Hello, Persons-who-read-my-blog!

In a few hours, I will be boarding a plane. This plane will cross an ocean and land in one place, and then I will get on another plane which will cross a continent and land in…

HELSINKI!

That’s right, campers – I’m off to Worldcon! To distant Scandanavia! So close to Russia and yet so far from Japan!

(but seriously, I need to get that song out of my head. The Finns will think I’m insane.)

Hopefully I will see some of you there. If not, hopefully I’ll see somebody I know. If, by some lucky confluence of events, you will happen to be there and happen to also wish to see me/meet me/accost me, this is where you’ll be able to find me:

Panel #2: It Can’t Happen Here

Saturday 18:00 – 19:00, 216 (Messukeskus)

It can’t happen here:  Looking at the headlines these days, and many people seem to be thinking bad things can’t happen where they live, but then we get Brexit.  President Trump.  Turkey sliding into authoritarian theocracy.  Russia annexing Crimea with the international community watching.  What can history teach us about things that can happen, and how do we write SF that is not going to be dystopias after dystopias?  Heinlein’s story, Logic of Empire ends with the line “Things are bound to get a lot worse before they can get any better.”  Is this inevitable?  What can we do about it, and how can SF offer hope for the future with our fictional worlds?

So, there it is – my schedule! I hope to meet new people and see new things and learn new stuff. I also hope my book signing isn’t an hour of me sitting alone at a table (grand ambitions, I know).

See you all on the other side!