Hi gang –
Just got the preliminary schedule of this year’s Ad Astra panels (remember: Ad Astra is running here in Toronto March 28-30). Here’s a rundown of the panels I’m on:
Sat 10:00 AM Near Future vs. Far Future Settings
[Glenn Grant (mod), Robert J. Sawyer, Stephen Kotowych, Mike Rimar]
– Panelists will discuss the tradeoffs and the possibilities of each.
Sat 1:00 PM Getting the Most Out of a Writer’s Workshop
[Stephen Kotowych (mod), Suzanne Church, Tony Pi, Douglas Smith]
– How do you get into the major SF writers’ workshops? How can you afford the time and money to go? What can you expect while you’re there? Does attendance grant credibility with editors? How are you and your writing changed when you get back to the “real world?”
– This is a panel Tony and I suggested and it’s my first-ever turn as panel moderator…yikes!
Sat 4:00 PM Goblin War
[Jim C. Hines Book Launch]
– The goblins are going to war. You may have spotted them at registration. Our spies tell us they’ve been working with human sympathizers. Your job is to capture these goblins from their human partners. The humans should be easy to recognize. We’re told they wear their pro-goblin sentiments openly. Rewards will be given to those valiant warriors who bring the most prisoners to the Goblin War launch party at 4:00 on Saturday.
– I’m going to help my buddy Jim out and be one of the human sympathizers…but you didn’t hear that from me… 😉
Sat 5:30 PM Reading
[Stephen Kotowych’s Reading]
– My first-ever reading…yikes! I’ll be reading my Writers of the Future Grand Prize-winning story “Saturn in G Minor”…and hopefully by then we’ll know whether it’s also an Aurora Award nominee *hint hint*…
Sun 10:00 AM Writers of the Future
[Jim C. Hines (mod), Robert J. Sawyer, Mike Rimar, Stephen Kotowych]
– Past winners and judges will discuss this contest.
Also, for those writer-types of you in attendance, I note that from 11am-1pm on Saturday, Guests of Honour Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta will be giving their session “Things I Wish Some Pro Had Told Me When I Was Starting Out”, which is the very same session they gave at this year’s Writers of the Future workshop. The description from the programme reads:
“No-nonsense professional advice on how to build your career as a professional writer, what to do after you have sold your first story or novel, details on contracts, editors, etc. A fee is required for this workshop.”
Now, I can attest that this workshop is worth the extra fee (I don’t know what that fee is, but it’ll be worth it). They give a great presentation, which is especially useful to those starting out, and which is fabulously inspiring. You will leave this session and immediately run to the nearest computer to start writing something–it’s that energizing. Not to me missed, if you can make it!
– S.