ConQuest 48 Schedule – Bryan Thomas Schmidt & Amelie

This weekend is my annual trek to Kansas City for our local science fiction convention, ConQuest at the Downtown K.C. Sheraton. Guest of Honor is Robert J. Sawyer and Toastmaster Jonathan Maberry, and I will be spending time when not on panels at a dealer room table selling their books. So here’s where to find me outside the dealer room which is open as follows:

Fri 12-6
Sat 10-6
Sun 10-4

Special Guest: Amelie will be accompanying me much of the time.

MAY 26 • FRIDAY

  5:00pm –  5:50pm L Tales of the Weird West

Fremont (2345 McGee St, Kansas City, MO 64108)

 

A discussion of speculative stories set in the Old West.
Moderators: Bryan Thomas Schmidt
Speakers: Rob Chilson, Christopher McKitterick

  6:00pm –  6:50pm M Opening Ceremonies

Chicago (2345 McGee St, Kansas City, MO 64108)

Moderators: Margene S. Bahm
Speakers: Earline Beebe, Jonathan Maberry, Rachael Mayo, Robert J. Sawyer, Zac Zacarola

  9:00pm –  1:00am E Little Green Men–Attack! Kansas City

N/A (2345 McGee St, Kansas City, MO 64108)

 

A launch party with editors Bryan Thomas Schmidt and Robin Wayne Bailey and authors like Selina Rosen and more.
Moderators: Bryan Thomas Schmidt

MAY 27 • SATURDAY

 12:00pm –  12:50pm L Editors Are Not The Enemy

Empire B (2345 McGee St, Kansas City, MO 64108)

 

Authors and editors discuss the invaluable relationship of working together.
Moderators: Bryan Thomas Schmidt
Speakers: Claire Ashgrove, Rich Horton, Jonathan Maberry, Robert J. Sawyer

  2:00pm –  2:50pm L Humor In Science Fiction and Fantasy

Fremont (2345 McGee St, Kansas City, MO 64108)

 

A discussion of humorous tropes and stories down through SF history. Who are the key writers? What should you be reading? and more.
Moderators: Bryan Thomas Schmidt
Speakers: Robin Wayne Bailey, Selina Rosen

  4:00pm –  4:50pm U Little Green Men: Then And Now

Empire B (2345 McGee St, Kansas City, MO 64108)

 

A discussion of the alien encounter trope through SF history in various media from literature to film and beyond.
Moderators: Bryan Thomas Schmidt
Speakers: Robin Wayne Bailey, James Gunn, Robert J. Sawyer, Ken Keller

  6:00pm –  6:50pm L Editing 101 For Writers

Benton (2345 McGee St, Kansas City, MO 64108)

 

Popular annual workshop for writers on self-editing tips run by two successful editors.
Moderators: Bryan Thomas Schmidt
Speakers: Claire Ashgrove

MAY 28 • SUNDAY

 11:00am –  11:50am O One On One With Jonathan Maberry

Empire B (2345 McGee St, Kansas City, MO 64108)

 

Come chat with Bryan Thomas Schmidt and Jonathan Maberry about Maberry’s life and work.
Moderators: Bryan Thomas Schmidt
Speakers: Jonathan Maberry

  1:00pm –  1:50pm L The Science Of Science Fiction

Empire B (2345 McGee St, Kansas City, MO 64108)

 

A discussion of science in science fiction: what are the key elements? Important writers and works? Etc.
Moderators: Bryan Thomas Schmidt
Speakers: Kij Johnson, Robert J. Sawyer, H.G. Stratmann

Mission: Tomorrow Coming To Baen in 2015 — My Latest SF Anthology Sale

Well, it’s been a really busy month, and so I have not managed to blog as intended. But it’s for good reasons. I’ve been booking SFFWRTCHT’s final six months, as it’s regular weekly Twitter incarnation will be ending this Fall. I have been working on lots of editing and packaging anthologies, and I sold two anthologies–one I can’t yet announce details on, and the other of which I will detail here. I already announced on Facebook but here’s the details for those who missed it.

My fourth science fiction anthology will be my second anthology for Baen, my first as solo editor there.  Inspired again by my grandmother’s and my shared passion for NASA’s space program, this one caught the interest of some amazing talents. I have fourteen headliners attached here, and thirty other people vying for the remaining six to eight slots. There will be two reprints, both by Grandmasters, and the rest will be original to this project.

Toni Weisskopf bought it within a few days of receiving my pitch. Ironically, I had so many proposals on her desk, I had been pitching it elsewhere for six months before finally trying her. Perhaps from now on I should just go to Baen first. Contractually, given the options, I rather have to. In any case, it’s been a great experience working with Baen so far, and I look forward to a long and healthy relationship there.

So here’s the scoop:

MISSION : TOMORROW – A NEW CENTURY OF EXPLORATION

Edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt

Mission: Tomorrow is a pro-paying anthology of 95,000 words in which Science Fiction writers imagine the future of space exploration in a world no longer dominated by NASA. What might it look like? Private or public? Stories of space exploration, travel and adventure. Coming from Baen Books in 2015.

Headliners: Catherine Asaro, Robin Wayne Bailey, Gregory Benford, Ben Bova, Michael Capobianco, Brenda Cooper, David Farland, Michael F. Flynn, James Gunn, Sarah A. Hoyt, Jack McDevitt, Mike Resnick, Robert Silverberg, Jack Skillingstead

Yep, so a mix of hard and soft science fiction for this one, adventure and real science blended to make for some interesting near future tales of space exploration. Silverberg’s reprint is a story about the exploration of Venus, and Gunn’s is about exploring a wormhole. Ben Bova has written a new Sam Gunn story that features a Chinese female astronaut as the protagonist encountering Sam Gunn. Beyond that, I am waiting to see what comes in, but with the people involved, I’m quite excited about it.

You can find it on Goodreads here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21023216-mission

Meanwhile, I sold a Young Adult anthology, a mix of science fiction, fantasy and horror, all reprints except for three new stories, but filled with huge names, to a foreign publisher, my second non-US sale, after Raygun Chronicles. I’ll release details once contracts are signed, as it’s all verbal now, but expect to see it and Mission: Tomorrow both released in 2015.


Bryan Thomas Schmidt is an author whose debut novel received Honorable Mention on Barnes & Noble’s Year’s Best Science Fiction of 2011. He’s written novels, children’s books and short fiction and edited several anthologies, including two for Baen, Shattered Shields, coedited by Jennifer Brozek (November 2014) and Mission: Tomorrow( forthcoming Fall 2015).