I had a great time at Capclave this past weekend! Some highlights:

-the panel on Short Fiction in 2010, with Neil Clarke and Guests of Honor Jeff and Ann VanderMeer.  Neil asked me to recommend some new writers.  I mentioned Yoon Ha Lee, one of whose stories from BCS was up for an award at the con.  Also Margaret Ronald, one of whose steampunk stories from BCS, “A Serpent in the Gears,” is in the VanderMeer’s new steampunk anthology Steampunk Reloaded, and Genevieve Valentine, who has a story forthcoming in BCS in November.

-the panel on e-publishing, with Neil Clarke and Odyssey alum novelist James Maxey.  James has recently begun selling his back-list novels on Amazon Kindle US and UK, with good sales and generating good buzz for his current and upcoming novels.

-a quick chat with Guest of Honor Connie Willis, who was one of my instructors at Taos Toolbox.  She was witty and delightful, as always.

-taping a radio interview with Jim Freund, host of the New York City SF/F radio show Hour of the Wolf.  Jim and I have talked often about audio podcasting and audio in general–I was a college radio DJ many years ago. :)  The interview, which will probably air early next year, touched on my own fiction but mostly talked about BCS, including my editorial vision for the magazine and things I do in the BCS podcasts.

-my reading.  I read from a new unpublished story, “Letters on an Enlightened Discovery,” an epistolary set in colonial India about an archeologist who finds an ancient design for a metal elephant.  Attendees included Larry Hodges and Oz Drummond.

-dinner with the VanderMeers, Neil Clarke, and Genevieve Valentine.  Lots of great chat about steampunk stuff and editor things.  Ann remembered my story “Excision” that she published in her first issue of Weird Tales, and I learned that Jeff enjoys micro-brews almost as much as I do. :)

-Genevieve Valentine’s reading, from her forthcoming novel Mechanique, which is set in the same world as her forthcoming BCS story.

-the awards ceremony.  Capclave hosts the WSFA Small Press Award, and Yoon Ha Lee’s BCS story “The Pirate Captain’s Daughter” was a Finalist.  The winner was an author from Australia, Tansy Rayner Roberts, whose Australian editor, Alisa Krasnostein, was on-hand to accept.  It was an honor to be nominated, and I’m grateful to WSFA for having an award to acknowledge small presses and their authors.

Capclave 2011 Guests of Honor will include Carrie Vaughn, a bestselling Odyssey alum who I haven’t yet met in person, and they will have the WSFA Small Press Award again.  I’m there!

I was recently asked by Mishell Baker of the Clarion Foundation (who has a great story in BCS #47) to guest blog about my magazine Beneath Ceaseless Skies. They’ve had agents, like Matt Bialer and Russ Galen, do guest posts about the state of things in their part of the field. Mishell suggested that I talk abut why I started BCS in the particular niche of “literary adventure fantasy.”

I’ve talked about that in some other places before. It’s always hard for me to put it into words, since anything about fiction is so subjective. I really enjoyed thinking about it still more and refining my explanation, and this guest post I think is the best I’ve ever gotten it.

So if you’d like more insight into how I view literary adventure fantasy and BCS in general, check out my guest post and add your two cents to the discussion.

Got back from ReaderCon yesterday. It was awesome.

I saw and drank with lots of people I knew (Tom Crosshill, Maggie Ronald, Anne Cross, Mike Allen, Jay and Erin, my eternal partner in barley Mike DeLuca, and many others), met and drank with lots of new people I now know (Matt Kressel, Corry and Mary, Rajan, Amy, Mishell Baker, and many, many others), and had great interesting conversations with all of them.

Photographic evidence of the former, courtesy of Matt Kressel:

The BCS reading had eight authors, including one right off the airplane! :) And the room was packed with readers and fans. Thanks to everyone who read and everyone who came to listen.

And especially to everyone who came up to me in the Dealer’s Room or at parties and said they really like the magazine. That is always awesome to hear, each and every time, and I’m delighted you’re enjoying our fiction.

I will be at ReaderCon this weekend, the small and very cool literary F/SF con in Boston.

I’ll be promoting Beneath Ceaseless Skies, with some snazzy flyers featuring our new gorgeous cover art and some postcards with the cover of the Best of BCS anthology.

There will be a reading of BCS authors, including Margaret Ronald, Matthew Kressel, Mishell Baker, Erin Hoffman, Tom Crosshill, and more. It’s Friday at 6pm in the VT room. Drop by and hear some great literary adventure fantasy.

So if you see me in the halls (or in the bar! :) ), feel free to say hello!