Readercon panel notes 2009, number 3 of 4. This panel was at 5:00 on Friday. As someone who is very interested in making the world of SF fandom more welcoming and diverse, this was a panel I really wanted to attend.

As usual, these notes are paraphrased and incomplete *very incomplete in this case because it was the end of the day and I was rather tired). I welcome corrections, additions, and discussion in the comments.

The panelists: K. Tempest Bradford, David Anthony Durham (Leader), Eileen Gunn, Anil Menon, Cecilia Tan.

And the official blurb:

[Greatest Hit from Readercon 12.] At various sf conventions, we‘ve been to more than one panel during which the panelists try to figure out why there seem to be so few writers of color in the field. As an alternative, we have invited several panelists to discuss what an sf field more enticing to writers of color might look like.

( Read more... )

All in all, there were some interesting things said, but I felt frustrated at the lack of practical advice for how to make cons, etc. more friendly to a diverse group of people. Mind you, I am still trying to find my own comfort zone at cons, so I'm not coming at this from the standpoint of someone who walked into a con one day and suddenly felt they had found all the high school friends they never had. I hear that as a common description of fandom, but my experiences really don't match it. I can't imagine I'm the only one, and I'm not at all surprised to hear that people of color feel conspicuous and like they're outsiders. While I certainly agree that learning about new cultures is a good thing, and that having a more diverse body of speculative fiction in the mainstream would definitely help, I'm wondering what other steps we can take.

What sorts of things would make cons in general more welcoming? What would make Readercon specifically more welcoming? More panels about work by people of color, or featuring characters of color? It seems like one possibility, but I'd really love to hear more ideas. I know that the only way things will change is if people like me take an active interest and put in the work. Next year, Readercon's programming is going to consist of panels suggested and filled by the con's members (not by a con committee, as it's normally done). This strikes me as an excellent opportunity, but I'm not exactly sure how best to take advantage of it.

Of course there's more than just people of color in the diversity spectrum, too. Cecilia Tan's mention of LGBT presence in speculative fiction is definitely worth remembering, and there's also the question of accessibility for disabled fans (about which Mari Ness made a thought provoking post that I think everyone should read).

So, lots to think about here, and I'd love to hear what you have to say about it.

On Friday at noon, I attended my second panel, The Catharsis of Myth, the Shock of Invention, which was billed as a greatest hit panel topic from Readercon 8. The panelists were Ellen Asher, Theodora Goss (Leader), Elaine Isaak, Laura Miller, and Catherynne M. Valente.

As usual, these notes are paraphrased and not guaranteed to be accurate, or complete. I welcome corrections, additions, and discussion in the comments. Here's the official blurb:

In writing or reading fiction, we place a high value on the degree to which
the plot unfolds in unexpected ways. But much of the power of myth and fairy tale derives
from the way it fulfills our expectations. How do the best works of fantasy reconcile these
seeming opposites?

( Read more... )

So why do we like to hear familiar stories? Catherynne Valente contended that we like fairy tales because they reflect our real life disappointments, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and posit that while that might be true for some people (and probably is true for her specifically), it isn't the only draw that fairy tales have.

For me, the wonder is a big part of it. I also like stories about people surviving, getting ahead, etc. I like that Cinderella uses what resources she can find to make her lot in life better. I like this about stories like Fitcher's Bird, too (but I find Bluebeard's wife lacking in agency, which makes that story much less satisfying).

Where does the balance of familiar Vs. new come in? I think there's something to the fashion analogy there. I agree with Catherynne Valente that just telling the exact story from a different point of view is not enough, but I think that one can use that as a starting point. I have to imagine that someone else could retell The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the witch's point of view and end up with an entirely different story than Wicked. What matters is not the point of view, but what the new version makes me think about, feel, enjoy, etc. I know how Beauty and the Beast goes, but I still like the feeling of stepping into Robin McKinley's world when I read Rose Daughter, even though the plot is the same.

What about things other than fairy tales? Fantasy is about more than that, after all. And is Rose Fox's fanfic observation a red herring, or does it relate to all this, too? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Before I begin, I just made a MySpace profile. If you're on MySpace and want to associate with me there, my page is here.

And now, the notes! These are paraphrased and not guaranteed to be 100% accurate. I welcome corrections and discussion in the comments.

The first panel I attended was Thursday night's The Origin of Character in the Breakthrough of the Bicameral Mind with Daryl Gregory, Eileen Gunn, Elizabeth Hand, James Patrick Kelly (Leader), Ellen Kushner, and Peter Straub. Here's the official panel blurb:

Our panelists all report the experience of their characters taking over the
story and behaving in some way autonomously. But we wonder whether this is actually
multiple different psychological phenomena rather than a single one that everyone shares.
So we‘ve asked them to compare notes.

( Read more... )

So, thoughts from the rest of you? Agree? Disagree? Ever tried the character interview trick Ellen Kushner mentioned? I have, and didn't find it quite right for me, but I know other people who make D&D style character sheets for everyone in their stories. Do you have your own tricks to get the subconscious muse flowing? I think Peter Straub's thoughts resonated most with me. Right now I'm trying to learn how to shut up and listen to those voices.

Readercon 20 was my best con experience to date. I'll post more detailed stuff later, but for now, some stats:

Programming:

--4 panels (notes to be posted later)
--3 single author readings (Laird Barron, Jennifer Pelland, Catherynne Valente)
--3 Kaffeeklatches (Ellen Klages, Jeffrey Carver, Catherynne Valente)
--2 group readings (Goblin Fruit/Mythic Delirium and the Rhysling Poetry Slan, and I read in both of them, woo!)
--1 workshop (Mike Allen's poetry workshop)
--1 solo talk (Caitlin Kiernan's reading Dr. Seuss as weird fiction)

Extracurricular Activities:

--1 party (Goblin Fruit Summer launch)
--1 dinner with friends (cucumberseed and darkpaisley)
--1 coffee with friends (cucumberseed and asakiyume)
--1 dinner with Viable Paradise people

Acquisitions:

--Complete works of JoSelle Vanderhooft (5 volumes)
--Mythic Delirium 19 and 20
--Demon Lovers and Other Difficulties (Goblin Fruit sponsored collection of poems by Nicole Kornher-Stace)
--The Coyote Road (anthology of trickster tales edited by Datlow and Windling)
--Clockwork Phoenix 1 and 2 (anthologies of pretty, strange stories edited by Mike Allen)
--Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman

Well Being:

--1 Migraine (ate up most of Saturday, booo!)
--0 meltdowns in the car because of con-induced anxiety (wooo!)

Back from the first evening of Readercon, which was really excellent.

I heard Jennifer Pelland read an amazing story, which will be in the Dark Faith Anthology in 2010. It was a September 11th ghost story, and I have to admit I was skeptical when she announced that was the theme (which she did so people could opt out up front in case the very idea was too upsetting), but it was really brilliant. When she finished I had to leave the room right away because I didn't think I was capable of speaking without a) gibbering, or b) crying. I'd buy the anthology just for that story.

I also attended a panel entitled The Origin of Character in Breakthrough of the Mind, which was interesting (and which I took notes during, but they'll have to wait until I've slept).

And then, the evening's programming being over, Moss and I went to the Goblin Fruit Summer issue launch party, where, as Moss pointed out, everyone really looked like they were at a Goblin Fruit party. There was homemade mead, delicious food, beautiful music, and scads of general merriment. Alas, there was also a lot of heat in that tiny hotel room, so I had to beg off at a quarter past eleven to get some fresh air. My guess is that they're still going strong.

I'll close with a picture of Caitlyn Paxson (who had a truly delightful poem in the Winter 2008 issue of Goblin Fruit) playing the harp. It should give you some small sense of the evening.


Click on the image for the larger version if you so desire.

Armed with a year's worth of preparation and experience, I'm going back to face the beast for a second time. I'm not signed up as a volunteer, but I feel I'll have enough going on without that to make this year's Readercon experience much better than last year's.

Last year:

* Going in, I Didn't know anyone except Moss.
* It was my first time at a con.
* I had no plan of attack.

This year:

* I may be reading poems in the Goblin Fruit/Mythic Delirium reading tomorrow and the Rhysling Poetry Slan on Saturday. It's not definite since there are time limits and reading priority goes to official Readercon guests, but I'll definitely be at these two events with a potential purpose.

* The Goblin Fruit Summer launch party is tonight, and I'm planning to attend and meet new people in setting a smaller than the vastness of the whole con. Plus, they will automatically have something in common with me, since I assume anyone there will love Goblin Fruit.

* I'm carpooling with a local friend, so I will arrive with at least one person I already know.

* I'm planning to sign up for the speculative poetry workshop that Mike Allen is running. Yay structured time! Bonus: by the time said workshop happens, I should already have met some of the people in it.

* A bunch of people from the writing workshop I did last Fall should be there, and we may be having dinner tomorrow night.

* asakiyume is coming on Saturday! This year I know her better than I did last year, so the idea of meeting up with her is more exciting than nerve wracking.

* I found out last Friday that I was accepted to Viable Paradise, so if I run into people associated with that, I will have a reason to introduce myself. Though that still might induce panic as they are OMGstrangers!!!1!

* Thanks to attending other cons and actively reaching out (in my very reserved way) to the local SFF community, I have a much better chance of recognizing faces in the crowd this year.

If you are planning to attend and want to meet up, let me know!

Whew! I just wrapped up my second session at Flycon, and it was great! This weekend has been full of craziness. Yesterday I managed to lurk during the "When is YA not YA?" panel, but then we had a bit of a plumbing problem, so I was out for the rest of the day, and then sleeping. Today we helped our friends move, so I was only available during my two scheduled events, but I have to say, I really love the way that people have been interacting!

Everyone has been so nice, and so interesting to talk to, or just to listen to. I am really looking forward to reading the panel transcripts later. My last panel, "For the Newbie" was a discussion about how to get the most out of a con if you've never been before. I hope the newbies in question felt that the advice was helpful. If you're visiting here because you saw me on that panel, you might want to click on my cons tag. It will show you every entry I've posted about cons. From my first Readercon meltdown to my last Boskone panel transcript, and this entry, actually. If any of it helps, I'll be thrilled. I want cons to be less scary for everyone, not just me!

The other thing I did today was the Fairy Tale Workshop. Aside from one mishap in which I accidentally didn't give one of the participants the information she needed to find us until 45 minutes in, that was fantastic, too. My ever helpful cat jumped up on my shoulder and stayed there to help me type during the workshop chat --very helpful, that one. The participants all seemed like intelligent, thoughtful, and nice people. I'm looking forward to seeing what their retold tales look like soon!

Now I'm off to get some dinner, but I'll definitely report back tomorrow after I've had more Flycon fun! If you haven't checked it out yet, now is a great time to look at the schedule and maybe drop in on an event or two.

From Walt Disney to Robin McKinley to Anne Rice to Gregory McGuire and beyond, lots of people have been drawn to retell fairy tales. In this workshop we'll examine what makes a good retelling so satisfying, and also take a look at some of the retelling trends that aren't so hot. You'll leave the hour long workshop chat with a prompt to get you going on your own story, and you'll have the option to post that to a locked community for feedback if you wish. We'll also discuss fairy tale friendly markets.

The workshop chat will take place on Saturday at 7pm London time, 3pm Eastern US, noon Pacific, and 6am Sunday in Sydney, 8am in New Zealand.

If you're interested in retelling fairy tales, please sign up on this entry over here!

I'm going away for a couple of days, and will be without internet. Before I go, though, I want to take a moment to promote Flycon 2009, which is a virtual con that will be happening the weekend of the 13th. If you've never attended a real con, but find yourself curious about the experience, this is a great no cost way to get an idea If you love cons, but have can't afford to travel anywhere, then Flycon has your name all over it.

Flycon was dreamed up and organized by sartorias and eneit, and will involve people from all over the world. The official schedule isn't up yet, but if you take a look at the community, you can see some of the panel ideas that have been proposed. I myself will be on one or two, and will be leading a closed workshop on retelling fairy tales. If you love fairy tales, and enjoy retelling them (or would like to start), please consider signing up! We'll have a private workshop chat, and a private workshop community so everyone's work will be safe for future publication.

This panel was Saturday at 2:00, and all the panelists were in attendance. I couldn't write fast enough to catch everything (this panel was so lively that I really couldn't keep up), so these notes will omit things and paraphrase heavily. Corrections are welcome. Please consider the comments for this entry as an open discussion forum.

Here's the official description:

Its inventor, our Guest of Honor Jo Walton, defines "incluing" as "the process of scattering information seamlessly through the text, as opposed to stopping the story to impart the information." What other tactics do good writers get up to? We'll discuss fresh ways of looking at how working writers do what they do

Greer Gilman, James D. Macdonald, Teresa Nielsen Hayden, Mary A. Turzillo, Jo Walton (m)

( Read more... )

This panel was very interesting, and it definitely made a case for the necessity of incluing, but I'm not sure how much practical advice we got apart from Jo Walton's bit about the snurds, and Greer Gilman's aside on foreshadowing. I'm sure I'd love to have a Doyle to set things up for me, but assuming most of us don't, what are some techniques we might try? If you write, how do you handle this? Are you conscious of your incluing, or does it happen naturally?

This panel was Saturday at 12:00, and all the panelists were in attendance. I couldn't write fast enough to catch everything, so these notes will omit things and paraphrase heavily. Corrections are welcome. Please consider the comments for this entry as an open discussion forum.

Here's the official description:

From Circe to the beautiful wicked stepmother in Snow White, and from Grendel's (movie) mom to the Baroness Ceaucescu, she fixes us in her fascinating gaze. She is a (ahem...."wicked") powerful image! Why does she resonate through the ages? Is the evil temptress fun to write? Does she represent female villainy or female power? Can there be such a thing as a good temptress? Give some further examples of this archetype in the modern sf/f genre.

Mary Kay Kare, Rosemary Kirstein, Elise Matthesen (m), Paul Park, Jane Yolen

( Read more... )

I was very interested in the idea of a good temptress, and I thought Scheherezade was a great example of that. When Jane Yolen described her as someone using temptation to prevent evil, I thought of Jo Walton's Sarah Kahn story. Surely Hypothetical time-traveling Sarah Kahn counts as a good temptress!

Can you think of other good temptresses? Have you worked out what defines an evil temptress? I'm not sure anyone fully came to an agreement on that last one in the panel.

This panel was at 11:00 on Saturday morning, and all the panelists were able to make it! Woo! I couldn't write fast enough to catch everything, so these notes will omit things and paraphrase heavily. Corrections are welcome. Please consider the comments for this entry as an open discussion forum.

Here's the official description:

So many alternate histories spin off "battles that went the other way?" Or, important kingpins that get killed? Why is that? Why don't more people use non- military turning points? We'll discuss more obscure—and possibly more interesting—branch points that might make for cool alternate history stories. What if Ann Boleyn's son had grown up? If Jesus were a woman? If the Greeks had phonograph records? If Titanic hit a warm spell? If Shakespeare wrote novels? If chocolate stayed inedible?

Beth Bernobich, Michael F. Flynn, Peter J. Heck, Edward James (m), Jo Walton

( Read more... )

This whole panel was fascinating. The panelists all obviously knew their history, and had a lot of interesting insights. My favorite bit was the anecdote about Sarah Kahn, which I thought of again during the next panel I attended, The Evil Temptress.

The second panel I attended. This was at 8:00 on Friday night. Unfortunately Sharyn November and Suzy McKee Charnas were unable to make it for this panel, but the other four panelists had a lot of interesting things to say. I wasn't able to write fast enough to catch everything, so these notes will omit things and paraphrase heavily. Corrections are welcome. Open discussion encouraged in the comments. Feel free to invite anyone to join in.

Here's the official description:

Expanding on a remark by Cory Doctorow, Scott Westerfeld recently said: "The teen years are a time of irrevocable first experiences. Not just your first drink or sexual experience, but the first time you tell a significant lie, stand up to a bully, or betray a friend. The consequences of our actions are huge in those years—or at least feel that way—so it's not surprising that YA lit reflects that intensity. A fantasy where a protagonist has to save the world is fundamentally more believable to a teen. Adults don't think they can save the world anymore, and they rarely feel their setbacks as acutely." Discuss, with feeling.

Ellen Asher, Suzy McKee Charnas, Bruce Coville (m), Ann Downer, Christopher Golden, Sharyn November

( Read more... )

I have a few different sets of Boskone panel notes, and I'll be posting them in chronological order as I have the time. This one was at 7:00 on Friday night.

Please feel free to treat the comments on this entry as an open discussion forum, and invite anyone who wishes to join. Here's the official description:

The sanitized versions of fairy tales leave out what matters: the scary parts. The Grimms took out the sex, and the Victorians took out the horror (and the rest of the sex), so what's left? And why do we care? What is it about "fairy tales" that really make people uncomfortable—and how can this be effectively used in the modern genre?

Greer Gilman, Theodora Goss (m), Mary Kay Kare, Josepha Sherman, Sonya Taaffe, Jane Yolen

Mary Kay Kare wasn't able to make it to this panel, but everyone else was there, and in great form. I couldn't write fast enough to get every word, so sometimes things are omitted or paraphrased, but I tried to get as much as I could.

( Read more... )

There's lots of stuff that could be discussed further, but I think the one thing that's stuck with me is Sonya Taaffe's claim about Pinocchio. I've always felt that the Pleasure Island bit was terrifying, but would very much be the sort of thing that would also be terrifying in an older fairy tale. Maybe I've just read too much Hans Christian Andersen? It's pretty often the case that if you do bad things (in this case indulge in sloth, gluttony, and hedonism), bad and horrifying things will happen to you.

Is the whale scene really not scary? I saw this movie in the theatre when I was 4 or so and it scared me quite a bit, but I can't remember exactly which parts were scary.

In other Disney movies are there scary parts that oughn't necessarily be scary, and are the parts that ought to be scary not scary? I've been puzzling over this, but I haven't got any good answers yet. I can agree about the lack of agency on the part of the princesses, though.

Just checking in briefly.

This was my most successful con yet. Third time's a charm, apparently. I think we managed to pace ourselves well, so we got to see several good panels, attend a few socializing events, and still eat, sleep, and generally not wear ourselves out. I also noticed that my hard work on the networking front continues to pay off. I was more comfortable at this con than at Arisia (and I did pretty well at Arisia, if you'll recall... well, pretty well by my standards anyway), and I even introduced myself to some new people on my own, without help. Woo!

I have a lot of notes, and I do intend to do some panel recaps and responses in the next few days, but tonight we're off to see Coraline. Thanks to my lack of depth perception, I thought 3D meant half red, half blue, and blurry up until I was 15, but the new 3D is meant to work for people like me now. I'll let you know how it goes.

We tried to make it to Arisia today, but after slipping around on very slick roads (and we don't have real snow tires), we gave up. Stopped at the Whole Foods and Pet Smart close to home to purchase sorely needed groceries and cat litter, and then crawled back home, somehow barely managing to avoid spinning out or sliding into snowbanks. I am sad that I'm missing out on the chance to talk to some of the people I didn't manage to talk to, and buy some of the books I had intended to buy, but I'm happy to be alive and safe and warm.

I had also intended to take some pictures of the awesome array of costumes today. Friday I had no time, and yesterday I forgot my good camera, so I only managed to get one picture with my dying cell phone.


Click on the picture to see the larger version on my flickr page. I didn't get a chance to talk to Pikachu very much, but I'm pretty sure she made the costume herself. It had an impressive tail, which I'm afraid you can't see very well here. There were all sorts of other cool costumes (fantasy, video game, RPG, anime, Star Trek, and lots of steampunk), but we'll all have to hope other people post pictures and use the Arisia tag on flickr, I guess.

Later I'll post a panel response entry, for the two I attended yesterday, but for now, I think some warm food and drink is in order (did I mention we had to shovel on the way out and on the way back in? Snow is falling thick and fast).

I'm just home from the first day of Arisia, and I'm feeling much better about my con experience than I did after my ill-fated prior attempt. Not a whole lot to report today as I spent most of it helping dealers haul stuff into the very warm hotel from the very cold outdoors, but I'm still satisfied. After I came home a trembling mess from my one day at Readercon in July, I swore that I would do whatever I could to make sure that the next con would be better. I laid out specific goals, and made plans for the best way to psychologically prepare in advance. Today I know that all my hard work paid off.

Here are some things that helped:

1) I was volunteering, so I had something to do, which meant I didn't feel so lost in the crowd.
2) I signed up for a writing workshop class in October so that I would get to know some other local writers, and then see them at cons. Today I saw three of my classmates. When there are familiar faces in the sea of people, it helps.
3) I let everyone I knew know that I was going way in advance, and let them know I was shy/had social anxiety. This meant that on at least one occasion, someone I knew saw me in passing, introduced me to someone else, and let them know that I was a bit shy. It was done with little to no awkwardness and much kindness. I really appreciated it.
4) I poured over the schedule and made notes about potentially interesting things for each hour of the time that I might have free, so that if I found myself unexpectedly unoccupied, I wouldn't be milling about aimlessly.
5) I let others know which things I might attend, so that they could meet me if they wanted to. This resulted in me knowing a couple of audience members at both the one panel and the reading I managed to attend today.
6) I made a point of easing in by only going to couple of things after my 4 hours of manual labor, and I further eased into things by attending a panel and a group reading that both featured saraphina_marie. That was cool because I got to see a friend, and it made the events feel more familiar and less scary.

Tomorrow I have a lot more panels I'd like to attend, and I hope to make a con report entry with free discussion in the comments. Today I'm afraid I am brain dead. I will say that the Broad Universe rapid fire reading (8 authors in one and a half hours!) was really interesting. Hearing 8 people read back to back really brings home the fact that everyone reads aloud differently. Some go fast, some go slow, some do voices, some don't. Some people (like Jennifer Pelland) seem born to read aloud, but the sublimely ridiculous highlight for me was listening to KT Pinto (an adorably joyful person) reading first person POV sexy vampire goddess stuff in her very Brooklyn voice.

I'll be attending Arisia the weekend after next, and I'm wondering if anyone else on my friendslist will be there. I already know about saraphina_marie, whose panels all sound interesting, but what about the rest of you? I am going to be volunteering and meeting up with some of my writing workshop classmates at some point during the weekend, but if you plan on attending, I'd love to see you, too. Let me know!

I've taken a while to write about it, I know. Mostly I've been recovering. Large events where I don't know anyone and have no idea what to do with myself are super stressful for me. It was really great to meet asakiyume and cucumberseed, and to attend a couple of panels and so forth, but I think the next time I attempt a con, I need to volunteer so I have some direction. Since I had no specific assignment, I spent large portions of Sunday at the edges of rooms, trembling, nauseated, worried that people were staring at me, and feeling incredibly stupid about all of the above. I had a major meltdown in the car during our lunchbreak, complete with tears and protestations of, "See, this is why I knew I should wait until I had a better plan before going to a con!"* Is this rational? No. But that doesn't change my feelings. I'm throwing this out there so that if you meet me at a future con and I seem unbearably awkward, or reserved to the point of rudeness, you'll understand that it's not you, it's me and my panic!brain.

And now, the first panel I attended:

( Trolls Got Rhythm? )

It seemed like everyone was a afraid to step too hard on this topic for fear of seeming racist. I would have liked more exploration of ways to communicate that the terrorist was a lesbian, or of how not to make your aliens seem like cheap knockoffs of Japanese businessmen, but as it was the panel seemed mostly to acknowledge that racism is touchy and tricky, and that writing diverse characters is hard. Please feel free to explore the topic further in the comments here. I welcome discussion.

I'll try to get my other panel notes up soonish.





*Moss, it should be noted, was very good about the whole thing, and took me to a drive through so I didn't have to go in a restaurant with my splotchy meltdown face.