Manuscripts Burn


MANUSCRIPTS BURN

"Manuscripts don't burn"
- Mikhail Bulgakov

Hi, I'm horror and science fiction author Steve Kozeniewski (pronounced: "causin' ooze key.") Welcome to my blog! You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and Amazon. You can e-mail me here, join my mailing list here, or request an e-autograph here. Free on this site you can listen to me recite one of my own short works, "The Thing Under the Bed."

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Chessiecon 2015 or Bust!

Hey, everybody!  If you live in the Baltimore, MD, area you should definitely swing by Chessiecon at the North Baltimore Plaza Hotel (2004 Greenspring Dr., Lutherville-Timonium, MD, 21093) sometime this weekend (27-29 November, 2015.)  For the first time (ever!) I have been invited as a guest of the con!  Other guests this year include Seanan Mcguire (aka Mira Grant) and Tamora Pierce.

chessiecon.org

As much as being a convention guest sounds like champagne fountains and gilded pillows, I'll actually be working nearly non-stop.  I have thirteen (!) panels and appearances spread out across all three days of the con.  So if you show up and you can't find me jawing at you, I'm probably asleep in my car.  And if you get sick of hearing me talk, fellow Red Adept Publishing author Mary Fan will also be a con guest.  My finalized panel schedule is as follows:

Friday
Time  Title Location
6:45 PM The Art of Bad Science Greenspring 2
8:00 PM Discussion Group: Questions From a Hat Greenspring 3-5
9:15 PM Getting Publishied in 2015 (and Beyond) Greenspring 2
Saturday
Time  Title Location
10:00 AM Rethinking the Zombie Apocalypse Greenspring 3-5
11:15 AM Fantasy/Legendary Water Creatures Chesapeake 1-2
12:30 PM Turkey Awards Panel Greenspring 3-5
4:15 PM Beyond Sauron: Complex Villains and Questionable Heroes Greenspring 3-5
6:45 PM Mass signing Atrium
8:30 PM Reading (30 minutes) Greenspring 1
10:30 PM Beyond Doctor Who, Star Trek, and Buffy Greenspring 3-5
Sunday
Time  Title Location
11:15 AM Military Science Fiction vs. Real Military Life Greenspring 2
12:30 PM Kaffeeklatsch Chesapeake 6
1:45 PM How Much Do I Worry About My Own Canon? Greenspring 1


Friday

6:45 PM - 7:45 PM  "The Art of Bad Science: Preparing for Your Turkey Award Submission"

A carefully crafted Turkey Award submission might include a whole lot of bad science. For example, the winner of last year's Worst Place featured a "proton hydrator". Where is the line between creatively bad science and garbage? How does a good author of bad fiction obliterate that line creatively?

Moderator:  Carl Cipra
Panelists:  Eileen Martz,  Jeff Gritman,  Steve Kozeniewski, Don Sakers
Location:  Greenspring 2

8:00 PM - 9:00 PM  "Questions From a Hat"
 
Guests and fans discuss answers to questions such as, "What was your first SF/F book?"; "Who would you consider the first SF author?"; "What SF character would you most hate to sit next to on a long flight?"; and others randomly chosen from fan suggestions. 

Moderator:  Andi O'Connor
Panelists:  C.S. (Celia) Friedman,  Ursula Vernon,  D.H. Aire,  Steve Kozeniewski,  Seanan McGuire
Location:  Greenspring 3-5

9:15 PM - 10:15 PM  "Getting published in 2015 (and Beyond)"

Is self-publishing the wave of the future? Or are the publishing houses still where all the talent is? A look at how and where an author might go to get a story published, and how the approaches differ depending on the publishing route.

Moderator:  Don Sakers
Panelists:  D.C. McLaughlin,  Mary Fan,  Steve Kozeniewski 
Location:  Greenspring 2

Saturday

10:00 AM - 11:00 AM  "Rethinking the Zombie Apocalypse" 
We often joke about "surviving the zombie apocalypse." Is this just a cover for our anxiety about more likely forms of societal collapse? Some sustainability experts have criticised the zombie apocalypse meme for promoting the idea of survival through exclusion -- keeping out the terrifying "other" -- when we should be building resilient networks through community. What skills might we need for survival in the face of climate change and other real threats, and how do they differ from zombie apocalypse skills?

Moderator:  Elektra Hammond
Panelists:  Harrison Demchick,  Steve Kozeniewski,  Mike McPhail,  Myth Woodling
Location:  Greenspring 3-5

11:15 AM - 12:15 PM  "Fantasy / Legendary Water Creatures"
 
We all love Chessie, our mythological sea dragon. Equally, we've heard of merfolk, selkies, sirens, lorelei, and a host of others. What are some of the lesser-known mythological water creatures on the planet? On other planets? On fantasy worlds?

Moderator:  Vonnie Winslow Crist
Panelists:  TJ Perkins,  Michelle D. Sonnier, Steve Kozeniewski, Myth Woodling
Location:  Chesapeake 1-2

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM  "Turkey Awards Panel"
 
Writers were asked to write the best terrible paragraph they could write, as the beginning of the best terrible science fiction novel you (n)ever read. Finalist entries will be presented, and judged with humor and harshness. The panelists will decide who gets this year's dubious prizes! 

Moderator:  Don Sakers
Panelists:  Steve Kozeniewski,  Harrison Demchick,  Lee Budar-Danoff 
Location:  Greenspring  3-5

4:15 PM - 5:15 PM  "Beyond Sauron: Complex Villains and Questionable Heroes."  
 
In reality, neither good nor evil are found in a pure, unadulterated form. Panelists discuss how this type of simplification can affect our worldview, and present examples of more complex approaches to fictional realities.

Moderator:  Don Sakers
Panelists:  Tamora Pierce,  Intisar Khanani,  Steve Kozeniewski,  Andi O'Connor 
Location:  Greenspring 3-5
 
6:45 PM - 8:00 PM  "Group Book / Art / CD Signing" 

Authors, artists, and musicians gather in one room for signing/book-selling/chatting with fans.

Participants:  Michelle D. Sonnier,  Ursula Vernon,  Steve Kozeniewski,  TJ Perkins,  Cathy Hird,  Heather Rose Jones,  Intisar Khanani,  Kim Headlee,  Cristin Kist,  Jeff Gritman,  Tamora Pierce,  Steve Haug,  Margaret Carter,  Danielle Ackley-McPhail,  D.C. McLaughlin,  Mary Fan,  C.S. (Celia) Friedman,  Tom Smith,  Roberta Rogow,  Lawrence M. Schoen,  Harrison Demchick,  Karen MacLeod,  Seanan McGuire,  Charles Butler,  Vonnie Winslow Crist,  Kelly A. Harmon 
Location:  Atrium

8:30 PM - 9:00 PM  "Reading: Steve Kozeniewski" 

Excerpt from BRAINEATER JONES. Named one of the best books of 2013 by World Horror Grandmaster Brian Keene, BRAINEATER JONES is the story of a zombie private eye trying to solve his own murder. Taking place during Prohibition and full of zombies who need alcohol to curb their brainlust, BRAINEATER JONES is part noir mystery, part comedy, and part horror.

Location:  Greenspring 1

10:30 PM - 11:30 PM  "Beyond Doctor Who, Star Trek, and Buffy"

Panelists discuss the offerings of SciFi TV, including favorites and lesser-known series. What makes an SF/F show good? Are there shows we wish were better, but are worth watching because of some redeeming features? Do we watch shows we know are crappy just to support the genre in the hopes of getting TV producers to do more and better shows?

Moderator:  Don Sakers
Panelists:  Jeff Gritman,  Cathy Hird,  Steve Kozeniewski
Location:  Greenspring 3-5

Sunday 

11:15 AM - 12:15 PM  "Military Science Fiction vs. Real Military Life" 

Military science fiction usually focuses on a hero fighting against the enemy: sometimes the enemy is the opponent (Lensman series), sometimes the enemy is the hero's environmental limitations (Forever War), sometimes the hero's own political-military hierarchy (Shards of Honor). How realistic is the hero figure in the true nature of battle, given the current and projected technology? How does all of this change when the hero in the story is female?

Moderator:  Steve Kozeniewski
Panelists:  TJ Perkins,  Leslie Roy Carter,  Pam Smith
Location:  Greenspring 2

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM  "KaffeeKlatsch: Steve Kozeniewski" 

Location: Chesapeake 6

1:45 PM - 2:45 PM  "How Much Do I Worry About My Own Canon?"  
 
Writing a series? Sure, you don't want to get major things wrong, or contradict yourself. But are you creating a work of art for which you have to bend the rules sometimes -- or even do so deliberately, for effect, as M. John Harrison does in his Viriconium stories? Or is our increased awareness, through the internet, of fan readers, their concerns and reactions (and their attempts to write coherent fanfic) boxing us in? As major franchises mess with their Canon, what about us writers?

Moderator:  Don Sakers
Panelists:  Harrison Demchick,  Lawrence M. Schoen,  Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Steve Kozeniewski
Location:  Greenspring 1

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