ConQuesT 47: Prime

It’s that time of the year again! ConQuesT, Kansas City’s oldest fantasy and science fiction conference, is this weekend. I’ll be participating in a couple of panels and giving a reading Saturday afternoon. My full schedule is below. When I’m not at a panel or reading, look for me in the vendor’s room. I’ll be sharing a table with my fellow Uptown Authors. Copies of the new edition of Eolyn will be available for purchase and signing.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Friday, May 27 – I’ll be in the vendor room at the Uptown Authors table between 12pm and 6pm.

Saturday, May 28

11:00am – Panel (M): Are expectations of female characters in SF/F too high and unrealistic? 

Female characters have become more and more common in SF/F, and everyone  seems to have an opinion on how they should be written – people talk about  writing strongly characterized women, rather than just strong women, and  then someone inevitably turns up and uses the phrase “men with breasts”.  It’s quite obvious that the characterization of women in SF/F receives  more critical attention from readers. Do the subconscious biases which  affect women in real life, translate to fictional characters?

3:30pm – Reading. Haven’t yet decided what I’m going to do with my spot, but I will probably feature new scenes from the second edition of Eolyn. I am also open to requests!

Sunday, May 29

10:00am – Panel: Costuming characters in your writing. 

Dressing a character in a story is far more complicated than you’d think.  Writers need to consider all manner of things when clothing the people in  their stories from movement to warmth and from practical materials to  extravagant accessories. What are some good examples of authors who got it

right and some who got it really wrong (and why!)?