Update: SOLD OUT! Sorry.

Saturday June 8th

Join us for a special film and presentation!

Safety Not Guaranteed

Come travel through time to help kids! Wonderfest and SF in SF join together to raise money for Variety!!!

Event begins at 7:30PM
Doors and cash bar open at 6:30PM
General seating at 7:15PM

Help us raise money for kids and science!

Tickets: $25. each

Please visit Brown Bag Tickets to get yours today!

Tickets may be available at the door. Email sfinsfevents@gmail.com to reserve your seat and pay at the door on the night of the event .

All proceeds benefit Variety and Wonderfest!

Wonderfest: The San Francisco Bay Area Beacon of Science!

Their mission is to inspire and nurture a sense of wonder about the world. Wonderfest aspires to stimulate curiosity, promote careful reasoning, challenge unexamined beliefs, and encourage learning. Wonderfest achieves these ends through public science meetups in the SF Bay Area and via online science discourse & video throughout the world.

At The Bar we’re serving a Specialty Cocktail, “DEADLINE”, as a nod to the time travel books of Connie Willis.

Plus, Our Usual Selection of Refreshments and RAFFLE!!

The Variety Preview Room Theatre
The Hobart Bldg., 1st Floor — entrance between Quiznos and Citibank
582 Market Street @ 2nd and Montgomery
San Francisco, CA 94104

Don’t Drive — BART/MUNI Montgomery Street station is right at our front door, and parking in San Francisco sucks!!! Street parking ($3.50 per hour) is metered M-Sat., til 6PM; find a parking garage here.

Thursday, May 16

In collaboration with the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America

The Market Room, Hilton San José
Doors open at 6PM – general seating
Event begins at 7PM
Nebula Award Weekend attendees: FREE
Public: $10 at the door (cash only)

All proceeds will be split between the SFWA Emergency Medical Fund, and Variety Children’s Charity of Northern California.

There will be a cash bar just outside the room, provided by the hotel.

Each author will read a selection from their work, followed by Q&A with the audience, moderated by author Terry Bisson. Booksigning will follow, with the authors books for sale courtesy of Borderlands Books. This event will be podcast, courtesy of Rick Kleffel, The Agony Column.

Gene Wolfe is one of the most admired and highly regarded American writers of science fiction and fantasy. Noted for his dense, allusive prose that skirts the conventions of the genre, he is a prolific short story writer and novelist whose work has won many of SFF’s highest honors, such as the Nebula, Hugo, Locus, and World Fantasy Awards. His best-known works are the multivolume novels, The Book of the New Sun, The Book of the Long Sun, and The Book of the Short Sun, also known as The Solar Cycle. Stand-alone novels include The Fifth Head of Cerberus, The Knight, The Wizard, the Soldier series, and The Sorcerer’s House, and short story collections include award winners The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories, and Storeys from the Old Hotel.

Wolfe was awarded the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 1996, was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2007, became the 29th SFWA Grand Master in 2012, and he will be awarded the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award at the May 2013 Nebula Award Weekend. SF author Michael Swanwick has said, “Gene Wolfe is the greatest writer in the English language alive today. I mean it… among living writers, there is nobody who can even approach Gene Wolfe for brilliance of prose, clarity of thought, and depth in meaning.” We agree.

Connie Willis is an American science fiction writer, and winner of 11 Hugo Awards and 8 Nebula Awards, most recently the year’s “Best Novel” Hugo and Nebula Awards for Blackout/All Clear (2010). She was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2009 and became the 28th SFWA Grand Master in 2011. Willis’ novels include Lincoln’s Dreams, Water Witch (with Cynthia Felice) Remake, Passage, and many more. She is perhaps best known for her popular and delightful time travel novels featuring historians at a future University of Oxford. These include the short story and collection “Fire Watch,” the novels Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog, as well as the two-part novel Blackout/All Clear. All four won Hugos, and all but To Say Nothing of the Dog won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards. Her short story collections include Impossible Things, Miracle and Other Christmas Stories, and the defining collection, The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories.

Willis is a master of the comedy of manners style of writing, often featuring a scientist or historian as a protagonist. Her books are impeccably researched, entertaining, absorbing, and they always leave us wanting more from this most entertaining of authors. To learn more, please visit her website.

PLEASE NOTE:

• This event takes place at the Hilton San José, in the Market Room.
• For information about parking, please visit this site to plan your trip by car..
• For information on public transportation to this event, please visit this site to plan your trip by bus or train

For more information on this event, please email Rina Weisman at sfinsfevents@gmail.com, or call 415-572-1015.

IN ADDITION!!!

Friday, May 17 – 5:00PM

Release the bookhounds!!! It’s a HUGE Autograph Session!

Borderlands hosts the Mass Autograph Session at the Nebula Awards! The autographing portion of this weekend event is open to the public at no cost (but it’s great if you buy some books!). Borderlands will be on hand to provide books by the attending authors for sale. This is your chance to have your books signed by legends like Joe Haldeman, William Nolan, Robert Silverberg, Gene Wolfe, and Connie Willis, and also to meet the superstars of tomorrow, including Saladin Ahmed, Cat Rambo, Tina Connolly and Mary Robinette Kowal! Dozens of authors will take part, so don’t miss this incredible opportunity at the Nebula Award Weekend!

This event takes place in The Winchester Room, The Hilton San José, 300 Almaden Blvd. San José, CA

For more information, please email office@borderlands-books.com.

Saturday, May 11

Doors and cash bar opens at 6:00PM – AND it’s DEBUT NOVEL DRINK NIGHT!
Event begins at 7:00PM
Suggested $5-$10 donation at the door benefits Variety Children’s Charity
Seating is limited; first come, first seated.

Each author will read a selection from their work, followed by Q&A with the audience, moderated by author Terry Bisson. Booksigning and schmoozing follows in the lounge, with books for sale courtesy of Borderlands Books. Podcasting courtesy of Rick Kleffel, The Agony Column.

Robin Sloan, a writer and media inventor in California, hails from Michigan. Between 2002 and 2012, he worked at Poynter, Current TV, and Twitter, and at all those places, the job had something to do with figuring out the future of media. Sloan also collaborates with Tim Carmody and Matt Thompson on Snarkmarket, “a leaky rocketship of a blog with a brilliant community of commenters.” As a self-styled media inventor, Sloan is “someone primarily interested in content—words, pictures, ideas—who also experiments with new formats, new tools, and new technology. Media inventors feel compelled to make the content and the container. I’m on a mission to bring back the word “inventor” with all its connotations: protean lightning-crackle and occasional crackpot-itude alike.” He’s put all this experience to good use with his debut novel, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore — which also means it’s DEBUT NOVEL DRINK NIGHT!

Austin Grossman is the author of Soon I Will Be Invincible, published in 2007. It was nominated for the 2007 John Sargent Sr. First Novel Prize. His writing has also appeared in Granta, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times. His new book, YOU: A Novel, is “a novel of mystery, videogames, and the people who create them,” and is just out in hardcover, from Mulholland Books, a division of Little, Brown. Both Amazon and iTunes have featured it for the Editor’s Picks for April. His day job, which he hasn’t quite quit yet, is as a game developer. Beginning as writer and video game designer at Looking Glass Studios, games Grossman has worked on include Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds, System Shock, Flight Unlimited, Trespasser: Jurassic Park, Clive Barker’s Undying, Deus Ex, Tomb Raider Legend, Epic Mickey, and most recently, Dishonored, from Arkane Studios.

All bar proceeds and tips benefit Variety Children’s Charity of Northern California

The Variety Preview Room Theatre
The Hobart Bldg., 1st Floor — entrance between Quiznos and Citibank
582 Market Street @ 2nd and Montgomery
San Francisco, CA 94104

Don’t Drive — BART/MUNI Montgomery Street station is right at our front door, and parking in San Francisco sucks!!! Street parking ($3.50 per hour) is metered M-Sat., til 6PM; find a parking garage here.

Our May reading will be on Saturday 11th and will feature Robin Sloan (Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore) and Austin Grossman (YOU: A Novel, and Soon I Will Be Invincible). As usual, each author will read a selection of their work, followed by Q&A moderated by author Terry Bisson. Books for sale courtesy of Borderlands Books. That’s at our usual Variety Preview Room venue.

It’s also DEBUT NOVEL DRINK NIGHT! Join us for a cold BOOKSELLER on ice!

Then, just a few days later, we are going on the road. Many of the best SF&F writers around will be gathered in San José for the SFWA Nebula Awards weekend. We have two absolute giants of the field for you. On Thursday May 16th, in the Market Room of the Hilton San José we will present Gene Wolfe and Connie Willis. Our thanks to SFWA for helping organize this. Doors open at 6:30pm for a 7:00pm start. For this special event, Nebula Award Weekend attendees are free, and public admission is $10 at the door. All proceeds will benefit the SFWA Emergency Medical Fund and Variety Children’s Charity of Northern California.

Saturday, April 27

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (PG; 116 mins.)

Considered to be the first film from the famous Studio Ghibli! A Japanese animated post-apocalyptic fantasy adventure film not to be missed! If you’ve seen it before – time to see it again! Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, and based on his 1982 manga of the same name. Warrior/pacifist Princess Nausicaä desperately struggles to prevent two warring nations from destroying themselves and their dying planet. While created right before Studio Ghibli was founded, it is considered to be the beginning of the studio. Among its numerous awards, it won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1984. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is frequently ranked among the best animated films in Japan and is seen as a seminal influence on the development of anime. Miyazaki’s manga version of Nausicaä was written over a period of 12 years, with breaks taken to work on Studio Ghibli films. The Nausicaä manga is published in English by VIZ Media.

As a special treat, SF in SF is raffling off a GORGEOUS, new, mint, 2-volume boxed set of the bound manga comics, done by Hayao Miyazaki! Out of print, and going for hundreds on Amazon and Ebay, here’s your chance to get your own copy now! Raffle tickets are $2 each or 3 tickets for $5, and we’ll have some great secondary prizes as well. You won’t want to miss this one — and know too, every dollar goes to Variety Children’s Charity to help kids in our community! We’re shooting for $350 for this — enough to purchase a pediatric wheelchair for a deserving child! You must be present to win; tickets can only be purchased at event.

Doors and cash bar opens at 6:00PM
Event begins at 7:00PM
Seating is limited; first come, first seated
Suggested $5-$10 donation at the door benefits Variety Children’s Charity of Northern California

The Variety Preview Room Theatre
The Hobart Bldg., 1st Floor — entrance between Quiznos and Citibank
582 Market Street @ 2nd and Montgomery
San Francisco, CA 94104

Don’t Drive — BART/MUNI Montgomery Street station is right at our front door, and parking in San Francisco sucks!!! Street parking ($3.50 per hour) is metered M-Sat., til 6PM; find a parking garage here.

Saturday, April 20th

Doors and cash bar opens at 6:00PM
Event begins at 7:00PM
Seating is limited; first come, first seated
Suggested $5-$10 donation at the door benefits Variety Children’s Charity of Northern California.

Each author will read a selection from their work, followed by Q&A with the audience, moderated by author Terry Bisson. Booksigning and schmoozing follows in the lounge, with books for sale courtesy of Borderlands Books. Podcasting courtesy of Rick Kleffel, The Agony Column.

Rick Klaw is a professional editor, reviewer, geek maven, and optimistic curmudgeon, perhaps best known for the popular column “Geeks With Books” for SF Site and as the co-founder/managing editor of the groundbreaking MOJO Press. Geek Confidential: Echoes From the 21st Century, a collection of his critical essays, reviews, and other observations was published in 2003 by MonkeyBrain, Inc. Klaw is the award-winning editor of eighteen books and numerous short stories.

His writings have appeared in GeekDad, The Greenwood Encyclopedia of SF&F, Omnivoracious, SF Site, Revolution SF, Tor.com, Steampunk, Science Fiction Weekly, Electric Velocipede, and The Steampunk Bible, among others. Klaw currently pens, along with Mark London Williams, the bi-weekly graphic novel column “Nexus Graphica” for SF Site and serves as an editor-at-large for Revolution SF.

Rick is the editor of The Apes of Wrath, out now from Tachyon Publications. This provocative anthology delves into our cultural fascination with – and dread of – our simian cousins, and explore the lighter and darker sides of apes. To learn more about Rick’s work, please visit here.

Mary Robinette Kowal is an American fantasy writer and puppeteer, currently living in Chicago. She has served as art director for both Shimmer Magazine and Weird Tales. She served as secretary of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America for two years, and was elected to the position of SFWA vice-president in 2010. Kowal has worked as a professional puppeteer since 1989, performing for the Center for Puppetry Arts, Jim Henson Productions, and her own production company, Other Hand Productions, as well as in Iceland on the children’s TV show LazyTown for two seasons.

Kowal’s debut novel, Shades of Milk and Honey, began a loving tribute to the works of Jane Austen, set in a world where magic is an everyday occurrence. it was nominated for the 2010 Nebula Award for Best Novel, followed by Glamour in Glass, and now, Without A Summer. In 2008 she won the Campbell Award for Best New Writer, while two of her short fiction works have been nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Short Story: “Evil Robot Monkey” in 2009 and “For Want of a Nail” in 2011, which won the Hugo that year. Her stories have appeared in Strange Horizons, Asimov’s, and several Year’s Best anthologies, as well as in her collection, Scenting the Dark and Other Stories, from Subterranean Press. After appearing several times as a guest star in the podcast, Writing Excuses, she became a full-time cast member at the start of their sixth season in 2011.

She has been known to appear in full, historically accurate, Regency dress, complete with fan, and knows which fork one would use for the second course of fish at a formal dinner in 1812. To learn more, please visit her website.

The Variety Preview Room Theatre
The Hobart Bldg., 1st Floor — entrance between Quiznos and Citibank
582 Market Street @ 2nd and Montgomery
San Francisco, CA 94104

Don’t Drive — BART/MUNI Montgomery Street station is right at our front door, and parking in San Francisco sucks!!! Street parking ($3.50 per hour) is metered M-Sat., til 6PM; find a parking garage here.

SF In SF, Io9.com, and BBC Home Entertainment presents

A Double Dose Of The Doctor!

Saturday, March 30

New Episode on the BIG screen! We’ll be showing the brand-new episode, The Bells Of St. John, followed by the classic episode, The Ark In Space!

Doors and cash bar opens at 4:00PM
1st screening begins at 5:00PM
2nd screening follows, after a short break.
Suggested $5-$10 donation at the door benefits Variety Children’s Charity
Seating is limited, first come, first seated. We fill up fast, so don’t be late!

The Bells Of St. John — the new episode for Season 7 and you can see it with us! The Doctor searches for Clara in London, where something dangerous lurks in the Wi-Fi signals… Writer Steven Moffat described the premise, “It’s the traditional Doctor Who thing of taking something omnipresent in your life and making it sinister, if something did get in the Wi-Fi, we’d be kind of screwed. Nobody had really done it before, so I thought, ‘It’s time to get kids frightened of Wi-Fi!”

The Ark In Space – a classic episode, one of the more exciting adventures of the Fourth Doctor, played by Tom Baker. The TARDIS lands on a space station orbiting the earth in the distant future. It’s seemingly deserted, but the Doctor, Sarah Jane and Harry soon discover that they are not alone. Thousands of humans — the only survivors of the human race — are in cryogenic sleep, and while they’ve slept their ark has been invaded. A parasitic insect race — the Wirrn — have taken control and threaten the very future of mankind.

We’ll have a raffle for goodies — including some new unreleased Dr. Who tie-in novels!! We’ll have popcorn. And, of course – Sonic Screwdrivers will be served cold at the bar!!

The Variety Preview Room Theatre
The Hobart Bldg., 1st Floor — entrance between Quiznos and Citibank
582 Market Street @ 2nd and Montgomery
San Francisco, CA 94104

Don’t Drive — BART/MUNI Montgomery Street station is right at our front door, and parking in San Francisco sucks!!! Street parking ($3.50 per hour) is metered M-Sat., til 6PM; find a parking garage here.

Help us raise money for kids and science!

Saturday, March 23rd

Special event in aid of Variety and Wonderfest, a screening of Robot and Frank.

Followed by a discussion and Q&A session with special guest, noted robotics expert, UC Berkeley EECS professor Ken Goldberg, describing the current state of robotics and artificial intelligence.

Robot and Frank charmed and challenged moviegoers with the story of a robot that befriends an aging cat burglar, played by Frank Langella. Set in the near future, an ex-jewel thief receives a gift from his son: a robot butler programmed to look after him. Soon, the two companions try their luck together…as a heist team! With James Marsden, Susan Sarandon, & Liv Tyler. (Rated PG: 89 mins.)

Will a robot — someday soon — be your friend?

Tickets $20 available from Brown Bag Tickets. All proceeds to Variety and Wonderfest.

Event sponsors: San Francisco Bay Area Robotics Group and Syntience, Inc..

6:30PM – Doors and cash bar open
7:30PM – Event begins

The Variety Preview Room Theatre
The Hobart Bldg., 1st Floor — entrance between Quiznos and Citibank
582 Market Street @ 2nd and Montgomery
San Francisco, CA 94104

Don’t Drive — BART/MUNI Montgomery Street station is right at our front door, and parking in San Francisco sucks!!! Street parking ($3.50 per hour) is metered M-Sat., til 6PM; find a parking garage here.

Join SF in SF for our Science Fiction Film Night – and free popcorn!

Saturday March 16th

Frankenweenie (PG, animated; 87 mins.)

The full-length, stop-motion animation film, based on a short film that Tim Burton did waaaay back in the day, circa 1984. Young Victor conducts a science experiment to bring his beloved dog Sparky back to life, only to face unintended, sometimes monstrous, consequences. We’ll be screening the original short as well — just for fun! Starring the voice talents of Martin Short, Martin Landau, Catherine O’Hara, and Winona Ryder. Children welcome.

Doors and cash bar open at 6:00PM
Film starts at 7:00PM

Suggested $5-$10 donation at the door benefits Variety Children’s Charity of Northern California – learn more at www.varietync.org

Seating is limited; first come, first seated.

The Variety Preview Room Theatre
The Hobart Bldg., 1st Floor — entrance between Quiznos and Citibank
582 Market Street @ 2nd and Montgomery
San Francisco, CA 94104

Don’t Drive — BART/MUNI Montgomery Street station is right at our front door, and parking in San Francisco sucks!!! Street parking ($3.50 per hour) is metered M-Sat., til 6PM; find a parking garage here.

We’ve been told authors Amber Benson and Sarah Kuhn will be joining Seanan this Saturday, along with musicians Jeff and Maya Bohnhoff! It is going to be a fabulous evening.