Ad Astra, April 10, 2011–What Makes a Hero?

Throw a bunch of speculative fiction authors and editors on a panel and ask them to define a hero and you’re likely to get a lot of different answers. Add Ed Greenwood into the mix and you’re almost guaranteed to have something different! But with a few vocal exceptions, on this panel we actually had a lot of similar thoughts about the construction, development and appeal of the hero, and the result was an interesting journey through heroism in the world of speculative fiction. I served on my final panel for Ad Astra 2011 with David Clink, Gabrielle Harbowy, Tamora Pierce and, of course, the irrepressible Mr. Greenwood. (Sorry about the audio in this one–there was a lot of ambient noise outside and inside the room which wasn’t easy to filter out in post production.)

Ad Astra, April 10, 2011–Why Professionalism Matters

I think the panel title says it all, and it’s something which isn’t said enough. Matt Moore, Scott Edelman, Adrienne Kress, Mandy Slater, the inimitable Howard Tayler and I worked through various definitions and concepts of professionalism in the speculative fiction industry, trading war stories about those who exhibited (and didn’t) said quality. It was a fun panel, and we lived up to the title by not straying too far away from the topic at hand!

Ad Astra, April 9, 2011–Exposition

Okay, this might not sound like the most fascinating topic, but if you think about how much attention writers and readers pay to things like backstory, character description and worldbuilding, you’ll realize the relevance of what we talked about on this panel. Matthew Johnson, Claude Lalumiere, Marc Mackay, Sandra Kasturi and I wrestled for nearly an hour with what works (and doesn’t) in presenting exposition in written work, and I think the result was an interesting and sometimes amusing panel.

Ad Astra, April 8, 2011–Travel, Research and Writing

My first panel at the 2011 version of Ad Astra, and an interesting one about how travel informs writing, even if you’re traveling virtually rather than actually. I was joined by Tony Pi, Jana Paniccia, and (crashing the panel, according to him) Claude Lalumiere, all of whom seem to have traveled a lot more than me!

Ad Astra 2011

This is my third time at Ad Astra, one of my favorite conventions (and my only regular international one).  The schedule is as follows: Fri 9 pm    Salon 343    Travel, Research and Writing    Tony Pi (m), Jana Paniccia, Gregory Wilson Sat 10 am    Salon 243    Exposition    Matthew Johnson, Claude Lalumiere,  Marc Mackay, Gregory Wilson Sat […]

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Return to Canada?

Well, so to speak.  Next weekend is Ad Astra, one of my favorite conventions (and my only regular international one), so I’ll be heading north of the border on Friday.  I’m going to be a panelist and a reader (with some cool company on both fronts), with a schedule that looks like this: Fri 9 […]

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Updates of all shapes and sizes…

Things have been a little quiet here lately, but not in any way from lack of information–it’s always (as usual) related to lack of time.  But things are going well, if hectic.  Some of the recent highlights: 1.  Grayshade is finished and on submission.  I feel pretty good about it on the whole–it came out […]

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Speculate with us!

Just a quick update to let people know that the first episode of a new podcast I’m co-hosting with fellow Codex and Writers’ Symposium member Brad Beaulieu, Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans, has just gone live at www.speculatesf.com.  To quote from the About page: Speculate! is a podcast for writers, readers, and […]

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World Fantasy Convention, October 31, 2010–What is Left to the Imagination

My only panel at WFC 2010, this was a really interesting panel on what is unsaid in the best speculative fiction. Lawrence Connolly, Madeleine Robins, Delia Sherman, Martha Wells and I held forth (so to speak) to a room with really great turnout…even for a Sunday morning!