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Okay, this isn’t news per se. But I really feel the need to put this on the front page, rather than under the blog tab, because it’s important.

Today, WFC came out with an absolutely toothless, insulting harassment policy. On the same day, SXSW canceled various panels on harassment and safety in fandom spaces, over threats of violence. I’m not often a fan of the whole "If you’re not on one side, you’re on the other" dichotomy. But sometimes, it’s accurate.

Convention-runners? If you aren’t overtly anti-harassment? YOU ARE PRO-HARASSMENT. Maybe you don’t mean to be, but that’s the message you’re sending to the people who do the harassing and those who are victims of it, and guess what? Those are the only messages that count.

Step the hell up already.

Obviously, I’m not the one threatened by a lack of such policies, but that’s exactly why I–and other people in my position–need to support this effort. Sadly, the people who are affected aren’t likely to be heard. A while back, author John Scalzi created a pledge, which many authors signed, saying that he (and they) would not attend any conventions that didn’t have a functional anti-harassment policy in place. Consider this public notice that I’m on board.

Tomorrow, August 18th, is release day for Hallow Point! The second book in the Mick Oberon series will be available online and on bookstore shelves in all the usual places.

In celebration/promotion, I’ll be doing an AMA over on the fantasy sub-forum on Reddit.com.

What’s an AMA? It stands for "Ask Me Anything," and it’s basically an open Q&A session. Starting at around noon CST (give or take), I’ll be posting a link to the discussion. It’ll be open all day for people to swing by and post whatever questions they want–and I do mean whatever. Ask me about Hallow Point and Mick Oberon, sure. But you can also ask me about any of my other series or characters. Ask me about my game work. Ask me about my writing process. Ask me about my personal history. Ask me about my taste in movies, or books, or cuisine. My background. My cat. Anything at all.

I might swing by throughout the day to answer a question or two early. Whether I do that or not, I’ll be back around 7:00 pm CST to do a couple of hours of real-time answering. I’ll post answers to existing questions, and I’ll watch for additional questions or follow-up questions. It basically becomes a live Q&A at that point. I’d very much love for to see a bunch of you there at the time, so we can turn it into an ongoing conversation. I’ll wrap it up somewhere between 8:30 and 9:30 (again, give or take), and pop back in the next day to see if there are any lingering/straggler questions that came in after I was done.

Very much looking forward to seeing you guys there. 🙂

For those who’ll be attending Geekfest at Central Texas College in Killeen, here’s my schedule.

So, I’m not traveling much this year and it’s mostly smaller venues, but… CONVENTION SCHEDULE:

ArmadilloCon: July 24-26, Austin, TX.

http://2015.armadillocon.org/

So, Hallow Point–book two of the Mick Oberon series–comes out in a little less than two months. And we’re going to celebrate.

How are we going to celebrate? By creating prose and/or art.

Here’s the deal. I want you folks to either draw or write a scene involving Mick Oberon. It can be action-oriented, quiet and contemplative, mysterious, whatever. It can take place in Chicago, or in the Otherworld. If you’re drawing, it can be an original scene or a scene from Hot Lead, Cold Iron. If you’re writing, it has to be something original. Don’t try to tell a whole story. This is a snapshot. One image. Nothing more, nothing less.

The portrayal of Mick needs to be accurate. I don’t mean you have to master the 1930s lingo or anything, I just mean the character has to be reasonably well portrayed. He should be using his wand, not a gun, that sort of thing.

Here are the official rules:

1) The picture or scene must go up online in a publicly visible place. Your web site. Your Facebook page (with the entry visible to the public, not just friends). Anywhere like that.

2) The picture must stay visible until the contest ends, which will be shortly after the book comes out. Pin it, or occasionally repost or link back to it.

3) The picture or scene must also include a paragraph explaining where the image comes from and why you’re posting it. In other words, mention/link to this contest. 🙂

4) Once you have posted it, use the "Contact" page here to send me a link to it, and also to how you want your name listed (see below). Please change the Subject line to "Mick Oberon contest".

5) Entries must be posted (and I must be notified of said entry) by July 24th to be considered valid for this contest.

Prizes and rewards. Everyone who participates–everyone–will be listed on a "special thanks" page at the end of book three.

Two randomly chosen entrants will receive signed copies of book two (Hallow Point).

And finally, a single winner–the person whose entry I like best–will receive a signed copy of book two, as above, but will also receive a signed copy of book three, when it comes out, and will also receive a personalized dedication in book three. (Either to you or to a person of your choice.) Your art doesn’t have to be the best. I’ll be choosing, at least in part, based on what I think best exemplifies the character and the mood of the stories, even if it’s not the most perfect drawing or prose. (Also, I will then post the winning entry on my site, with a link back to you.)

That’s it. Any comments or questions, send ’em to me using the "Mick Oberon contest" subject line, as above.