3 Weeks of Awesomeness: George R.R. Martin, The Big Orange Book Festival, and Conjecture Con

Just a quick post on 3 events I'm stoked to attend in the next 3 weeks. First up is the first ever Big Orange Book Festival, hosted by Chapman University. It's happening this Friday and Saturday (Sept 21-22). I'll be giving 2 readings as part of the 10 at the Top series (one on Friday at 4PM outside the Fish Interfaith Center, and another on Saturday at noon outside the Leatherby Library), and I will also be participating in the Chapman MFA alum panel where fellow MFA grads and I will discuss what it's like to be a working writer these days, whether having a degree in writing is worth a hill of beans, etc. The panel is on Friday at 5:30PM, and will be followed by a book signing. Word is that a vendor will be there with books to purchase for anyone interested.



Next up is an exclusive reading by George R.R. Martin at the Orange County School of the Arts, hosted by the creative writing department. Seeing as how I'm teaching a class on Martin's writing this semester, James P. Blaylock worked some of his magic and talked Martin in to swinging by the school to talk to the students. (As you may remember, last year Jim talked Neil Gaiman to come and speak at the school.) Some tickets will be available to the public, and I'll be sure to add a comment to this post with a link to the box office once tix become available in the next couple of days. Needless to say, I'm stoked to get to meet one of my favorite writers. The Martin class is going great. I finally finished Fevre Dream, which is a great read, and teaching the class is a great excuse to catch up on a lot of Martin's short fiction I haven't gotten the chance to read yet.

Last up in my 3 week extravaganza is the Conjecture Con, on October 5-7. Fellow The Roads to Baldairn Motte collaborator Craig Comer and I will have a booth in the Dealer's room to chat with attendees, sell books, and sign autographs. We'll also be giving away a few free books, so if you're attending the convention, make sure to stop by and say hi. In fact, if you're attending any of the 3 events I've mentioned, please, please come and say hi. I'm very excited to finally get out from behind the computer and get to talk with writers and readers face to face again.

-Garrett Calcaterra