Woo hoo! I’ve been invited to participant in a panel of science fiction authors on Thursday, February 6, 2020. This doesn’t happen very often, and like at past Creatures, Crimes and Creativity conference, I’m a little nervous.
What It’s All About
The panel discussion is one way to highlight an exhibit in the Boyden Gallery of St. Mary’s College of Maryland. It recognizes the work of Thomas Barrett, former professor at the College who amassed an impressive collection of science fiction dating from the 1950s to 1970s. The exhibit is entitled “Robots, Rayguns, and Alternate Views of Reality: Experiencing Art Through the Sci-Fi Paperback Collection in the SMCM Archives,” and is certainly worth seeing. As described in the exhibit announcement, “visitors are invited to experience numerous artforms like literature, film, music, and cover art paintings and design” collected by Barrett over the years.
The Panel
The panel will take place on Thursday, February 6 from 8-9:30pm in Upper Montgomery Commons adjacent to the Boyden Gallery. Panelists include Jack Campbell (John Hemry) (https://www.jack-campbell.com/), St. Mary’s College alumni Monica Louzon ’12 (https://molowrites.wordpress.com/), and Keith Backhaus ’04 (https://emptycitypress.squarespace.com/featured-authors/) and yours truly as noted on this poster.
Check out their websites and you’ll see that I’m serving on this panel with some exciting, accomplished authors. And if you were to ask me if I feel a little intimidated, the answer is yes. But then again, I’ve had the opportunity to serve on panels of other heavy hitters, and did just fine. More than that, I have the chance to learn and hear perspectives from more experienced authors who can certainly teach me a thing or two. At the same time, if I’m feeling a bit out-classed, I can always wait to answer the questions after everybody else does, so there’s always a way to make this work!
I hope you’ll stop by the Boyden Gallery at St. Mary’s College of Maryland at 8:00 Thursday, February 6 to see how I do.
