Capclave kicks off five days from now, where in addition to recording several episodes of my Eating the Fantastic podcast, I’ll be on five programing items.

If you’ll also be in Rockville next weekend, here’s where you’ll be able to find me … when I’m not out on the patio sharing donuts, that is!

Writing at Different Lengths
Friday, September 19th, 4:00 p.m., Monroe
How does an author approach writing a short story from writing a novella, to writing a novel? Do you know what length a piece of writing will be when you start? Or does this change in the editing? What can you do in a short story that you cannot in a novel and vice versa?
with D.H. Aire, Larry Hodges, Leslye Penelope, and Lawrence M. Schoen

Mixing the Genres
Saturday, September 20th, 11:00 a.m., Washington
Mixing Fantasy with Romance and Science Fiction with Mystery are very common crossovers. What makes them work? What are some less frequently used crossovers and why are they less common? Why when science fiction or fantasy crosses over with another genre, are the works shelved in the sf/fantasy sections of bookstores and libraries, but not the other genre? Or does it make a difference if the author is better known in the other genre? And what happens if a writer known for one genre decides to write in another? How does their experience in the other genre affect how they approach their SF or Fantasy?
with Randee Dawn, Nicole Glover, Joshua Benjamin Palmatier, and Diana Peterfreund

Appeal of Horror
Saturday, September 20th, 9:00 p.m., Jackson
Horror fans know the thrill of being scared. But horror can also explore how we cope with grief and tragedy or play out the extreme consequences of ill-advised choices. What makes horror so compelling? What does flirting with the dark side tell us about being brave and confronting our own fears?
with Zack Be, Randee Dawn, Andrija Popovic, and Hildy Silverman

Author Reading
Sunday, September 21st, 12:00 p.m., Adams
I’ll read from an upcoming short story … while costumed as a fish.

Genre vs Literary Fiction
Sunday, September 21st, 2:00 p.m., Washington
Genre is mostly a marketing tool, yet for many years, reviewers and academics saw genre fiction as inferior. They even denied that literary oriented SF was SF (such as 1984 or The Handmaid’s Tale). Is this still true? Has this changed since many respected literary authors are incorporating science fictional and fantasy elements? Is SF/Fantasy still in the literary ghetto?
with Sarah Avery, Somto Ihezue, Naomi Kritzer, Mark Roth

I hope to see you there!