Chris Howard's Writing & Art

Readercon sketching

A few samples of some of the stuff I drew in the Art Rage app on the iPad while taking in some of the panels at Readercon over the weekend. I'm working--as much as I can--on redrawing all of chapter 2 of Saltwater Witch (http://www.saltwaterwitch.com/switch).

Here are the beginnings of three of the replacement panels.

Can't make it to Boskone this year?

Here are the six pieces I’ve picked for the Boskone 48 Art Show at the Boston Westin Waterfront, Feb 18-21 (Notes and titles for each at the bottom of the page)

http://www.saltwaterwitch.com/Boskone48ArtShow

Love to hear what you think!

"City Power Plant"

Another painting of mine in the Boskone Art Show--February 18-20 at the Boston Westin Waterfront. Hope to see you there!

One of the things I'm really trying to work more with is depth in my paintings--long distances, silhouettes, a stronger distinction between foreground, middle and background--stronger than my prior work. Hope this comes through in this one!

Click for the full view!

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You can't come to California...

...and not spend some quality time in Monterey.  With family and a decent camera.

Click on the following for the full view:

 

 

 

 

   

 

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World Fantasy 2009

Took in a few panels, including the Steampunk one yesterday, bought some books, including Nick Mamatas' You Might Sleep--got Nick to sign it.  Other than that it's been a lot of talking--talked to Paula Guran of Juno Books for an hour or so on publishing, book marketing, and then debated the goods, bads, futures of ebooks, ebook readers and other devices with Sean Wallace, Neil Clarke and Nick Mamatas.  Spent a little more time talking about Lightspeed, the new SF magazine Sean and John Joseph Adams are starting up. Cool cool stuff.

Got a shot of John, Sean and Neil:

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I'm off to World Fantasy!

Packing, finishing up an interview, doing some last minute blogging, and I just posted the next set for Saltwater Witch, six pages, enough to keep you busy for the rest of this week and into the next.  See you in San Jose.

World Fantasy 2009

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Kyle Cassidy's giving away a copy of Seaborn!

I met Kyle at Worldcon on the Realism in SF panel, and afterward, at sort of an impromptu panelist gathering, I handed out a couple copies of Seaborn signed.  Kyle's now running a contest on to give away a copy of Seaborn to the best story (< 350 words) posted in the comments.  In one line: Tell a quick story about Roswell the Cat and mer-people. Check out the details here: http://kylecassidy.livejournal.com/537966.html

And then spend time at Kyle's site: kylecassidy.com.  Kyle's the most amazing and creative photographer and author I've run into, with projects all over the map (literally). He's collaborating with Neil Gaiman on Who Killed Amanda Palmer.  More: Where I Write: Fantasy & Science Fiction Writers in Their Creative Spaces.  Echoes of Life - Philadelphia Murders.

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Worldcon Report...a few days late

 

This was the first family con for me.  We all went to Montreal, drove up I-89 through Vermont and into Canada.  I've traveled overseas a bit in the last ten years--Greece, Turkey, Switzerland a couple times, India, Germany, okay even England if you count a layover in Heathrow on the way to India.  This was the first time we've taken the kids out of the country, had to go through the whole passport process, but it was worth it.

The kids had a blast at Worldcon--there was a lot of cool kids and teens programming, and, of course, Neil Gaimanaaaaaahhhh!  They also had fun walking Montreal streets, and exploring below Montreal streets (tunnels running all over downtown with malls and shops and restaurants).  We had to get to Les Chocolats De Chloe at least twice--my daughter's name is Chloe.  On a recommend from Skott Klebe and family (http://textiplication.com) we had to hit the unique items store Mortimer Snodgrass at 209 rue Saint-Paul Ouest (http://www.mortimersnodgrass.com).

Alice made some to time to drive all over the city, which went largely unknown to me other than what I could see from our hotel and the car.  By the time we left, she was maneuvering narrow streets and making illegal lefts like a local.  I spent most of the time at the Palais des congrès de Montréal (home of most of the activities, panels, readings, and ceremonies for Anticipation / Worldcon 2009).  http://www.congresmtl.com

I had a signing in the large main room on Saturday, and later a reading with the very cool Lev Grossman (http://levgrossman.com).  I read the first chapter of Winterdim and managed to do it moderately well.  Check out Lev's Con Report: I Was a 40-year-old Worldcon Virgin

Sunday was a panel day.  Realism in SF in the morning (with Joel Polowin and Kyle Cassidy--going to follow up with another post on Kyle who's running a Seaborn give-away contest!) and a web comics panel in the afternoon with Howard Taylor (http://www.schlockmercenary.com).  Both went well, even with both being a little light on panelists, but also made to work through some very active audience participation.

We hung around Montreal for most of Monday morning, and headed home, a slow winding tour through Vermont, stopping for a night in Shelburne (just south of Burlington).

Worldcon was damn fun, bigger than any other con, and with more people and participants.  We're probably not going to make 2010 in Melbourne, but would love to.

And because it's just that good and you must go if you're in Montreal:

Les Chocolats De Chloe

www.leschocolatsdechloe.com

546 avenue Duluth Est
Montreal, QC H2L 1A9, Canada
(514) 849-5550
Get directions

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Reading aloud

Doing some practice reading of Winterdim chapter 1--what I'm going to read at WorldCon in a few weeks.  I have it down, just refining a few points.  Man, I write short chapters.  I may get two read in the eighteen or so minutes allotted.

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Worldcon Schedule

Here's my Worldcon schedule:

Hope to see some of you in Montreal!

When: Sat 15:00
Location:  P-Autographs
Title:  Chris Howard Signing
Session ID:  1355
All Participants:  Chris Howard
Description:  Chris Howard Signing
Duration:  0:30 hrs:min


When: Sat 19:00
Location:  P-521A
Title:  Author Reading
Session ID:  225
All Participants:  Chris Howard, Lev Grossman
Description:  Robert J. Wiersema;Chris Howard;   Lev Grossman.
Duration:  1:00 hrs:min
Language:  English

Lev Grossman: www.levgrossman.com (author of Codex and Magicians)

When: Sun 10:00
Location:  P-518A
Title:  Realism in Science Fiction
Session ID:  547
All Participants:  Chris Howard, kyle cassidy, Pascale Raud,
Fernandes, Joel Polowin, Tobias Buckell
Moderator:  Pascale Raud
Description:  A lot of near-future SF novels duck the problems we read
about in the news - climate change or energy shortage - in favour of
problems which look more solveable. We all know that SF shouldn't be
pure prediction, but how much of a duty does it have to be based on
realistic assumptions?


When: Sun 15:30
Location:  P-513A
Title:  From Base to Noble – why Self-Publishing has No Stigma in Comics
Session ID:  658
All Participants:  Chris Howard, Howard Tayler, Christ Oliver, Pia Guerra
Moderator:  Howard Tayler
Description:  Self publishing is the hallmark of the wannabe in traditional publishing – but in comics, it has not only been accepted, but has often been the springboard to greater success. Why the disparity in the two fields?
Duration:  1:30 hrs:min