Novels of the Year
Convention: ArmadilloCon 36
Date: July 25, 2014

Panelists: Renee Babcock, Claude Lalumière, Michelle Muenzler, Alex C. Renwick, Willie Siros, Martin Wagner

Recommended Books Since LoneStarCon 3 (from all panelists, with many overlaps)

Erin Bow - Sorrow's Knot
Kenneth Calhoun - Black Moon
James L. Cambias - A Darkling SeaJ. ( Read more... )

Books mentioned at panel "What You Should Have Read in 2011-2012, held July 28, 2012 at ArmadilloCon 34 in Austin, Texas.

Panelists: Jeremy Lassen, Bill Parker, Willie Siros, Michelle Muenzler, Bev Hale

Siros
Margaret Atwood - In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination
N K Jemisin - The Kingdom of Gods and The Killing Moon
Ian McDonald - Planesrunner
( Read more... )

ArmadilloCon 33

What You Should Have Read in 2010-2011

Elizabeth Bear (moderator), Michelle Muenzler, Willie Siros, T. M. Wagner

August 27, 2011    Austin, TX

Recommendations

• Embassytown by China Mieville
• Clockwork Rocket by Greg Egan
• Rule 34 by Charles Stross
• Vortex by Robert Charles Wilson
• Home ( Read more... )

I've been distracted over the past couple of months by various professional and personal issues, but I do want to get in a report...

I attended ApolloCon, which was held June 26-28, 2009 in Houston, TX. This was the convention's sixth year, and I've been to every one. I had arrived in the Houston area a day early to visit with family. On Friday ( Read more... )

I attended InstaCon, a symposium for Texas con-runners, on April 18, 2009. I’d been assigned to participate in two panels, both as moderator. I prepared write-ups for each of these panels in advance, which were printed in the conference proceedings.  I also participated in a teamwork exercise, SF Pictionary, where I produced the clues and served as ( Read more... )

The 2009 Hugo nominations have been announced. Locus Online has posted the ballot .

Several nominees have a local connection. Nominees who were former major guests at ArmadilloCon include Charles Stross, John Scalzi, Neil Gaiman, Mike Resnick, Ellen Datlow, Stanley Schmidt, Gordon Van Gelder, Sheila Williams, Ginjer Buchanan, David Hartwell, Beth ( Read more... )

22 Most Used Free Fonts by Professional Designers

I read a story about a church service President-Elect Barack Obama attended this morning. One of the speakers, Bishop T.D. Jakes from Houston, tried to inject a pop-culture sf reference into his message. He didn't quite succeed. Here's a quote:

"I say to you as my son who is here today, my 14-year-old son -- he probably would not quote Scripture. He ( Read more... )

I had a nice holiday visit with family in Sugar Land. We were busy giving gifts, preparing and eating good food, shopping, making a day trip, seeing an IMAX film, and celebrating three family birthdays within a week of Christmas. I was pleased that the gifts I gave (mostly purchased at REI and the Texas Book Festival) were appreciated. I liked the ( Read more... )

AAA has published its list of outstanding restaurants. Six in Austin earned the Four Diamond Award:

• The Driskill Grill
• Hill Country Dining Room
• III Forks
• Jeffrey's
• Restaurant Jezebel