The World Science Fiction convention is finally in the US and on the East Coast again, so that’s where you’ll find me from December 16th through the 19th. Lots of great guests and panels, and I’ll be mostly at the Fantastic Books table in the Dealer’s Room, but also on these three panels:
The Small Press Takeover of Short Fiction (Friday 4 pm): There was a time, long ago, when short fiction had to be published in one of the “big three” magazines to get popular attention and critical acclaim. The rise of magazines like Clarkesworld, Uncanny, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies, among many others, make markets of today a much more level playing field. We’ll talk about what’s changed and why, and what it means for the state of speculative fiction.
Keeping White Supremacy Out of Fandom (Friday 5:30 pm): White supremacists are infiltrating and laying claims to many aspects of fan culture, from Tolkien to Norse mythology, military speculative fiction, and the SCA. What does this mean for authors, publishers, and fans? How do we keep them from co-opting our work and poisoning our spaces?
Zoom In. Enhance! (Saturday 10 am): Television and film make detectives and forensic scientists into superheroes. But how much can you really tell from a grainy video, fingerbone, or scrap of fabric? How accurate are the super-science labs portrayed in shows like Bones and CSI? Panelists separate the science from the fiction in film, TV, and video game crime procedurals.
The complete schedule for the convention is here.
Guests include lots of my friends! A complete list is here.
Filed under: writing | Tagged: DisCon, Worldcon | 1 Comment »
Michael A. Ventrella 