Visits & Events

I am regularly in attendance at visits and events throughout the year. If you’d like to invite me to do an event, please contact info@mushens-entertainment.com.

A note that I cannot often do unpaid events unless it’s in support of a charity, and even then, my slots are limited. While I enjoy events, I ask for fair compensation in accordance with the rates set out by the Society of Authors. I am not currently offering private mentoring or coaching, but I am a book coach at The Novelry.

I am on the Scottish Book Trust Live Literature Database.

2025 Events

January 23rd: Publishing in More Than One Genre, TBR Con (online) with Django Wexler, Quenby Olson, Christian Cameron, & Anna Stephens. https://fanfiaddict.com/tbrcon2025/

January 28th: launching Annabelle Campbell’s The Outcast Mage with Justin Lee Anderson, Waterstones Argyle Street, Glasgow. Event starts at 7 pm. Tickets here.

February 21st: chairing Samantha Shannon for the launch of The Dark Mirror (Bone Season '#5), St. Mary’s Church, Toppings, Edinburgh. Event starts at 7.30 pm. Tickets here.

March 4th: B&N Upper West Side in New York City, NY, with Caitlin Rozakis (author of DREADFUL and the upcoming THE GRIMOIRE GRAMMAR SCHOOL PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION). Event begins at 7 PM. Venue: 82nd & Broadway. Learn more and preorder your copy.

March 5th: Heartleaf Books at Black Leave Cafe in Providence, RI with Sophie Burnham (author of SARGASSA). Event begins at 6:30 PM. Venue: Black Leaf Tea & Culture Shop, 52A Valley St. Learn more and preorder your copy.

March 6th: B&N Burlington, MA with Melissa Caruso (author THE LAST HOUR BETWEEN WORLDS and the upcoming THE LAST SOUL AMONG WOLVES). Event begins at 7 PM. Venue: 98 Middlesex Turnpike. Learn more and preorder your copy.

March 9th: Lovestruck Books, Cambridge MA. Event begins at 4PM.. Venue: 44 Brattle St, Cambridge, MA 02138. Learn more and preorder your copy.

March 13th: Joint FAITHBREAKER & EMBERCLAW Launch with Hannah Kaner, Argonaut Books at Leith Theatre, Edinburgh. Excited to launch alongside Hannah Kaner (#1 Sunday Times Bestselling author of GODKILLER and SUNBRINGER). Event begins at 7 PM. Learn more and grab your tickets.

March 27th: Waterstones Argyle Street, Glasgow. Event begins 7 PM. Learn more and grab your tickets. 

March 31st: Waterstones Covent Garden, London. This one is still being finalised, but it'll be a panel of a few authors. Check the Waterstones site or my social media closer to the time for the full details! 

April 1st: Breaking Boundaries: Queering SFF with Tasha Suri, C L Clark, and Sarah Rees Brennan, Oxford Literary Festival, Oxford. Award-winning authors L R Lam, Tasha Suri, C L Clark, and Sarah Rees Brennan explore how queerness and new representation are reshaping sci-fi and fantasy narratives. Event begins at 6 pm. Grab your tickets here.

April 8th: Sci Fi Futures, Edinburgh Science Festival with Martin Macinnes, Eris Young, and Malcolm Macdonald, Edinburgh. What future for our fragile planet? In this creative collision of science fiction and science fact, we have brought together Scottish writers, Martin MacInnes, L R Lam, and Eris Young, and Professor of Applied Space Technology and Scotland’s leading space expert, Prof Malcolm Macdonald to commission three brand new writings envisioning a utopian future truly living within our means. Event begins at 6 pm. Grab your tickets here.

  • January 28th, Toppings & Co, Edinburgh. Samantha Shannon interview for the paperback launch of A Day of Fallen Night.

    February 6th, Toppings & Co, Edinburgh. Georgia Summers interview for the launch of City of Stardust.

    February 20th, The Ripped Bodice, virtual, chairing Elizabeth May for the launch of To Cage a Cod.

    February 22nd, Blackwells, Edinburgh, chairing Elizabeth May for the launch of To Cage a God.

    March 1st, Argonaut Books, chairing Ella Macray for the launch of Remember, Remember.

    March 5th, Waterstones Glasgow, celebrating the launch of Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan with Hannah Kaner.

    March 22nd, 23rd, and 24th, Surgeon’s Hall, Edinburgh. Crown & Dagger Ball special guest alongside Hannah Kaner, Mystic Fate Events.

    June 11th, Q&A for Listening Books and the Royal Voluntary Service, online.

    June 13th, Lighthouse Books, First Date Festival, Summerhall, Edinburgh. Out of This World: Romantasy, Superheroes, and more with Helen Comerford and PJ Ellis.

    June 13th, Waterstones, Leeds. Invited guest to It’s Strange Up North, with other authors Stephen Aryan, Nicolas Binge, Charlotte Bond, Sarah Brooks, Gareth Brown, Eliza Chan, Grace Curtis, Sunyi Dean, Hannah Kaner, Oliver Landmead, Thomas D. Lee, CK McDonnell, Catriona Silvey, Emma Sterner-Radley, Frances White, and Lorraine Wilson.

    June 20th, a day at the Royal Observatory with Martin Macinnes and Eris Young to brainstorm with several scientists and climate change policy makers, for an interdisciplinary, collaborative project for the Edinburgh Science Museum and Edinburgh Science Festival.

    First week of July: stock signings at several B&Ns in New York City to celebrate Dragonfall being B&N’s speculative Pick of the Month, as well as indie store Books are Magic.

    July 11th, Barnes & Noble Instagram page, being interviewed by Robin Hobb to celebrate Dragonfall being the July Speculative Our Monthly pick.

    August 9th-11th, WorldCon, Glasgow. August 9th: 10 am, autographing, 1 pm, Edinburgh SFF Party. August 10th: The Purpose of Dragons panel with Paolo Bacigalupi, Eliza Chan, Minerva Cerridwen and chaired by J.E. Hannaford.

    August 12th, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Edinburgh. Live Like an Astronaut Panel with Martin Macinnes, Eris Young, and lecturer and spaceship engineer Malcolm Macdonald, chaired by Charlie Pike.

    August 21st, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Edinburgh. Future Hopes panel with Lauren James and Tola Okogwu.

    September 26th, Waterstones West End, 6 pm, celebrating the paperback launch of Remember, Remember.

    November 18th, Duncan Rice Library, University of Aberdeen, 6.30 pm. Book Week Scotland Event: Here Be Dragons: in Conversation with L.R. Lam. Chaired by Zara van Zyl.

    December 15th, guest at Second Star Events Yule Ball, San Francisco City Hall, 7pm-11.45pm.

  • Jan 26th, 7.30 pm: Chairing the launch of Hannah Kaner’s Godkiller, Argonaut Books, Edinburgh.

    April 14th-16th: Les Intergalactiques, Lyon, France.

    April 29th, 4 pm, Instagram Live with Goldsboro Books.

    May 2nd, 7pm: Waterstones Princes St, Edinburgh, w/ P.M. Freestone.

    May 4th, 7 pm: Waterstones Sauchiehall St, Glasgow, w/ Kat Dunn.

    May 6th, online event TBA.

    May 8th, 6.30: pm Waterstones Piccadilly, London, w/ Samantha Shannon.

    May 9th, 7 pm: Super Relaxed Fantasy Club, The Star of Kings, London.

    May 10th, online event TBA.

    May 22nd, 7 pm: Edinburgh Bookshop, Edinburgh, w/ Hannah Kaner & Anya Bergman.

    May 25th, 4,30pm, Fantasy in the Court, Goldsboro Books, London.

    May 26th, 3pm panel. MCM Comic Con Writing Epic Fantasy w/ Saara El-Arifi, Natasha Bowen, Michael R. Miller, Samantha Shannon, Sebastien de Castell, ExCel Centre, London (signing after).

    May 27th, 7 pm: Blackwells Rebellion Series, Oxford, celebrating Hannah Kaner.

    June 4th, 3.15pm: Of Gods and Monsters Event, Cymera Festival, Edinburgh, w/ Aime Kaufman, chaired by P.M. Freestone.

    June 27th, 7.30pm (doors open 7.10pm): Event at Toppings, Edinburgh.

    July 21st, 11 am. In the Beginning…There was Worldbuilding, San Diego Comic Con, San Diego, California, with Victoria Aveyard, Holly Black, Wesley Chu, and TJ Klune.

    August 18th, 5.15pm. World Building and Dividing, Edinburgh International Book Festival, chaired by Alice Tarbuck.

    September 10th, Fantasy Fellowship Event, Isle of Wight, with Samantha Shannon, Saara El-Arifi, and Hannah Kaner.

    November 28th, 7 pm UK time, interviewing Rebecca Yarros for Waterstones, online.

  • 2022 Events

    January 21: Seven Mercies launch with Elizabeth May, chaired by Eris Young, in conjunction with Cymera and Blackwells Edinburgh. Zoom event, 7 pm GMT.

    May 28: Writing a Science-Fiction/Fantasy Novel, New Writing North. Zoom Workshop, 7 pm-9pm BST.

    May 22 to 28: Launchpad Astronomy Workshop, University of Wyoming. This was a non-public facing residency where I learned astronomy science with a group of other authors in Laramie, Wyoming. With thanks to SFWA and Napier University for funding.

    June 3 to 5: Cymera Festival, Edinburgh. I was on a panel with C.L. Clark and Tasha Suri and also did a reading for Shoreline of Infinity.

    July 21: Chairing Juno Dawson for the launch week of Her Majesty’s Royal Coven, Toppings Edinburgh

    September 2: Chairing R.F. Kuang for the launch week of Babel, Waterstones Sauchiehall, 7 pm BST. Tickets.

    September 17 & 18: Fantasycon, Heathrow, London. Schedule can be found here.

    October 29 to November 1: Les Utopiales, Nantes, France.

  • February 19th: In conversation with K.B. Waters, Orbit Crowdcast, 7 pm GMT.

    February 24th: In conversation with Becky Chambers, Waterstones, 7.30 pm GMT.

    March 26th: Oops . . . Science as Problem and Solution. Wondercon@Home, San Diego. Event on Youtube.

    March 27th: Gollanczfest @ Home Events. London. Events on Youtube: Part 1 & Part 2.

    June 6: The Price of Freedom with Everina Maxwell, Elizabeth May, and Laura Lam. Cymera, Edinburgh, 2.30 PM BST.

    June 6: Space Marauders with Becky Chambers and Stark Holborn [Chair]. Cymera, Edinburgh, 7.15 PM BST.

    September 26: Writing Science Fiction, WOW Con, 5-6 pm BST.

  • March 12: International Womens’ Day Event Horizon, Shoreline of Infinity, Pleasance Cabaret Bar, Edinburgh, 7.30 pm.

    April 28th: Inverse Happy Hour on their Instagram. 5 pm EST / 10 PM BST.

    April 30th: Instagram live on my Instagram with P.M. Freestone. 6 pm BST.

    May 5th: Orbit Crowdcast event with Ann Leckie. 3 pm EST / 8 pm EST

    May 6th: Second Life Book Club Panel with Anne Charnock, Antoine Wilson, and Yvonne Battle-Wilson, 10 am SLT.

    May 7th: #OrbitTavern with Creative Director Lauren Panepinto via Orbit’s Instagram, 5 pm EST.

    May 8th: Cymera event through the BBC Big Books weekend with Temi Oh for Culture in Quarantine. 1 pm BST.

    May 14th: Science Panel with Dr. Heidi DeBlock, Dr. Sinead Collins, and Dr. Peta Freestone, in conjunction with Cymera. Event on Youtube.

    June 6th: Cymera event: When Does Good Advice Become Bad Advice? Building Resilience & Innovation as a Creative w/ P.M. Freestone, 12 pm BST.

    June 7th: Cymera event: Using Climate Change in Secondary Worlds. 11 am BST.

    June 20th: Tubby & Coos virtual event, 6 pm BST. You can still watch it! Event on Youtube.

    July 29th & 31st: Worldcon NZ events. See schedule here.

    August 6th at 7 pm BST: Seven Devils launch with Elizabeth May and Eris Young. Event on Youtube.

    September 1st, 9 pm BST (UK) / 4 pm EST (US): Instagram Live with Daphne from Illumicrate.

    September 5th, 2 pm EST / 7 pm BST: Fountain Bookstore event.

    November 4th, 6.30 PM UK time: Remaking the Future with SFX: Peter F Hamilton, Laura Lam & Stephen Baxter (Crowdcast)

    November 16th, 8 pm: Book Week Scotland: The Future is Queer: In Conversation with Sister Carmen Eileen from the Order of Perpetual Indulgence

  • Universities: MA Creative Writing, Napier University (02/13); Distinguished Writers Series, CSUEB (01/14); English Senior Seminar, CSUEB (01/14); English 1001, CSUEB (05/14); English 1001, CSUEB (10/14); MA Creative Writing, Napier University (02/15); Introduction to Science Fiction & Fantasy, University of Wisconsin-Waukesha (02/15), MA Creative Writing, Napier University (03/16)

    Secondary Schools: Hayward High School (02/13); Hayward High School (01/14); Kincorth Academy (09/14); Harlaw Academy (09/14); /12); Dollar Academy (2 sessions) (06/13); Keith Grammar (06/13); Gordonstoun School (06/13); Hayward High School (01/14); St. Machar Academy (10/14); Keith Grammar (2 sessions) (02/15); Robert Gordon’s College (10/15); St Margaret’s School for Girls (2 sessions) (11/15), Doon Academy (02/16); Kemnay Academy (2 sessions) (03/16); Milne’s High School (2 sessions) (03/16), Kemnay Academy, (06/16); Advanced Highers Conference, Edinburgh Secondary Schools (09/16); Kemnay Academy (11/16); The Bridge, Inverness (12/16); Inverness High (12/16); Grampian Childrens Book Award MC, University of Aberdeen (04/17); Keith Academy (06/17); Advanced Highers Conference, Edinburgh Secondary Schools (09/17), Glenrothes Academy (11/17), Dollar Academy (11/17), Glenrothes Academy (12/17), Berwickshire High (03/19), Lasswade High (09/19); Woodmill High (2 sessions) (09/19), Liberton High (2 sessions) (11/19)

    Libraries & Community Centres: SJCPC Library (04/13 via Skype); Tillydrone Youth Centre (09/14); Northfield Library (09/14); Cummings Park Community Flat (01/15); Central Library workshop for Journalism students at SchmuFM (02/15); World Book Night, Rosemount Community Centre, Aberdeen (04/15); 4 linked workshops at the Central Library (09-10/15); Gilmerton Library (11/16); Editing Your Manuscript, Rosemount Community Centre (09/17); Dunochter Library (10/17), Woodburn Resource Centre (11/19)

    Conventions, Festivals & Bookstore Events:

    2013-2015: Inverness Book Festival; Writing LGBTQ+ Characters in SFF, Nine Worlds; Aberdeen International Youth Festival workshop at the Lemon Tree

    2016: Storycon, Glasgow; LGBT YA event, Festival Theatre, BBC Radio 2 Book Club, multiple bookstore visits for False Hearts‘ launch

    2017: Inspiration Point Literary Salon, Aberdeen; Waterstones Argyle St, Nasty Women Launch; Shoreline of Infinity; Waterstones Aberdeen Masquerade Launch; Waterstones Princes St, Nasty Women Launch; Aye Write, Glasgow; SFX Weekender, Wales; Dutch Comic Con; Super Relaxed Fantasy Club, London; Waterstones Princes St False Hearts Paperback Launch with Elizabeth May; Teen Author Smash, Paris; London Comic Con; Forbidden Planet Newcastle; Waterstones Aberdeen Shattered Minds Launch; Waterstones Argyle St Shattered Minds Launch; Storycon, Glasgow; Linlithgow Book Club; YALC, London; Helsinki Worldcon; Borderlands Books, California; Shoreline of Infinity, Edinburgh; Bookish Games Night, Golden Hare

    2018: Shoreline of Infinity, Edinburgh; From Idea to Book, Blackwells Edinburgh; Storycon, Glasgow; Waterstones Newcastle with Alice Oseman and Mari Hannah; Waterstones Argyle St, Glasgow with Sasha Alsberg, Elizabeth May, Alexandra Cristo; MCM Comic Con, Glasgow; Cooler Lumpur, Malaysia; Waterstones Princes St, Love Stories Panel with Noelle Harrison, Tracy Gow & Sandra Ireland, chaired by Dawn Howie.

    2019: Chairing several events at Waterstones Argyle St or Princes St for authors P.M. Freestone, Alice Broadway & Samantha Shannon. Two Love Panel events at Waterstones St. Andrews & Blackwells North Bridge with Noelle Harrison, Tracy Gow, Laura Lam & Sandra Ireland. Chairing Laura Bates for Aye Write. Two Scotland in Space events at the University of Edinburgh. Four events for the Cymera Festival. Worldcon Dublin. Craigmillar Book Festival, Gollanczfest, London; Scotland in Space Book Launch, Edinburgh; Writing Workshop for Editors at Headline, London. Secondary schools & teen events visited (via Scottish Book Trust’s Live Literature programme): Berwickshire, Lasswade, Woodmill (x2), Westburn Resource Centre, and Liberton (x2).

    Mentoring: Scottish Book Trust New Writer Award (mentored from 2017-2018); What’s Your Story mentor to two teens in 2018, private mentoring in 2019 & 2020.