Fan Expo Denver 2022!

Fan Expo Denver logo

I’m happy to announce that I’m appearing at Fan Expo Denver 2022 with friends old and new! I’ll be on five panels, two on Friday evening and three on Sunday. My schedule is below.

Show Off Your Scars (moderator)
Friday, July 1 @ 6pm, Room 710

This panel of pro authors will discuss how they transfer lived experiences to the page, from fights & trauma to the best moments of your life.

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Fandom and Format
Friday, July 1 @ 8pm, Room 710

Fans come from all Media. Discuss the intersection and Overlap of Games, Books, Films and Television and their respective fandoms. Fans can come from any Genre and be welcomed into and become a fan of the others. Also, how do fandoms change/grow across generations? Do fandoms need to adapt to new times, or can they still celebrate the original formats? Great Books become Great Films become games and comics and television. How has the explosion of one fandom helped the others grow.

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Writing a Different Gender
Sunday, July 3 @ 11am, Room 710

If you write, it’s inevitable that you will run into this situation. You identify as female, but have to write a male character. How do you deal with the differences? What sort of research do you do? What are the pitfalls? Do you use a sensitivity editor? How do you respond to criticism? What are some of your triumphs and challenges? From readers, what are some characters who you wouldn’t believe were written by who they were written by?

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Accuracy or Entertainment in Your Writing (moderator)
Sunday, July 3 @ 1pm, Room 710

Does it bother you when a movie, book, or show gets something wrong–a fact, a concept, an idea? Or do you cheer when they make some obscure reference to science or history or culture and get it right? Come join our panel of fiction authors – who also happen to be experts in various fields ranging from programming to history to teaching – as they discuss some of their pop-culture pet peeves, and what they would have done differently. (AND what they think Hollywood or the publsihing insdustry got right!). Come with your own examples, as we attempt to answer the age-old question: what’s more important, accuracy or entertainment? And are they mutually exclusive?

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Writing in a Shared Universe
Sunday, July 3 @ 4pm, Room 710

Writers involved in shared universes discuss what makes it work, avoiding pitfalls, and why shared universes are so much fun.

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I’ve also been remiss in announcing my music and writing activities lately, and will be updating those soon, but here’s a sneak peak:

  • I recently performed filk music in the Festival of the Living Rooms #14, the Festival of Faerie in Louisville, CO, and at Superstars Writing Seminar in Colorado Springs.
  • I published a drabble (100 word short story) in Drabbledark II from Shacklebound books. The story is called “By the Coin”.
  • I was invited to participate in a unique flash fiction coloring book project for Kickstarter, and that campaign kicks off in a couple of weeks. I love this project, and am honored to appear in this Mythic Mongoose Press volume alongside James A. Owen and Kevin J. Anderson. I’ll make an announcement here, on my Facebook page, and various other places when the Kickstarter goes live.
  • Finally, I sold a story to Knight Writing Press for their upcoming Modern Magic anthology. That book is due out later this year.

There has been a lot going on! More coming soon, but for now, I need to get my butt downtown for FanEx!


MileHiCon 50 Announcement

Fifty years is a long time. MileHiCon, Colorado’s premier literary science fiction, fantasy, and horror convention turns 50 this year, and the organizers have pulled out all the stops. 

For the golden anniversary, organizers invited all surviving prior guests of honor to return, an impressive list of writers, artists, and fans. As of 10/15/2018, the following names are confirmed to be appearing:

Mario AcevedoPaolo Bacigalupi — Steven BrustLiz Danforth — Shaenon K. Garrity — Barbara Hambly — Stephen Graham Jones — Chaz Kemp — Ed Kramer — Jane Lindskold — Theresa Mather — Wil McCarthy — Jack McDevitt — Robert J. Sawyer — Jeanne C. SteinJohn E. Stith — Michael Swanwick — James Van Pelt — Robert E. Vardeman — Carrie Vaughn — KathE Walker — Connie WillisCourtney Willis — Lawrence Watt-Evans — Lubov Yegudin 

I will be moderating a couple of special events at this con, namely a 40th Anniversary SFPA / MileHiCon 50 poetry panel and, like last year, a panel remembering Edward W. Bryant, Jr. and his legacy. Publisher Jean-Philippe Gervais will be on hand to discuss and announce his seven year work in progress, the Complete Works of Edward W. Bryant, 1968-2018, a three volume compendium of Ed’s writing, authorized by Ed himself before he passed in early 2017.

My MileHiCon 50 appearance schedule is below. As usual, MileHiCon is being held at the Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center location. The dates are October 19-21, 2018.

Friday, October 19, 2018
2pm — Tips on Being an Awesome Panelist (Wind River B) — A discussion ranging from how to improve your chances of becoming a panelist at MHC to ways to prepare to wow the audience. With Wil McCarthy (Moderator), Carrie Vaughn, Goth Hobbit, Meg Ward, Stace Johnson.

3pm — Roundtable: Finding Your Tribe (Bristlecone/Other) — Fandom, a subset of fandom (anime, gaming) or something completely different … how do (or did) you find your tribe? With Nonir Amacitia, Stace Johnson (Moderator).

Saturday, October 20, 2018
1pm — MHC Poetry Slam & 40th Anniversary SFPA Celebration (Mesa Verde A) — Celebrating 50 years of MHC and 40 years of the Science Fiction Poetry Association. Bring genre poetry to share — whether your own or some Rhysling winners penned by others that you love. All attendees will receive a theme-appropriate gift (while supplies last.) With Carina Bissett, JD Harrison, David Lee Summers, Stace Johnson (Moderator).

Sunday, October 21, 2018
11am — Ed Bryant’s Memory and Legacy (Mesa Verde C) — Friends of Ed, including the editor of the Bryant retrospective anthology, share memories and discuss the status of some projects related to Ed. With Jean-Philippe Gervais, John Stith, Stace Johnson (Moderator).

2pm — Bye Bye Net Neutrality (Wind River A) — What are the real-world effects of the FCC ruling, and what are the best and worst-case scenarios of what will happen? With Tim Anderson, Arlen Feldman (Moderator), Goth Hobbit, Stace Johnson.