Go East, Young Man

First, an awesome review at SF Site, which sends me into the snow with a glad heart:

Every tale told by the narrator brims with the stuff of life. At turns poetic, sumptuous, beguiling and numinous, the tales are interspersed by sly glimpses of the growing relationship between the storyteller and her prince. The overall effect is to make reading In the Night Garden as close to a genuinely magical experience as it’s possible to get, and elevates the work above most other contemporary fantasy. One day in the not too distant future, it could easily come to be regarded as a literary classic. Savvy school librarians should add it to their lists right now. Cover to cover, this is an astonishing work which reinterprets and redefines the definition of a modern classic fairytale.

Bolding mine. Hell yes.

And a note to say I AM going to make it to Boskone, though out of the house a little later this morning than I’d like. ETA to NYC is 5:30 pm. Boston via Nerd Caravan Friday, ETA 8 pm. I need an “on the road” icon.

My cell is 440-991-6438. No crazies plz. Call if you want to get together. My schedule is as follows–that’s right, I have three readings. Please come to one?

Sat 11:00am
   Kaffeklatsch
                Susan Shwartz
                Christopher Stasheff
                Catherynne M. Valente

Sat 12:00 noon
   Jumping the Quark: When SF Series Lost It
         The term “jumping the shark” is used to describe the moment when a TV
         crosses the line from good to silly. Our panelists describe when
SF TV
         shows (or movie series) crossed that line, “jumping the quark” (to
         steal a phrase from SFX magazine).
                Bob Devney
                Colin Harris
           (M)  MaryAnn Johanson
                Timothy Liebe
                Catherynne M. Valente

Sat  3:00pm
   The Fantastic and the Mundane:  A Look at Urban Fantasy
         What is urban fantasy? A discussion of definitions dealing with what
         is essentially another umbrella term: we have vampires, werewolves,
         wizards, elves, ghosts and more all falling under the concept of
urban
         fantasy or authors identifying themselves as urban fantasy
writers. Is
         it new?  Who is writing it?  Some people self-identify as urban
         fantasy writers.  Some think of themselves as something else.  And
         some reject the categorization.  Is Neil Gaiman urban fantasy?
         Margaret Atwood? Anne Rice?  What makes them different or same as
         Simon R. Green, Jim Butcher or Laurell K. Hamilton?
           (M)  Elizabeth Bear
                Mark Del Franco
                Catherynne M. Valente
                Andrew Wheeler

Sat  6:00pm
   Broad Universe Reading
                Victoria McManus
                Jennifer Pelland
                Jessica Reisman
                Melissa Scott
                Catherynne M. Valente
                Morven Westfield
                Phoebe Wray

Sat  7:00pm
   Bed Time Stories for the Young and Old
         Catherynne Valente reads from her latest book, The Orphans Tales: In
         the Night Garden.
                          Catherynne M. Valente

Sat 10:00pm
   The Dark Ascent: Contemporary Horror
         If quality is any measure, the horror genre may once again be rising
         from the grave. Do dark times hinder or help horror? What themes are
         becoming  frighteningly fashionable: gore or ghosts? Kinky sex or the
         straight  supernatural? We’ll discuss old stalwarts plus dark new
         stars such as Caitlin  Kiernan,  Holly Phillips, M. Rickert, Laird
         Barron, Joe Hill, and some of our own  panelists.
           (M)  F. Brett Cox
                Adam Golaski
                John Langan
                Darrell Schweitzer
                Catherynne M. Valente

Sun 12:30pm     0.5 hours
   Reading
                Catherynne M. Valente

Sun  2:00pm
   Autographing
                Mark Del Franco
                Allen M. Steele
                Catherynne M. Valente

See you there!