Last year, I was on two panels at DragonCon. One was on “Weird Westerns” alongside fellow Atlanta Horror Writers Association member Gini Koch and the other was about the Netflix show American Primeval, which is basically “what if the Utah War was depicted in the style of Game of Thrones.”
(Not in terms of raunch, but terms of moral ambiguity, chronic backstabbing, and unhappy or at least bittersweet endings.)
(Image courtesy of DragonCon website.)
As of now, I’m confirmed for one panel this year. Here it is:
Panel Title: Masterclass: Different Cultures in Steampunk
Panel Description: Steampunk isn’t just Victorian England. This panel explores how authors can weave different cultures into their work to reinterpret the genre: blending history, fashion, and technology into the unique, global visions of steam-powered storytelling.
Hotel / Room: Courtland Grand in our Macon Track Room
Day / Time: Saturday at 11:30 AM
Moderator: Walter Hunt
Panelists: Milton Davis, Antionette Brown-Waithe, Susan Griffith, and Matthew Quinn
Panel looks pretty stacked — Hunt wrote a number of books set in the 1632 fictional universe, while Griffith co-wrote the Vampire Empire series. I’m less familiar with Davis’s work and even more so with Brown-Waithe’s, but based on Davis’s Amazon page, he’s got a lot going on.
Although my own work gives me a certain credibility — the Wastelands world features steampunk Vikings, the Venice-mimiciking Everetti and Genoa-mimicking Tejadan merchant republics trying to hold together something resembling a 21st Century civilization with baling wire and chewing gum, the Wild West Merrills, and the Asian Jiao’s post-apocalyptic ocean-crossing migration — I don’t want to turn this into a self-promotion festival. To that end, I’ve gotten Karen Memory and The Sea Is Ours: Tales of Steampunk Southeast Asia from the library to read in advance. I’ve also read the first two of Cherie Priest’s Clockwork Century books from the 2010s.
If you’re going to the show, definitely come on by.
Guest Post Opportunities for The Coming Year
This school year (2026-27), I will be taking after-school classes on teaching gifted students. I’m also serializing my Battle for the Wastelands prequel novel War for the Whale-Road and, when it’s done (probably in March or April), running a Kickstarter to fund a completed novel. Although I’ve stockpiled posts already, mostly movie and book reviews, and plan on using Substack’s cross-posting feature to share others’ posts you might find interesting, I’m also in the market for guest posts.
If you’ve got an idea for a post, contact me and we’ll discuss it. I’ve previously run guest posts from British indie author Christopher G. Nuttall, my friend Nic, and my friend Emily that have been pretty popular. Here’s a chance for you to get your words (and links to your own publications, Amazon pages, etc.) in front of hundreds of readers.
(You could also cite it as a publication credit for resumes, job applications, etc. and post it on LinkedIn.)
My preferred topics:
*Science fiction
*Fantasy
*Horror
*Alternate History
*Book or film reviews, particularly speculative fiction
*Gaming — video games, board games, tabletop
*Craft of writing
*Marketing
*Crowdfunding
*History
*Science
Although I’ve posted about religion and politics before, I do it sparingly to avoid unnecessarily alienating my readers in these polarized times. This is something to avoid. Also, think about whether your proposed guest post is something my readers would enjoy. A significant percentage if not most of my newsletter readers are people who’ve bought my books at conventions and one assumes would be interested in things similar to my fiction.
If you’re interested, reply to this newsletter and we’ll discuss. Although I plan to cross-post other Substacks like I did with Tony Sarrecchia’s post on the international horror scene back in June, I’d like to give my readers opportunities.
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.