Fiction 2015, the Tata Book of the Year Award 2015, and the Atta Galatta Bangalore Literature Festival Fiction Prize 2015. She won the Economist Crossword Prize for her second novel, The Folded Earth. Her first novel, An Atlas of Impossible Longing, has been widely translated and was picked as one of the Best Books of the Year by the Washington Post and the Seattle Times. It has been named by World Literature Today as one of the 60 most essential books on modern India and was shortlisted for the Crossword Prize. Anuradha Roy won the Picador-Outlook Non-Fiction Prize in 2004 for her essay, "Cooking Women". She works as a designer at Permanent Black, an independent press which she runs with her husband, Rukun Advani. She lives in Ranikhet, India.

Margaret Wappler is the author of Neon Green, which has been praised by Edan Lepucki and Joe Meno. She has written about the arts and pop culture for the Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, Elle, Cosmo, New York Times, and several other publications. Neon Green is her first novel. She lives in Los Angeles and can be heard weekly on the pop culture podcast, Pop Rocket.

Hollie Hardy is the author of How to Take a Bullet, And Other Survival Poems (Punk Hostage Press, 2014), winner the 2016 Annual Poetry Center Book Award. She teaches writing classes at the SF Creative Writing Institute, SFSU, and Berkeley City College. She co-hosts Saturday Night Special, An East Bay Open Mic, curates Litquake’s Flight of Poets, and is a founder and core producer of Oakland’s Beast Crawl Literary Festival.

Na'amen Gobert Tilahun has spent most of his life shuttling between San Francisco and Los Angeles. He writes many different things that have appeared in/on io9.com, Fantasy Magazine, Queers Dig Time Lords, Stone Telling, Full of Crows, The Big Click, faggot dinosaur, Spelling the Hours, Eleven Eleven and others. He was recently named one of 13 Bay Area Writers to Watch/Read in 2016 by 7X7 magazine and his debut novel, a second-world epic/urban fantasy, The Root was published by Night Shade Books in June.

Dominique Gelin is a comedian in San Francisco who offers strong opinions on stupid things, -isms, and assholes. It’s all very fascinating. Before moving to the Bay Area, she was a finalist for the Ultimate Miami Comedian and was a part of the Boca Raton Comedy Festival. Dom has also touched the stage of a really famous comedy club that one time. She co-hosts two comedy shows, Millennials Ruin Everything and The Lazy Brunch Hour.

Curtis Chen is the author of Waypoint Kangaroo. His short fiction has appeared in "Daily Science Fiction" and SNAFU and will be featured in Baen's MISSION: TOMORROW. On top of all that, he's a former software engineer and once built a cat feeding robot. He lives in Vancouver, Washington.

About Writers With Drinks:

Writers With Drinks has won numerous "Best ofs" from local newspapers, and has been mentioned in 7x7, Spin Magazine and one of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City novels. The spoken word "variety show" mixes genres to raise money for local causes. The award-winning show includes poetry, stand-up comedy, science fiction, fantasy, romance, mystery, literary fiction, erotica, memoir, zines and blogs in a freewheeling format.

My MidAmeriCon II Schedule

If you're going to Worldcon later this month, here's where you can find me:

SFWA Autographing: Curtis Chen
Friday 16:00 - 16:50, SFWA Table (Kansas City Convention Center)
I'm volunteering to staff the SFWA Table, and I'll be there starting at 3:00pm along with Ed Lerner. Stop by and say hello!

Reboot! Changing Up Comic Characters
Friday 18:00 - 19:00, 2204 (Kansas City Convention Center)
"Spider Gwen, Amadeus Cho, Thor, Captain America. We've seen a lot of rebooted characters in the the last couple of years with dramatically altered social and cultural backgrounds. The panel discuss how these 'new' old characters have changed the Marvel Universe, for better and worse."
Mr. Robin Wayne Bailey (M), Nina Niskanen, David VonAllmen, Mr. Curtis Chen

...and I'll otherwise be wandering around, probably in search of barbecue and/or booze.

If you run into me at the con, ask for a "TEAM KANGAROO" ribbon to decorate your badge and show your support for the hapless hero of my debut novel Waypoint Kangaroo!



Last but not least, my friend, Clarion West classmate, and all-around awesome person Marlee Jane Ward is organizing a Karaoke Extravaganza on Thursday night. This is a private(ish) event, so if you're interested, message me on Facebook and I'll invite you!

The Kanga-Roundup

Yesterday was the "book birthday" for my debut novel WAYPOINT KANGAROO, and I did a bunch of guest blog posts and interviews to coincide with its release! But first things first...

Tor.com is running a sweepstakes to give away five copies of the book! Enter before 12noon Eastern Time this Friday, June 24th (US/Canada only).

And now on to the blog posts! Some of these may be more interesting to writers and other publishing professionals, but I hope they give every interested party some more insight into what went into creating Kangaroo:

John Scalzi, one of my instructors at Viable Paradise XII, was kind enough to offer me a spot on The Big Idea.

Mary Robinette Kowal, erstwhile Portlandian and all-around outstanding human being, generously let me ramble on about My Favorite Bit.

Alex Shvartsman, editor of the Unidentified Funny Objects anthology series, hosted my breakdown of WK's opening chapter on The Hook.

Sally 'Qwill' Janin—who, coincidentally, founded The Qwillery on my birthday in 2008—interviewed me about a variety of writing-related topics for the Qwillery's 2016 Debut Author Challenge.

Stephen Geigen-Miller, a fellow writer in Toronto and friend of the fabulous Claire Humphrey, interviewed me about Breaking In as a writer.

BONUS: related to "My Favorite Bit" above, you can hear an excerpt from the forthcoming audio book!


Thanks to everyone for supporting WAYPOINT KANGAROO. Launch day was fantastic. Now let's see if we can push this rocket all the way to Mars... and beyond!