Here is my schedule for Orycon this weekend. I’m on SEVEN panels! And I have a reading! If you’re at the con, come find me and say hi :D
| The Fine Art of Description | Fri 4:00pm-5:00pm | What makes purple prose purple? Are adjectives and adverbs really evil? How do pro writers describe something in vivid detail in the fewest words, and when can writers expand those descriptions? | |
| Speeding Up Your Output | Fri 8:00pm-9:00pm | Fast writing is not necessarily bad writing, and more words per day equals more stories for your readers. Discuss methods for upping your daily word count without sacrificing quality or your life. | |
| Characters Beyond an Author’s Mirror | Sat 12:00pm-1:00pm | Gender, color, culture: What are the challenges authors face when creating diverse characters? | |
| Finding Diverse Voices & Characters in SF/F | Sat 2:00pm-3:00pm | Diversity in the physical, ethnic, cultural, sexual identity, and socioeconomic backgrounds of characters and writers of speculative fiction has become more important to readers and writers in recent years. Where do we go to find these characters and authors? Who are the writers (no matter their background) who are penning accurate and authentic experience? Do we find these books in the SF/F sections or do we need to look to other areas of the bookstore or library? | |
| Science Is Not Boring | Sat 5:00pm-6:00pm | Hard science fiction has a boring reputation. The problem is not the science; it’s the fiction. Get ideas on how to take the exciting science going on every day–and your own fictional extensions of it–and make it sing. | |
| Kick-Ass Femmes: Portrayals of Female Fighters in Geek Culture | Sat 9:00pm-10:00pm | Who doesn’t love a strong, ass-kicking lady? And we’re finally starting to see some in mainstream media — sort of. Often, the characters presented, particularly on film, as strong women fighters are dealt with in problematic ways by their own narratives. Heard of the Bechdel Test? How about the Mako Mori Test? Come find out how they can illustrate how a film is treating it’s Kick-Ass Femmes! We’ll have a few case studies (Zoe, Katniss, Buffy, Black Widow and Imperator Furiosa among them!) but would love to hear about your favorites, too! | |
| Caroline M. Yoachim Reading | Sun 10:30am-11:00am | Come hear me read from my collection! | |
| Hold on to Your Reader | Sun 2:00pm-3:00pm | The wrong word choices can throw your reader right out of the story. Learn how to maintain suspension of disbelief. |
