12 Feb 2021, Friday 17:00 - 18:00, Carlton - (Mtg Room) (Virtual Westin)
Versatility is an author's greatest tool in today's publishing market. Whether it's books, blogging, comics, drama, film, gaming, graphic novels, non-fiction, short fiction, social media, or TV there is a story to be told. When switching from one to the other, what do you need to keep in mind? What are some of the key tips and tricks to creating compelling content no matter which medium you are writing in at the moment?
Christopher Golden, Walter Jon Williams (Word Domination)
13 Feb 2021, Saturday 13:00 - 14:00, Burroughs (Webinar) (Virtual Westin)
Is there more to life than virgin-mother-crone? Let's look at how physical and psychological change in women is portrayed in fiction today. We've talked about how the representation of women in fiction has changed, but we'll talk here about how a woman actual changes through time and experience within today's works. How does SF/F/H approach the physical changes, from childhood to womanhood or the later changes in life? How do print and screen differ in this regard?
Nancy Holder, Gillian Daniels (M), Maura McHugh, Connie Willis, Tamora Pierce (Tamora Pierce LLC)
14 Feb 2021, Sunday 11:30 - 12:30, Burroughs (Webinar) (Virtual Westin)
From comics to graphic novels, these artists and authors don't pull their punches. Instead they excel at steadily building the narrative dread through a combination of disconcerting story elements that happen both in the panel and off the page as they push old tropes into unknown territory. From body horror to creepypasta, zombies, noirish superheroes, organ farmers, demonic ice cream men, and fairies dwelling inside the rotting corpse of, well, never mind, why do we read them? Is it the sheer inventive fun of titles like Afterlife With Archie; Killadelphia; Die; Crawl to Me; or Gyo: The Death-Stench Creeps? Maybe it’s the sequential-storytelling skills of writers like Joe Hill, Cullen Bunn, Gail Simone, Victor Lavalle, or Carmen Maria Machado? Or maybe there’s just something wrong with us?
Jack Haringa (Worcester Academy), Cat Scully, Maura McHugh, Gillian Daniels (M), Joe Hill
14 Feb 2021, Sunday 14:30 - 15:30, Carlton - (Mtg Room) (Virtual Westin)
LGBTQ+ characters are no longer invisible on the screen. While there has been an obvious shift in popular culture, we still have a long way to go in the fight for appropriate representation in film, television, and fiction. The surge in LGBTQ+ representation has brought with it a surge of creators exploiting our desire to see a more realistic representation of diverse stories, often writing characters who are either caricatures or characters in relationships without being fleshed out appropriately. We'll discuss good and bad examples of LGBTQ+ characters. How do they help or hurt popular conception, including self perception, of gays and lesbians?
Jennifer Williams (Circlet Press), Sara Megibow (KT Literary), Gillian Daniels, Julia Rios (Mermaids Monthly) (M)
