Good morning from Abu Dhabi, UAE! I’m here all week for the International Book Fair, and I’ll be in conversation with sci-fi author and publisher Noura Al Noman on Friday, May 27 at 6pm GST(that’s Gulf Standard Time), or:
7:00 PDT
10:00 EDT
14:00 UTC
If you’re local, please do join us, and be sure to say hello!
UPDATE: Thanks for a great event! It was a real joy to see you guys, and I hope we get a chance to see non-pixelated versions of each other soon! And thank you to Shindig for putting this together, despite the early hour and a hurricane!
– Brent
by CAPSLOCK
Don’t forget that Brent is coming to a computer screen near you TONIGHT! You can re-read the original post HERE for more details, but here’s the nitty-gritty:
Wednesday, November 7th: The Australia (Virtual) Book Tour Stop (hosted Shindig Events), 7pm Sydney, Australia time, 12am Pacific Standard Time.
Brent will be presenting a reading and then answering questions from participants. The event will last 1 hour.
What time is that for you? Check HERE. (Also has a button to add it to your Microsoft Exchange-Compatible Calendar.) Or add the event to your Google Calendar by clicking below:
P.S. Because Shindig and their servers are located in New York City, we may have extra technical difficulties because of the hurricane problems there. They tell me if your page freezes at any time to just “refresh” and things should be fine. If we run into more significant difficulties, Brent will reschedule for the future.
I couldn’t make it Australia for my book tour this time around, but some photons and electrons got together with a great idea to represent–REPRESENT!–me in Australia. Here’s the deal:
Shindig Events hosts live video chats for authors, and we have one scheduled on Wednesday, November 7th at 7pm Sydney, Australia time. (That’s midnight between the 6th and 7th, for me on the Pacific Coast of the U.S.!) All you have to do if you want to see my reading (mostly as seen on my tour, minus the interpretative dance–yes, interpretative dance, can’t do it while in my chair) is tune in at the right time. You only need a webcam, the latest version of Adobe Flash, and a good internet connection (no download or install required).
Of course, since this is an event on the internet, it isn’t limited to people from Australia. All are welcome. However, because of how time zones work, it will be hideously inconvenient for everyone else. That’s not a bug, that’s a feature. (Having a spherical planet is a good thing.)
After my reading, I will take questions, just like in a real live signing. Shindig is pretty cool in that–just like in a real signing–everyone else can see who’s asking the question, too. (You turn on your webcam, I call on you, everyone sees and hears what you ask. (So actually, a little better than real life, where the guy in the front asks the question and no one else has a clue why the author goes off on mitochondria for a few minutes.)
Because I’ll be reading from an upcoming work, there will be no video for those who miss it–and though I know there’s software out there that would allow others to tape the whole thing, I ask that you don’t. Being untaped gives me freedom to share more and still edit it in the future and change my mind on things, so if this experiment goes badly, in the future I will simply have to share less, both in Q-and-A’s and in internet readings.
Also, given that this is new tech, I can’t promise no glitches. Think of this as experimental. Shindig looks like it has an awesome thing going, but from experience Skyping to Australia, I know to expect small delays as the busy little electrons burrow their way through copper.
Book Reading: 30-ish minutes
Question and Answer: 30-ish minutes
Time: 7PM Sydney/12AM Pacific Standard/3AM New York/8AM London
To participate or to learn more, go HERE.