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Friday 3/8
12:00 PM Garden Salon 2 Dying is Easy, Comedy is Hard How have various types of humor been used in genre literature. What opportunities are there for humor which might not work as well in non genre works? What are the best comedic SF&F? - David Brin, Connie Willis,Bruce McAllister, John Oliver
12:00 PM Crescent Out of the Broom Closet: Integrating Magic Users And Fantastic Creatures Into Society. Jefferson Swycaffer, Richard Dean Starr, Leigh Bardugo, Deborah Flores,
1:00 PM Garden Salon 2 Dark Energy, Dark Matter Dr. Calvin Johnson explains the current ideas about dark matter and energy, which scientists believe make up the vast majority of our universe.
1:00 PM Crescent Steam Pastiche: Reworking Fantastic And Non-Fantastic Victorian Characters. Allison Lonsdale, John DeChancie, David Parish-Whittaker, Bret Culpepper, Richard Dean Starr
2:00 PM Garden Salon 2 World Building 1: Planets If you’re going to create an alien world, first you have to have the foundation. Principals of planetary science, geology and other factors useful in creating a world from scratch. - Jefferson Swycaffer, Vernor Vinge, Patricia MacEwen, Barbara Kesel, Calvin Johnson
2:00 PM Crescent The Hero's Journey in SF&F Created as a concept for analyzing mythologies, the Hero’s Journey can also be applied to literature and sometimes is even consciously used for its creation. - David Brin, Bruce McAllister, Eldon Thompson, Michael Underwood, Scott Norton
2:00 PM Clarendon Make and Take Workshop: Felt Owl Sachett Come and create your own owl sachett. Cost $5. Arabella Benson, Kate Morgenstern
3:00 PM Garden Salon 2 Changing History When you’re a time traveler, what you do could change the future of humanity. Sometimes that’s what you want. Sometimes you’d like to return and find your parents still exist. A look at how this has been handled in fantastic literature and the morality of different courses of action. - David Brin, Connie Willis, John DeChancie , Jefferson Swycaffer
3:00 PM Crescent School as Dystopia Vampires and werewolves they can handle. Heck, they’re cool. But what really concerns teenagers are final exams and what table they get to sit at a lunch. A consideration of views of worst of times through a fantasy lens. - Cecil Castellucci, Andrew P. Mayer, Gretchen McNeil, Leigh Bardugo
4:00 PM Garden Salon 1 Tactics for Survival in the Zombie Apocalypse - Firearms Weapons instructor Scott Farrell shows how to properly use guns for zombie defense. (Aim for the head!)
4:00 PM Garden Salon 2 Future Forensics What is and isn't SF on CSI, and some of the new approaches being
developed. Can you ID a suspect by his body odor? Or by the bacteria living on his hands? Can you convict an accused murderer with nothing but a brain scan? Can you spot a psychopath with a medical exam? -
Patricia MacEwen
4:00 PM Crescent Retelling Old Stories: The New Fairy Tales Fairy tales twice told, retold, updated, remade, and yet they are still fairy tales. In today’s modern world, do we need to constantly update the themes that apply to the human condition? Can the Big Bad Wolf be your boss? Does Thumbelina have her own reality show? Do we lose the specialness of these tales by modernizing them? How does re-telling them in an updated form affect these themes? - Cecil Castellucci, Michael Underwood, Lillian Csernica, Juliette Wade, Laura Luchau
4:00 PM Clarendon Knitting: Victorian Misers Purse Learn how to make a Victorian style Miser's Purse. This Workshop has no cost. - Nancy Hay, Nolly Mullican
4:00 PM Eaton Zombiefication: How to Hide in Plain Sight John Hart workshop on using makeup to make yourself look like a zombie to help you survive (and to prepare for tonight's Pride and Prejudice and Zombie Ball!
5:00 PM Garden Salon 1 Steampunk Fox Hunt Come join the hunt for the Cyberfox! - Arabella Benson, Kate Morgenstern
5:00 PM Garden Salon 2 The Inadvertent Time Traveller : What to do when dumped in another era Lillian Csernica, Juliette Wade, Maudlin, Connie Willis, Scott Norton
5:00 PM Crescent Doctor Who and his relationship to his companions: Janet Tait, Bret Culpepper, Peter Clines, Andrew P. Mayer
5:00 PM Dealers Room Autographs David Brin
8:00 PM Garden Ballroom Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Ball Caller: Chris Page
8:00 PM Crescent Concert
8:00 PM Brittany Hogwarts: Computers for Wizards and Witches Patricia Shanahan
8:30 PM Brittany Hogwarts: Verbalia Word Magic Chris Weber
9:00 PM Brittany Hogwarts:  Divination Jean Graham
9:30 PM Brittany Hogwarts: Charms Joy Reyes
Saturday 3/9
10:00 AM Garden Salon 1 Victorian Self Defense Demonstration and instruction - Bankside School of Self Defense
10:00 AM Garden Salon 2 Dawn: Journey to the Beginning of the Solar System Robert Gounley
10:00 AM Crescent Young Adult Fiction: Writing from the viewpoint of a teen, when you're not. Karri Thompson, Andrew P. Mayer, Suzanne Lazear, Gretchen McNeil, Cindy Pon
10:00 AM Brittany Monster Mashup: How Fiction Has Played With The Nature Of The Traditional Monsters. In traditional folklore, werewolves looked like wolves and their changing had nothing to do with the moon. Most vampires were not killed by a stake through the heart. And mummies were just dead guys. How have literature and especially media transformed these and other traditions for storytelling? How have they continued to be modified over the years? - Q. L. Pearce, Erin Hoffman, Erik Williams, Lisa Kessler, Stephen Blackmoore
10:00 AM Clarendon Reading Barbara Kesel
10:00 AM Eaton How to Make Even the Experts Wonder Where the Real Science Ends and the Rubber Science Begins Howard Hendrix
10:30 AM Clarendon Reading Kevin Gerard
11:00 AM Garden Salon 1 What writers should know about traditional armaments. Come examine swords, maces and other traditional armaments and learn what writers get wrong about their use. - Eytan Kollin
11:00 AM Garden Salon 2 Language creation David J. Peterson of the Language Creation Society discusses how he creates new languages for shows like Game of Thrones and the movie Defiance.
11:00 AM Crescent Bad Science in the movies What things the media tend to get wrong about science? What are the worst scientific mistakes in the movies? - John DeChancie, Kevin Grazier, Calvin Johnson, Connie Willis, Gerry Williams
11:00 AM Brittany Elements of the Hero's Journey Joseph Campbell's monomyth, or the hero's journey, is a basic pattern that he argued is found in many narratives from around the world. A discussion of the different parts that form this pattern. - Matt Pallamary, Stephen Potts, Todd McCaffrey, Q. L. Pearce, Ace Antonio Ace Antonio Hall
11:00 AM Eaton Characterization and Dialog in gaming William Stoddard, Janet Tait, Brooks, Allison Lonsdale, Laura Luchau
11:00 AM Dealers Room Autographs Cindy Pon, Stephen Blackmoore
12:00 PM Garden Salon 1 What writers should know about armor. A look at the truth and myths about medieval European armor and its use. - Eytan Kollin
12:00 PM Garden Salon 2 GoH speech
Starbucks, St. Paul's, Primeval, Time Travel, Telepathy, Romantic Comedy, and Playing Stage Mother to a Bulldog: The Peculiar Life of a Writer - Connie Willis
12:00 PM Crescent Science Denial: Distrust of Science And Scientists
James Underdown, Jean Graham, Maudlin, Kevin Grazier Calvin Johnson
12:00 PM Brittany Classic to Modern to Postmodern: How has the presentation of horror changed with time? Erik Williams, Allison Lonsdale, Stephen Woodworth, Peter Clines, Kelly Dunn
12:00 PM Clarendon Shirbori Overview Come see effects that can be achieved using this traditional resist technique. Samples will be available for close inspection. Not
required, but suggested for those interested in any of the shibori
workshops. - Carole Parker
12:00 PM Eaton Hogwarts: Care of Magical Creatures Atanielle Rowland
12:30 PM Eaton Muggle Quidditch Members of the San Diego Snidgets will introduce you to the world of Muggle Quidditch. (Yes, it's a real sport.)
12:00 PM Dealers Room Autographs Bruce McAllister, Ace Antonio Hall
1:00 PM Garden Salon 1 Hogwarts: Wizard Dueling Come learn how to duel with wands - Bret Culpepper
1:00 PM Garden Salon 2 There and Back Again: A Hobbit's Tale Cathy Udovch of TheOneRing.net shows how we almost didn't get to return to Middle-earth.
1:00 PM Crescent Worldbuilding 2: Biology and Sentient Races Biological factors to consider when creating an alien race/biome. - Jefferson Swycaffer, Sheila Finch, Patricia MacEwen, Juliette Wade, Barbara Kesel
1:00 PM Brittany Young Adult Fiction: Advantages and Constraints of Young Protagonists Salsitz, Suzanne Lazear, Vizzini, Karri Thompson, Leigh Bardugo
1:00 PM Clarendon SF Poetry Workshop Denise Dumars, Deborah Kolodji, Samantha Henderson, Deborah Flores
1:00 PM Eaton Don’t Get your Knickers in a twist: Foundation garments Discussing foundation garments, from corsets to wonderbras, from pettipants to spanx, what you wear underneath your costume is important. - Nancy Hay, Arabella Benson, Kate Morgenstern, Eryn Hildebrand
1:00 PM Dealers Room Autographs Lisa Kessler, David J. Peterson
1:00 PM Galleria 2 Autographs Stephen Woodworth, Erik Williams, Kelly Dunn
1:00 PM Courtyard Morris Dancing
2:00 PM Garden Salon 1 14th and 15th Century fighting techniques. Demonstrations with various weapons (daggers, longsword, pollaxe) and armor, as well as unarmored fighting techniques, along with a brief talk on the ideals of chivalry of the period. - Scott Farrell and members of the theTeam Touché Fencing Center and Lionheart Fencing Academy
2:00 PM Garden Salon 2 Hogwarts: Astronomy: Kevin Weasley-Grazier
2:00 PM Crescent The Quest as A Trope in Fantasy Literature Arthur’s knights sought the Holy Grail (as did Indiana Jones). Frodo Baggins wanted to dispose of a problematic item of jewelry. A look at how the quest concept has been used in fantasy and science fiction. - Sheila Finch, Eldon Thompson, Michael Underwood, Tamara Thorne, Sherwood Smith
2:00 PM Brittany Why the Federation Sucks! Members of local Klingon ships give their unbiased views about the Federation.
2:00 PM Clarendon SF Poetry Reading Denise Dumars, Deborah Kolodji, Samantha Henderson, Deborah Flores
2:00 PM Eaton Kypton Radio Krypton radio is an online station dedicated to SF/Comic based music and shows. Zoe Simsay, Gene Turnbow, Susan L. Fox
2:00 PM Dealers Room Autographs Ned Vizzini, Suzanne Lazear
3:00 PM Galleria 2 Autographs Juliette Wade, Patricia MacEwen, Lillian Csernica
3:00 PM Garden Salon 1 Kidditch For younger members, an indoor version of muggle quidditch.
3:00 PM Garden Salon 2 Mars and Titan: Earth's Above Doctor Bonnie Buratti of NASA gives the latest information on Mars Science Lab ("Curiosity") and the Cassini probe of Titan.
3:00 PM Crescent Don't Forget to Pack Your Toothbrush: How would you prepare for Time Travel?

You have a mission to travel back in time. How would you prepare given different time constraints? Languages would take a long time to learn, as would various weapon skills. What sort of cultural and historical knowledge would most help you? What would you carry with you; how would you balance utility with anachronism? - Connie Willis, David J. Peterson, Lillian Csernica, Dani Kollin, Karen Willson

3:00 PM Brittany Bad Science in the Media
Can Paranormal Claims Be Tested?
The widespread belief in paranormal phenomena like ghosts, telepathy, performance-enhancing bracelets, etc. is often bolstered by pseudoscientific jargon and bad science. To make matters worse, TV shows and websites featuring ghost-hunters and paranormal claimants add to the misunderstanding of what really causes people to have weird experiences. - James Underdown
3:00 PM Clarendon Reading Bruce McAllister reads from his just released novel, The Village sang to the sea: A Memoir of Magic, making its debut at ConDor.
3:00 PM Eaton Wonderful world of wigs. Brightly colored, big and puffy, long and luxurious, wigs are awesome, but can be a challenge. Let’s talk tips and tricks. - Arabella Benson, Kate Morgenstern, Eryn Hildebrand
3:00 PM Dealers Room Autographs Vernor Vinge, Erin Hoffman
3:00 PM Galleria 2 Autographs Matt Pallamary, Scott Farrell
4:00 PM Garden Salon 1 Victorian Dance Instruction Prepare for tonight's Steampunk ball - Russell Hedges
4:00 PM Garden Salon 2 Adapting Tolkien Book to Screen and Standard Definition to High Frame Rate 3D - Breaking ground with Peter Jackson. - Cathy Udovch
4:00 PM Crescent Young Adult Fiction: Supernatural Romance Cecil Castellucci, Suzanne Lazear, Karri Thompson, Gretchen McNeil
4:00 PM Brittany Out of Body Experiences
Many people claim to have left their physical body and seen themselves and the world around them from an “outside” perspective. This often takes place during medical procedures, but some claim to do it intentionally. Is there really any evidence? If not, what might cause the illusion? - James Underdown, Matt Pallamary, Bruce McAllister Judy Lazar, Richard Dean Starr
4:00 PM Clarendon Workshop: Basic Shibori Techniques Two of the techniques covered in the Shibori Overview will be
demonstrated and worked on in this session. Requirement: Knowledge of the running stitch. $3 materials fee. - Carole Parker
4:00 PM Eaton Getting the Victorian Era Right Sherwood Smith, Kelly Dunn, William F. Wu, John DeChancie, Samantha Henderson
4:00 PM Dealers Room Autographs Connie Willis, Sheila Finch
4:00 PM Galleria 2 Interest Group: Hunger Games Come and discuss the books and movie with other fans.
5:00 PM Garden Salon 2 Lovecraft and his Heirs Even while Lovecraft was creating his Cthulhu mythos, other writers were working in it. Since then innumerable authors have delved into it. What changes did later authors make to the Lovecraft’s creations and even the nature of the mythos? - Laura Brodian Freas Beraha, Stephen Woodworth, Peter Clines, Erik Williams, Denise Dumars
5:00 PM Crescent Space Travel: Concepts of FTL travel If you want something more than a bunch of unconnected worlds, it is generally necessary to get around that pesky speed of light. All look at the many forms that FTL travel has taken in science fiction, such as Warp Drive, Hyperspace and even Infinite Improbability drive. - Kevin Grazier, Calvin Johnson, David Ross, Jefferson Swycaffer, Robert Evans
5:00 PM Brittany Writing Short Fiction: In short fiction you have to establish characters and setting and resolve your stories differently than when you have the luxury of a whole novel. A discussion of the techniques required. - Stephen Blackmoore, Howard Hendrix, Jenna M. Pitman, William F. Wu
5:00 PM Eaton Hogwarts: Magical History Nicholas and Pernella Flamel Atanielle Rowland
5:30 PM Eaton Hogwarts: Divination: ChiChi Sticks Joy Reyes
5:00 PM Dealers Room Autographs Sheila Finch,Bret Culpepper
5:00 PM Galleria 2 Autographs Gretchen McNeil, Cecil Castellucci, Leigh Bardugo
7:00 PM Crescent The Heroine’s Journey  
8:00 PM Garden Ballroom Victorian/Steampunk Dance Russell Hedges
8:00 PM Brittany Filking Circle
8:00 PM Crescent Delphic Circle Our circle of mystics will answer your questions, building word on word to hilarious results. - Todd McCaffrey, Samantha Henderson, John Oliver, Jefferson Swycaffer,Tone Milazzo, Lillian Csernica, David J. Peterson, John M. Perkins, Judy Lazar,
9:00 PM Crescent Travels with my antimatter Panelists will construct tales of their strange travels, incorporating places and elements suggested by our members. - Art Holcomb, Chris Weber, Eytan Kollin, Dani Kollin, Kimberly Unger
Sunday 3/10
10:00 AM Garden Salon 1 14th and 15th Century fighting techniques. Further demonstrations and instruction with various weapons (daggers, longsword, pollaxe) and armor, as well as unarmored fighting techniques, along with a brief talk on the ideals of chivalry of the period. - Scott Farrell and members of the the Team Touché Fencing Center and Lionheart Fencing Academy
10:00 AM Garden Salon 2 Space Travel: Slower than Light
So say we aren’t going the beat light speed. What are the possibilities and problems with getting to other planets the slow way? What are the physics? How have SF authors envisioned such travel? - Robert Gounley, Calvin Johnson, Gerry Williams, Dani Kollin, John Brodian Hunter
10:00 AM Crescent Young Adult Fiction: When I was a kid, we didn't have . . . Rights: Dystopian visions in YA Cecil Castellucci, Karri Thompson, Andrew P. Mayer, Stephen Potts, Val Ontell
10:00 AM Clarendon Writers Workshop  
10:00 AM Eaton Know Your Zombies: Different types of zombies, identification and survival. John M. Perkins, John Hart, Ace Antonio Hall, James Hay, Denise Dumars
11:00 AM Garden Salon 2 Journey through Middleearth A Pictorial journey through Middle-earth filming locations in New Zealand - Cathy Udovch
11:00 AM Crescent Half in Love with Easeful Death While Death is usually imagined as a frightening or at least callous figure, many poets and writers have written of looking forward to death as a release. Neil Gaiman’s Death is a friendly, pretty young woman, Piers Anthony created a young man learning the ropes and trying to make death a better experience. Death as a person you could be friends with takes some getting used to. A discussion of writing and writers who think maybe we should go gently into that good night. - Jenna M. Pitman, Chris Weber, Erin Hoffman, Laura Brodian Freas Beraha, Tone Milazzo
11:00 AM Brittany World Building 3 How might you go about creating an alien culture? How does the already established biology of your aliens affect this? Are you just going to modify one or two factors of human culture or grow a society from scratch? - Eldon Thompson, Art Holcomb, David J. Peterson, Juliette Wade, Lillian Csernica
11:00 AM Eaton Hunger Games: How did movie do approximating book? A roundtable discussion for the audience. - Karen Willson
11:00 AM Dealers Room Autographs Denise Dumars, John M. Perkins
12:00 PM Garden Salon 1 Victorian Self Defense Demonstration and instruction - Bankside School of Self Defense
12:00 PM Garden Salon 2

Synthetic Biology: Commercial Opportunities, Risk and Ethics

Synthetic Biology is a new approach to biology that uses pieces of DNA to develop tools or redesign existing organisms. It has applications in basic biology studies, metabolic engineering, and material sciences. Life Technologies (LIFE) is a global publicly traded company that innovates and advances scientific technologies to help scientists to perform better research faster. Dr. Kevin Clancy will describe LIFE’s approach to research, development and distribution of technologies and  how LIFE’s addresses bioethics and biosecurity issues.       

12:00 PM Crescent Writing Dialogue Connie Willis
12:00 PM Brittany Coming of Age in a Fantastic Universe Coming of age stories are a common form of literature. What new wrinkles have the fantastic genres added to this concept? - Andrew P. Mayer, Stephen Potts, Cathy Udovch, Sheila Finch, David Ross
12:00 PM Clarendon Reading Howard Hendrix
12:00 PM Galleria 2 Autographs Barbara Kesel
12:30 PM Clarendon Reading Lillian Csernica
12:00 PM Eaton Costume For Your Body Type: There Is Something For Everyone.
Eryn Hildebrand, Nancy Hay, Sue Dawe, Carole Parker
12:00 PM Dealers Room Autographs Dani Kollin, Eytan Kollin
1:00 PM Garden Salon 1 SCA Combat Demonstration Tom Oliver, Kevin Kellogg
1:00 PM Garden Salon 2 GRAIL: A Mission of Gravity A look at NASA's mission to map the gravity field of the moon. - Robert Gounley
1:00 PM Crescent Life Aboard a Spaceship in SF Calvin Johnson, Gerry Williams, Dani Kollin, Eytan Kollin, Sheila Finch
1:00 PM Brittany Learning to Edit Your Own Work Todd McCaffrey, Eric Shanower, Kevin Gerard, John Oliver, Peter Clines
1:00 PM Clarendon 'A Beginner’s Guide to Podcasting The Podcast The Workshop' Attendees will create a short podcast. - John M. Perkins
1:00 PM Eaton Media Hopping: Carrying A Storyline From One Medium To Another Bruce McAllister, Kimberly Unger, Karen Willson, Richard Dean Starr, Barbara Kesel
1:00 PM Dealers Room Autographs William F. Wu, David Ross
2:00 PM Garden Salon 1 Tactics for Survival in the Zombie Apocalypse - Hand-to-Hand Scott Farrell
2:00 PM Garden Salon 2 Coinage of the Realm: Invented Words in Science Fiction and Fantasy In SF&F, sometimes modern English isn’t enough. You need words for concepts and items which don’t exist in our world. Or perhaps you want to use different words just to emphasize that this isn’t our world. (Swear words are often useful for this.) How writers have incorporated such language. What is too much? - William Stoddard, Vernor Vinge, David J. Peterson, Eldon Thompson
2:00 PM Crescent Names and Symbols in the Hunger Games Who was Cinna? What do the hawthorn and primrose symbolize? Or President Snow’s roses and Peeta’s bread? As with series like Harry Potter, names have great significance in Suzanne Collins’s books, referencing sixteen characters out of Shakespeare, all from a particular era of Rome. Bringing details from myths, herbal guides, military histories, and the classics, English professor and award–winning pop culture author Valerie Estelle Frankel sheds light on the deeper meanings behind Panem’s heroes and villains in this hottest of YA trilogies. In her series, Collins unites the power of Shakespeare and Rome to retell an ancient epic of betrayal, violence, and glory on the stage of an apocalyptic future
2:00 PM Brittany The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey What do we think of the latest translation of Tolkien to film? What liberties were taken with the plot and characters? What can we look forward to in future installments? - Stephen Potts, Michael Underwood, Atanielle Rowland, Jefferson Swycaffer, Oakes
2:00 PM Eaton Creating Suspense William F. Wu, Salsitz, Ace Antonio Hall Kevin Gerard, Art Holcomb
2:00 PM Dealers Room Autographs Howard Hendrix, Lisa Kessler, Andrew P. Mayer
3:00 PM Garden Salon 1 Hunger Games Come and participate in competitions involving crossbows, guns, and swords
3:00 PM Garden Salon 2 Tolkienian Art Michael Underwood, Sue Dawe, Richard Dean Starr , Laura Luchau, Atanielle Rowland
3:00 PM Crescent Doctor Who Live! Improvisational comedy group takes a look at our favorite traveller.
3:00 PM Claredon Editing Anthologies Eric Shanower, Jean Graham, Jenna Pitman, Kelly Dunn
3:00 PM Brittany A Universal Translator Yeah, Right The universal translator is a common concept in SF, particularly well-known thanks to Star Trek. But how much sense does the concept really make? How might it work? What errors have been made in its presentation in SF? - Connie Willis, David J. Peterson, Vernor Vinge, William Stoddard, Kimberly Unger
3:00 PM Eaton What the Walking Dead got Wrong: How to really survive the Zombie Apocalypse John Hart, Bret Culpepper, John M. Perkins
4:00 PM Garden Salon 2 Convention Wrapup Meeting
 
Guest of Honor


Gail Carriger

Early Discounts

Pre-reg for 2014 is now open at the at-con ratefor a limited time [more »»

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