Got my Balticon schedule for Memorial Day weekend!

Sat 10:00 AM Mommy Issues

Sat 8:30 PM Religious Conflict in SFF

Sun 11:30 AM Non-European Folklore in SFF

Sun 1:00 PM Oz Through the Years

Sun 5:30 PM Orpheus Again?

Sun 7:00 PM Reading: Charles Gannon and Tom Doyle

www.balticon.org

Here’s my Ravencon Schedule!

Friday at 8:00 PM — Summers in Oz: L. Frank Baum and Macatawa, MI. (Madison Building – Spotsylvania)

Saturday at 9:00 AM — Why Won’t the Alien Intervention Theory Go Away? (Jefferson Building – King George)

Saturday at Noon — Reading (Jefferson Building – Fairfax Library)

Saturday at 1:00 PM — Fantasy = History? (Jefferson Building – Dinwiddie)

Saturday at 3:00 PM — Apocalyptic and Anti-Apocalyptic Fiction: Left Behind or Laughing? (Jefferson Building – Albemarle)

Saturday at 4:00 PM — Changing the Past (Jefferson Building – Dinwiddie)

Sunday at 11:00 AM — Story Structures Other Than the Hero’s Journey (Jefferson Building – King William) – moderator

Sunday at 1:00 PM — Sympathy for the Devil (Jefferson Building – Henry)

Today only, free downloads of my supernatural spy adventure in the ancient world, Agent of Exiles 1: The League of Set! https://www.graphicaudio.net/agent-of-exiles-1-the-league-of-set.html Promo code: AGENT24

My Capclave schedule (Rockville, MD Sept 27-29)

My presentation on Apocalyptic and Anti-Apocalyptic Fiction: Left Behind or Laughing? Fri .5pm

Relationships and Sex in Fantasy and Science Fiction, Fri. 9pm

Music as Muse Sat. 11am

Audiobooks Sat. 12pm

My Reading: Sat. 6pm

Authors Mass Signing: Sat. 7pm.

Capclave.org

I’ll be at Balticon (the Baltimore Science Fiction Convention) this Memorial Day weekend. Here’s my schedule:

Friday:

Reading (with Alex Shvartsman) 8:30pm

Panel: History is Not a Monolith 5:30pm

Saturday:

10am Religion and Spirituality in SFF

4pm 50 Years Ago in Science Fiction

5:30pm How Contemporary Fears Shape Apocalyptic Fiction

8:30pm Steering the Ship of State: Government in SFF

Sunday:

1pm SFF as Mythology

7pm Ask a Historian

8:30pm Does Close Reading Ruin the Enjoyment of SFF?

Monday:

10am Non-Western Medieval History

11:30am Creating Believable Cultures

1pm Religion & Government Conspiracies

During the summer of 1999, I interned at the Center for Millennial Studies at Boston University. While there, I read through their collection of premillennialist Christian apocalyptic fiction (such as the Left Behind series) and other related materials. After leaving the internship, I continued my studies, and I returned to present papers at three subsequent international conferences hosted by the Center.

My relevant publications:

“Christian Apocalyptic Fiction, Science Fiction and Technology,” The End That Does: Art, Science and Millennial Accomplishment (Millennialism and Society, Vol. 3), 2006.

“Christian Apocalyptic Fiction,” Strange Horizons, 8 April 2002. (Also in print in Strange Horizons: Best of Year Two, 2003)  

“Anti-Apocalyptic Fiction,” Strange Horizons, 27 May 2002. (Also in print in Strange Horizons: Best of Year Two, 2003)  

“Competing Fictions: The Uses of Christian Apocalyptic Imagery in Contemporary Popular Fictional Works. Part One: Premillennialist Apocalyptic Fictions,” Journal of Millennial Studies (Winter 2001).

“Competing Fictions: The Uses of Christian Apocalyptic Imagery in Contemporary Popular Fictional Works. Part Two: Anti-Apocalyptic Fictions,” Journal of Millennial Studies (Winter 2001)

“The Rapture, the Nerds, and the Singularity,” Fictitious Force #2, 2006.

Center for Millennial Studies Conference Presentations:

Competing Fictions: The Uses of Christian Apocalyptic Imagery in Contemporary Popular Fictional Works (2000). Presentation of two-part paper published the following year.

Premillennialist Apocalyptic Fiction and Technology:  Co-option and Confrontation (2001). 

Time for Premillennialist Apocalyptic Fiction Fiction  (2002). Regarding apocalyptic disappointment and the use of time in fiction.

Hey, Shepherd.com has posted my list of the “Best alternate/secret histories that completely blew my mind” here with commentary–check it out! https://shepherd.com/best-books/alternate-secret-histories-that-blew-my-mind

And here’s an interesting Shepherd list from Compton Crook Award-winner Alex Jennings: https://shepherd.com/best-books/boundary-pushing-fantasy

Enjoy!

Friday 5:30 pm: Religion, Secularism, and Atheism in SFF

Saturday 10:00 am: The Dark Ages in SFF

Saturday 11:30 am: Artificial Intelligence: Friend or Foe?

Saturday 4:00 pm: Reading

Sunday 10:00 am: Responding to the Moment: Writing for Today’s World

www.capclave.org

My Balticon Schedule:

Friday, May 27 5:30pm Mapping the Landscape

8:30pm Alternate History — Just Add Magic!

Saturday, May 28 1pm Most of What You Know About History Is Wrong

7pm The Historical Study of Warfare

Sunday, May 29 10am Reading

1pm Magic in the Ancient Mediterranean

7pm A 6th Century BCE Adventure

www.balticon.org

Nice review of Agent of Exiles in Library Journal:

Doyle’s first installment in the “Agent of Exiles” series, available only in audio through GraphicAudio, will captivate listeners with tales of action, intrigue, and magic, set amid the pyramids and tombs of ancient Egypt. With more than a passing nod to Indiana Jones and James Bond, this rollicking story follows the adventures of Samuel ben Yohanan, a secret agent for the Judean Court, and his unlikely companion and minder, Mehrnaz of the Flame. After an imprudent decision to help Cyrus the Great conquer Babylon, Samuel is dispatched on a secret mission to gain intelligence and destabilize Pharaoh Amasis II’s Egyptian court. This expedition would be an impossible task for most, but Samuel, a master magician with untapped talents, and Mehrnaz, a healer and head magi in King Cyrus’s court, take on the most powerful villains with aplomb. This full-cast production makes the most of the audio medium, deftly employing music, sound effects, and multiple voices. The result is a cinematic production that is witty and engaging, but also satisfyingly sensitive and complex.
VERDICT A fun addition to any collection, and a good crossover choice, particularly where graphic novels are popular.
Reviewed by Sarah Hashimoto, Jackson Dist. Lib., MI , Mar 01, 2022

https://www.libraryjournal.com/review/the-league-of-set-2136785