This weekend I’ll be attending Capclave, sponsored by the Washington Science Fiction Association, for the first time! Even though it’s a fairly local convention to me, I’ll be staying at the hotel for the full experience, and I’m excited to spend time with everyone who will be there. Below is my schedule for the weekend, but as usual, feel free to PM me on Facebook or Twitter if you’d like to meet up for a meal, a coffee, or just a chat!
I will have copies of all of my books available all weekend, including the newly released Steel Time!
FRIDAY
- 4 PM: Secret Origins of Writers (panel)
- To MFA or not to MFA. Pros and cons of workshops like Odyssey, Clarion, Taos Toolbox, and MFA programs such as Stonecoast and Iowa Writers Workshop.
- With Scott Edelman, Suzanne Palmer, Jack Stillingstead, and James R. Stratton
- 6 PM: Reading
- 7 PM: Taxonomy of Fantasy (panel)
- Urban fantasy, paranormal romance, dark fantasy, high fantasy, epic fantasy, mythic fantasy, etc. How many types of fantasy are there? Reader’s tastes evolve over time. Which types of fantasy are currently the most powerful, which are becoming less popular, where is fantasy headed, and why?
- With Craig L. Gidney and Lawrence Watt-Evans
- 9 PM: How to Self-Edit that Lousy First Draft
- Sometimes a first draft of a story is just not in a state your want to send to an editor or publisher, and yet too promising to simply set aside. What’s a good mindset to identify the pieces that can best be salvaged in revision? How can a first draft go from lousy to respectable with the least amount of exertion that could perhaps be spent on other works?
- With Doc Coleman, Michelle D. Sonnier, and James R. Stratton
- 10 PM: Author Table
SATURDAY
- 10 AM: Throw Out the Genre Definitions (panel)
- Intersections of YA, horror, romance, erotica, literary fiction, and SFF and their current successes. Who is doing it well?
- With Jeanne Adams, Kelly Dwyer, and Joan Wendland
- 1 PM: What Makes Alternate History So Compelling? (panel)
- Alternate histories continue to proliferate, though in accordance with Sturgeon’s Law, most fail the plausibility test, the storytelling test, or both. Why do the what-ifs continue to fascinate us, and what makes a power story in this subgenre?
- With Tom Doyle, Bjorn Hasseler, Alan Smale, and Jean Marie Ward
- 5 PM: Writers as Fans: How Fandom Influences Our Writing (panel)
- A panel of writers discusses their favorite fandoms and how their passions have inspired and influenced their writing.
- With Andrew Fox, Victoria Janssen, and Hildy Silverman
- 7:30 PM: Mass Autographing Session
SUNDAY
- 10 AM: Ask Me Anything–Author Edition (panel)
- Ask our panel of authors absolutely anything about what they do–writing, getting published, elevator pitches, getting an agent, dealing with writers block, writers workshops, etc. Includes many non-writer-parts-of-being-a-writer, such as being your own boss, setting schedules, and so on
- With Alyssa Wong, Jonathan Brazee, Suzanne Palmer, and Lawrence M. Schoen
- 12 PM: Don’t Go There–Unless You Really Want To (panel)
- Taboo subjects in fantasy and science fiction. Are there any? What lines won’t you cross? What lines should you cross?
- With Sarah Avery, Shahid Mahmud, and Lawrence Watt-Evans