Readercon—which has been my favorite convention for more than a quarter of a century—is right around the corner, running from July 9 through 12 in Burlington, Massachusetts. Here’s the programming where you’ll be able to find me.<\/p>\n
Thursday, July 10, 9:00 p.m.
\nWhat Don’t We Read—and Why?<\/strong>
\nIf all of the signals\u2014the reviews, the blurbs, the cover, the author, the publisher\u2014suggest you’d hate a particular book, is that sufficient reason to pass on it? Have you ever tried to read something you thought you’d despise and realized that you loved it? Do you give every book a certain number of pages to win you over, or feel obligated to finish any book you start? If a certain critic praises something, does that make you want to run the other way? We’ll discuss these and many other ways not to read a book.
\nwith Stacey Friedberg, Natalie Luhrs, Sarah Smith (leader), and Patty Templeton.<\/em>\t<\/p>\nFriday July 11, 4:00 p.m.
\nReading<\/strong>
\nI’ll be reading my unpublished short story “The Pillow of Disappointment and What Was Found Beneath It.”<\/p>\nFriday July 11, 8:00 p.m.
\nDealing with Discouragement<\/strong>
\nAs writers, we learn very early on to handle rejection, but how do you handle it when a story you’re sure is good is rejected by 20 different publications? Or when your carefully crafted novel is shrugged off by five different agents? Or your self-published novella is bought by only 25 people, all of them friends and relatives? Or your fantasy novel disappears from public view after a couple of weeks? We’ll explore personal strategies to deal with disappointments, rejection, and other setbacks.
\nwith Susan Bigelow, Michael J. Daley, Barbara Krasnoff (leader), and Shariann Lewitt.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\nAnd if you don’t catch me there, you can always find me hanging out in the halls or in the bar chatting non-stop. When I’m not in the audience watching the other programming, that is.<\/p>\n