“Avalon Burning” @ SF in SF

On Saturday, April 21, I performed a section from Avalon Burning, my novel-in-progress, at SF in SF. This monthly series of “Science Fiction in San Francisco” readings is held in the absolutely terrific venue of the screening room of the Variety Children’s Hospital, and proceeds from the evening benefit the Variety Children’s Charity.

Bruce McCallister read as well, and his hardboiled and funny “divine comedy” of a supernatural hit man caught up in a god vs. the devil shell game was a perfect complement to my dark & gritty post-apocalyptic fantasia.

The evening was well-attended, and the Q & A following centered (unsurprisingly) on definitions of “urban fantasy” and resistance thereto.

Many thanks to all who came out, to Terri Bisson for his congenial hosting and erudite moderation, and to Rina Weisman for her continual efforts in coordinating a true asset to the city of San Francisco and the local SF community.

Here’s video of the performance. I wasn’t able to place a camera face-on, so apologies for the side-angle view.

6 Replies to ““Avalon Burning” @ SF in SF”

  1. I think I’ll wait until I’ve finished Elegy Beach before watching. I’m halfway through it, thanks to a guy on Swap.com who had an ARC to trade. I’m guessing it was one of those multi-swap things, because I can’t imagine someone who had one of those handy would be remotely interested in what I traded it for.

    1. I’m glad you got Elegy Beach! He coulda swapped it cuz he didn’t like it, you know. My universe allows for that possibility, however dim.

      FWIW, you don’t have to have read Elegy Beach for Avalon Burning, and especially for the scene I performed at SF in SF.

  2. I looked back at the details and as it turns out, it was the same person. I only had the book I sent because my parents had a box of Books They’d Read Once And Didn’t Need To Keep Around that they gave me. The fact that it didn’t make the Ooh, Wait, Let Me Read This First cut tells you it’s no wonder I was giving it away. So you see what can happen.

  3. Just finished reading Mortality Bridge. All I can say is how did you get my friend who died last year to be your cabbie? My friend who was the floor supervisor at Mandalay Bay. She was the ultimate survivor with a cigarette on her lip. You took my story brother. Even the Indian blanket is there. Niko is me. Robert Johnson and the blues riffs.. Just goes to show that our thoughts are truly floating above just waiting for us to pluck them out and use them. And the demon has given my little dog a weary eye today. Just goes to show how much you have told me my own story. I have to read the last two chapters again this morning. Hope to see you soon.

    1. Hi, Dawn, thank you so much. The cabbie was based on an old friend of mine (it’s practically a portrait of her; she’s also a minor character in my “Prodigy” novella in the first Borderlands anthology). I think you were fortunate to have had a friend who was like the cabbie. I would let her drive me anywhere.

      1. She will drive me through hell when I get there. The cab will be filled with dogs. I hope your cabbie is here with you on the surface we live

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