Tag: boskone

Later this month, I’ll be at Boskone! It’s New England’s longest-running science fiction and fantasy convention and always a delight. For more info, visit The Boskone Blog, Twitter, and Facebook, and if you want to join me, register here!

Saturday, 15 Feb

12 pm — 100 Years From Now…

The world as we know it has changed dramatically in the last 100 years. How about the next 100? What might everyday life be like a century from now? What technological marvels will the near future bring? What social changes will take place? How about natural and human-made disasters? Overall — where will we be, and how will we get there? Is the Singularity coming? “Day Million”? Or will our grandchildren herd sheep and shiver in the dark?

Allen M. Steele (M), Cadwell Turnbull, Jeffrey A. Carver, Karl Schroeder, Andrea Martinez Corbin

Sunday, 16 Feb

11 am — Adventures in Eco-Fiction

Since the ancient tales of Great Floods, storytellers (like our panelists, for instance) have set their adventurers moving through half-drowned cities, poisoned hills, deserts that eat men, and worlds overgrown by plants. When does a story’s ecology stop being a setting and become a character? How much real science should be behind a good eco-adventure? Can a story be eco-centric without being eco-catastrophic?

Steven Popkes (M), Isadora Deese, Robert V.S. Redick, Kim Stanley Robinson, Andrea Martinez Corbin

12:30 pm — Reading

I will read something to whoever shows up. I may bring treats. I may turn it into a Socratic method examination of what a story is and can be. It’s the last day of con! Anything goes!

This weekend, I’ll be at Boskone, New England’s longest running science fiction and fantasy convention. Boskone is Feb. 15-17. For more info, visit The Boskone Blog, Twitter, and Facebook, and if you want to join me, register here!

Friday, 2/15

4 pm – The Life Cycle of a Book

Most of us just see the finished product on the shelf. However, there are lots of little (and big) steps associated with getting the book to the store. What’s the life cycle of a book, from submission to publication? It’s not as simple as “the author writes it, then the publisher prints it.” What are the direct, indirect, and associated steps involved in the production and publication process — from editing to marketing, selling, reviewing, reprinting, and more?

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Saturday, 2/16

4 pm – Social Change and the Speculative World

Speculative fiction prides itself on thinking beyond the box in multiple ways — including socially. However, the real world can have a hard time keeping up. What genre works show how particular social issues can or should be handled? Have any SF/F stories or characters inspired you to take real action?

5 pm – Flash Fiction Slam

Boskone’s Flash Fiction Slam returns! Be one of eleven (11) writers to compete for the title of The Flash, reading your own original fiction — which must tell a complete tale within a 3-minute period. Our expert panel of judges will score your work, and you automatically lose 10 percent for going over your 3-minute time. You may only read your own work. The reader with the top score wins! Sign up before the con by sending an email to program@boskone.org for one of eight (8) reading slots on a first-come, first-served basis. Or sign up onsite at Program Ops in the Harbor Foyer for one of three (3) at-con openings. A waiting list will also be available there.

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Sunday, 2/17

1 pm – Exploring Interactive Fiction 101

Twine. Choice of Games. Sub-Q Magazine. Interactive fiction (IF) has come a long way since the ’70s. Now, IF is having a renaissance, with new tools and platforms that make it more accessible to both writers and fans. But do today’s fans know what IF is? Let’s define it, and then discuss it. Where can you find it? How can a writer break into the field? Is it fair to say that traditionally told stories are for passive readers, but IF is for adventurers?

Winter is busy!

In a few weeks, I’ll be at Boskone, New England’s longest running science fiction and fantasy convention. Boskone is Feb. 16-18, and I’ll be there for most of it. For more info, visit The Boskone Blog, Twitter, and Facebook, and if you want to join me, register here!

Friday – 2/16
8:00pm – Fresh Fantasy Worlds
Gerald L. Coleman, Andrea Corbin, John R. Douglas (M), Marshall Ryan Maresca, Patrick Nielsen Hayden
“High” fantasies in much of western speculative literature lean heavily on the European Middle Ages for inspiration. Pastoral landscapes, Camelottian castles, noble knights, distressed damsels. All much loved — all done to death. (Or killed off by George R. R. Martin.) Why do we still cling to them so? What’s it take to create a fresh fantasy world? Besides European models, what other options are there? And how do you enliven tropes, settings, and situations that have become old hat?

Saturday – 2/17
10:00am – Feminist Fairy Tales
Jane Yolen, Victoria Sandbrook, Andrea Corbin, Julia Rios, E.J. Stevens
Women frequently serve as the main characters of fairy tales. (Why, by the way?) It’s hard not to notice they’re often presented as victims, or the subjects of a lesson learned. Do any tales instead offer strong female role models? What can modern feminist perspectives contribute when considering stories from so long ago and/or far away?

4:30pm – Reading by Andrea Corbin
Andrea Corbin
Me! Reading to you! I don’t know what to read yet!