Read This: Redshirts

Last week, I went out to WORD Bookstore to celebrate the publication of my friend John Scalzi’s latest novel, Redshirts. It’s built off a concept that many science fiction fans, and certainly every Star Trek fan, will instantly recognize: There’s a certain level of starship crew member who, when sent out on a mission with more prominent, higher-ranking officers, isn’t going to be coming back alive. Although the term “redshirts” has achieved a generic level of recognition, it comes from those episodes of the original Trek series, where landing parties almost always seemed to consist of Kirk, Spock, one other billed cast member, and one poor wretch in a red shirt.

(You’ll notice that I’m wearing a red shirt of my own in the photo above; it’s the official Redshirts red shirt, no less!)

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19 June 2012 | read this |

Read This: BookExpo America’s Buzz Authors

I was delighted by the invitation to moderate the “Adult Buzz Authors” panel at the 2012 BookExpo America. During this short presentation, I introduced the audience to three novelists and one memoirist publishers will be showing particular promotional attention in the months ahead. The folks at BEA livestreamed the conversation out to the world at large, and have preserved the video file—so you can watch me do my Phil Donahue thing with the handheld mic, and of course more importantly learn about these four authors for yourself.

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11 June 2012 | read this |