We’re now just over a week away from Shore Leave 45, the convention’s second year at the Lancaster Wyndham Resort and Convention Center in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and the schedule of events has now been posted online.

https://www.shore-leave.com/mobile-schedule/

You can click on “People” and then on the individual names to find their panel schedules. As for me, aside from the annual Friday night Meet the Pros event, all my panels are going to be in one marathon block on Saturday afternoon, with only an hour off for dinner. I also find that I’ve been selected as moderator for two of the panels, though I don’t know how that happened. Anyway, here’s how it boils down:

Friday, July 11

10 PM, Wheatland: Meet the Pros

This event allows the attendees to see and chat with all of our author, artist and science-author guests at the same time. We will have our bookseller “Aaron’s Books” in the room so that you can buy and get your books autographed by your favorite authors. You are more than welcome to bring your own books as well. Shore Leave is proud to host Book Premieres every year at the convention.

Saturday, July 12

3 PM, Ballroom A: eSpec Books

Danielle Ackley-McPhail (moderator), Christine Norris, Christopher L. Bennett , Mike McPhail

Visit with us and find out about all the new books we have coming out.

4 PM, Cornwall: Sounds Good! F/SF Audio Dramas

Christopher L. Bennett (moderator), Matthew Corey, Glenn Hauman , David Mack , Susan Olesen

For years Big Finish has produced Doctor Who audio dramas; now Star Trek is in the mix. Join a discussion of this exciting format’s future.

5 PM, Ballroom A: Star Trek Books Gab Session

Dayton Ward (moderator), Christopher L. Bennett , Greg Cox , David Mack , Scott Pearson

Trek writers and editors discuss the latest published Star Trek novels, tease upcoming releases, and answer your questions (if they can).

7 PM, Cornwall: Stealing from History

Christopher L. Bennett (moderator), Ian Randal Strock, Michael Jan Friedman , Roberta Rogow , Laura Ware

How do you use history in historical fiction/fantasy/alternative history and steal historical incidents and structures for standalone novels? Come find out!

Naturally, the eSpec panel is where we’ll tout my new collection Aleyara’s Descent and Other Stories, which I didn’t get to talk about at last year’s panel and which ended up getting delayed nearly a year anyway. Hopefully I’ll also get to talk some about the Arachne novels and the upcoming third installment. The audiobooks panel will be a chance to talk about Tangent Knights and my other work with GraphicAudio. Unfortunately, I won’t have any new Star Trek books to talk about on the “Gab Session” panel; I was hoping I might, but things didn’t work out at this time.

Anyway, I’ve been making preparations here and there. I bought a new suitcase a while back to replace the old one whose zipper broke, but I realized last year that it was awkward to have 4-5 bags, only one of which had wheels so that the rest had to be carried. So recently, I decided to buy a second, smaller wheeled suitcase. As it happened, the lowest-priced one I could find came with a bonus tote bag, so I got two bags for less than the price of one. I don’t know if I’ll even use the tote bag, but it was free, so what the hey. I also decided just the other day to buy a backpack-style cooler to replace the worn-out insulated grocery bag I’ve used for years to carry my food and beverages in on road trips. I saw it at the store one day and decided to go back and buy it the next, and luckily it was 20% off by then. I’ve determined that it is theoretically possible to carry both my regular backpack and the cooler backpack over my shoulders at the same time, at least when the cooler is empty, but it might prove more difficult once both bags are packed up. With my back, it might not be a great idea. But it has other carrying straps, so I have options. Anyway, I think I should be able to manage with just the two suitcases and two backpacks, and I’ve got a considerably lighter laptop now, which should help.

With no panels on Friday before Meet the Pros, I was tempted to try leaving early Friday morning and making the drive in one day, so I wouldn’t have to pay for a motel stay Thursday night. But I think that’s probably a bad idea for a number of reasons. So I expect to hit the road a week from today. I got my car maintenance and safety check done last week, and I also got a couple of overdue vaccinations, though I’m concerned that I wasn’t able to get a COVID booster. Luckily, infection rates seem to be low currently, from what I can find. Last year, I spent a lot of the con unmasked and came through it fine, though that was with a fresh vaccination.

I hope to see a lot of my fans at the con next weekend, and I hope a lot of you will buy my books and help me pay for the expenses of the trip!