I'll shortly be on my way to MidAmeriCon II/the 74th World Science Fiction Convention. If you're attending, I hope you'll say hello!

Below is my schedule. I'm delighted and privileged to be on panels with some stellar folks in the SF community. Each event title links to its official description and list of participants.


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Last night at the 57th Southern California Journalism Awards ceremony, my Reason article "Not Your Parent's Dystopias: Millennial Fondness for Worlds Gone Wrong" won the 2015 award for Best Magazine Review/Criticism/Column. The Los Angeles Press Club kindly added these official comments: "What a great job of looking at dystopias past and present ( Read more... )

Wow! My article from the October 2014 issue of Reason Magazine, "Not Your Parents' Dystopias: Millennial fondness for worlds gone wrong," is a finalist for the L.A. Press Club's 2015 Journalism Award in the category of Magazine - Review/Criticism/Column. I'm honored!


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* The nominees for the 2013 Hugo Awards have been announced, and a very fine set of finalists they are. Congratulations to all of the nominees! I'm thrilled to say StarShipSofa has been nominated; heartfelt thanks to our listeners, supporters, and all the members of our extended family!

* R.I.P., Richard Griffiths (1947-2013), wonderful actor of ( Read more... )

Tonight I'll be offering a lecture ("'I Take My Life in My Hand': A Tale of Two Cherokees and the Trail of Tears") at the meeting of the Catawba County Executives' Club, and then tomorrow I'm off to Oklahoma for the induction into the Broken Arrow Great Graduates Hall of Fame. I'll be catching up with everyone as soon as I'm back home ( Read more... )

A few quick notes:

* Thanks to everyone who took part in yesterday's poll. It's still open, if anyone else would like to participate.

* Don't forget about this month's giveaway, which is open through October 30. Everyone who enters will win ( Read more... )

Happy birthday to knesinka_e, and happy early birthday to ithildyn, melissagay, and faramirgirl. May all of you have fantastic days and wonderful years to come!

All the Hobbit news from Comic-Con sounds wonderful! It looks like I'll be teaching my Tolkien seminar again for the Spring 2012 semester, and I expect the energy will be terrific ( Read more... )

Where has the time gone? Both of my summer classes are in full swing, and I have several essays due to editors this month, and... oh, that's where. Right.

I hope all's going well in your neck of the woods, my friends!

A few quick notes:

* Why had I never heard of the film The Lazarus Project? It's well done, really well shot and atmospheric, ( Read more... )

A few quick notes:

* I'm happy to say that The Philosophy of Joss Whedon (University Press of Kentucky, 2011), which includes my essay "‘Just Get Us a Little Further’: Liberty and the Frontier in Firefly and Serenity," is a finalist for the 2012 Long Mr. Pointy Award, an award given by the Whedon Studies Association for the year's best long work ( Read more... )

Good things:

* The nominees for the 2012 Hugo Award have been announced. I'm thrilled that StarShipSofa is a finalist, and I'm grateful to everyone who listens to and supports the podcast. Special congrats to my friends at the wonderful Apex Magazine for their nomination, as well!

* In honor of the second series of Sherlock coming to the US next ( Read more... )