Albacon | Michael A. Ventrella

My Albacon 2018 Schedule

Posted on September 9, 2018 by Michael A. Ventrella

I’ll be a guest author at Albacon this weekend (September 14 – 16), a fine small convention in Albany. Below are some pictures from previous Albacons.

Here’s my schedule:

Pitfalls for Beginners (Friday 1 pm): Where new writers make mistakes. With James Cambias, Wendy Delmater, Melissa Mead, and Steve Sawicki

Marketing your Work (Friday 3 pm): How to get readers and publicize yourself. With Ruth Burroughs, John F. Holmes, and Ryk Spoor

Truth is Stranger than Science Fiction (Friday 7 pm): Would the present have
made believable science fiction ten, twenty, fifty, and a hundred years ago? Why
and why not, and what does that tell us about SF? With Steve Carper and Herb Kauderer

The Scarlet Pimpernel (Saturday 10 am): A tribute to Baroness Orczy, without whom there would be no Batman. With Debra Doyle, Carl Frederick, Melissa Mead, and Chuck Rothman

Taxes and Toilet Paper (Saturday 2 pm): Does your starship have flush toilets? Does your Merchants’ Guild hand out W2s? How many practical details do you put in your stories? With Ruth Burroughs, Elecktra Hammond, Melissa Mead, and Steve Sawicki

Autographing (Saturday 3 pm): I’ll be signing anything you want (except blank checks).

Stop Motion v. CGI (Saturday 6 pm): What are the pros and cons of each? With Jim Macdonald, Chuck Rothman, Kathleen Moffre-Spoor, and Ryk Spoor

Reading (Sunday noon): I’ll be reading from my upcoming novel BIG STICK.

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My Albacon 2017 Schedule

Posted on March 28, 2017 by Michael A. Ventrella

I’ll be at the Albacon convention this weekend in Albany, New York. The Guest of Honor is Charles Gannon!

Here’s my schedule:

Chuck Gannon

What Publishers (and Readers) Want (Friday 10 am): A look into what makes a story appealing. With Charles Gannon, Hildy Silverman, Rick Ollerman and Ryk Spoor.

Writing Techniques — Revising, Editing, Outlining (Friday 1 pm): Some tips on how to work better. The panel will answer questions from the audience about issues that they have problems with. With Charles Gannon, Melissa Mead, Hildy Silverman, Rick Ollerman and Ryk Spoor.

Critiquing Panel (Friday 4 pm): Workshop participants will bring their work. The panel will read it and then make suggestions. With Anatoly Belilovsky, James Cambias, Lawrence Connelly, Chuck Rothman, and Ryk Spoor.

Improvisational Storytelling (Friday 10 pm): An old Albacon favorite! Authors create stories from suggestions from the audience. With Don Sakers, Ryk Spoor, and Ian Randal Strock.

Autographing (Saturday noon): Signing books (or anything else you want autographed).

Games Into Fiction (Saturday 3 pm): How does one format enhance the other? With Cameron Calkins, Charles Gannon, Walter Hunt, Ryk Spoor, and Robert Waters.

The Eye of Argon (Saturday 11 pm): The worst story ever, as you’ve never seen it before! With Hildy Silverman and Ian Randal Strock.

Reading (Sunday 10:30 am) I’ll be reading from either Bloodsuckers or my latest Fortannis short story (audience choice).

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My Albacon 2016 Schedule

Posted on February 29, 2016 by Michael A. Ventrella

What a crazy two weeks. Last weekend we were down in Roanoke for Mysticon and this weekend, we’re off to Albany for Albacon. Albacon is special because my wife Heidi Hooper is the Artist Guest of Honor! albacon16 flyer v3-page-001

Albacon is also special because on Friday, they start very early and have what is basically a writer’s conference. It’s like a convention and a conference all in one. I am hosting some of these sessions, and I look forward to meeting some new writers there.

Here’s my schedule:

The Biggest Mistakes Made by Beginning Authors (Friday 9 am): We’ll discuss not only writing mistakes but also promotional mistakes: How writers have screwed themselves over and killed their chances of making it in the publishing world doing easily preventable things! With Llalania Ghose, Jim Rudnick, and David Weber

Tooting Your Own Horn with Social Media (Friday 2 pm): Self-promotion is an important part of building a career. Poorly executed, it can do more harm than good. Our panelists will discuss what works and doesn’t work. With Debi Chowdhury, Kate Laity, and Keith Willis

Ice Cream Social (Friday 8 pm): What better way to meet the Guests of Honor and other participants than in a big party, complete with ice cream and all the fixings?

The Greatest Animated Films of All Time (Friday 10 pm): A debate over the list of best animated feature films. Will our panel agree or will the discussion break out in fisticuffs? With Susan Hanniford Crowley, J.A. Fludd, Herb Kauderer, and Dawn McKechnie

Reading (Saturday 3:30 pm): I’ll be reading from “Bloodsuckers” and, depending on time, perhaps a bit of a preview of some upcoming works.

The Eye of Argon (Saturday 11 pm): The worst science fiction story ever written gets a reading by our brave panel as they compete to go the longest without tripping over a misspelled word or laughing uncontrollably. Audience members are also encouraged to take a chance. Can you keep a straight face, especially when the panel begins acting out the story? With James Cambias, Andre Lieven, Ryk Spoor, and Ian Randal Strock

Making Politics Work in Fiction (Sunday 11 am): Real world political narratives are filled with cultural revolutions, passionate speeches about social change, war, and intricate Machievellian plots. How can you portray them convincingly in your story? From noble houses in fantasy worlds to galaxy-spanning empires in SF, how do you make them believable and engaging without burying your reader in the intricacies of your setting’s political theory? With Ian Randal Strock and David Weber