I’m going out of town for the next fortnight, and won’t have access to my email (with only my cell phone, text messages and phone calls will be the easiest way to reach me, though I may be on Facebook occasionally).

I’m leaving in (gasp!) less than seven hours for the airport, heading to San Diego for my first visit to San Diego Comic Con! I’ll be on a panel, “How Science Fiction Shapes Our Reality,” on Thursday at 12:30 in Room 24ABC. The panel is sponsored by American Mensa, and moderated by LaRae Bakerink, the Chair of American Mensa. My co-panelists will include Doug Ecks, Nevin Millan, Dr. John Putman, and Dr. Jenny Rankin. Hope to see lots of you there!

After the panel, I will NOT have a dealers’ table, so I’ll just be wandering around, gaping in awe at the overwhelmingness of it all (or so I surmise).

I’ll fly home Monday, and then turn right around for a family trip of a few days.

Returning from that on Thursday, I’ll take a quick nap, load the car, and then drive to Pittsburgh for Confluence (that’s July 26-28), a science fiction convention that’s just a bit smaller than Comic Con.

At Confluence, I’ll be at the Fantastic Books table in the dealers’ room (open Friday 5 to 8pm, Saturday 10am to 6pm, and Sunday 10am to 3pm). I’ll also be on three panels (all in the Commonwealth West room):

Saturday at 4pm: “Return to the Solar System: Recent SF Set In Our Solar System” with Geoffrey Landis, Bill Keith, and Ken Chiacchia

Saturday at 7pm: “Space on TV: Discovery, The Orville, The Expanse, and More” with Tim Liebe, Hanne Madeleine Gates Paine, and Brandon Ketchum

Sunday at 10am: “Business of Publishing” with Brea Ludwigson

Hope to see lots of you there.

After Confluence, I’ll drive back to New York, unload the car, and fall into a stupor. Well, except I’m probably going to the Bryant Park movie that Monday evening, July 29. And now, I really ought to take a nap, because I have to leave the house at 5:30 in the morning for a 7:30 flight!