This weekend—the real Columbus Day weekend—you can find me at Capclave, my hometown con. The guests of honor will be John Scalzi and Nick Mamatas. But they’ve given me some really nice panels, too. Come join us in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and see for yourself.
Friday
4 p.m., Frederick Meeting Room
Required reading
Students are required to read many novels. Is this a good thing? Can High School students truly relate to the Joads? Does being forced to read hold back students?
Panelists: Roger MacBride Allen, James Morrow, Jean Marie Ward (Moderator)
Saturday
Noon, Bethesda Meeting Room
Reviews, what are they good for?
They said what!?! What is the value of book blogs and review sites? Should you engage?
Panelists: Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Brenda Clough, Gayle Surrette (Moderator), Jean Marie Ward
3 p.m., Salons A & B
Romancing the Paranormal
Witches and werewolves and vampires in love. Why has paranormal romance become so popular? Is this a fad or a lasting subgenre? Have publishers started cutting back? How much romance needs to be in the book for it to be paranormal as opposed to urban/modern fantasy?
Panelists: Victoria Janssen (Moderator), Sherin Nicole, Jean Marie Ward
4 p.m., Bethesda Meeting Room
Has Steampunk gone mainstream?
New York editors are acting like gears and coal-fired engines are the new vampires. Has the genre become too popular–and is that a bad thing? And what exactly is steampunk and is it fantasy or science fiction?
Panelists: John Ashmead, Jonah Knight (Moderator), Alan Smale, Elaine Stiles, Jean Marie Ward
7:30 p.m., Salons A & B
Capclave Signing
All Guests
10:30 p.m., Salons A & B
I Swear It’s All True
Panelists regal fans with their best “true” stories about things that happened to them. The moderator will give prompts, “Things that happened when I was supposed to be writing,” “Craziest thing that happened at a convention,” “Weirdest interaction with an editor or agent,” and “How I learned a lesson I’ll never forget.”
Panelists: Jean Marie Ward (Moderator), Lawrence Watt-Evans
Sunday
11 a.m., Bethesda Meeting Room
WWI Comeback
It has been nearly a hundred years since the War to end all wars, is this a setting that still has potential? Will the movie War Horse and the TV show Downton Abbey spark a new interest in fiction set during World War One?
Panelists: Tad Daley, JD, PhD, Andrew Fox, John G. Hemry, Victoria Janssen (Moderator), Jean Marie Ward
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