Flights of Foundry Schedule 2024

This weekend I'll be doing programming for Flights of Foundry! It's a lovely annual convention that takes place entirely online and welcomes people from the around the world. There is programming 24/7 so that no matter where you are, you'll log on and find something to do. I hope to see you there!

 

2023 Writing Contest Winners Showcase: Interview and Q&A

9/27/2024, 2:00-3:00 PM EDT

John Wiswell (m), Suzan Palumbo (m), Nkereuwem Albert, Fatima Abdullahi, Jessica Andrewartha

Come meet the 2023 Dream Foundry Emerging Writers Contest Winners! The contest judges will do a Q&A style interview with the winners and lead a discussion.

 

Chill-n-Chat with John Wiswell

9/28/2024, 2:00-3:00 PM EDT

Come meet and chat with author John Wiswell! John is a disabled writer who lives where New York keeps all its trees. He won the Nebula Award for Best Short Story for ""Open House on Haunted Hill,"" and the Locus Award for Best Novelette for ""That Story Isn't The Story."" He has also been a finalist for the Hugo, World Fantasy, and British Fantasy Awards. His debut novel, SOMEONE YOU CAN BUILD A NEST IN, released from DAW Books in April 2024, and was named one of the best books of the year by Polygon, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. He would like to pet a shark. Preferably, he would like to pet many sharks.

 

Making Monsters

9/29/2024, 2:00-3:00 PM EDT

Marie Brennan (m), John Wiswell, A.Z. Louise, Samantha Mills

What makes a monster a monster? Can a truly monstrous monster still be relatable? How do we build monsters while still respecting the differences their monstrosities represent? And of course, what are some of our favorite monster in media new and old.

John Wiswell's Tour Schedule for 2024

Now that my book is out in the world, I have to go follow it!

On this post you'll find every official event and convention I'll be attending this year. I'll add events to this page as contracts are signed. Especially if we're at the same con, please say hi! I love meeting folks and signing books.

You'll notice some events are tagged as (VIRTUAL). These are ones where I'll only be attending online, or that are entirely online events. I'm trying to do at least a few of these to reach readers who live outside of my travel's reach.

• April 2: Book launch at The Strand in New York City, NY
  
• April 14: Reading and Q&A The Golden Notebook in Woodstock, NY
• April 16: Reading with Anjali Patel, Elijah Kinch Spector, and Blake Sanz at Brooklyn Books & Booze at Barrow’s Intense in Brooklyn, NY
• May 8: Reading with Anya Johanna DeNiro at Fantastic Fiction at the KGB Bar in New York City, NY
• May 16: Q&A hosted by Oblong Books (VIRTUAL)
• May 25-26: Teaching class How To Make Stakes Work in Fiction at Futurescapes (VIRTUAL)
• June 6-9: Attending the Nebula Conference (VIRTUAL)
• June 13: Book Signing and conversation with J.R. Dawson at The Moon Palace in Minneapolis, Minnesota
  
• June 14-16: Attending 4th Street Fantasy Convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota
• June 25: Virtual Book Club appearance at Bodacious Books in Pensacola, Florida
  
• July 11-14: Attending the Readercon in Quincy, Massachusetts
• August 8-12: Attending Glasgow Worldcon (VIRTUAL)
  
• September 28-29: Attending Flights of Foundry (VIRTUAL)
  

 See you out there!

Worldcon Schedule, December 15-19th

It's my first Worldcon as a Hugo finalist! This is such an honor, and I wish I could be there in person. But at least I can participate virtually. I have a few program items which will be available to all virtual and attending members, before the Hugo Awards themselves on Saturday night.


Social Media: Making Enemies & Alienating People
Thursday, December 16
10:00 pm EST
Area: Congressional On-Site Viewing (Virtual)
Social media can be an excellent place to find online community, especially during a pandemic, but it can also be a fraught world of vicious gossip, lip service activism, and whatever the Algorithm is. The panel will explore ways of using different forms of social media to connect with like-minded people, while providing tips to avoid falling prey to such platform’s worst aspects.


Kaffeeklatsch with John Wiswell
Friday, December 17
4:00 pm EST
Area: Harris
Online small group conversation with John Wiswell. Come for a small group conversation about John's life, works, and advice. Advance sign-ups required.


Social Dynamics and Superpowers
Saturday, December 18, 2021
4:00 pm EST
Area: Older (Virtual), 4:00 pm EST Available Online
Superheroes can mean something very different to members of marginalized communities than they do to members of a dominant culture. How do the dynamics of a superpower fantasy change when the hero is a member of an oppressed group?


See you there?

Streaming Panel Schedule for Balticon

This coming weekend is Balticon. For the past couple years the pandemic has pushed this Baltimore, Maryland convention to shrug off the shackles of physical space and move to the internet. Anyone can come watch any readings and panels they watch over Zoom. It's totally free.

You can check out all the guests and programming at Balticon's website.

This will be my second year doing some programming with Balticon. I have a rich slate of panels, plus a reading. Anything look fun to you?

NASFiC 2020 Schedule - This Weekend!

This weekend is the North American Science Fiction Convention! Thanks to the pandemic, they've moved exclusively to the internet, doing programming over Zoom and Discord. The event will be free to attend, so even folks on other continents can watch and chat about everything Science Fiction.

I'll be doing a few pieces of programming for them. All of mine will be over Zoom. Hope to see you there! 

 

Friday at 1:00-1:30 PM EST

Reading: John Wiswell

Literally me reading stories to you! I have a poll open on Twitter to vote for what I read. You can vote here.

Friday at 9:00-10:00 PM EST

Lessons Not Learned: The Future of Dystopian & Utopian Stories 

Panelists: Jason Sanford (Moderator), Ace Ratcliff, Amanda Makepeace, John Medaille, John Wiswell, Raven Oak

The panel discusses: Where does the genre go now that so much of the dystopian warnings sci-fi warned us about were ignored? What does a dystopian world look like in a post-COVID, post-Trump, melting-polar caps world? Can we ever move back to utopianism? Should we do away with utopian and dystopian scenarios altogether?

 

Saturday at 8:00-9:00 PM EST

Weathering the Storm: Creating in Times of Trouble at 8 PM EST on Saturday

Panelists: Brandon Wilson (moderator), Christine Taylor-Butler, Elsa Sjunneson, John Wiswell, Mari Ness

 A mixed panel of writers and artists discuss the challenges of making art and stories during a pandemic, as well as strategies for managing health and being active creators.

 

Digital Balticon Schedule for This Weekend!

This weekend is Balticon, a convention put on by the Maryland Regional Science Fiction & Fantasy Society. We can't gather in place thanks to the pandemic, but we can meet online. Balticon will be free to everyone who signs up on their website. After signing up, you can drop into whatever panels, talks, and readings you like from their entire offering.

The upside of the digital convention is that now anybody from around the world can see the programming and ask questions. Given how late some programming goes, it'll welcome folks from distant time zones. And it's free to everyone.

I'll be doing a few items with them. This is my first digital convention and I'm quite excited for how it will go.

Does anything on my schedule grab your interest?

So What is Horror?
Friday May 22, 10:00 PM US EST
Chad Eric Smith (Moderator), L. Marie Wood, Lee Murray, Alan Smale, John Wiswell
What is it that makes horror a distinct genre, and what experience are audiences seeking to get out of it? How has our definition of what constitutes "horror" changed over time? How do ideas and concepts break out from horror into other genres, such as paranormal romance and urban fantasy, and what makes horror's use of them different?

How Contemporary Fears Shape Apocalyptic Fiction
Sunday May 24, 1:00 PM US EST
D.H. Aire (Moderator), Kelly E. Dwyer, John Wiswell, Hildy Silverman
From nuclear war to disease to computers run amok, horror and apocalyptic fiction hold a mirror up to society's fears and show us just how badly things can go wrong. How have the terrors of different eras shaped stories of the end times, and how do different ways of portraying them affect their respective audiences?

Cultures Are Not Monoliths
Sunday May 24, 5:00 PM US EST
Don Sakers (Moderator), Stephanie Burke, Melissa Scott, Vivian Shaw, John Wiswell
In science fiction and fantasy, members of cultures are often presented with the same traits, regardless of regional and class distinctions. This can be a result of poor worldbuilding, pacing issues, limited space, or authorial neglect. How can creators add nuance and variety to their imagined societies, and what are good ways to portray this to their audience?

Reading: Ken Schrader and John Wiswell
Monday May 25, 1:00 PM US EST
Two writers share an hour reading from their short stories.

My Schedule for ConFusion 2020

Starting January 17th, I'll be at ConFusion in Detroit! It's a convention for Fantasy and Science Fiction fans to meet writers they like and attend talks on many topics. This will be my second year in attendance, and I hope it will be slightly less blizzardy. This year I'll be doing three panels, and then wrapping up with reading a brand new, unpublished story on Sunday.

I hope to see you there!


Toothless?: Making Allies of Villains and Monsters
 Day: Saturday
Time: 11:00 a.m.
Room: Interlochen
"Enemies to Friends" and the "Heel-Face Turn" are two of the most beloved and most common tropes in genre lit, particularly in fan writing. Shuffling characters into new teams between novels or seasons also lets us see characters, often villains or anti-heroes, in a new light. In this panel, we'll discuss the appeal of seeing what was once horrific or threatening become (relatively) "safe," the role of "redemption" (if any) in that process, and, of course, both favorite and "failed" Heel-Face turns.
Panelists: Tracy Townsend (M), John Wiswell, Brandon Crilly, Marie Bilodeau


Masculinity and Trauma Recovery in Genre Fiction
 Day: Saturday
Time: 02:00 p.m.
Room: Isle Royale
Science Fiction and Fantasy are full of tough manly heroes (and anti-heroes) with trauma in their backgrounds, from murdered families to witnessed war crimes. More often than not, these traumatic backstories serve as a justification for sarcasm, alcohol, and violence. In a world where men are significantly less likely to get professional help to heal from their trauma, how can science fiction and fantasy help to create positive examples of heroes who face their demons constructively?
Panelists: Brandon O'Brien (M), Adam R. Shannon, dave ring, John Wiswell, R.B. Lemberg


Non-Monarchic Governments in SF&F
 Day: Saturday
Time: 05:00 p.m.
Room: Manitou
Historical fantasy loves its kings and queens almost as much as space opera loves its emperors, but do we need them? What are some interesting (or terrible) alternative methods of government, and how do they show up in our favourite genre stories? From Star Wars’ Senate to Le Guin's Ekumen, what do we learn when we put aside crowns and dig a little deeper?
Panelists: Tracy Townsend (M), John Wiswell, Ehud Maimon, Kristine Smith


Reading: Marissa Lingen, Tim Boerger, John Wiswell
 Day: Sunday
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Room: Saugatuck
Panelists: Marissa Lingen, Tim Boerger, John Wiswell

4th Street Fantasy - Schedule

One of my favorite conventions is this coming weekend! 4th Street Fantasy takes place in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, where everyone knows how to drive and everyone comes for deep dives into literature. There is only one track, so everyone gets to hear every word. Panels often build on discussions that came up earlier, and the final panel of the weekend is a result of the most interesting discussions elsewhere.

If you're in Minnesota, please drop in!

I have the privilege of being on two panels this weekend. You can find me talking on these.

Sunday
2:00 PM – Monster Mash and Smash
Claire Eddy, Catherine Lundoff, Vivian Shaw, John Wiswell (M), Fred Yost
Writers and readers are endlessly fascinated with monsters. Other-izing faceless hordes has clear racist underpinnings, and we have a multitude of examples of gritty, difficult monster stories that challenge how well we think of ourselves—and we also have countless stories of monsters we would die for, monsters who make us die laughing, and monsters who challenge us to think better of ourselves. What is it about monsters that makes us so hungry and excited for their stories? What makes them fun? Why are we driven not just to tell stories that contain monsters but that are about monsters? Why do we love to come up with and endlessly learn about (proven clearly by Pokémon evolutions and D&D Monster Manuals) bizarre creatures that don’t exist? Why do we cheer for Godzilla, adopt the Babadook as an icon, and crave the perspective of Grendel’s mother? This panel will discuss how we use stories to own our own monstrosity and claim outsiders, and how writers make it so the incorporation of monsters into their stories can be validating, awesome, and full of wonder and delight.

Sunday
11:30 AM – A Consideration of Death in Fantasy
Elizabeth Bear, Robyn Bennis, K.A. Doore, Monica Valentinelli, Django Wexler (M), John Wiswell
What exactly has good old death given to fantasy literature over the years? Let’s look not so much at the meta question of reader reaction to “death” and endings, but on how writers use death within a text, and the power of what it can do, from fictional death coinciding with the ending or transformation of an entire narrative (e.g., Morpheus’ death leading to the actual end of the 75-issue original run of SANDMAN) or to, conversely, how it functions simply as another marker in the long walk up the mountain of story. In particular, this panel will consider death’s role in fantasy: rituals and ceremonies surrounding death, building consequences and lasting effects for surviving characters and grappling with mortality when magic is real, the disparities in approach between death as plot device and death as symbolic and magical concept threaded through fantasy narratives, and cultural concepts of revenge fantasy.

My Schedule for ConFusion in Detroit, January 18-20th!

ConFusion is an annual SciFi convention held at the Dearborn Doubletree Hotel in Detroit, Michigan. This year's falls on January 18-20th and will cover all sorts of beloved nerd media. This will be my first time attending, after years of hearing for so long about how great the programming and atmosphere is. I haven't been to Detroit in over a decade and can't wait to see all my friends there! If you're in the area, I'd love for you to join us.

As always I'll try to be as available in public as I can. It looks like the Doubletree has a nice bar and common area. I'll also be doing a few panels on topics dear to my heart, and doing a joint reading with a couple other authors. Here's my schedule.

Puns!
 Friday, 6:00 PM, Ontario Room
Some people love puns. Other people are wrong and hate fun. Our panel of experts discusses one of the greatest tools in the comedic toolbox.
Richard Shealy (M), John Wiswell, Clif Flynt, Jon Skovron, Nibedita Sen

How To Design A Monster
 Friday, 8:00 PM, Ontario Room
Authors have a vast and deep mythology to draw from when writing vampires, werewolves, and other mythological creatures. How do we choose which parts of their myths to incorporate into our own worlds? How do we incorporate new traits while still making them recognizable, and how do we avoid making our monsters derivative and stale? We'll talk about how to work out their appearance, limitations, social structures, and how they fit into the larger society of a fantasy world.    
Jennifer Blackstream (M), John Wiswell, A. Merc Rustad, Tracy Townsend, Petra Kuppers

Reading: John Wiswell, Michael J. DeLuca, Clif Flynt
 Saturday, 1:00 PM, Rotunda Room
Three authors share an hour and narrate some of their stories! I'll be bringing a brand new, unpublished tale about the upside of tentacles.

Mostly Dead: The Problem of Death and Not-Quite-Death in SFF
 Saturday, 5:00 PM, Southfield Room
The frequency of resurrections or "they died, but they didn't" moments in SFF is (if one wishes to be kind) statistically unlikely. In this panel, we'll discuss various stories where death, death and resurrection, or false deaths play a key role in the narrative. How does the bloody ruthlessness of a series like Martin's Song of Ice and Fire change which characters "get" to die, and who stays dead? What are our favorite "return to life" moments? Which ones don't really work and why? And what must a writer do to make these moments serve the story and their audience?
John Wiswell (M), Angus Watson, Tracy Townsend, Dan Wells

Hope to see you there!

At the World Fantasy Convention in Maryland This Weekend

I'm in Baltimore, Maryland this weekend for the World Fantasy Convention. It's a lovely convention packed with brilliant writers. I'll be out in public as much as possible, and I'll also be on a special panel Saturday afternoon.

Monsters and the Monstrous

Saturday, 4:00 PM

Hannah Strom-Martin (Moderator), Julie C. Day, Aliette de Bodard, Teresa Frohock, John Wiswell

Monsters have existed as long as humans have made myths. But what makes a monster truly horrifying? A look at the lines between myth, horror, privilege, class, gender, and more. Discuss the panel online using the hashtah #MonsterMonstrous.

Hope to see you all here!

My Readercon Schedule

I'll be in Massachusetts this coming weekend for Readercon! I've attended for years, but this is my first time doing programming with them. They have a long history of compelling conversations, and I'm excited to participate. This will also be the first convention where I've done a public reading! Come by for the worldwide premiere of my next short story.

Friday

4:00 PM

Room: Salon 5

The Bureaucracy of Fantasy

  Phenderson Clark, Alexander Jablokov, Victoria Sandbrook, Kenneth Schneyer (M), John Wiswell

Authors such as Daniel Abraham, Max Gladstone, and Ken Liu have received attention for incorporating bureaucratic concepts into their fantasy works, but fantasy frequently has bureaucratic underpinnings that escape notice because they're so familiar: the nuances of who inherits a title or a throne, the specific wording of a prophecy, detailed contracts with demons. Why do some bureaucracies feel more incongruous in fantastical contexts than others? What are some tricks for making dry, nitpicky topics exciting and comprehensible?

Saturday

3:30 PM

Room: Blue Hills

John Wiswell Reads Flash Fiction and Short Stories

I'll be bringing a couple of my favorite flash pieces, as well as a short story I've never shared in public before. It's a comedy about people dying on furniture. Hopefully the seating will be comfortable.

Sunday

12:00 Noon

Room: Salon 5

It Takes a Village to Raise a Protagonist

Andrea Corbin (M), Scott Lynch, Nisi Shawl, Graham Sleight, John Wiswell

Conflicts in speculative fiction often tend toward hyperindividualist solutions, but there are other ways to build those stories. Gene Roddenberry and Ray Bradbury both often wrote stories of cooperation in which the community is the protagonist. In Cory Doctorow's books, long sequences are devoted to the process of achieving consensus. What other stories center collaboration and cooperation, and what are some best practices for writers who want to explore these types of stories?

My 4th Street Fantasy Schedule

This weekend I'll be at one of my favorite cons, 4th Street Fantasy in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I love the location, the conrunners, and most of all, yelling about books with smart people on the panels. I'll be moderating on Friday afternoon, and being a mild-mannered panelist on Saturday. Come say hi!

Friday

4:00 PM

All the Things We Do That Aren’t Smashing Things 

Mary Robinette Kowal, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Chelsea Polk, Abra Staffin Wiebe, John Wiswell (M)

A discussion of all the ways we tell stories about building lives, civilizations, and legacies using anything but the edge of the sword. Why do we so often truncate our experience/expectations of fiction to revolve so firmly around the linked concepts of heroism and violence when there are so many other crucial aspects to being human? How has the fantasy genre dealt with this conundrum, and how have specific fantasists tried to approach it? How do we keep the discussion from degenerating into a prudish or performative rejection of the abstract concept of “violence” altogether, while affirming that there are other common and crucial ways of getting things done?

Saturday

3:30 PM

Complicity and Consequence in Interactive Narrative: Press ‘D’ to Feel Guilty!

Max Gladstone (M), Scott Lynch, Cat Manning, John Wiswell

A panel discussing the challenges and implications of attempting to inspire feelings of guilt, responsibility, or complicity for fictional activities/decisions in players of games and interactive fiction, also touching on the concept of vicarious responsibility when experiencing a more traditional narrative (if one laughs along with Corwin of Amber being a total bastard, does that make one a bad person?). Why do this? When is this a useful frame-breaking learning tool? When is it a cheap trick? Can we truly use fictional spaces to make people interrogate the decisions they make and the circumstances they dwell in? What are the practical and ethical limits of this sort of exploration?

Convention Schedule for 2018

I've just booked my travel for this year's conventions. I can't believe all that travel is just a couple months away! I've got an exciting slate of destinations this year:

Nebula Weekend
May 17-20
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

4th Street Fantasy
June 22-24th
St. Louis Park, Minnesota

Readercon
July 12-15
Quincy, Massachusetts

World Fantasy Convention
November 1-4
Baltimore, Maryland

Please come join me if you're at any of these areas! I love meeting new people, and doubly like to meet long-time readers.

At present it looks like I'll be doing panels at half if not all of these conventions. There's a rumor I might be doing my first convention reading as well, which is exciting. Is there a story of mine you'd most like to hear me read, if you could be there?

My True Convention Story That I Wish Was Fiction

We're going into convention season, and I keep meeting new writers who are nervous about making bad impressions. Especially early on, you dread that anything you do will kill your career. In order to make some anonymous writers feel a little better, I want to share a story that I wish wasn't true.

My greatest convention shame began with a great short story. It was nominated for an award at this con I was attending, and was one of the funniest Science Fiction shorts I'd ever read. It was vicious, sometimes repulsive, using impossible plots for hilarious ends. It was so funny that I got up in the middle of it to annoy friends by reading random passages aloud.

As I spread glowing reviews across social media, I discovered something: most reviewers hated this story.

Many of the reviewers were attracted just because it was nominated for this Prestigious Award; they argued that it was too morbid, too awful, or not even a story. After a while, I felt the author was being wronged. Dear reader, I argued on the internet.

John’s Convention Schedule

Nerd Convention Season is picking up, so it’s time to figure out where we’re going. Last summer got kind of ridiculous for me, so I’m scaling back travel a bit to focus on my health, and finishing a certain novel.

A note particularly for newer con-goers: I know being new sucks. You don’t know anybody, you feel like every attempted conversation is butting in, and you don’t know what the big events are. So if you’re going to any of these cons and don’t know many people, comment on this post, or tweet me, or shoot me an e-mail. Hell, if you see me chatting with a crowd in the lobby, come on over and I’ll introduce you to the conversation. I know how awkward it is standing on the outside of a ring of people. I’m happy to make these spaces more inclusive.

4th Street Fantasy. June 17-19, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
I’ve only gone once and this might already be my favorite con in existence. There is one track, and all ~200 attendees go to the same set of panels. Panelists dig deeper into the craft of storytelling than most cons, and the conversation rolls over from panel to panel, since everyone knows anything brought up earlier. For its small population, it attracts a high percentage of professionals, many of whom like to drunkenly sing in the cafe after midnight.

Readercon. July 7-10, Quincy, Massachusetts.
After years in Burlington, they’re moving to a new space that’s hopefully a little less cramped. ReaderCon attracts brilliant writers like Kelly Link, Ken Liu, and Elizabeth Bear, who pontificate generously on panels and at the bar. This is the only con I'm doing this summer where I'm not on panels, so I'll take this one more laid back. I'll be fun to watch everyone freak out over Guest of Honor Tim Powers.

WorldCon, August 17-21, Kansas City, Missouri.
Ending the summer with the big one. This will be my first WorldCon as a panelist, and my first WorldCon with the Rabid Puppy fights going on. People come from around the world, which means seeing more old friends than any other time in the year. I also hope to get some writers together to sneak out for a movie at some point...

Seven Tips For Better Conventions

Three conventions in five weekends was a great pleasure, but also exhausting! Though I'm working on a long breakdown post of 4th Street, Readercon, and Otakon,  I compiled a few tips to share on con-going. These things stuck out from con-to-con, and I think could help us all have a better time when we nerds congregate. Consider, and thanks for reading!

Instead of: interrupting the panelists with what you think are insightful comments...

Try this: ...spend this time writing down your question so that, when the panel opens to audience interaction, you have something clear to say and don't ramble. People will remember a succinct question.

Instead of: walking ten feet outside the panel room and continuing your conversation in the middle of the hall, blocking everyone else trying to get to their next destination...

Try this: ...invite your chat-buddy to an empty row of seats, or the bar or cafe, or to walk out of the hall and find a nook elsewhere that won't block traffic. Then talk to them for as long as you like as everyone else passes.

Instead of: disappearing immediately after the panel you were on...

Try this: ...look around to see if any panelists or audience members are waiting for a word with you. If you don't the time or mental bandwidth, excuse yourself for now, but offer to chat later in the con, or hand out cards with contact information.

Instead of: avoiding actors/writers/artists you love because even though this is the only weekend all year you could possibly see them, you're nervous...

Try this: ...tell them. Practice one-sentence praise if that's all your introversion allows. You can't fathom how much even one sentence in passing encourages creative people.

Instead of: touching anyone without permission, no matter how they are dressed, or how funny you think it is...

Try this: ...ask them. If it feels wrong to ask, then just don't make physical contact.

Instead of: only talking to your friends for the entire convention and then complaining that you never see young people at conventions...

Try this: ...invite new strangers to chat. It can be one-on-one, or you can invite them to sit with your group in the lobby or con suite. We all know how hard it can be when you're new and alone at a convention. Look outside your social pod for people you can include.

Instead of: putting up with unwanted attention that the other person won't stop, no matter how minor or major it is...

Try this: ...report the offending party to con staff. Codes of Conduct are becoming more common for good reasons. And if you feel uncomfortable extracting yourself, grab an ally. Even if you don't know me, just saying, "Excuse me, that person is making me feel unsafe," will be enough to get me to hang out with you until you're clear of the offending party. I'm serious.

There's at least one alliance of people who will do that same service for anyone feeling uncomfortable towards another con-goer, but I can't find the name. If you know it, please link it in the comments, and I'll add it here.

None of the above is that hard, right? Yet it slipped the minds of so many people across the three conventions that it seemed worth writing down.

A Bibliography for 4th Street Fantasy 2015

Below is a bibliography of works discussed across the eleven panels at 4th Street Fantasy this year. It was taken mostly from the whiteboard postings, many of which were written by Tom Whitmore. If anyone has names of other whiteboard scribes, I'd like to include them.

Panel 8, on Playing The Cards You Weren't Dealt, was so author focused that I don't think we have a list for it, but if someone has one, I'd be happy to include it.

I've added author attribution to unattributed books where I could. In some cases only authors were named rather than works. These have been kept just as author names.

Panel 1: Does the Arc of Fantasy Bend Toward Justice

Colin Cotterill

Heroes Die by Matthew Woodring Stover

Blade of Tyshalle by Matthew Stover

A Thousand Perfect Things by Kay Kenyon

The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester

Jo Walton's The Just City

Robert Jackson Bennett's City of Stairs

K.J. Parker

My 2015 Convention Schedule

Since I keep getting questions about where people can find me this year, I'm sharing my convention schedule. I'll be traveling to four cons in four states. This ignores Boskone from February, which was more of a snow day than a convention anyway.


June 26-28
4th Street Fantasy
Minneapolis, Minnesota

July 9-12
Readercon
Burlington, Massachusetts (no, not Vermont)

July 24-26
Otakon
Baltimore, Maryland

November 5-8
World Fantasy
Saratoga Springs, New York

Originally I'd intended to hit WorldCon in Washington, but my health isn't up to traveling that far across the country. Some day, West Coast. I'd also love to do a Canadian convention eventually...

If you'll be attending any of these, or in the area, feel free to drop me a line! I'm happy to meet people who are normally states away from me.

LineCon to Otakon: A Photo Diary of My Bad Choices

It was Thursday in Baltimore, and I got in line for Otakon at around 6:45 PM. I was hungry, but figured I'd wait an hour, get my ticket and then grab dinner. After half an hour of weird line etiquette, which snaked in inexplicable loops in front of the lobby entrance, the people behind me started getting particularly angry. They bailed to get food, while I brought out my phone. I thought it would be funny to catch what they missed.

The line eventually curved around the left side of the building, where we saw it eventually snaked again and brought everyone back in the opposite direction. I tried to see where it was going to turn around again...

I haven’t read most of the great books, or, Doing the Diligence

Nope.

A fun game at conventions is to dance around what you haven’t read. There are so many nerds who get so little face-time validation elsewhere that they’re quick to condescend and lecture on behalf of the Great Roberts Heinlein and Jordan. This leads many con-goers faking having read books and participating in empty conversations. I’m not sure who it’s fun for, but it must be fun given how frequently it happens.

A game I play at conventions is confession. Bring up an old Jack Vance? I’ll admit to never having read it and ask what spoke to you about it. I’ll confess to never having read Theodore Sturgeon or Octavia Butler, or only having read Samuel Delany’s non-fiction, or only the first book of Wheel of Time and Ender’s Game. The fun of this exercise is watching people around me relax, because by going first (and going at all), I’ve let them give up pretense. Tension leaves their shoulders as they realize it’s okay.

My excuses are legion. I didn’t grow up with LeGuin and Zelazny, and only ever heard of G.K. Chesterton after I graduated college. I’ve gone out of my way to collect books by canonical authors in order to catch up – what I call “doing the diligence” – which yields a mixed bag of results. LeGuin and Zelazny amaze me, but if I never read another Asimov short story that’s a thin fictional veil over a science lesson, I’ll be fine.

Nope.

My troubles are compounded by interests in literary fiction, which has its own far broader canons around the world. The many years I spent reading Mark Twain, John Steinbeck and various translations of The Divine Comedy seem to be the same time others were getting familiar with The Sword of Shannara (only read the first one and can’t remember it, sorry). And then there are all those superhero comics that ate up my adolescence, though they seem to be more useful now that Marvel films are dominating the earth. Don’t get me started on Beta Ray Bill.

Nor have I have I given up my other loves. I’ll get to A Canticle for Liebowitz, but I’m probably going to read Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth and G. Willow Wilson’s Ms. Marvel first. So maybe I’ll always be behind, but that’s not always bad.

I own it, but...

As frustrating as it can be to listen to geniuses dissect apparently great works I’ve never heard of, this slower pace has also yielded great pleasures. I’m not sure I would have appreciated the works of Shirley Jackson as a teenager, though having started reading her a few years ago with We Have Always Lived in the Castle, she is now one of the most inspiring authors in my life. So there’s the frustration of finding two more important books for every one I knock down, this hydra of literacy, but there is also the wonder of finding true masterpieces vetted by decades of readership.

It may just be the way I look at things, but I am far happier to have read Lord of Light late than never at all. No one I know of writes this way today, and as far as I’ve read, no one else used to, not even Zelazny.

If you’re curious, the next authors I intend to do the diligence on are Lois McMaster Bujold and Samuel Delany. I’m told I’ll love Nova. The two keep getting postponed because I’ve taken such a long detour through Jo Walton, even though she so strongly recommends both of them.