(This is cross-posted from my newsletter. If you’re not already subscribed, follow this link to sign up.)

The big event for me this fall was my visit to the United States Air Force Academy. As you may remember, a special compilation of my military-themed short stories—the collection titled Attitude and Other Stories—was chosen for the annual program known as “One Book, One USAFA.” The idea is that the entire freshman class is assigned to read this one book together. Copies were issued during the tough initial summer training period. One cadet told me, “Your book was the best part of boot!” Given the general misery of boot camp training, I’m not sure I had a lot of competition for “best,” but I enjoyed hearing it.

I visited the campus as part of the 64th Academy Assembly, a two-day event involving workshops and lectures on space, the Space Force, future conflict (and avoiding future conflict) in space. It was all incredibly fascinating and I was hugely impressed with the cadets, all of whom struck me as very bright, knowledgeable, capable, and composed—far more so than I ever was at that age.

My own role was to conduct a writing workshop on “Future Conflict in Science Fiction.” This was an interesting challenge, because I don’t teach or attend workshops. But I put some notes together, asked the participants to do a little preparatory work, and things went remarkably well. It was also a lot of fun.

I feel deeply honored that I was able to participate and that my work was deemed worthy. If you’re interested, Attitude is available in print and ebook editions from Amazon.

Posted on: Wednesday, November 30th, 2022 at 5:15 am
Categories: Events.
Tags: Air Force Academy, Attitude and Other Stories, USAFA