Anthony Francis
@xenotaur.bsky.social
180 followers 24 following 82 posts
By day, Anthony teaches robots to learn; by night, he writes science fiction and draws comic books. Anthony lives in South Carolina with his wife and cat but his heart will always belong in Atlanta.
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xenotaur.bsky.social
Dragon Con day five! The Cruxshadows didn't go on until 230am last night(!), so getting a late start on the last few panels today! #dragoncon
xenotaur.bsky.social
Dragon Con day 4! Tonight at 7, the Atlanta Radio Theater Company will perform Jeremiah Willstone and the Time of Ghosts, adapted for audio by my friend Tony Sarrecchia ! #dragoncon #artc #jeremiahwillstone
ARTC performing the Hour of the Wolf.
xenotaur.bsky.social
Day 3 at Dragon Con! My reading is going on right now in the Learning Center in the Hyatt. #dragoncon #jeremiahwillstone
xenotaur.bsky.social
Dragoncon, Day 2! At 7pm in Hyatt Regency VI-VII, ARTC will perform my story Jeremiah Willstone and the Hour of the Wolf, adapted for audio by Tony Sarrecchia (seen moderating an audio panel below). Come join us for two fisted steampunk adventure!

#dragoncon #artc #jeremiahwillstone
xenotaur.bsky.social
Heading to Dragon Con! I'm super stoked that two episodes of Jeremiah Willstone and the Plague of Gears will be performed by the Atlanta Radio Theater Company (adapted for audio by Tony Sarrecchia)!

dresan.com/blog/2025/08...
#dragoncon #artc #jeremiahwillstone
Dragon Con fans interacting with Star Wars robots and a robot broom!
xenotaur.bsky.social
Worldcon, Day Five! Even though it was an abbreviated day, I got to see a lot of great talks and met with a lot of great people. You know you're where you need to be when you run into someone you wanted to see, but missed, at the con!

#worldcon

dresan.com/blog/2025/08...
Me at the photo booth of the con
xenotaur.bsky.social
Day four at Worldcon! My talk went well and the Hugo Awards ceremony was a blast!

dresan.com/blog/2025/08...

#worldcon
Fan tables at Worldcon with a sunbeam
xenotaur.bsky.social
Day 3 at Worldcon! Some great costumes!

dresan.com/blog/2025/08...
xenotaur.bsky.social
Worldcon, Day Two! The Neurodiversiverse is selling out at the Liminal Fiction table, and lots of people have come by the Clockwork Alchemy / Milford table!

#neurodiversiverse #worldcon

dresan.com/blog/2025/08...
xenotaur.bsky.social
Worldcon Day One! Lots of people have come by the Milford Writing Workshop / Clockwork Alchemy shared fan table! #worldcon

dresan.com/blog/2025/08...
xenotaur.bsky.social
Hey folks, I'm at Con Carolinas this weekend! I'll be on four panels: “Playing with AI”, “Science Fiction, Science Fact, Science Future”, “Neurodiversity in Science”, and “There and Back Again: A Doctor Who Tale”.

dresan.com/blog/2025/05...

#concarolinas
Lobby of the Con Carolinas 2024 hotel along with a banner.
xenotaur.bsky.social
Also coming up later this month is the workshop on Advances in Social Navigation: Planning, HRI and Beyond at #icra2025 socialnav2025.pages.dev ... AI is changing rapidly, and we will be discussing how that expands what we can do with socially navigating robots.
xenotaur.bsky.social
Hey folks! The call for papers for the Embodied AI Workshop is open through Friday: embodied-ai.org/cvpr2025/#ca... ... we welcome submissions on the themes of embodied AI solutions, advances in simulation, generative methods, foundation models, and related areas of #embodiedai #cvpr2025
The Sixth Annual Embodied Artificial Intelligence Workshop banner image
xenotaur.bsky.social
The Neurodiversiverse is a finalist for the IBPA Book Award! We were selected as one of the three finalists for the "Neurodivergent Communities" category!

www.ibpabookaward.org/winners-neur...

We'll find out May 16 whether we won gold or silver ...

#neurodiversiverse
Winners: Art & Photography | IBPA Book Award
www.ibpabookaward.org
xenotaur.bsky.social
Hey folks! I'm proud to announce the Sixth Annual Embodied AI Workshop will be held June 12th this year at CVPR 2025 in Nashville!

Please stay tuned as we announce our speakers, challenges, sponsors and other special events associated with the workshop!

embodied-ai.org/cvpr2025/
Reposted by Anthony Francis
thinkinginkpress.bsky.social
Some Time Later: Fantastic Voyages Through Alternate Worlds is a Deal of the Day at Drive Thru Fiction! ⛭💖⛭

Get the ebook for $2.40 here tinyurl.com/2e64scec

Please share to spread the word!

#BookSky #steampunk #ebooksale
xenotaur.bsky.social
Also, my own "Shadows of Titanium Rain" in the Neurodiversiverse anthology is also eligible ... please check it out and take appropriate action as needed ... :-)
xenotaur.bsky.social
I took two naps with two different cliques of cats today. It was wonderful. But I'm reminded of the proverb:

"A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber."

I just don't know how to balance self-care and responsibility. :-/
xenotaur.bsky.social
This is the longest Loki (short for Loquacious(ness)) has stayed in the same room with Loli(pop(kins)), Lily(pad(skis)) and Luna(tic(les)). Yes, their common names are all 4-letter words starting with L (Loki Lily Loli Luna), so I call them the L^4.

The search for detente continues. #loquaciousness
A large black cat sitting on a chair next to a small black kitten.
xenotaur.bsky.social
So, here's a sentence I never expected to write:

A car ran over the Internet.

I wonder what happened. But the impact was ... kinetic. The neighbor's mailbox was reduced to brick shrapnel and the AT&T equipment box was hurled all the way into our yard, along with a piece of the assailant's car.
A part of a car, a long trail of debris, and a dead AT&T equipment box looking like a tombstone.
xenotaur.bsky.social
Would neurodiversity be an advantage in an encounter with aliens? Let's find out! THE NEURODIVERSIVERSE: ALIEN ENCOUNTERS has 40+ stories, poems and art from (mostly) #ownvoices creators, including Tobias S. Buckell, M.D. Cooper, Ada Hoffman, Jody Lynn Nye, and Cat Rambo!

neurodiversiverse.com
The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters | Thinking Ink Press
A diverse, hopeful book of neurodiversity-themed science fiction short stories, poetry, and art for anyone who loves science fiction.
neurodiversiverse.com
xenotaur.bsky.social
Whoops, forgot to signal boost ... Erin Garcia on the Autism Support and Knowledge podcast interviews me and co-editor Liza Olmsted about our work on neurodivergent representation in the #neurodiversiverse anthology:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dhlk...
Neurodivergent Representation in Literature with Liza Olmsted and Anthony Francis
YouTube video by Erin Garcia
www.youtube.com
xenotaur.bsky.social
I liked this essay on "how to be gentle with yourself as a writer" by my #neurodiversiverse co-editor Liza Olmsted on the Insecure Writer's Support Group:

www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/2024/11/i-wa...

I could have used this essay during work on the book, but then, we'd need a time machine.
I Want You To Be Yourself, and To Be Gentle with Yourself
Hi writers! I'm Liza Olmsted, a writer, editor, and publisher at Thinking Ink Press. I'm also neurodivergent* and I have invisible disabilit...
www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com