My Philcon 2019 Schedule

Posted on October 23, 2019 by Michael A. Ventrella

I’m looking forward to the Philcon science fiction convention the weekend of November 10th. It’s Philadelphia’s oldest literary convention. It’s in New Jersey. (Look, it was cheaper, okay?) philcon_logo

I’ve been a guest at Philcon for years, and it’s always great to go back there and see so many of my friends. Guest of Honor this year is Tim Pratt. This year’s event will be on the weekend of November 8-10. Pictures from previous Philcons are below!

Here’s my schedule:

EYE OF ARGON INTERACTIVE (Friday 11 pm): Since everyone is usually laughing too hard to get through reading what has been dubbed the worst piece of published SF of all time, we’re starting mid-way through the story this year. Audience participation is encouraged. [Panelists: Mark Singer (mod), Keith R.A. DeCandido, B. Lana Guggenheim, Michael A. Ventrella, James L. Cambias]

READINGS: LAWRENCE M. SCHOEN, MICHAEL VENTRELLA, ELEKTRA HAMMOND (Saturday noon): Guest writers read from their latest works. [Panelists: Lawrence M. Schoen (mod), Michael A. Ventrella, Elektra Hammond]

AUTOGRAPHS: LAWRENCE M. SCHOEN, MICHAEL VENTRELLA, JAY SMITH (Saturday 1 pm): Writers are available to discuss their works and sign books! [Panelists: Lawrence M. Schoen (mod), Michael A. Ventrella, Jay Smith]

WHAT TO DO WHEN BAD PEOPLE WRITE GOOD BOOKS (Saturday 2 pm): How do we get past — or should we get past — judging the output of a problematic creator. [Panelists: Jeff Warner (mod), Samuel Delany, Michael A. Ventrella, Ellen Asher, Marilyn ‘Mattie’ Brahen, Vikki Ciaffone]

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (Saturday 5 pm): Contributors to “Across the Universe!”, an anthology of tales imagining The Beatles in SF&F scenarios, read selections from their short stories. [Panelists: Ian Randal Strock, Randee Dawn, Gordon Linzner, Michael A. Ventrella, Keith DeCandido, Gregory Frost, Eric Avedissian, Sally Weiner Grotta, Carol Gyzander, Charles Barouch]

WHAT KIND OF EDITOR DO I NEED? (Saturday 7 pm): Yes, there’s more than one kind! There are developmental editors, line editors, copy editors, proofreaders… We’ll explain the difference between them, how to tell which you want, and where to find reliable ones. [Panelists: Russ Colchamiro (mod), Elektra Hammond, Michael A. Ventrella, April Grey, Anna Kashina]

GAME OF THRONES (Saturday 11 pm): It wouldn’t be inaccurate to say that everybody lost when it comes to the HBO adaptation. How should the show have ended? How might the ending of the novels differ? [Panelists: Charlie Robertson (mod), Michael A. Ventrella, Muriel Hykes, Paul Levinson]

PLAYING MR. POTATO HEAD WITH THE PAST (Sunday 10 am): Will changing things inevitably makes a mess? Why are time-travel fix-its one of the longest lived and most popular tropes? [Panelists: Roberta Rogow (mod), Lawrence Kramer, Michael A.
Ventrella, Richard Stout, Elektra Hammond]

GENRES AND ALTARS (Sunday 2 pm): Religion in fantasy worlds tend towards polytheism, while SF seems to favor monotheism or atheism. Why? And what are the exceptions? [Panelists: Jeff Warner (mod), Tom Purdom, Michael A. Ventrella, Ann
Zeddies, Barna William Donovan]