The Readercon committee has just posted the final program for the 19th iteration of what always turns out to be my favorite convention of the year. (I haven’t missed one yet.) I expect the sharply focused panel descriptions to spark lively discussions as usual.

You can find my photographs from last year here, and I look forward to seeing you there this year!

Here’s where you’ll be able to find me: (more…)

The schedule for the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con International will be the size of a phone book, with thousands of program items and dozens of tracks. On the other hand, the agendas for the first comic-book conventions I attended barely filled a single sheet.

I don’t think I saved the schedule from my first con in 1970, but I still have the program from Phil Seuling’s 1971 July 4th Comic Art Convention, which I attended when I was 16. It consisted of one 8 1/2″ by 11″ sheet of paper, and was folded in half to form a slim four-page pamphlet.

You already know what I looked like in the audience at that convention, but this is what I was watching up on the stage. There was a single track of programming, and looking at the listed items, I realize that I attended every one. (more…)

I made my plane reservations for San Diego this week to attend Comic-Con International, which inevitably set me to thinking about my first comic-book convention, back when I was 15. It was the 1970 July 4th weekend Comic Art Convention, organized by Phil Seuling and held in Manhattan at the Statler Hilton Hotel. That was when I was just a fan, years before I got a staff job at Marvel Comics or freelanced for DC Comics, and decades before I edited Science Fiction Age magazine or went to work for the SCI FI Channel. I still have the convention program book, which you can see below with its cover drawing of the Sub-Mariner by his creator, Bill Everett.

Conventions were a heck of a lot smaller back then. As you can see from the two-page spread below, at the time the program book was printed, the con had only 146 attending members and 52 supporting members. Even if there were a few hundred more memberships sold at the door, that’s still a far cry from the approximately 150,000 members of last year’s con in San Diego. But though this list is small, it’s remarkable how big an affect members of this group ended up having on my life. Even though I don’t think I met any of them face to face that weekend and wouldn’t until years later in some cases, many of these people intersected with my life in important ways. (more…)

I just received my schedule for this year’s World Horror Convention in Salt Lake City. Here’s a list of where and when you’ll be able to find me pontificating. I’ll probably also be doing a reading, but that track won’t be announced for awhile.

Thursday, March 27
10:00-10:50 pm
Why editors reject a story
What basic things does a writer need to know to keep from being rejected on the first page?
(with R. J. Cavender, Don D’Auria, Norman Prentiss, Larry Roberts, and Scott Standridg)

Friday, March 28
1:00-1:50 pm
The art of writing poetry
(with Linda Addison, Stephen M. Wilson, JoSelle Vanderhooft, Marge Simon, and Michael R. Collings)

Sunday, March 30
10:00-10:50 am
Censorship of Horror
Should writers care about what others think about their work beyond their publisher and fans? How can you address concerns of schools and libraries and still keep your personal integrity?
(with Rocky Wood, David Bell, and Michael Shea)

You’ll also be able to track me down at Saturday night’s Stoker Awards banquet, at which I’ll learn whether I’m a three-time loser or a one-time winner!

Now that 2007 is winding down, it’s time to look ahead to 2008. Here are the conventions and other writing-related events at which you’ll be able to find me in the coming year. I’ve already made my hotel reservations for the first two of these, since I hate ending up in overflow hotels.

March 27-30
World Horror Convention
Salt Lake City, Utah

April 24-27
Nebula Awards Weekend
Austin, Texas

May 23-26
Balticon 42
Hunt Valley, Maryland

July 17-20
Readercon 19
Burlington, Massachusetts

July 24-27
Comic-Con International
San Diego, California

August 6-9
Denvention 3: 66th World Science Fiction Convention
Denver, Colorado

October 17-19
Capclave
Rockville, Maryland

October 30-November 2
World Fantasy Convention
Calgary, Canada

I might end up attending Philcon as well, but until the convention committee finalizes its hotel contracts as well as its date—which is traditionally in either November or December—I can’t say for sure whether I’ll be able to make it.