Coming up...
- July 27-29, 2007, MERPCon 2007
Past appearances
- August 26-28, 2006, BarCamp Texas 2006.
- December 10, 2005, Houston Narnia Lion Party at the Edwards Marq*E Cinema
- Tuesday, July 26, Houston Museum of Natural Science, Distinguished Lecturer Series.
"Being Middle-earth: How Fantasy Shapes the Living World"
- Friday, June 4, 2005
Grand opening of the Lord of the Rings exhibition at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
- Dragoncon 2004
- Apollocon I 2004
- KONP Radio
- KXCI Radio in Tuscon, AZ
- Hastings in Lake Jackson, TX
- Hastings in Galveston, TX
- Hastings in Conroe, TX
- Katy Budget Books in Katy, TX
A really great independent book store. Katy Budget Books treats their guest authors very, very well. They have a large clientele and many of their customers are friendly, charming, and curious. A great mix.
- Animal Talk Radio Network
Wonderful people with a great sense of humor and a keen interest in Tolkien's works. I may get to write that essay on Anduril eventually.
- WKTC Radio
Drive Time talk show interview.
- Barnes and Noble in The Woodlands, TX
A great venue for an author to speak with readers and customers.
- KPQ-AM, Wenatchee, WA
The Two O'Clock Show with Ken Johannessen.
- KSCJ Radio, Sioux City, IA
Talk with Bob Lawrence.
- Strangeland Books in Houston, TX
A great bookstore with a huge stage and auditorium.
- Barnes and Noble, Memorial Dr. in Houston, TX
Honestly, it was rained out, but they had a great setup and any author who gets to speak here should do well on a sunny day. It's a large, well-stocked store and plenty of people came in to browse.
- Chapter One, Live, Columbia, MO
Simon Rose interviewed me for a nationally syndicated show.
- KILT Radio, Houston, TX
This Week in Houston with Pat Hernandez. Very interesting gentleman. Loved getting to visit the studio where some of my favorite Houston shows are broadcast (Business Radio, KSJZ, etc.).
- WKTQ Radio, Hornell, NY
Joel Oriend show.
- KTRH News Radio (Clear Channel Network)
A nationally syndicated interview broken up into 30-second segments broadcast throughout the day.
- AMC GulfePointe 30 theatre (Return of the King opening)
This was the largest showing in Houston, with more than 3,000 people (many more than they had show up at the theater New Line Cinema had selected for the Trilogy showing). Vince Smith did a fantastic job with the event.
- Waldenbooks in Pasadena, TX (now closed)
They did a great job of making an author feel welcome. Loved the LoTR standees.
- Texas Live with Trey Kirby (at the Waldenbooks)
Television interview.
- KSAL Radio, Salina, KS
Clark Sanders show. Good questions from some people who were not really familiar with the material.
- Dragoncon 2003
Guest of the Tolkien and Middle-earth fan programming track. Thank you, Jincey, and TheOneRing.Net. I had a great time.
- Galacticon 2003
Literary guest at a nice, small convention in Tennessee. I had a great time.
- AMC Gulfepointe 30 theatre (Two Towers opening)
The second Houston Line Party, organized by Vince Smith. Two local television stations showed up.
- AMC Gulfepointe 30 theatre (Fellowship of the Ring opening)
The first Houston Line Party, organized by Vince Smith of The BarrowDowns. Great event.
Note: There have been other events that I hope to add when I can dig up some information. Also, it's not appropriate to include them as scheduled appearances, but I did direct the Hercules and Xena fan track at Dragoncon for two years (1999 and 2000) and the Tolkien and Middle-earth fan track for two years (2001 and 2002). I did some impromptu and/or scheduled breakout sessions at each of these conventions to fill in time slots.
A very big thanks to Breakthrough Promotions for all their hard work on behalf of promoting both Visualizing Middle-earth and Understanding Middle-earth.
Thanks to Susan Graham and About Words Literary Agency for their work.
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Contact Michael
On The Scene
Who says authors can't have fun while promoting their books? Not Michael.
Vivisphere, publisher of Understanding Middle-earth, sent a box of goodies to Dragoncon 2003. This lucky convention member got to pose with Michael. Okay, she kept the cover art, too.
TheOneRing.Net said Michael gave an "amazing rendition of Brandy (you're a fine girl)". They were kind. The song was playing so fast, Michael had to skip two-and-a-half verses before he could catch up. He prefers singing with the original Looking Glass version of the song. Calisuri, you are TOO kind.
The biggest opening night for "The Return of the King" in Houston took place far away from New Line Cinema's chosen venue. More than 3,000 people showed up for the largest line party in southeastern Texas.
LovesBeren is a lovely lady. She also has magical powers which enable her to appear in a picture with Michael and take it at the same time (or maybe it was the shaky man behind the camera who kept saying, "Hm, I can't seem to make it work...").
Tolkien fans from around Houston joined Michael at Strangeland Books for an evening of entertaining discussion.
When the crowd became too large for the main bookstore, Strangeland opened up the auditorium. Michael warmed the crowd up by telling the old Ent joke (or maybe it was the one about the Ranger and the Elf...).
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Michael Martinez