Greg's Media
Interviews
Hour of the Wolf Radio Interview--June 20, 2009
My first interview with Jim Freund, who has interviewed literally every fantasy and science fiction author you've ever heard of (that's almost not an exaggeration). Hour of the Wolf has been running since before I was born, and I was honored to be added to the list of authors with this appearance. (Be warned--this is two hours of interview goodness!)
Authors Show Interview--October 27, 2009
An interview I did with Don McCauley and the Authors Show. Don prepares well for these things, and although my audio quality could have been better this was a pretty good, straightforward interview covering the basics of how The Third Sign came to be.
Hour of the Wolf Radio Interview, Take Two--January 23, 2010
My second go-round with Jim Freund and Hour of the Wolf; here I read a previously unheard short story featuring a character from my third novel, Grayshade. With luck you'll see more of this story in the months to come, though I can't say anything more about that yet! (Again, this is a two hour interview.)
Destinies Radio Interview--March 5, 2010
This was my first interview with Dr. Howard Margolin at WUSB, who has been running Destinies, the science fiction and fantasy show,for over twenty-five years--and though he may not have Jim Freund's author list, he makes up for it with an incredible group of luminaries from all portions of the fantasy and science fiction spectrum (artists, actors, directors, musicians, authors and others). He's also exceedingly well prepared, and asked a series of thoughtful and unusual questions I hadn't fielded before. And since the DJ after him never showed up for his show, we ended up turning a planned half hour interview into a ninety minute long epic, which means I was able to talk about/promote just about every aspect of my professional life--an unexpected and very cool thing. (Plus he did it with the soundtrack of LADYHAWKE in the background--how cool is that?)
Panel Appearances
Gen Con, August 13, 2009--Writers' Symposium--Great Opening Lines
One of the Writers' Symposium panels I was on at Gen Con with fellow writers Paul Genesse, Brad Beaulieu and (Guest of Honor) Pat Rothfuss--an interesting and fun panel, and it even features an obscure opera overture reference!
Gen Con, August 15, 2009--Writers' Symposium--Hunting Dragons
A second Writers' Symposium panel at Gen Con, all about the scaled things which cast long shadows over the genre of fantasy. I joined Paul Genesse, Richard Lee Byers and Daniel Myers, all of whom have a lot more dragons as such in their work than I do in mine, for this one...lots of fun. (Apologies in advance for the subpar sound quality here.)
Gen Con, August 15, 2009--Writers' Symposium--The Writer's Spirit
Another of the Writers' Symposium panels at Gen Con, this one on what motivates writers to do what they do, roughly speaking. But the panel ended up ranging widely through a number of topics, which was an interesting (and good) experience. I joined the inimitable Elizabeth Vaughan and Richard Lee Byers for this one.
A Brief Excerpt From Writers' Symposium, Gen Con, August 13, 2009--Great Opening Lines
This is a brief video excerpt of a panel I did at Gen Con for the Writers' Symposium--you can find the full audio for the panel above. (Apologies for the audio and video quality, which was not the best.)
Ad Astra, April 9, 2010--Same Old Settings
My first of four panels (three posted here, one over on the Academic side of my site) at the 2010 Ad Astra convention in Toronto, and I thought this was the best--it was ostensibly a panel on "overdone" settings in fantasy and science fiction, but as it happened the discussion ranged more widely than that...but without going off the rails, which can sometimes happen. Thoughtful discussion and a good mix of writers in the group made for a good panel (and actually well-attended, despite starting at 9 p.m. on Friday night)! I joined Rick Wilber, Karina Sumner-Smith, and Derek Kunsken for this one. (Be warned that the audio for all the 2010 Ad Astra material, while good quality most of the time, has some occasional volume spikes despite my best attempts to smooth them out.)
Ad Astra, April 10, 2010--Each Character's Voice
My third panel at Ad Astra 2010, this one on keeping characters' voices distinct. This was the largest panel I was on (always kind of a problem when you've only got a little under an hour to cover the topic)--I joined Hayden Trenholm, Grant Carrington, Karin Lowachee and Kate Story. Again, watch out for the couple of spikes in the audio volume.
Ad Astra, April 11, 2010--How to Get an Agent
This was my last panel appearance at Ad Astra 2010, and since it was about an important topic (getting the agent who can get your work sold), we had good turnout in a sizable room. Most interesting was that everyone on the panel (which included Megan Crewe, Adrienne Kress and Ian Keeling) had different paths to getting their agent, which is, I think, instructive...and I was told by a few of the attendees they were glad that we had a story or two of the "work at it and build up to an agent" variety, rather than everything being the "here's what happened that time that lightning struck" kind. Watch out for the few audio spikes here!
Readercon, July 9, 2010--MD PhD SWFA
This was my only panel at Readercon this year, and it was an interesting one--about how advanced degrees had impacted the writing careers of the panelists. More than one person noted the irony of having this panel right after the "Drop Out, Write On" session, with panelists who never graduated college, but the key point is that different paths work for different people. For me, academia was a valuable entry into the world of writing generally and speculative fiction more specifically, and the other panelists had (not surprisingly) similar takes. The panel had Brett Cox (who was the only other "Humanities" person), Lauren Burka, Anil Menon, Tom Easton and Joan Slonczewski. (I apologize for the audio--I had forgotten my digital recorder and thus recorded this with my netbook, an experiment I won't repeat.)
Gen Con, August 6, 2010--Writers' Symposium--The Protagonist
My first of a number of panels at the 2010 edition of Gen Con, this one on how to create a well-rounded and interesting protagonist, with fellow Writers' Symposium members Linda Baker, Richard Lee Byers, Dave Gross and Brad Beaulieu. Some interesting insights came out of this one, and I even managed to sneak in a Paradise Lost reference without being thrown out of the room for being too highbrow. :)
Gen Con, August 6, 2010--Writers' Symposium--The Antagonist
Another of my Writers' Symposium panels at Gen Con 2010, this one on (shockingly) how to create a well-rounded and non-cliched antagonist, with Richard Lee Byers, Marc Tassin and Brad Beaulieu. Again, some good insights here, though heaven only knows how Sex and the City ended up in the discussion... :)
Gen Con, August 6, 2010--Writers' Symposium--Setting is King
A third Symposium panel at Gen Con 2010, this one on how to establish an effective and memorable setting, with Maurice Broaddus, Chris Pierson, Robert Farnsworth, and Paul Genesse. This was one of my favorite panels at Gen Con, mostly because of the various approaches the panelists took to the topic...even if we couldn't agree on how to pronounce "gazetteer."
Gen Con, August 7, 2010--Writers' Symposium--Beat the Clock
This Symposium panel at Gen Con 2010 concerns deadlines, external pressures, and other things which bedevil authors just trying to get their next book finished. I joined Anton Strout, Don Bingle, and Tobias Buckell for this one, which had some good information mixed with some frightening revelations about Anton and Toby's love for Excel spreadsheets. Be afraid...be very, very afraid.
Gen Con, August 8, 2010--Writers' Symposium--The Next Step
My final Symposium panel at Gen Con 2010, this one on the next step in building your career after you've made your first pro sale. I was joined by Don Bingle, Lawrence Connolly, Steven Saus, and John Helfers (who was also the editor for THE THIRD SIGN)...some good advice and good fun here, particularly about Don's "evil canvas." (You never knew to be afraid of the big tent ITSELF, did you?)
Readings
Reading at University Bookstore, Seattle--June 26, 2009
This was my first "official" live reading after the release of The Third Sign, and I was lucky enough to have not only good turnout but a good venue--the University Bookstore is perhaps the best place for a fantasy/science fiction reading in the Pacific Northwest, and longtime SFF buyer Duane Wilkins has been bringing in big names as part of the author series here for years now. I'm looking forward to more readings here in the future. (My young cousin-in-law, less than a year old here, decided to make her presence felt in the early part of the reading--sorry, but you can take it up with her when she gets old enough to understand what you're saying!)
Reading at Riverdale Library, Riverdale, NY--July 18, 2009
My second live reading took place at our local library--appropriate, since the publisher for my first novel has a long standing relationship with libraries (as do I). Turnout was small but enthusiastic, and everyone (including my daughter Senavene, who you'll hear a couple of times in this reading) seemed to have a good time.
Reading at Ad Astra--April 11, 2010
Convention readings tend to be a hit or miss proposition, because there's so much cool stuff going on at one time that there's no way of knowing how many people you're going to get interested in your particular session. In this case, though, we had the benefit of three readers, matching me with Chris Jackson and (wait for it) Ed Greenwood! (Other conventions, take note: this method of pairing newer authors with more experienced/established ones is a great one, and I'm glad Ad Astra decided to go with the feedback they got from myself and some others from last year.) We had a reasonable turnout, particularly concerning it was the next to last session on Sunday after a number of people had already headed for home, and it was great hearing the other readings--particularly Ed's stuff, which as usual was fun and flawlessly presented. (A D and D session with Ed would be, I think, the most hilarious thing ever. How could it not be?) Audio quality is okay here but a bit quiet; my part of the reading, if you're only interested in that (but listen to the others if you have the time), starts about fourteen minutes in.