Next day, Sunday, I had another interview in the morning, then a two-hour author panel, this time with an interpreter (which I found much more difficult, trying to listen to the questions and the simultaneous translation), but we did just fine.  This time more than a hundred people were in the audience, and I had another lengthy autographing…complete with Star Trek Redshirts, Dune fans, Star Wars fans, even some who had copies of my old SF novel with Doug Beason, ASSEMBLERS OF INFINITY, which was my first Polish translation. As a surprise, I was inducted as an honorary member of...
Read More

In coming to Falkon, I had stuffed my suitcase with hardcover books, which I signed for some of my special English-speaking companions, and for those whose English wasn’t so good (but still better than my non-existent Polish), I brought copies of my Tales from the Trail 2014 calendar, featuring photos from my hikes with brother-in-law Tim around the west.  I gave a copy of the calendar to Krysz, the head of Falkon who had invited me as guest-of-honor, and he was amazed at the photos. Another person who looked at all the pictures of the mountains and the trails insisted...
Read More

I was asked to be author guest of honor for Falkon, one of the largest SF conventions in Poland, held in the city of Lublin, and I gratefully accepted. I've never been to Poland (never even been to Eastern Europe before), and a writer needs to experience new places, cultures, people, traditions, all as ingredients for creating worlds. The Falkon people made the arrangements and sent me money to buy my plane tickets (much cheaper if booked in the US); my Polish publisher Rebis also contributed, and I looked forward to the trip. Everything was arranged, but I had little...
Read More

Productivity Tip #9: Think Outside the Keyboard After the previous tip, now that you’ve set up the perfect established writing spot, keep in mind that this is not the only way you can write. Your word processor isn’t the only tool you have. This technique is one of the most obvious and effective, though least-often attempted, means of increasing writing productivity. Think outside the keyboard. If you can learn different ways to write, with different tools—like a talented musician learning to play several instruments—you can take advantage of nearly any situation in which you find yourself … and get pages...
Read More