The next three weeks are the busiest stretch I have ever had, and I wanted to lay it all out in one place.
WorldCon, Anaheim, August 27 through 31.
My first WorldCon. I will be there for the full run, and I will also be sitting down with the team at Podium Entertainment while I am out west to talk through the audiobook production for both series. If you are going to be in Anaheim, come find me. I would rather talk to readers than do almost anything else.
Dragon Con, Atlanta, September 3 through 7.
I am attending as a guest of the convention, because The Unnecessary War is a finalist for the 2026 Dragon Award for Best Alternate History Novel. I will be on panels and doing readings across the weekend, and I will post the schedule once it is finalized.
The awards ceremony is Sunday, September 6.
THE HUNDRED-YEAR REICH arrives September 2.
Book Three of The European War, and it lands the day before Dragon Con opens. This is the one that carries the story to El Alamein, where the two series converge. If you have been reading the European books, this is the turn you have been waiting for.
And here is the ask.
The Dragon Awards are decided entirely by readers. There is no jury and no committee. Fans nominate, and fans vote. The only reason my name is on that ballot is that people who read the book put it there, and I still have not found adequate words for what that means to me.
Voting is free and open to anyone. You do not need a Dragon Con ticket or any kind of membership.
- Go to awards.dragoncon.org
- Register with your name and email
- Confirm the email they send you
- A ballot arrives from SurveyMonkey a few days later
- Vote in Best Alternate History Novel
That last step matters. Registering is not the same as voting. When the ballot lands in your inbox, go back and finish it.
Registration closes Friday, September 4.
I am on that ballot with Harry Turtledove, S.M. Stirling, John Birmingham, and Richard K. Morgan. They have publishers. I have a laptop and a lot of weekends. If you have read The Unnecessary War and think it earned your vote, I would be grateful for it.
Thank you, all of you. None of this happens without readers.
Every great story begins with family.
Brian