Category: Dragon*Con

Categories
Dragon*Con Fiction Glass Darkly Short Fiction

Dan McGirt Short Story Update – Glass Darkly and the Skull in the Box

UPDATED: The Legacy of the Phoenix anthology release date has apparently been pushed back to October 2016. Stay tuned.

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

Today I’m recovering from Dragon Con, still in a groggy haze as the accumulated sleep deficit of five straight days of late nights catches up with me. As usual, I spent most of my time in sessions of the Writers’ Track, organized by the indefatigable Nancy Knight, taking notes and jotting down ideas, with some side trips to the Paranormal track to glean ghost story ideas and some pure fan activity to see actors from some of my favorite shows.

As you may recall my short story “The Red Hook Incident” was expected to be released in August, as part of the Strange Arcana anthology. That project has been delayed – for what are actually quite good reasons and great news for the organizers – and will most likely be out in 2017, but with no firm date yet.

What that means for those keeping score is that while “The Red Hook Incident” was my first professional short story sale, a different story will see publication first: “Glass Darkly and the Skull in the Box”. This is a story I wrote over the 2015 Christmas holidays and submitted in January for a forthcoming anthology from Gilded Dragonfly Books.

Gilded Dragonfly (GDB to friends) is a small press based in Georgia, co-founded by Nancy Knight (there she is again!) and several other writers/editors . Last year GDB released Legends of the Dragon Vol 1, featuring fantasy and horror short stories set at Dragon Con (and with a great cover by Georges Jeanty for any Jeanty compleatists). I thought it would be fun — and a challenge, given my aversion to writing short stories — to submit a story for the planned Volume 2. Which I did.

For good and sundry reasons, Volume 2 morphed into The Legacy of the Phoenix, an anthology of stories set at the fictional MagnaCon held (fictionally) in Atlanta every Memorial Day weekend. MagnaCon is similar to Dragon Con, but far stranger…

Anyway, my story was accepted and I made the needed minor revisions to fit the new MagnaCon frame. The anthology should be out in paperback and ebook in about two weeks (Sept 24). I’ll share more details about “Glass Darkly and the Skull in the Box” soon.

Best regards,

Dan McGirt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Categories
Audiodrama Dragon*Con

Dragon Con 2015

Dragon Con logoGreetings, Loyal Reader!

I will be attending Dragon Con this week September 4-7, 2015, in Atlanta, Georgia.

This year I am not going as an official con guest, but as a fan like you! So I have no panels, readings, or formal appearances scheduled. I’ll be sitting in the audience, gawking at the costumes, and standing in line along with everyone else.

If you see me at Dragon Con, please say hi!

Best regards,

Dan McGirt

Categories
Appearances Dragon*Con SFWA Sisters in Crime Writers Police Academy Writing

Dragon Con and Writers’ Police Academy

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

I had a busy September and as we head into fall and I thought I’d bring you up to speed:

Dan McGirt at Dragon Con 2013Dragon Con

I was a guest at Dragon Con in Atlanta. A special thanks to the Loyal Readers who attended my reading, my book signing, and my panel on Writers and the Law!

At the reading, I read the first two chapters of Noble Cause and handed out copies of Hero Wanted. I was assigned a tiny room in the sub-sub-sub basement of the Hyatt, so you had to be very determined or very lost to find me. Either way, it was a fun, fantastic audience!

The line at my book signing was not very long — which meant I got to chat with several Loyal Readers, some of whom had traveled a great distance to have me sign their copy of Jason Cosmo or Hero Wanted.  Thanks for stopping by and letting me know you enjoyed my books! That is always good to hear and very motivating as I work on the next book!

I ran the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) table for a couple of hours, hopefully not doing any permanent damage to SFWA’s reputation! I spoke with several young writers who had questions about what to do next. My advice to them can be summarized as write, write, write, and write some more. Also, read. (One would-be writer said he doesn’t read much, which puzzled me.)

I got to talk shop with writers Larry Niven, Kevin J Anderson, and Timothy Zahn, among others. I also chatted up several fantasy artists whose work you may find on the covers of my future books!

Writers Police Academy

Almost immediately after Dragon Con, I was off to Greensboro, North Carolina for Writers’ Police Academy. This amazing conference is organized by the tireless Lee Lofland and sponsored by Sisters in Crime, Inc. Two hundred writers of mysteries, thrillers, romantic suspense, YA and related genres took over a honest-to-gosh police academy for the weekend!

We attended demonstrations and lectures on forensics, police procedure, emergency rescue, and many other aspects of law enforcement and criminal investigations. I learned a lot! (I still need to process my notes).

We also got hands on training in fingerprinting, building searches, a realistic Virtual Reality firearm simulator (apologies to the imaginary family of the imaginary hostage I shot) and so much more no one could do it all.

Authors Lisa Gardner and Kathy Reichs and DNA expert Dr. Dan Krane gave excellent talks.

Again, I gained lots of great ideas for future books and stories (as well as, again, talking shop with lots of smart, talented, savvy writers.)

Two excellent events — but I’ve been writing too! Next post, I’ll update you on what I’m working on and what I’m doing next.

Best regards,

Dan McGirt

Categories
Appearances Dragon*Con Noble Cause

Dan McGirt at Dragon*Con 2013

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

Dragon*Con is the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction & fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music and film in the universe. It will be Aug 30-Sept 2 in Atlanta, Georgia. Naturally, I’ll be there!

dragoncon logoIf you’ll be there too, here is my schedule. Please come and say hello!

FRIDAY, AUG 30

Reading and Q&A
Time: 4:00-5:00 pm (1 hr)
Location: University – Hyatt

At this session I will read a selection from Noble Cause and answer questions about my work.

SATURDAY, SEP 1

SFWA Table
Time: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (1 hr)
Location: Not sure.

In an astonishing lapse of judgment, the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) is leaving me in charge of their table during this period. Location unknown, but I’ll find it!

Autograph Session
Time: Sat 4:00-5:00 pm (1 hr)
Location: International Hall South – Marriott

I share this session with several other writers: Jane Espenson, Brad Bell (TV writers, I think), S.M. Stirling (Dies the Fire, Island in the Sea of Time, etc) Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (the Saint-Germain Cycle and much more).

Laws and the Writer
Time: Sat 7:00-8:00 pm (1 hr)
Location: Embassy D-F – Hyatt

The official description is: “How the law affects you as a writer, what protections it offers, and how to seek the help
of a professional.” I think that means the help of a legal professional. I will discuss copyright, defamation, plagiarism, contracts and other legal issues relating to writers. Lots of time for audience questions. I am a lawyer, but (as I will repeat several times) anything I say in this session is not legal advice, but is for informational purposes only. Every situation is unique and if you need legal advice you should retain an attorney of your own.

SUNDAY – MONDAY

On these days, and when I am not at the above sessions on Friday and Saturday, I will be wandering around Dragon*Con. I look forward to seeing you there!

Best regards,

Dan McGirt

Categories
Appearances Dash: Into Space! Dragon*Con Fiction Writing

Dan McGirt at Dragon*Con 2013

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

dragoncon logoI am thrilled to announce I will be a guest at Dragon*Con 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia, August 30-September 2.  I’ll post details of my convention schedule when I know them. I hope to do a reading and/or signing and I’m sure to be on a couple of panels. Otherwise I’ll be wandering around, meeting up with friends and Loyal Readers, checking out all the great costumes, browsing the vendor offerings, meeting artists I might want to hire for future projects, and generally enjoying the convention! Do you know I’ve never actually seen the Dragon*Con costume parade down Peachtree Street? I’m looking forward to it!

Also, thanks to all those who have been reading Dash! Into Space! I’m sorry the story has been on hold for a while. But don’t worry! I’m not abandoning Dash and I’ll get back to the book later this year. I’ll be pretty busy through at least April, with work assignments and a short media tie-in novel I was hired to do — more details on that later. In the meantime, thank you for reading — and I hope to have more fun stuff for you soon!

Best regards,

Dan McGirt