Readercon 33 kicks off 10 days from now in Quincy, Massachusetts, and if you’ll be there, too, here’s where you can track me down — when I’m not off on early morning donut hikes or recording new episodes of my Eating the Fantastic podcast, that is —

Writing Hope and Optimism
Thursday, July 11, 9:00 p.m., Salon B
Hopeful and optimistic fiction are having a moment in genre spaces, but what of hopeful and optimistic characters? Cynical ones never go out of style, but is optimism really so uninteresting? What factors contribute to characters’ hopes being perceived by the audience as believable and inspiring rather than naive or cliched? In what ways are notable portrayals of hope across subgenres—including romance, dystopias, and horror—in conversation with each other, and how can a narrative offer hope independent of its characters’ opinions?
with Andrea Hairston, A. T. Greenblatt, John Wiswell, Randee Dawn

I Don’t Know Why I’m on This Panel!
Friday, July 12, 4:00 p.m., Salon 3
In this new take on those dreaded words, all the panelists on this panel have been selected for reasons unknown to them. Will they discover what they have in common? Will they take turns ranting about subjects the others have never even considered? Will they have taken what little advance notice they received to prepare a group song-and-dance number? There’s only one way to find out!
with Katherine Crighton (m), Natalie Luhrs, William Alexander, Zin E. Rocklyn

Meet the Pros(e)
Friday, July 12, 2024, 10:15 p.m., Salon 3
At the Friday night Meet the Pros(e) party, program participants are assigned to tables with a roughly equal number of conferencegoers and other participants, and then table placements are scrambled at regular intervals so that everyone gets to meet a new set of people in a small-group setting. Think of it as a low-key sort of speed dating where you need never be the sole focus of anyone’s attention, and the goal is just to get to know some cool Readerconnish people. Please note that this event will include a bar and is mask-optional, unlike most other programming.

How to Read Like a Writer
Saturday, July 13, 2024, 10:00 a.m., Salon A
Most of us learn how to compose stories through an osmotic process, soaking in influences as we grow as readers, but how can writers looking to hone their skills get the most out of their reading? Panelists will share tools and approaches for active reading, including which fiction and non-fiction books they have found most helpful for improving their craft, from story structure to dialog to perfecting POV and more.
with E. C. Ambrose (m), Chris Rose, Jeanne Cavelos, Storm Humbert

Imaginary Book Club
Sunday, July 14, 2024, 10:00 a.m., Salon 3
Panelists discuss the most interesting books they’ve read in the last year, even though those books (technically) do not exist, and regale the audience with learned commentary designed to persuade them to give some of their precious reading time for these nonexistent classics. Perhaps we will discuss a newly discovered 19th-century werewolf romantasy, or the Complete Goosebumps as annotated by Thomas Pynchon. Maybe the baseball horror anthology “If I Never Get Back”?
with David G. Shaw, Graham Sleight, Greer Gilman, Zin E. Rocklyn

Reading
Sunday, July 14, 2024, 11:00 a.m., Blue Hills

Kaffeeklatsch
Sunday, July 14, 2024, 1:00 p.m. Basalt

If you’re there, please say hello!