Norwescon Schedule

It’s that time of year again: Norwescon! C’mon by and see me at my panels! I’ll also be reading from Tarnished, so you if you’re excited for book 2, don’t miss that one.

Writing What You Don’t Know Friday 11:00am – 12:00pm Cascade 7
Many writers have heard the advice to “write what you know.” But, have you really met any dragons, robots, zombies, or vampires? How do you write about something that you haven’t experienced personally? Tips for how to (and how not to) use research and common sense to improve your writing.

Building a Balanced Mythos Friday 4:00pm-5:00pm Cascade 5
When building a religion for your world, how do you make it balanced and plausible without riffing off of existing religions? How will myth and religion impact your plot and motivate your characters? Why should there be several types of belief systems on a world?

Writing a Series Friday 6:00pm-7:00pm Cascade 3&4
Many of the most commercially successful speculative novels are series. Authors talk about how (and whether) they planned to write a series. How do you avoid repetition while keeping the setting and characters consistent from book to book?

The Limits of Urban Fantasy Saturday 2:00pm-3:00pm Cascade 7
What’s beyond all the vamps, werewolves, angels, and demons? Having explored all of the old tropes, what’s next?

Autograph Session 2 Saturday 3:00pm-4:00pm Grand 2
Our Attending Professionals are available to sign autographs. PLEASE NOTE: So that as many fans as possible can participate, we will be enforcing a three-items-at-a-time (or single-sketch) autograph limit.

Rhiannon Held reads Tarnished Saturday 8:30pm-9:00pm Cascade 1
The second in an urban fantasy series, featuring werewolves and set in the Pacific Northwest. Rated PG

Fantasy Houses with SF Furniture in Them Sunday 10:00am-11:00am Cascade 6
If there’s magic in it, the book is fantasy, right? But what if the magical power is on tap like water and you pay a monthly bill to the city magic utility, as in Walter John Williams’ Metropolitan? What if magic is described, studied, and practiced in the language of physics and software, as in Charles Stross’ The Atrocity Archives? Is this a new genre, a hybrid genre, or still just fantasy? And where does Steampunk fit in?