Archive for Travel

Travel

Traveling to Boskone next month!

I was neglectful at posting my ConFusion schedule – ConFusion was amazing as usual, by the way – but I wanted to make sure I listed my Boskone schedule for next month. If you’re going to be there, come say hi!

Saturday:

  • 12pm: Reading: Mur Lafferty
    Independence (Westin)
  • 2pm: Kaffeeklatsch: Mur Lafferty
    Galleria – Kaffeeklatsch 1 (Westin)
  • 5pm: Building Worlds Within LitRPG and Games
    Marina 3 (Westin) :: Literature, litRPG, and games all share a common worldbuilding process, but at what point do those processes diverge? How do the specific genres drive the narrative, which in turn drives the worldbuilding template for these different types of stories? What key elements distinguish litRPG and gaming fiction from their speculative fiction peers?
    Auston Habershaw (M), Christopher Irvin, Mur Lafferty, M. C. DeMarco, Erin Roberts
  • 8pm: Game to Fiction/Fiction to Game
    Burroughs (Westin) :: Game designers have to come up with an interesting world and compelling story in much the same way as authors who write fiction. So, what does it take to adapt a game to fiction or fiction to game? What new opportunities does the process create? What obstacles need to be overcome?
    Gregory Wilson, Dan Moren (M), Joshua Bilmes (JABberwocky Literary Agency), Auston Habershaw, Mur Lafferty
  • 9pm: Star Wars and the Rebel Legacy
    Burroughs (Westin) :: Skywalker has risen, and from one end of the galaxy to the other, the rebels have been fighting against the Empire for years. Rebellion is often a part of a good science fiction or fantasy story, but what makes a good rebellion? Does the Star Wars universe tackle the nuances of rebellion? Do the rebels ring true? How might the Rebellion grow and change, and even evolve, in time?
    Mur Lafferty (M), Martha Wells, Pete Hollmer, Gregory Wilson

Sunday:

  • 10am: Autographing: Christine Taylor-Butler, Mur Lafferty, Christopher Paniccia, Darrell Schweitzer
    Galleria – Autographing (Westin)
Podcasts, Projects, Travel

ISBW #410: The Boss of Me

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 8:02 — 9.1MB)

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I’m back from hiatus and travel! And I decided something at WorldCon this year. Listen to find out what that is…

 

NOTE TO PATRONS- I lost my phone in Glasgow and had to replace it. The problem is, I am a fan of two factor authentication, which is great until you lose your phone and don’t have the ability to get any of your 2FA notices… so I can’t currently log into Patreon to post early/exclusive content. I have a note with Patreon support, let’s hope they get back to me soon.

Personal, Travel

Return to the world, and attending WorldCon

I’m back from hiatus, and in a whirlwind of packing to get ready for the Dublin, Ireland WorldCon. I’m very excited for this one since I love Dublin, and I have many good friends nominated for Hugo Awards (Including Ditch Digger writer and electric monk, Alasdair Stuart, for Best Fan Writer–You can see his writing on the Ditch Diggers site, actually!) Now I just have to pack to get there…

I’m old now, 46, and half the stuff I’m packing are medications and vitamins. So it goes.

Anyway, I wanted to get a post up this week to talk about the con, and post my schedule. Note- I don’t have an autograph session, which irked me but I realized it after the deadline of “you can complain up to this date”– which I totally understand, they can’t muck with the schedule this close to the con; I’m more blaming myself. But if you want a book signed, you’re welcome to come up to me in the hallway or after a panel. Don’t be shy.

Here is my schedule! (sic)

  • Fuzzy lines: decategorising creative work
    15 Aug 2019, Thursday 14:00 – 14:50, Liffey Room-2 (CCD)
    Authors write blogs, fanzines go online, publishers create fanzine-like websites, fancasts publish fiction, YouTube videos offer original dramatic performances. Is a fan artist defined by economics or by context, and what exactly constitutes a series anyway? How do we define the categories into which our creative outputs fall, and must every project fit into a category?
  • Creating Podcasts: Ideas, People, and Themes
    15 Aug 2019, Thursday 16:00 – 16:50, Wicklow Hall-1 (CCD)
    Podcasts are living, breathing conversations that at their best entice the participants and the audience in the free flow of entertaining, engaging, and enlightening conversation.  How do you pull this off?  How do you you pick the ideas, people, and themes  that give the right mix of energy and chemistry?  Come get some clues into how the magic is done from some of the best in the business. (And then go see our panellists’ podcasts over the rest of the convention.)
  • Kaffeeklatsch: Mur Lafferty
    16 Aug 2019, Friday 15:00 – 15:50, Level 3 Foyer (KK/LB) (CCD)
  • Hugo finalists discussion: Best Novel
    16 Aug 2019, Friday 16:30 – 17:20, Stratocaster BC (Point Square Dublin)
    The panel will discuss the finalists in the Hugo Award category for Best Novel.
  • Tabletop RPG as inspiration for creative writing
    17 Aug 2019, Saturday 16:00 – 16:50, Wicklow Room-3 (CCD)
    Tabletop roleplaying games (RPGs) take us to fantastical new worlds and allow us to explore these places with others; it’s no wonder that they inspire us far beyond the table. In this panel, authors will discuss how games they have run or played in provided inspiration or source material for future creative endeavours.
  • What I read when I was young
    18 Aug 2019, Sunday 10:00 – 10:50, Second Stage (Liffey-B) (CCD)
    The books we read in childhood often have a lasting influence. In this panel, finalists for the Hugo Award for Best Novel discuss the books that had a profound effect on the people they became. How did these works change them? Was this influence a good or a bad one? Is there a book they think everyone should read at least once in their life?
  • Ditch Diggers podcast: live recording
    18 Aug 2019, Sunday 14:00 – 14:50, Wicklow Hall 2B (CCD)
    Join the Ditch Diggers team of Mur Lafferty and Alasdair Stuart as they record their yearly live RPG where authors travel through the haunted woods of publishing to get to the golden castle of the NYT Bestseller list! On deck for this year’s game is Ursula Vernon. Promises to be asinine and include dice.
Podcasts, Projects, Travel

Ditch Diggers #67: Live from WorldCon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 48:36 — 62.9MB)

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  • The Ditch Diggers come to you from San Jose, California for their 4th Annual Ditch Diggers Live! from WorldCon 76 with special guests, authors KM Szpara and Margaret Dunlap!
  • Matt and Mur put Kellan and Margaret through the first ever Ditch Diggers’ Choose Your Own Publishing Career, forcing them to assume the roles of an aspiring fiction writing team building their publishing career from the ground up (with the audience’s help in determining their fate at each decision point).
  • Live Q&A with the WorldCon 76 audience, including a special guest appearance by Mur’s agent (and podcaster herself), Jennifer Udden of Barry Goldblatt Literary!

(Spoiler, we won the Hugo.)

Personal, Travel

WorldCon 2018 Schedule!

Who wants my WorldCon schedule? I got one! It’s busy! It includes running and recording! Come see me!

Patreon people, I will be coming up with a meetup time! Stay tuned!

Friday

Wrun With Writers
Friday 08:00 – 09:00, Lower Level Plaza (San Jose Convention Center)

Strolling with the Stars is a Worldcon tradition. But what about those of us who want something a little faster? A little sweatier? A little runnier? Join authors Mur Lafferty and Adam Rakunas as they lead you on a 2-3 mile no-drop run/walk/skip/wheel around Downtown San Jose. Everyone is welcome, no one gets left behind, and all participants will get an exclusive ribbon and bragging rights. (Mur Lafferty, Adam Rakunas)

The Book Bin Autograph Sessions
Friday 13:00 – 14:00, Dealers (San Jose Convention Center)

The Book Bin will be hosting autograph sessions in their booths (R4-R5) periodically during the convention.

Autographs
Friday 14:00 – 15:00, Autographing (San Jose Convention Center)

Robert Silverberg, Joe Haldeman, Mur Lafferty, Yasser Bahjatt, Heather Rose Jones, Christopher Paniccia, Marc Scott Zicree

Saturday

Escape Pod – Live at Worldcon
Saturday 10:00 – 11:30, 210DH (San Jose Convention Center)

Alasdair Stuart (Escape Artists Inc.) (M), SB Divya, Marguerite Kenner (Escape Artists Inc.), Benjamin C. Kinney, Norm Sherman, Setsu Uzume, Mur Lafferty

Reading: Hugo Finalists – Best Novel
Saturday 13:00 – 14:00, 211A (San Jose Convention Center)

Listen to some of this year’s Hugo Novel finalists as they share their work. (Ann Leckie, John Scalzi, Mur Lafferty)

Writing For A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Saturday 17:00 – 18:00, 230 (San Jose Convention Center)

What are the challenges and rewards of writing for one of the biggest franchises of all time? Join Lucasfilm Executive Editor Jennifer Heddle and Star Wars authors Mur Lafferty and Lou Anders as they discuss the special handling that comes with developing stories for iconic pop culture characters. (Jennifer Heddle (M), Mur Lafferty, Lou Anders)

Sunday

Ditch Diggers podcast
Sunday 11:00 – 12:00, 210DH (San Jose Convention Center)

Join Mur Lafferty & Matt Wallace for the Hugo-nominated Ditch Diggers podcast, “Live and In Person!” (Mur Lafferty, Matt Wallace)

Monday

Bringing Up Geek
Monday 11:00 – 12:00, 210E (San Jose Convention Center)

It’s never been easier to bring up the baby in geek! Sharing your old nerdy toys and TV shows is just the beginning. At what age do you start them on Star Wars or Doctor Who or D&D? What order? What are the smallest sized in geek fashion? When do you have the talk with them about how problematic the fridging element is in Kyle Rayner’s origin? Our panelists talk about bringing up the baby. (Mur Lafferty (M), Chris Castro, Alison Stern, Bruce MacDermott, Greg Bear, Janice Marcus)

Kaffeeklatsch: Mur Lafferty
Monday 14:00 – 15:00, 211B1 (San Jose Convention Center)

Personal, Travel

My NorwesCon Schedule

This coming weekend I’ll be in Seattle for NorwesCon, and they’ve put me on some Friday events! I’m landing early Friday afternoon* so I will get to the social ASAP. Hope to see folks there!

Friday

  • PK Dick Social*
    1:00pm – 3:00pm @ Presidential Suite 1360
  • All About the Philip K. Dick Award
    4:00pm – 5:00pm @ Evergreen 3 & 4
  • Lifetime Members’ Dinner
    5:00pm – 7:00pm @ Grand 2
  • Philip K. Dick Awards
    7:00pm – 8:30pm @ Grand 2

*Will be late

Family, Podcasts, Projects, Travel

ISBW #382: Back to basics

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:43 — 36.5MB)

Subscribe: Email | TuneIn | RSS

I’m back from WorldCon and I’m back to basics. We talk about the rules of writing and why they’re there.

  • Why shouldn’t I use adverbs? (And the follow-up, if I strip all the adverbs does it automatically make my book better?)
  • What’s character agency?
  • Isn’t following the Hero’s Journey and genre rules like “romances must have an HEA (happily ever after)” stifling and creating “paint by numbers” books?
  • And more!

Here are some Worldcon photos, because.

LOSERS ARE AWESOME! Micaela Tobin, William Hutson, Daveed Diggs, and me (taken by Jonathan Snipes, third member of clipping.)
George RR Martin has officially made me a loser!
I am a badass, my husband Jim is just dandy, thanks very much. We make a good team. <3
Me, Ursula Vernon, and Kameron Hurley, and we are SO READY TO LOSE THAT HUGO. (Ursula failed at losing.)
Me and Alasdair Stuart (he’s pretending to be Matt Wallace. I’m scowling cause he told me to.)

I reference a lot of books this episode, links below! (affiliate)

The fine print:
Theme music by John Anealio.

Creative Commons License
I Should Be Writing #382 by Mur Lafferty is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Books, Consuming media, Editing, Family, Personal, Projects, Travel

Peeking out of the burrow

I recently was looking for news on someone and I went to their blog. There was nothing on there but occasional podcasts. Then I realized that, uh, my own blog is just like that. I haven’t posted anything new in a very long time. I also have been very quiet on Twitter.

Part of the reason why I haven’t posted is depression over the election. I haven’t posted anything regarding that because I have nothing new to say about it that 2.6+ million people haven’t already said. I’m despondent and afraid.

But life goes on. I have to get out of my burrow and keep going and keep creating. So first, a rather lengthy update on me:

Books and other Fictiony things!
Six Wakes and Bookburners (affiliate links) come out next month! Six Wakes received a STARRED REVIEW OMG from Publishers Weekly.

This space-based locked-room murder mystery explores complex technological and moral issues in a way that’s certain to earn it a spot on award ballots.

Bookburners also got some Publishers Weekly love.

The action jumps around the globe, with side trips to other dimensions, while the writing briskly slides between vividly horrific and flippantly camp.

(You can probably guess who wrote the “flippantly camp” episodes.)

And my short story will appear in Star Wars Insider on December 27! “Voices of the Empire” was teased on Del Rey’s facebook page today!

art by Jason Chan!
art by Jason Chan!

Travel and other travely things!
We recently got back from a big time weekend in New York City for Jim’s birthday where we were hardcore tourists: Empire State Building, ice skating, shopping, restaurants, and the crowning event, seeing Hamilton! I can safely say that if anyone was worried the actors replacing the original cast would be sub-par, there is nothing to worry about. It’s still an amazing show that had us both laughing and crying. It was a thrill to see a handful of original cast members like Okieriete Onaodowan and Jasmine Cephas Jones (not to mention Thayne Jasperson from the ensemble).

Holidays
Fiona and I decided not to do the traditional Advent Calendar video podcast, what with travel for us and homework for her. She’s doing great in high school, though, we are typical crazy proud parents.

We are staying home for Christmas, and I continue to watch made for TV holiday movies so that you don’t have to. I’ll be reviewing them on the site, so long as I can continue to stay above ground close to my burrow.

What else?
Fiona got her braces off. She was pissed off that she needed to re-learn how to play the trumpet again.

Mothership Zeta has decided to go on hiatus and our last magazine before the break will be next month.

In November I remembered how tiring audiobook recording was when I narrated Six Wakes. But it’s done!

I participated in NaNoWriMo last month, and even though I didn’t win, I got farther than I ever had before. I ended at 45000 words, and although some might say “oh, so close!” I still feel pretty damn good about it. With two days left and more narration to do (see above) I knew I wouldn’t make the 7000 words I needed to win. So I ended up at 45K and satisfied.

I quit drinking soda. I’m pretty pissed that I haven’t seen any benefit from it. I hate it when they say “this is so bad for you” and then when you cut it out, nothing happens. Probably something good is going on inside but I can’t tell any difference.

And that’s the news with me. I think I hit most of the important points.

Meta, Travel

Wrun with Writers, Voltron, and Me

MONETARY UPDATE: We’re up to $265! Come on folks, let’s get me into clothing that won’t make me overheat and die!

Update 8-16-16: We didn’t get the attention I’d hoped for, so I just bought myself a Power Rangers dress to run in anyway. We did raise $265 for Worldbuilders, and that’s nothing to sneeze at. Hope to see people at the Wrun with Writers event on Friday!

The whole thing with Voltron started with me commenting on Twitter regarding NC politics, cheering on our Attorney General Roy Cooper. So I posted this on Twitter.

Then, author Adam Rakunas posted this:

https://twitter.com/rakdaddy/status/762479651096633344

Wrun with Writers is our twist at Stroll with the Stars, which is a common SF convention event where people can go walking with guests from the con. Last year Adam and I were talking about our love of running, and we said we would run together, and then suggested making it an event. Thus Wrun with Writers was born.

It’s not a race; it’s just a 5K (3.1 miles, or one standard Pokemon egg) trek, as fast or slow as you like, around Kansas City. Then breakfast. Cause you will deserve a breakfast.

The first one happened at Spokane WorldCon, which was on fire. We had four people, including we two organizers. It wasn’t very smoky, but ash was falling from the sky. It was quite apocalyptic and thrilling, actually. I’m looking for pictures on Twitter but it’s hard to search a year back. Trust me. It was epic.

So this year we’re doing it again, and hoping for more than four people. And apparently now I’m doing it in a Voltron costume. Only, I want some incentive, and Adam’s offer gave me an idea.

I will only run in a ridiculous outfit if people give to charity. Adam’s pledged $100 and by gum I’m holding him to that, so I guess we’re already at Voltron. But let’s up the stakes.

$100– Voltron Costume (for men, apparently)
$200– Disguise Women’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Sassy Raphael Halloween Costume
$300– Disguise Women’s Deluxe Power Ranger Costume I will also add $100* and Adam will wear a costume. He hasn’t agreed to this yet. But I don’t care.
$400– Power Rangers Blue Ranger Skater Dress
$500– Disguise Women’s Sassy Deluxe Power Ranger Costume

More than $500??? I will take suggestions, with the caveat that I will not wear something that will cause health problems (I’m running, after all) or cause me to hate the world, ie sexy Ghostbuster. I will not do Sexy Ghostbuster. I will do legit Ghostbuster. Let’s call that:

$600- Legit Ghostbuster  (hell, I might just get this cause it’s awesome) and I’ll find a proton pack. Or proton pistols Holtzmann style.

Movie-Ghostbusters-2016-2

* My $100 will not count toward the grand total.

Note- I leave for WorldCon next week, and I will have to order the costume, so this has to be a quick fund drive. I’m posting it Monday night, but will be promoting it Tuesday all day.

The charity: Worldbuilders! Worldbuilders is a charity founded by author Pat Rothfuss in order to use the collective power of readers, fellow authors and book lovers to make the world a better place. Money earned goes toward Heifer International, one of my favorite charities.

So how do you do this? Let’s cut out the middle Mur and encourage you to donate directly to Worldbuilders, and then mail your receipt to mightymur@gmail DOT COM and I’ll add it to the total. And we’ll see how crazy this gets.

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