Upcoming Writerly Events

I noticed a number of awesome-sounding conventions and workshops happening in my neck of the woods (Northern California-ish) in the near future. I thought I’d share, even though I’ll be out of the state for most of them.

EFA NorCal Chapter Meeting: Editor’s POV book discussion: The Hunger Games, May 21, Sacramento, CA. They’ll be discussing the book from a writer/editor point of view, not a literary point of view. Questions that may be considered: Why is this book so successful? What techniques does the writer use that have created such emotional responses from readers? Does the writer break writing “rules,” and if so how does it work for her?

I’m actually quite interested in this topic, especially since I’m still in Sacramento! Whether I can go depends on if my apartment is 85% packed by 6pm. Let’s just say I have a lot of stuff. ;)

Bay Con 2012, May 25-28, Santa Clara, CA. The San Francisco Bay Area’s Science Fiction & Fantasy Convention since 1982. Guests of honor include Brandon Sanderson, Stephan Martiniere, Scott and Cathy Beckstead, Dani Kollin and Eytan Kollin.

Conventions are a great place to meet authors, editors, and fans of the genre. The panels offer a range of topics, from writing to the business of writing to topics of related interest (like Dr. Who and Joss Whedon). BayCon also offers regency dances and a Magic: The Gathering tournament with Brandon Sanderson! Check out the programming.

Cascade Writers Workshop, July 26-29, Vancouver, WA. This is a Milford-style workshop, meaning you read and critique each person’s story in your workshop group. Workshop leaders include Beth Meacham (Tor Executive Editor), Michael Carr (literary agent), Ken Scholes (author), Tina Connolly (author), Jay Lake (author), and Barb & JC Hendee (authors). Guest speakers include Sheryn Hara (topic: self-publishing), Spencer Ellsworth (topic: pitches), Karen Weatherall Davis (topic: copyright and contracts), Mark Teppo (topic: outlining your novel), Shelly Beber (topic: taxes for writers).

Looks like a great line-up of very knowledgeable and friendly people! Registration is open until June 15th, or the last 8 spots are filled.

Westercon 65, July 5-8, Seattle, WA. Guests of honor include Robin Hobb(!), Art Bozlee, Frank Wu, Chaz Boston Baden, and the filk duo Vixy & Tony.

Not only is Seattle a gorgeous city, but Robin Hobb is one of my favorite fantasy authors. I’m pretty bummed I won’t be able to attend, but I’ll be in the middle of my summer publishing program. There are too many interesting things happening all at once!

Mythcon 43, August 3-6, Berkeley, CA.The conference discusses myths and legends from Europe and Asia. Guests of honor include Professor G. Ronald Murphy, SJ, and YA author Malindo Lo.

If you’re interested in European and Asian mythologies, take a look!

Westercon 66, July 4-7, 2013, Sacramento, CA. It looks like they haven’t yet settled on guests of honor or programming, but given that it’s more than a year away, that’s not surprising.

Advertisement

Read Full Post »

FOGcon Recap

Attending FOGconearlier this month was a surprisingly different experience than when I went to Worldcon in Reno last summer. When I stop to think about it, I really shouldn’t have been surprised at the difference.

Worldcon is arguably the biggest convention of the science fiction/fantasy community. It also hosts the Hugo Awards, which are like the Oscars for the genre. It’s a giant convention, with multiple panels happening concurrently, all day long. There are so many attendees, you almost feel anonymous. At least, I certainly did. I fortunately attended Worldcon with my sister, so while I felt anonymous, I never felt lonely.

FOGcon, on the other hand, is a brand-new (as of last year) convention in the San Francisco Bay Area and is relatively lightly attended. This meant when I met someone at a panel, I invariably saw them throughout the weekend. It created a much more intimate convention experience than Worldcon had.

In addition, because there were fewer panels, I spent more time meeting and socializing with other writers, editors, and fans of the genre. I met some incredibly wonderful and interesting people there, and put faces to some of my twitter friends.

I also attended my first reading. At Worldcon, my sister and I had eschewed readings for two reasons. One, there were so many panels we wanted to attend! We had a difficult enough time choosing merely between panels without adding readings to the mix. Two, we felt fully capable of reading stories on our own and didn’t feel the need to have them read to us. I’m really glad I decided to go to the reading Friday night. In addition to hearing three fabulous stories (one of which I’d already read), I got to provide moral support to three writers. The three stories I heard were: Vylar Kaftan’s “The Sighted Watchmaker” (Lightspeed Magazine), Christie Yant’s “Transfer of Ownership” (Armored), and and the first half of Liz Argall’s “Blunt Force Trauma Delivered by Spouse” (Machine of Death 2; unlike the other two, I don’t believe it’s yet available online).

I had a great time meeting new people and exchanging ideas. I hope FOGcon has a third convention and that I’ll be in a position to attend.

Read Full Post »