catherineldf | Entries tagged with convergence

This last weekend was the double header of MultiverseCon and the Twin Cities Book Festival. The latter was more of a "mention we have a dealer's table and a sale going on" while the former involved watch parties for our pre-recorded panels, doing a Kaffeeklatsch, going to a bunch of other things and running some speed mentoring sessions. The panels will go up at Multiverse's YouTube channel soon so everyone gets to play! It was a fun time and it was good to see some friends and meet some new folks. TC Book Fest was pretty dead from a vendor standpoint; they are going to keep plugging the exhibitors for a few more weeks so hopefully that'll pick up a bit. Queen of Swords Press is also a vendor at Geek Girl Con through the rest of the month so hey, book sale!

Coming up this Saturday (10/24), I'll be on a steampunk panel for CONvergence Online with Abra Staffin-Wiebe, Michael Merriam and Tyler Tork. Everybody else will be reading their own work and I'll be reading from Alex Acks's stories and talking about publishing steampunk. (And if you're at MileHiCon this weekend, look for Alex there too!). And on Sunday, October 25th, I'm teaching "Crimson Peaks and Menacing Mansions: Writing Gothic Horror" at the Academy Rambo; there are still some slots open if you're interested or know someone who is.

Other than that, I've been doing wacky things like going on a 3 mile hike at the Minnesota Arboretum with a friend, going on walks around the neighborhood with another friend, watching Ripper Street, which I have just discovered, and The Frankenstein Chronicles, reading submissions, working on projects and doing my class homework. So far, so good. Also, an announcement for those of you who have been patiently waiting for me to talk about the sequel to Silver Moon, an ANNOUNCEMENT:

Blood Moon is a couple of thousand words from completion (of this draft). Artist Terry Roy has already created a spiffy front cover design. My plan is to finish it this month, spend November and December doing rewrites, edits and writing publicity material so that I can get it out the door for a March release. It takes a couple of months to get books out through channels where they'll get notices, hence the delay. But soooonnnn!

Onward and upward! More updates soon.

And I'm back from New Zealand! It was fab and I will be posting my travelogue out here, with some pictures, in the next couple of days. I'm still unpacking and jetlagged and back at work so catching up. In the meantime, have a CONvergence schedule, filled with interesting things and people and hopefully, discussion.

Thursday, June 30 • 7:00pm - 8:00pm

Writerly Career Cycles: Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here?

Most professional careers have their ups and downs. The average writer experiences lots of highs and lows. This panel will focus on how to survive and thrive on the roller coaster. Panelists: Carrie Patel, Eli Effinger-Weintraub, Catherine Lundoff, Jay Gallentine (mod), Chrysoula Tzavelas

Friday, July 1 • 7:00pm - 8:00pm

Rise of Dark Fantasy

Fans of dark fantasy have more choices than ever on TV: Supernatural, Vampire Diaries, Grimm, Sleepy Hollow, and the list goes on. Why the trend, and will it continue? Panelists: Cetius d'Raven, Jessica Walsh, Catherine Lundoff, Patrick Marsh (mod), Jody Wurl

Saturday, July 2 • 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Why Afrofuturism?

What is Afrofuturism? What can be learned from it? How can you support it? Panelists: Catherine Lundoff, Rob Callahan (mod), Ytasha Womack, Gregory Parks

Saturday, July 2 • 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Small Businesses in the Geek Community

Strategies for starting and running a geeky small business. The discussion will include: funding strategies, selling online, involvement with local conventions & festivals, developing unique creations, testing the market, & working with fellow artisans. Panelists: Tania Richter, phillip andrew bennett low, Dorianne Jarchow, Anj Olsen, Catherine Lundoff

http://www.convergence-con.org/

Crossposts: http://catherineldf.livejournal.com/396792.html

I spent most of the weekend at CONvergence, which is one of our largest local SF/F cons (7000 or so plus in attendance). I've been going there as an invited pro for a number of years so I know what to expect from the crowds, the parking and all that good stuff. And I do have to say that last year was not a good year, for a variety of reasons, and I considered not attending this year. But I'm glad I changed my mind because I had a fine time: very few issues, none of them mine, good panels and those kind of magical moments when you look for someone or something and that person or thing immediately appears. Plus, I scored good parking and excellent socializing for all 4 days.

Thursday was badge pickup. I ran into lots of people and recruited Anton Peterson to my guest liaison at Arcana 45 (because why not recruit one of the best?), made plans, then headed home to roast beets (we inherited a friend's CSA while they were out of town). Friday, I was back bright and early for breakfast with my friend Julia Rios at the Maker's Cafe, which was enjoyable both for the cafe and the company. We headed back to the hotel after hanging out for awhile and headed out to our respective panels.

In my case, that was a lively panel on anthology editing with Toni Weisskopf, Tim Lieder, Lynne Thomas and Roy Booth. I think we provided a fair amount of decent info, while being all collegial and pleasant and all that. Given that most of us were working with small or medium-sized presses, we were perhaps a tad downbeat on the realism end of the scale. But so it goes; hopefully future panels on the topic will be jollier if the publishing climate improves. Afterward, I chatted with Toni and Tim briefly, acquired a book from Tim's press, and wandered off to find lunch. I then ran into a slew of pals in the hotel restaurant and joined them for lively conversation. Afterwards, Kelly McCullough allowed me the use of his room's bathroom to change for Lynne and Michael Thomas' vow renewal on Friday night. Then ran into more friends before going to dinner with Kelly. Dr. Laura McCullough, Martha Wells and Jody Wurl. Post-dinner, did odds and ends before going to the Big Event. The Thomas' renewal of their weddings vows was lovely and enjoyable. They looked very happy and it was a pleasure to attend. I did wimp out before the dance party, but I'm told it was lots of fun.

I headed back in on Saturday for my 11AM panel on adding humor to your writiing with phillip low, Melissa Olson, Patrick Tomlinson and Wesley Chu. This panel was akin to being at the cool kid's table at lunch and trying to keep up, from a panelist perspective. Several of the other panelists did standup/professional storytelling and the two writers were a tad more experienced at this kind of panel than I was (not to mention doing more with overt humor), but I soldiered on and got the audience to laugh a few times. I think it went reasonably well and was certainly fast-paced. Post-panel, I was off to lunch with author and podcaster Rachael Acks to talk about our fun new venture (not quite ready to be revealed). Post lunch, I attended an entertaining reading by author Abra Staffin-Wiebe and wandered into the Dealer's Room to find a warm thing to wear, since the air-conditioning was quite exciting in some portions of the hotel. Fabulous steampunk vender KMK Designs had the perfect light pullover: textured burnt silver velvet with a light cowl, so I got to swan about in reasonable comfort while being petable. Dinner was enjoyed with the ever-delightful author Martha Wells, and was followed by roaming around and a stop by the GPS Party Room. Martha and I retired to the Merriams to watch the Masquerade with the gathered ensemble and cheer on Dana Baird, whose company won one of the big prizes. I left to go to the Arcana party and ended up hanging out with poet Bryan Thao Worra for an hour or so before heading home to sleep.

Sunday, I came back early to catch my attorney, Mitchell Faas, on a panel about building a community for art startups, which was quite interesting. Afterwards, I enjoyed lunch and a chat with Monica Valentinelli and Martha Wells. Monica and I then moved on to the Build-a-World Gameshow panel, with Paul Cornell, Martha Wells, John Heimbuch (of Walking Shadow Theater Company), Carrie Patel and Tex Thompson. Carrie, Paul and I were on Team Menopausal Werewolves while everyone else was on Team Velociraptor. This was competitive world building with audience input and it was a blast. We got our butts kicked until the last round, when we sent Paul Cornell out into the audience to make a pitch for our world. His delivery carried the day and we squeaked by with a win, but really, both worlds sounded like a lot of fun.

Post-win, I did Minnesota goodbyes with Martha, Paul Weimer, Shaun Duke and John Heimbuch before heading home to collapse. It was a very full and fun con! I'm glad I got to see so many folks and spend time with them.

Now, onto the one thing that marred the weekend. At some point on Saturday night, someone on the CONvergence Board decided to fire web page designer Hal Bichel. Hal has been a driving force behind the convention website, including the accessibility sections and other areas. She is well-liked and respected in fandom (hence the #Halisawesome tag you may have seen around the con) as being talented and hardworking. If you would like to weigh in on the con, with or without providing feedback on hal's firing, please fill out the survey at www.convergence-con.org.

Whew! Now to get caught up. Ha.

Crossposts: http://catherineldf.livejournal.com/376993.html

Seeing as it's looming this week. In addition to the panels below, I can also be found at the Arcana 45/Diversicon/Tales of the Unanticipated revolving party in Kruschenko's, wherever it may be, and roaming free-range around the con. Ping me if you need to find me.
Full schedule is here.

How Are Anthologies Made?

Have you ever wondered how these collections come to be? Let our panel walk you through the process, from origination to publication. Panelists: Catherine Lundoff, Tim Lieder, Toni Weisskopf, Lynne M Thomas, Roy C. Booth

Adding Humor to Your Writing
There are many types of humor, but writing in something that is actually funny can be difficult, be it literature, television, movies, theater, or audio plays. What are some techniques to help write humor that reaches the audience successfully? Panelists: phillip low, Melissa Olson, Catherine Lundoff, Patrick Tomlinson, Wesley Chu

Build-A-World with Guests
Welcome one and all to the Build-a-World game show, with your host Monica Valentinelli! In this panel, two teams of writers will compete against one another to create a brand new world in under an hour. You, the audience, will help judge! Panelists: Monica Valentinelli (mod), Paul Cornell, Elizabeth Bear, Catherine Lundoff, Martha Wells

Crossposts: http://catherineldf.livejournal.com/376267.html

It is some indication of how this week has gone that it's taken me until now to do this.

For the first time ever, I got a day off on 4th of July weekend so Thursday morning and afternoon was Mom-related fun, followed by showing up at the con and getting informed that my badge was to be held hostage until I picked up something at the Art Show (an item which I couldn't pick up last year). After some discussion, the nice volunteer gave me my badge on the promise that I would in fact go to the Art Show. I wandered off, ran into the McCulloughs and hung out in their room to chat for a bit about sundry recent events. We then went down to the Art Show, where the door volunteer tried to check my wallet (regular-sized) along with my bag. Minor wacky hijinks ensued but I was eventually allowed into the Art Show as long as I talked to the person at the table. So I skipped the entire art show, went in solely to pick up my item and left without checking my wallet at the door, because this was so very much not going to happen.

From there, I was off to meet folks at the the tail end of the Skiffy and Fanty panel, then on to my Shakespeare in Fantasy panel. We appointed a moderator and had a lively discussion, in which we split on several modernized versions of the plays and debated whether or not Macbeth had more fantasy content than Hamlet and if A Winter's Tale had any fantasy content. Good panel, good audience and fun discussion. Sherry, Kevin and Elise then picked me up for dinner and ended up at the Friday's, which was surprisingly slow - I think they got overwhelmed, since they' usually very on the ball. But dinner was perfectly fine and there were appetizers and much discussion of recent events. I headed home shortly after this because I knew Friday would be a long day.

I got back on Friday morning first thing for breakfast at the Hotel Formerly Known as The Sofitel with Shaun Duke of Skiffy and Fanty fame, Paul Weimer of SF SIgnal and sundry other podcasts and other awesomeness and Shaun's brother, Andy, whose name I'm hopefully getting right. We had a really fun breakfast and talked about books and fandom and SFWA and a bunch of other things in the fab world of genre. Then we scattered back into the con and I made a short pass through the Dealer's Room and stopped off to talk to bookseller Dave Christiansen and pick up a few titles. Michael Thomas chanced by with his daughter and we went outside to sit and chat for a bit. Then I was off to lunch with Sigrid Ellis of Apex Magazine and Paul Weimer, this time to chat about publishers, things we were up to and recent events, amongst other things.

I went off to do some quicky research on urban fantasy for an afternoon panel, then stopped by to listen in on a panel on magic (I think, though that may have been later on) with Kelly McCullough, Kameron Hurley, Martha Well, Doug Hulick and Sean Murphy, then on to my panel on afternoon panel on making "Urban Fantasy More Urban." Along the way, I discovered that my name was not yet removed from the Art Show Wall O' Shame despite having picked up my item,so I began getting reminders about it from sundry concerned people (this became a theme well on into the evening). I took over as moderator, something which the other panelists accepted with grace and style, and we had a decent discussion about diversity and urban settings in urban fantasy. it wasn't as deep as I would have liked but it went reasonably well from a panelist perspective.

Martha Wells picked me up for dinner and we headed back to the former Sofitel. Apart from a kitchen snafu, which got resolved, the food has quite tasty and the company was excellent. I have to say that this was my favorite series of meals at a con this whole year, simply because I was with interesting people. So, thanks lovely dining companions! :-) After dinner, we headed back across the street and I caught a SkepChicks panel on the science of Breaking Bad, which was quite interesting. After that I hung out for a bit doing some odds and ends online and got yet more reminders about the Art Show (see above note about checking my wallet, which is why I didn't just go in and insist that my name be expunged from said Wall). I finally gave up and approached the door volunteers and explained the situation to them. One of them was kind enough to go in and cross my name out, thus ending that particular ordeal.

After that, I had panels at 10PM and at 11:30PM. These timeslots are later than I usually let anyone schedule me because a. I'm tired and not at my best and b. given the last few months, I'm unbelievably tired and not at my best. And so we will gloss over "Jane Austen Mashups" which was not my favorite panel of the weekend, though well short of epic trainwreck. I caught up with Elise, then went on to the Tech Sex panel. This was the most diverse lineup I was on all weekend and was also my first time on a SkepChicks panel (apparently, I'm a fellow traveler, which is all good). Lively discussion about sex toys, virtual reality, and sundry related topics ensued and the audience behaved well, despite being packed in like sardines.

And then I went home and collapsed and was good for absolutely nothing the next day. I spent the time trying to recover from the last couple of months as well as the night before and puttering about the house. Sunday was another Mom Day, followed by joining Michael and Sherry Merriam and friends in celebrating Michael and Sherry's 18th wedding anniversary. This was lovely and fun and followed by heading back home to do a few novel revisions, and collapse. Unsurprisingly, Monday brought a killer migraine (the weather went nuts and my new magic pills weren't up to that much overload) and day jobbery. And the rest of the week, with all that went with it.

Apart from the Art Show issues (I don't think the punitive approach is working), it was a perfectly fine con, with many cool things going and I extend my congratulations to them for pulling off another one. But I went into it utterly drained and came out more so and now need to deal with yet more stuff. I'm hoping to take a few days off to get out of town and offline to recover next month, which I think will be a dire necessity by then. In the meantime, I'm hoping to get some short fiction collections proposals out this weekend and some more revisions done. Then it will be on to workshop proposals and finishing up a story to get out the door. Pedal to the metal and all that. Wish me luck, since I suspect I'll need it.

Crossposts: http://catherineldf.livejournal.com/351749.html

CONvergence schedule...and I've just realized that I didn't get a reading slot. Debating on whether or not to push for one since I don't have a new book out this year (though I am working on something). I also didn't get around to proposing a Broad Universe reading, because reasons, mostly of the stress and overload variety. If you're going to the con, got an opinion on whether or not I should ask for a reading? Would you show up if I did?

From mythical kings like Lear and Cymbeline to the mage Prospero and his monsters in The Tempest to the fairies of Midsummer Night's Dream, and ghosts all over the place. Why are these plays still speaking to us 400+ years later? Panelists: Tim Lieder, Catherine Lundoff, Paul Weimer, Ruth Berman, Mark Goldberg

Thursday July 3, 2014 5:00pm - 6:00pm
Atrium 7

Friday, July 4 • 3:30pm - 4:30pm
Making Urban Fantasy More Urban

Large cities around the world have diverse populations and urban-specific problems: transportation, economic inequity, getting food, etc. Let' s talk about urban fantasy that reflects cities as we know and love/loathe them. Panelists: Catherine Lundoff, Christoforo Pasquarette, Kara Redding, Aimee Kuzenski

Friday July 4, 2014 3:30pm - 4:30pm
Atrium 3

Jane Austen Mashups

It's the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s works. Let's discuss the various takeoffs, mashups, and homages, from vampire and zombies to Twitter accounts. Panelists: Catherine Lundoff, Joan Sullivan, Sarah Barsness, Hilary Moon Murphy, Samma Johnson (mod)

Friday July 4, 2014 10:00pm - 11:00pm
Atrium 3

Tech Sex

New technology is often used to explore sexuality and sexual identity; its more sexually charged uses often determine the course for technological innovations. We will explore the complex intersections of sexuality, gender, identity, and technology. Panelists: Miri Mogilevsky, Lyndzi Miller, Heina Dadabhoy, Samantha Bitner, Catherine Lundoff

Friday July 4, 2014 11:30pm - 12:30am
Atrium 2

Crossposts: http://catherineldf.livejournal.com/347865.html

Or at least, what I can remember of it. Please let me know if you were there and we talked about someone else.

Authors and works mentioned during British Women Fantasy Writers Panel at CONvergence

E. Nesbitt, The Five Children and It, The Enchanted Castle, assorted works,
Mary Norton, The Borrowers, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Are All the Giants Dead?
Joan Aiken, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Blackhearts in Battersea, assorted works
Susan Cooper, The Dark is Rising series
Diana Wynne Jones, Witch Week, Howl’s Moving Castle, The Tough Guide to Fantasyland
A.S. Byatt, The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye
Liz Williams, “At the Banquet of the Lords of the Night,” The Poison Master, Inspector Chen series
Gwyneth Jones, White Queen, Divine Endurance
Naomi Mitchison , Memoirs of a Space Woman, Travel Light, The Castle Perilous
Christina Georgina Rosetti, Goblin Market, Speaking Likenesses
Hope Mirrlees, Lud-in-the-Mist
Sara Coleridge, Phantasmion
Kari Sperring, The Grass King’s Concubine
Tanith Lee, Death’s Master, The Dragon Hoard, Volhavaar
Angela Carter, “Wolf-Alice,” “The Were Wolf”
Mary Stewart, The Crystal Cave, other Merlin books
Lucy Boston, Green Knowe series
Jessica Rydill, Children of the Shaman
Phillippa Pearce,Tom's Midnight Garden
Mollie Hunter, The Kelpie's Pearls, The Walking Stones, A Stranger Came Ashore
Mrs. Ewing,The Brownies
Mrs. Molesworth, The Cuckoo Clock, The Tapestry Room
Anne Lyle, Freda Warrington, Mary Gentle, Jo Walton, J.K. Rowling, Elizabeth Bowen

A couple of American writers who came in for commentary included Edward Eager (Half Magic, etc.) and Evangeline Walton (Island of the Mighty/The Virgin & The Swine, Song of Rhiannon, etc.).

Katherine Briggs as folklorist, Hobberdy Dick, and An Encyclopedia of Fairies, A Dictionary of British Folktales in the English Language in 4 volumes and The Vanishing People.

Crossposts: http://catherineldf.livejournal.com/318205.html

I trotted back in on Friday, raring to go, more or less, for a 4 panel day.
I kicked things off with a nice quiet lunch at the Sofitel, then went to go do a panel on local bookstores with Eric Heideman.

This was well-attended and lively, given the space and being in the second hotel, which was pleasant. We talked about ways to support local bookstores and put in plugs for DreamHaven Books, Uncle Hugo's and Uncle Edgar's Bookstores, Once Upon a Crime, Subtext and Addendum Books, Magers and Quinn, James and Mary Laurie Booksellers (used, online), Sixth Chamber, Tamarack Books (used), Birchbark Books and the BookHouse. Also gave tangential plugs to The Source, B&N at Har Mar and Big Brain Comics. This would be most indie bookstores in the area with the exception of The Bookcase in Wayzata, which we forgot about, and Uncommon Good Books, which was not genre-friendly in its previous location - let me know if this has changed and I'll upgrade them. Conclusions - shop there, tell your friends, buy gift certificates, order online, but no real magic bullets beyond community support.

And then I agreed to come to a book discussion at North Country Gaylaxians Bookclub on October 8^th to talk about Silver Moon. :-D

I then went off to wander around for a bit and chat up Kelly and Laura McCullough, Sean Murphy, Elizabeth Bear and assorted other people in the bar and on my way to my next panel, Social Media Marketing for Creatives. The latter was lively and fast-paced. Panelists plugged Tumbler, Myspace, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, but didn’t have much love for Pinterest. Giveaways and web specials proved very effective for the visual artists and the one costumer, though I can’t say I’ve been wowed by the results for me or other writers I’ve spoken to. Overall, this was an interesting panel from the standpoint of rethinking some promotional things. I do think mileage for writers does vary though so I’ll have to look into how useful it would be to do a serial story on my blog and such.

From there, I was off to British Women Fantasy Writers. Local fan/reviewer/award-admin David Lenander and I led the audience on a merry chase through our favorites, disagreeing about a few, agreeing enthusiastically on others. I owe the audience a list on this and will try to get through it in the next few days. Good discussion and it was fun to do with a well-read fellow panelist and audience members.

I met my friend Betsy and assorted new friends at the bar for dinner. A lively discussion ensued about immigration, being the child of immigrants, being queer and general outside status fun stuff. Good talk, decent meal, usual mixups re: bills at convention hotels.

From there, I rounded out the day with They Came from Fandom, a panel on pros who started out (and are still) fans. This was an interesting one. Discussion ranged from fannish bonafides, first sales, what our involvement still was in fandom and an enthusiastic defense of pro writers being eligible for the Best Fan Writer Hugo. My contribution with sundry anecdotes and questions. As with many panels at this particular con, designating a moderator ahead of time would have been helpful for direction. But the audience found it all pretty entertaining as did most of the panel, so this might be worth a reprise elsewhere.

Saturday night was gloriously sleepless, once I got home. Bursitis + shoulder problems = 3 hours sleep, which led to sleeping on the couch, AKA kitty trampoline time. 18 lbs of cat leaping onto your stomach at 4AM from the top of the sofa, claws out, is an experience to be missed.

Despite it all, I staggered back to hotel and arrived one minute late for Mythic Britain, which meant, ta-da! I was designated moderator. We winged it all over the map, and through space and time on this one. It was pretty entertaining and informative enough that an audience member stopped by to tell me that it was the best panel he had ever been to, which was very sweet.

I roamed the art show and the Dealer’s Room, then headed out to lunch with Kim Long-Ewing and Sean Murphy and got much needed caffeine. Lively discussion at this too. Then back again for to read for the folks who managed to make it through the elevator crowds to the 22^nd floor for the BU reading. From there, I ran into my friend Jody and sat around chatting for a bit, then went home and fell on my face.

Sunday was a work day – novel proposal and 1^st guest blog post are progressing, though slower than I would like. Apart from that, good con weekend all around. Met new folks, had good panels, felt the love and all that good stuff.

Crossposts: http://catherineldf.livejournal.com/317906.html

Pretty much consisted of me finding parking, standing in the expedited registration line and going to a happy hour for attending professionals. Hanging about in line, I chatted with Catherine Schaff-Stumpf and her hubby, then with Hal from the Con Com and a few other folks. I then retired to the bar with Haddayr Copley-Woods to enjoy a perfectly adequate glass or two of cranberry juice. We met up with Jody Wurl and sundry other folks, then were joined by William Alexander, David Schwartz and a bunch of other folks. We covered movies and books, establishing that at least one of us disagreed with the others on almost everything. From there on, it was off and running on "authors behaving badly at cons," always a fun topic. Then Jody and I went walkabout in the Sofitel trying to find her panel room, which we eventually succeeded in doing with help from the hotel staff. I headed home to do more Mom-corraling and to hang out with my wife and kitties.

The morning was much livelier since that included me fixing the printer, finishing the initial round of paperwork for the house refinancing expanding my novel in progress outline to 8 whole pages and overhauling the first of the chapters for the proposal. Things are moving along swimmingly on that - I'm hoping to finish a draft of the proposal on Sunday. In the meantime, back to the con to do a marathon stint of programming today.

Crossposts: http://catherineldf.livejournal.com/317695.html

CONvergence is coming up pretty fast here, right after this weekend's TC Pride (which I'll be at on Sunday) and the Twin Cities Antiquarian Book Fair, which I'll be at on Friday night and part of Saturday in order to spell Jana at her table.
I'm doing the following - my Friday is fairly brutal and in 2! Count 'em, 2 hotels! Eeep. My cunning plan at the moment is to write at home most of Thursday, then pop by the con for a thing and pick up registration, be there all day and into the evening on Friday (see below), then back again Saturday during the day. Sunday, I'll be home working since the novel proposal needs to take wing REAL SOON NOW. Should be interesting.

Local Bookstores

Let's look past Amazon and Barnes & Noble and explore what local book stores have to offer readers. What are the best in the area and what can we do (beyond shopping there) to keep them in business? Panelists: Eric Heideman, Catherine Lundoff

Friday July 5, 2013 12:30pm - 1:30pm
Sofitel Dijon

Social Media Marketing for Creatives

Strategies and tips for successfully marketing your geeky creative endeavor or business on various social media platforms; Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr and LinkedIn will be discussed. Panelists: Christopher Jones, Hal Bichel (mod), Travis Richey, Catherine Lundoff, Heather Luca

Friday July 5, 2013 3:30pm - 4:30pm
Bloomington

British Women Fantasy Writers

Great Britain has given the world some amazing women fantasy writers: Angela Carter, E. Nesbit, Mary Norton, Tanith Lee, Liz Williams, Gwyneth Jones and J.K. Rowling all spring to mind. Let's talk about their works. Panelists: Catherine Lundoff, David Lenander, Rebecca Marjesdatter

Friday July 5, 2013 5:00pm - 6:00pm
Sofitel Dijon

They Came From Fandom!

Professional writers who started out as fans before becoming pros spill their "secrets". How did fandom influence your writing? What fandoms were/are you a part of? Did your relationship with fandom changed when you got published? How did you do it? Panelists: Catherine Lundoff, Joan Marie Verba, Emma Bull, Lyda Morehouse, Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Friday July 5, 2013 8:30pm - 9:30pm
Atrium 4

Mythic Britain

Discussion of the early myths of Britain in the pre-Roman era, and their continuance in folklore and literature to the modern day. Panelists: Phillip Andrew Bennett Low, John Heimbuch, J Boone Dryden, Catherine Lundoff, Paul Cornell

Saturday July 6, 2013 9:30am - 10:30am
Plaza 2

Broad Universe Rapid-Fire Reading

Members of Broad Universe do short readings from their recent work. Panelists: Kathy Sullivan, Kimberley Long-Ewing, Catherine Schaff-Stump, Catherine Lundoff

Saturday July 6, 2013 3:30pm - 4:30pm
2201

Addendum: Other British women fantasy writers who deserve a mention (from a Twitter conversation with Kari Sperring and Kevin McVeigh): Tanith Lee, Louise Cooper, Susan Cooper, Naomi Mitchison, Juliet McKenna, Freda Warrington, Louise Lawrence, Hope Mirrlees, Anne Lyle, Gaie Sebold, Emma Newman, Liz Williams (also sf), Storm Constantine (& sf), Clemence Housman, Sylvia Townsend Warner, Naomi Jay, Faye Sampson, Ann Lawrence (children's), Diana Wynne Jones, Alison Spedding, Veronica Williams (gothic), Lynette Muir (children's), Mary Stewart, some Rosemary Sutcliff, Jane Gaskell, Gill Alderman, Cherith Baldry, Kari Sperring, Maura McHugh, Ruth Long, Maggie Furey, Flynn Connolly, Liz & Veronica Williams, Joan Aiken, Jo Walton, Elizabeth Bowen, Suzanne Macleod, Nicola Griffiths, Keren Gilfoyle, Jenny Jones, Gill Alderman and Lou Morgan

Crossposts: http://catherineldf.livejournal.com/316624.html

My preliminary CONvergence 2013 schedule:

12:30pm

Local Bookstores

Friday July 5, 2013 12:30pm - 1:30pm
Sofitel Dijon

3:30pm
Social Media Marketing for Creatives

Friday July 5, 2013 3:30pm - 4:30pm
Sofitel Bordeaux

5:00pm
British Women Fantasy Writers

Friday July 5, 2013 5:00pm - 6:00pm
Sofitel Dijon

8:30pm
They Came From Fandom!

Friday July 5, 2013 8:30pm - 9:30pm
Atrium 4

9:30am
Mythic Britain

Saturday July 6, 2013 9:30am - 10:30am
Plaza 2

3:30pm
Broad Universe Rapid-Fire Reading

Members of Broad Universe do short readings from their recent work. Panelists: Kathy Sullivan, Catherine Schaff-Stump, Catherine Lundoff

Saturday July 6, 2013 3:30pm - 4:30pm
2201

Should be interesting. I'm particularly curious to see how many people make it to the Sofitel (across the street from the main hotel). Should be interesting.

Crossposts: http://catherineldf.livejournal.com/309957.html

I made it in on Friday, just in time for a Broad Universe Rapidfire Reading at 2PM. Authors Kathryn Sullivan, Catherine Schaff-Stump and I read from recent and forthcoming works to appreciative audience of 12 or so folks who were able to find the room. And no, you don't have to be named "Catherine" or variations to join Broad Universe. It's just a GOOD IDEA. But back to the con. Literary readings are now split between the 22nd floor, which is hard to get to know and you have to know it's there to find it, and a room on one of the party floors, which is hard to find, not well marked and you have to know it's there to find it. Sigh.

After that, I was off and running around with sundry friends, which was delightful. I went home reasonably early so that I could get in early on Saturday to get parking before my 11AM panel. Suitably caffeinated, I camped out on the aforementioned 22nd floor until my fellow panelists, Elizabeth Bear and Scott Lynch arrived. We had a lively chat about some of the pre-1960 women writers and their work, with commentary from the audience. Then I dashed onto the elevators and went to a panel on editors and their relationships with writers, with fellow panelists Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Lynne Thomas and Sharyn November. Sharyn and I talked a fair amount, Lynne somewhat less, Jennifer almost not at all, since the emphasis was really on fiction writing rather than gaming. It was interesting and I know I picked up a few things and hopefully the audience did as well. From there, I was off a panel on the importance of strong heroines, with fellow panelists Bryan Thomas Schmidt, Tamora Pierce and Kathy Sullivan. This was wildly well-attended, mostly because Tamora Pierce was there, and featured some of the best troll-stomping that I've ever seen at a panel at this kind of con. Apart from this, we were all over the map (me, too) but discussion and examples flew thick and fast and several people told me that they enjoyed it very much. From there, I was off to the Dealer's Room where I acquired steampunk hair clips, copies of The Modern Amazons: Warrior Women On-Screen by Dominique Mainon and James Ursini and They Fly at Ciron by Samuel Delany, and some interesting magnets. After that we met up with more folks for dinner, then hit the masquerade overflow room, then lengthy chats in the hall (thanks to Elise, I now own a Gotham Observatory pin that used to belong to Mike Ford, which I shall treasure accordingly). From there it was on to the parties where I stopped by Gaylaxicon and Diversicon and a few other fun spots. Then home for sleep, chaos, a two day migraine and a minor plumbing disaster and posting a bunch of stuff for the Wolf Conservation Fundraiser that I'm running through July.

As promised, the notes from Early Women Writers in SF (I made the cutoff date 1960 so "early" is before that). Not an exhaustive list. Also see SF Mistressworks and Feminist SF.Net for some of the folks that are missing from this list as well as other work by these authors:

Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle. 1623-1673. Scientist, poet, playwright. One of the first women published under her own name. The Blazing World (1666) – utopian fiction with new world accessed via the North Pole.

Mary Shelley. 1797-1851. Novelist, essayist, playwright. Frankenstein (1818) and a post-apocalyptic novel, The Last Man (1826).

Jane C. Loudon. 1807-1858. SF/Gothic. The Mummy (1827).

Charlotte Perkins Gilman. 1860-1935. Novelist, lecturer. Herland (1915).

Thea Gabriele von Harbou. 1888-1954. Actress, director and author. Metropolis (1927) - novel and screenplay.

Miariam Allen DeFord. 1888-1975. Reporter, mystery and sf author. Xenogenesis (1969) one of several collections of her early work, written well before 1969.

Clare Winger Harris. 1891-1968. Short fiction writer. First woman to publish under her own name in sf magazines like Amazing. “The Fate of the Posediana” (1927) and other stories.

Katherine Burdekin, 1896-1963. Wrote as Murray Constantine as well as under her own name. Alternate history in which Germany and Japan win WWII - Swastika Night (1937).

Naomi Mitchison. 1897-1999. Novelist and poet. Memoirs of a Spacewoman (1962), The Corn King and the Spring Queen (1931) and Travel Light (1952).

Zealia Bishop. (1897–1968). Short fiction writer, horror and romance. The Curse of Yig (1953).

Margaret St. Clair. 1911-1995. SF. Also wrote as Idris Seabright and Wilton Hazzard. The Green Queen (1956) and the post-apocalyptic novel with Wiccan elements Sign of the Labrys (1963)

C.L. Moore. 1911-1987. SF/F writer, collaborator with Henry Kuttner as well as solo author. Doomsday Morning (1957), Vintage Season (1946) “Shambleau,” (1933) and Jirel of Joiry (1934).

Mary Elizabeth Counselman. 1911- 1995. Supernatural fiction, Weird Tales author. Half in Shadow (1964 collection of earlier work).

Andre Norton. 1912-2005. SF and F author. The Stars are Ours (1954), Beastmaster (1959),The Star Gate (1958)..

Leigh Brackett. 1915-1978. SF author and screenwriter. Screenwriter on “The Empire Strikes Back,” as well as “The Woman from Altair” (1951) and The Sword of Rhainnon (1949).

Shirley Jackson, 1916-1965. Author, horror. “The Lottery” (1948) and The Haunting of Hill House (1959).

Zenna Henderson. 1917-1983. Science fiction and fantasy. Psionics, etc. - Ingathering: The Complete People Stories of Zenna Henderson (1995 collection of earlier work).

Judith Merril. 1923-1997. SF author and editor. “That Only a Mother” (1948) and Shadow on the Hearth (1950).

Marion Zimmer Bradley. 1930-1999. SF/F author and editor. The Planet Savers (1958) and Falcons of Narabedia (1957)

I'm currently reading Mitchison, who I'm enjoying greatly, and Moore's early work, which I'm enjoying less so. But glad I've got the opportunity to check it out.

Crossposts: http://catherineldf.livejournal.com/265328.html

I've added several more prizes and more description to the wolf fundraiser. I think this is going to be a lot of fun! Huge thanks to the folks who've donated and signal-boosted thus far.

In the meantime, I'm off to CONvergence tomorrow. I'll be reading with the always delightful Kathryn Sullivan and Catherine Schaff-Stump at the Broad Universe Reading at 2PM on Friday/tomorrow. On Saturday, I'll be on an 11AM panel on early women SF/F writers, a 12:30 panel on working with writers from an editor's perspective and a 2:00PM panel on the importance of strong female heroines. My schedule. Full schedule. Look me up and say hi if you're there. :-)

Crossposts: http://catherineldf.livejournal.com/263824.html

Looks like it'll be fun. :-)

2:00pm

Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading

Friday July 6, 2012 2:00pm - 3:00pm @ Cabana 201

Members of Broad Universe will read their short fiction. Broad Universe is an international organization with the primary goal of promoting science fiction, fantasy, and horror written by women. Panelists: Catherine Lundoff, Kathy Sullivan

Saturday, July 7

11:00am

Female SF Authors: The Early Years

Saturday July 7, 2012 11:00am - 12:00pm @ 2201

Margaret Cavendish and Mary Shelley. Claire Harris and Andre Norton. C. L. Moore and Leigh Brackett. Come celebrate the works and histories of these and other acclaimed female SF writers from the early days of SF (Pre-1960). Panelists: Catherine Lundoff, Scott Lynch, Elizabeth Bear

12:30pm

@#%@ Writers

Saturday July 7, 2012 12:30pm - 1:30pm @ Atrium 8

We all know that writers appreciate their editors and editors appreciate their writers. There *are* times where they can get on each other's nerves just a little bit. In calm, even tones editors talk about working with writers. No Blood will be Spilled. Panelists: Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Lynne Thomas, Sharyn November, Catherine Lundoff

2:00pm

The Importance of Strong Heroines

Saturday July 7, 2012 2:00pm - 3:00pm @ Atrium 7

Damsels in distress used to be the mainstay trope of SFF but now stronger heroines are not only in demand but even common. Why is it important to avoid stereotypes in writing women characters? Are there any limitations? What are the pitfalls? Panelists: Bryan Thomas Schmidt, Catherine Lundoff, Melinda Peterson, Tamora Pierce, Kathy Sullivan

And the rest of the schedule, which looks pretty fun: http://schedule.convergence-con.org/
They're trying for a Wonder Women theme so this could be the year to attend if you've been putting it off.

Crossposts: http://catherineldf.livejournal.com/256409.html

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Dwelling in Probabilities

Catherine Lundoff's blog

Entries tagged with convergence

Catching up on the October whirlwind

CONvergence schedule, 2016 version

CONvergence write up

CONvergence 2015 Schedule

Have you ever wondered how these collections come to be? Let our panel walk you through the process, from origination to publication. Panelists: Catherine Lundoff, Tim Lieder, Toni Weisskopf, Lynne M Thomas, Roy C. Booth

CONvergence write-up and things on the horizon

Preliminary CONvergence schedule

British Women Fantasy Writers Panel Reading List

CONvergence Write-up, Part the Second

CONvergence Day 1

And finalized CONvergence 2013 schedule

CONvergence 2013 Schedule (preliminary)

3:30pm
Social Media Marketing for Creatives

5:00pm
British Women Fantasy Writers

8:30pm
They Came From Fandom!

9:30am
Mythic Britain

3:30pm
Broad Universe Rapid-Fire Reading

CONvergence write-up and early women writers in SF notes

Updates

CONvergence schedule

2:00pm

11:00am

12:30pm

2:00pm

Profile

April 2025

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Catherine Lundoff's blog

Entries tagged with convergence

Have you ever wondered how these collections come to be? Let our panel walk you through the process, from origination to publication. Panelists: Catherine Lundoff, Tim Lieder, Toni Weisskopf, Lynne M Thomas, Roy C. Booth

3:30pmSocial Media Marketing for Creatives

5:00pmBritish Women Fantasy Writers

8:30pmThey Came From Fandom!

9:30amMythic Britain

3:30pmBroad Universe Rapid-Fire Reading

2:00pm

11:00am

12:30pm

2:00pm

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3:30pm
Social Media Marketing for Creatives

5:00pm
British Women Fantasy Writers

8:30pm
They Came From Fandom!

9:30am
Mythic Britain

3:30pm
Broad Universe Rapid-Fire Reading