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Monday, November 19, 2018

ChessieCon or Bust!

Hey, everybody!  Thanksgiving is this week, and you know what that means: this weekend is Chessiecon!

Chessiecon is by far the best-run convention I attend.  I love it and I'm sure you will, too.  I'll be doing an assload of panels this year, so I hope to see you there.

So, again as far as dates, it will be this weekend, November 23-25, 2018.  The location is:

Red Lion Hotel Baltimore North
2004 Greenspring Drive
Timonium, MD 21093

And my (batshit crazy) schedule is below.  Hope to see you there!


Friday 4:15 pm - Greenspring 1 - "How Not to Get Published" (Moderator)

A discussion of the mistakes and pitfalls common in SF/F publishing, and how to avoid them.

Steve Kozeniewski (M), Linda Adams, Scott Edelman, Karen Osborne, Steven R. Southard

Friday 5:30 pm - Greenspring 2 - "But What if There Really Is a Wolf?

This panel appears to be cancelled.  I'll leave it on here until I confirm.

Friday 6:45 pm - Greenspring 1 - "Running a Small Press"

A daunting task, taking on the title of publisher. Learn what is involved, in terms of subject matter, scheduling, financing, and personalities. Also, other less-obvious aspects of what might be involved, and what to avoid.

Harrison Demchick (M), Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Cristin Kist, Steve Kozeniewski, Martin Wilsey

Saturday 10:00 am - Greenspring 3-5 - "FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, 200th Anniversary"

Possibly the earliest SF/F work still widely read, this novel has influenced literature since its publication. Direct retellings include terrifying films and hilarious TV shows. We can see Frankenstein's influence in works as recent as the TV series Dexter and the popular web series Worm. Come discuss the work itself and its effect on feminism and society as we celebrate its bicentennial.

Carl Cipra (M), C.S. Friedman, Steve Kozeniewski, Jo Miles, Steven R. Southard

Saturday 11:15 am - Greenspring 3-5 - "Walking To Mordor: A Panel About Pacing and Time Compression"

There is something to be said about making your world feel big and the journey from point A to point B feel long and arduous. But if you're not careful, your epic odyssey may become a bedtime story! How do you make a long journey or passage of time interesting, and how do you know when to trim things down?

Don Sakers (M), Elektra Hammond, Steve Kozeniewski, Jo Walton

Saturday 12:30 pm - Greenspring 3-5 - "Turkey Awards Panel"

At our somewhat misguided request, authors created the opening paragraph to the worst SF/F novel they could conceive of. For four years running, our imaginative and inspired writers have come up with some beautiful, horrible, awful, and awe-inspiring works. Come hear what our finalists have written this year, and what our judges have to say about it. Winners will be awarded dubious prizes later in the evening.

Don Sakers (M), Lee Budar-Danoff, Beth Chandler, Harrison Demchick, Steve Kozeniewski


Saturday 5:30 pm - Greenspring 3-5 - "Rules of Writing, and When to Break Them" (Moderator)

Show, don't tell. Active rather than passive. Use energetic verbs instead of adverbs. These, among many others, are rules of writing that get beaten into us from day one. But are they immutable? Are they being used as intended or have they been misunderstood? When should we resist the temptation to bend the rules, and when should we modify them or even toss them out the window?

Steve Kozeniewski (M), Harrison Demchick, Ruthanna Emrys, Sarah Pinsker, Jo Walton

Saturday 6:45 pm - Atrium - Mass Signing


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

Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Leslie Roy Carter, Margaret Carter, Dr. Mary Crowell, Mary Fan, C.S. Friedman, J.L. Gribble, Elektra Hammond, Intisar Khanani, Steve Kozeniewski, Katherine Kurtz, Timothy Liebe, Valerie Mikles, Tamora Pierce, Sarah Pinsker, Roberta Rogow, Michelle D. Sonnier, Steven R. Southard, Jo Walton, Martin Wilsey

Saturday 9:15 pm - Greenspring 1 - "Where Does it All End? Turning Your Story Into a Cohesive Whole"

Well begun may be half done, but how do you figure out where you are ultimately going with your idea, the great ending, and how do you get there? Our panelists will discuss the elements that make up a good middle and end of a story and how to connect them.

Mary Fan, C.S. Friedman, Cristin Kist, Steve Kozeniewski, Jo Miles

Sunday 10:00 am - Greenspring 1 - "The 60-minute Plot"

A panel of writers takes suggestions from the audience to concoct the plot of a story.

Roberta Rogow (M), Harrison Demchick, Cristin Kist, Steve Kozeniewski, Valerie Mikles, Michelle D. Sonnier

Sunday 11:15 am - Greenspring 2 - "Famous Animals in Fantasy"

Whether as major characters in such works as Narnia, Watership Down, and Redwall, or as background characters in humanoid-centered fantasy worlds like Middle Earth or Damar, animals have played important and influential roles in genre literature. That's before even considering dragons! Join our panelists in a celebration and discussion of candidates for the Fantastic Animal Hall of Fame.

Nicole Jamison, Heather Rose Jones, Steve Kozeniewski, Tamora Pierce, Sarah Sexton

Sunday 12:30 pm - Greenspring 2 - "They're the Protagonist, But Are They a Role Model?"

The panel discusses protagonists who aren't inherently good people or who don't have inherently good goals, and what that means for how the reader perceives them and the story. Does a flawed character automatically mean a flawed story? Can an author tell a moral story with an amoral protagonist?

Don Sakers (M), Harrison Demchick, Jeff Gritman, Steve Kozeniewski, Jo Walton

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