MisCon 24 Home

Author Guest Harry Turtledove

"Interview with author & editor Harry Turtledove" Conducted by Toni Weisskopf, May 2005

From Wikipedia:

Harry Norman Turtledove was born in Los Angeles, CA on 14 June 1949. After failing out of his freshman year at Caltech, he attended UCLA, where he received a Ph.D. in Byzantine history in 1977. His dissertation was on The Immediate Successors of Justinian: A Study of the Persian Problem and of Continuity and Change in Internal Secular Affairs in the Later Roman Empire During the Reigns of Justin II and Tiberius II Constantine (A.D. 565-582).

In 1979, Turtledove published his first two novels, Wereblood and Werenight, under the pseudonym "Eric G. Iverson". Turtledove later explained that his editor at Belmont Towers did not think people would believe the author's real name was "Turtledove" and suggested that he come up with something more Nordic. He continued to use the "Iverson" name until 1985 when he published his "Herbig-Haro" and "And So to Bed" under his real name.

Throughout the later '70's and early '80's, In the 1980's, Turtledove worked as a technical writer for the Los Angeles County Office of Education. In 1991, he left the LACOE and turned to writing full time. From 1986-1987, he served as the Treasurer for the Science Fiction Writers of America.

He is married to mystery writer Laura Frankos. They have three daughters: Alison, Rachel, and Rebecca. His brother-in-law is fantasy author Steven Frankos. Turtledove won the HOMer Award for Short Story in 1990 for "Designated Hitter", John Esthen Cook Award for Southern Fiction in 1993 for Guns of the South, the Hugo Award for Novella in 1994 for Down in the Bottomlands. "Must and Shall" was nominated for the 1996 Hugo Award for Best Novelette, the 1996 Nebula Award for Best Novelette and received an honorable mention for the 1995 Sidewise Award for Alternate History. The Two Georges also received an honorable mention for the 1995 Sidewise Award for Alternate History. The Worldwar series received a Sidewise Award for Alternate History Honorable Mention in 1996. On August 1, 1998, Turtledove was named honorary Kentucky Colonel while Guest of Honor at Rivercon XXIII in Louisville, KY.

Artist Guest Sarah Clemens

Sarah Clemens graduated from Florida Atlantic University with a degree in fine arts and art history, and the conviction that she would always be an artist in one capacity or another. She has freelanced in logo design and bookcover illustration and photography, worked as the curator of exhibits at a science museum and for the last fifteen years been a medical illustrator.

But the need for self-expression is most important, and she began creating her own challenges, in the form of large oil paintings of friends and family members. Her realistic approach was second nature, after so many years of meticulous detailing in medical illustration. She has shown her work at galleries in Palm Beach, Florida and Boca Raton, Florida, Scottsdale Arizona and Beverly Hills, as well as exhibiting at the Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach and the Armory Art Center in West Palm Beach and the Mesa Art Center in Mesa, Arizona. A recent move to the Southwest has been inspiring, and trips to the Grand Canyon for intensive photographic shoots are sure to show up in her paintings.

Filk Guest Eben Brooks

THE EBEN BROOKS BAND— Working-Class Superheroes

You are probably expecting to see our resume of musical accomplishments, along with a statement about what we hope to accomplish in the near future. After all, it's what a band's biography should contain, right?

Except that this is not our biography. It's our mission statement. And our mission is very simply stated:

To help people.

We are The Eben Brooks Band: musicians, activists, concerned citizens, inveterate geeks, Working Class Superheroes. We believe that music has the power to change the world for the better. Not only because of the message it may contain, but because it brings people together. Music speaks to common experiences and gives people a refuge from an uncaring world. And so we make music to inspire people, to give them hope, to make them think, and maybe—just maybe—get them to be better to one another.

We make "Music to save the world by."

And we know that this may sound corny as hell, but we take it very seriously. Saving the world isn't a job for just one person, or one band, or even one country. It's a job for everyone. We're just trying to make it easier for people. And hopefully more fun, too.

Of course, the best place to begin saving the world is to help yourself. No, we don't mean 'be selfish' or 'take what you want'; we mean 'become the person you want to become.' One of Eben's songs, "Resolutions," deals with this very idea, that if we focus only on what's outside of us, we will only make ourselves unhappy, and we won't be of any use to anyone. "Resolutions" is track #9 on Mirrors.

But we must not forget our relationships with others. A fan favorite, "Princes, Friends, & Lovers", tells us that we have to choose our lovers and friends carefully—but when we choose rightly, the make us stronger. "Princes, Friends & Lovers" is track #6 on Just Me and My Guitar.

So if our music helps you feel better, helps you understand yourself more, gives you something to think about, or just makes you want to get up and dance . . . then we've done our job.

But overall, we want you to remember one thing:

You know what's wrong! Do something about it!

MisCon 24 May 28 - 31, 2010 Missoula, Montana

MisCon 24
May 28 - 31, 2010
Missoula, Montana