Good times

I spent last Saturday at one of my favorite cons: Capclave.  It is (as the website describes), "a small relaxed literary convention," and always very pleasant. My three panels were "The Mule, Muad'dib, and Men Who Stare at Goats," "World Building: Planning and Execution," and "Military Science Fiction."

"Mule" -- despite an odd title -- dealt with a serious SFnal topic: humans with extraordinary abilities, and how we might get to Human 2.0. I'd not done a panel on that topic before, and enjoyed the change. (Small Miracles deals with nanotech in humans, and was certainly related, but the panel tended to go down the genetic-engineering path.)

"World Building" and "Military SF" are con staples -- and both applied very closely to Betrayer of Worlds, newly released, so I enjoyed those panels, too.

The GoH this year was Connie Willis, a great author, excellent con panelist, and entirely charming person.

Capclave is hosted annually by the Washington Science Fiction Association (WSFA). Quite a few of the Analog MAFIA (that's, "Making Appearances Frequently in Analog") live in the area, and Capclave is a reunion of sorts every year. You may be relieved to know I don't go around wearing my MAFIA buttons.

Finally, I was also interviewed about Betrayer of Worlds by satirical SF author William Freedman.