Balticon 58 Schedule

After a hiatus last year (okay, I went on a cruise), I’m returning to my original, hometown convention this weekend for Balticon 58! I may have added romance to my repertoire, but speculative fiction remains my first love, and I’m thrilled that I’ll get to share my love of each this year during panels that span both topics.

I’ll have copies of all my books on hand to sell, including Steel Legacy, the FINAL book in the Steel Empires urban fantasy series, and Earth and Water, my debut paranormal romance.

Balticon 58 May 24-27, 2024 Rennaissance Harborplace Hotel Baltimore, Maryland

Can’t travel to Baltimore? Balticon has a virtual option, where you can also catch me as a panelist!

Because this is a local event, I will be commuting from home for events on Friday evening and all day Sunday. I will not be available at the convention on Saturday because I’m attending a friend’s wedding. Below is my official schedule; the rest of the time, I’m always open for a drink, a meal, or just a chat.

Friday

4 PM: Author Reading (St. George)
-> With Mark Van Name

5:30 PM: How to Speak “Editor” (panel, Pride of Baltimore II)
Turning your work over to an editor means giving someone else control over your creation. The difference in perspective between an author and an editor can lead to tension and disagreements. How do you interpret feedback and what do you do when multiple editors give you conflicting advice?
-> With Joshua Bilmes (moderator), Lezli Robyn, and Michael A. Ventrella

Sunday

10 AM: Author Autograph Session

1 PM: Paranormal Romance (panel, Pride of Baltimore II)
Many of our favorite SFF have a romantic element but, by the rules of genre, that doesn’t make them a romance. The one hard and fast rule of romance is there MUST be a Happily Ever After or a Happy For Now (HEA or HFN.) In the last few years there has been a surge of Paranormal Romances showing up on bookshelves. There’s even a ‘new’ genre called Romantasy. Let’s talk about why we find vampires, aliens, shifters, and many more, so fascinating when combined with the Romance genre.
-> With Morgan Hazelwood (moderator), Ken Altabef, Sherri Cook Woosley, and Tris Lawrence

4 PM: Hey! You Got Romance in my Fantasy! (panel, Virtual Panel Room 2)
Romance, it’s always been there. From Frank Herbert’s love story between the Duke and Jessica, and Paul and Chani, to Lois Bujold’s The Curse of Chalion. We’re seeing more romance in our SFF these days. And in the Romance genre where romance is the main element, we’ve got SFF with Paranormal Romance and Aliens showing up on our TBRs. Whether you like romance as your main plot or your sub plot, who’s doing it well? Our panelists will bring their favorites.
-> With Sherri Cook Woosley, Adam Gaffen, and Julia Vee (I’m moderating!)

5:30 PM: Taking Off the Training Wheels: Fanfic to Original Fic (panel, Virtual Panel Room 1)
Many authors have gotten their start writing fanfic. Leaping into your own world is scary and hard, there’s a comfort to writing loved characters in a known universe. Yet publishing what you’ve written as fanfic is not as easy as filing off the serial numbers. How do you start from scratch when you’re used to writing in someone else’s universe? A panel of published authors who got their start writing fanfiction discuss how it helped them learn their craft and what can only be learned from creating original stories.
-> With Wendy Van Camp, Dana Bell, and Marisa Wolf (I’m moderating!)

7 PM: Slash of Our Ancestors: A History of Fanfic (panel, Mount Washington)
This panel will explore the origins of fanfic, zine culture, the rise of Internet fanwork fandom, and the changes in writing style, distribution, and community norms that have taken place over the years.
-> With Inge Heyer, Evelyn Lewis, and Tris Lawrence (I’m moderating!)