Next weekend (August 3-5), I will be in Belfast, Northern Ireland, for MeCon. There are a lot of very cool people attending, and anybody who can make it up should come along!
The following weekend (August 10-12), I will be Guest of Honor at Pi-Con, in West Springfield, Massachussets. Anybody east of the Mississippi should come say hello! (People west of it can too, but I won’t *expect* you to!)
My panel schedule for Pi-Con currently stands thusly (oh, it’s quite long, I’ll
Friday, 5pm
Buffyverse — Laity, DeCandido, Murphy, Claxton
* Buffy has been a movie, a TV series on two networks with a long running spinoff, and is now a new comic series. This series challenged the concept of the strong woman, changed the way many people looked at science fiction, and created a new kind of show. How has Buffy changed fandom and the media at large?
Friday, 6pm
GoH Interview — Murphy, Claxton
* Come hear our Guest of Honor talk about stuff, and, exclusively at 2PiCon, THINGS!
(You won’t want to miss this one–I sure can go on about THINGS!)
Friday, 10pm
Duncan vs Connor — J. Williams, DeCandido, Murphy
* Converting Movies to TV. Some series have taken movie stories to the next level; some have been blazing failures. Some are a little of both. What are the best and worst, and what does it take to successfully transition a movie world to the little screen?
Saturday, 10am
Shamanic Druids — Kane, Kabongo, Murphy, Mach
* Blended, pureed, and made up religions in sf/f.
Saturday, 1pm
* Murphy Reading — Murphy
Saturday, 2pm
How to Write with a Full Time Job — Harvey, Osborne, Murphy
* A full time writer has the luxury of being able to write on their own schedule in their own space and time. What about the average person who has to punch a clock everyday? How do you find time to write? What do you do when inspiration strikes in the middle of the work day?
Saturday, 4pm
Retelling Fairytales — Laity, Murphy
* Folk and fairytales offer some of the riches sources for story telling. How have people adapted them into novels and films? What are great sources of these tales? Why do they resonate so with readers?
Saturday, 7pm
Urban Fantasy — Harvey, Kabongo, Murphy
* Urban Fantasy: it seems like everyone is writing it today. We’ll cover what’s hot, what’s wrong in Urban Fantasy, and where we think its going.
Sunday, 10am
Introduction to Shamanism — Kane, Laity, Murphy
* What is a shaman? How do you become one? How many traditions are there? What resources are there for learning more? How can it help healing and creativity?
Sunday, 1pm
Coming Full Circle — Murphy, Kabongo
* Recycled ideas, and why they’re still entertaining
My God, I’m exhausted just *looking* at that schedule! And now, a poll!
(Oops. Can’t edit the poll. That should say Saturday’s reading, not Friday’s.)
I voted for the HEART OF STONE, because it just looks so interesting, and I am excited to pick it up in November. I almost went for the 4th Walker Papers novel…but if I was there and you teased me with a reading from this eagerly anticipated book and concluded with “And you can find out the rest in 2009!” I would riot. Or cry. Or something :)
I had pretty much the same reasoning except that it included TQB since it was also not out til ’08 – And anyway I won’t be there but you can expect me to use these panels as conversations starters over the next while…
I’ll see you in Belfast, anyway, although not at t’other one…
I said HOS ’cause it’s good to suck the readers into something totally new. And I think a fantasy crowd would more enjoy a taste of HOS than a taste of TQB. (Though there are some particularly scifi parts of TQB.) But I *really* wanted to put CB, ’cause I don’t recall you mentioning that any of it is written yet. (Since your schedule says that you’re writing TPC first.)
Kit kit! Are you flying out on the 12th or the next day? See, Springfield is only an hour and eleven minutes away. I could, conceivably, show up and /see/ you for, like, dinner or something if you have enough time for such a thing!
Hey, I think and I might zip out to West Springfield to say hi on that Saturday. :) Yay!
I definitely think you should read from HoS, since it’s the next release on your schedule and it’ll get people eager for the new series.
Also: Alban love.
I had to write the proposal for CB, so the first 3 chapters are done, at least in rough draft form. And the first chapter is very very funny, if I do say so myself. :)
I have no idea. They haven’t actually given me my ticket/times yet, so I’m actually posting all this as a matter of faith that there will be a ticket soon. :) I’ll let you know as soon as I do. :)
*SPOIK*!
I said TQB because it is totally new. I think you’ll already have folks drooling over Heart of Stone, and the fact that it’ll be out in November means people will be talking about it without much help. Cauldron Borne is tooooooo far away.
Giving people a taste of The Queen’s Bastard will open their eyes to what else you’re capable of – a completely different style. And, it’s less than a year away, so you won’t lose people in the period between.
Hey can you drop me an email, i think your spam filters ate mine. I’m in the Pi-Con panelist list.
Mike Kabongo
Good God, woman, there’s being a GoH and there’s being a GoH! Aren’t they aware that you’re supposed to be there so they can bask in the glow of your genius? Looking at that schedule, I suspect the only reason they haven’t got you doing the washing up as well is that you can’t be in two places at once.
Actually, it’s my own fault, they had me on about four panels and I kept volunteering for others. :)
Oh dear. That was careless.
Well, don’t burn yourself out – we still expect to see you next PCon. Of course, we expect you at Octocon too, but I don’t recall you being GoH for that. (Mind you, Octocon has had to find last minute GsoH before now.)
When’s good time-wise? Saturday… lunch?
Yeaaaaah. Where “lunch” might want to happen around…11:15-11:30? :)
That’s fine! We can plan on 11:15, and trade contact info over email. Yaay!
Yay, Catie in ‘Merica (and the close by part too)!!!
And yikes, that’s a lot of panels!
Being the clever lad I am (no, really!), I’ll suggest that you might want to not solidly book your Pi-con meal schedule ’til you’ve had a chance to hear from your very shiny agent next week.
Oh, and though I’ve been told that I’m going to really like TQB, I voted for HoS because it’s coming out this fall.
I still love that icon. :)
Squee! Will you be joining my very shiny agent if she comes out to MA?
Thanks. Me too!
Indeed I will. I mean, unless you object or something. Which would cause me to make a sad face.
Yay!