Need some more essays for WisCon Chronicles 7

So, I've been mulling WisCon Chronicles 7 over a bit more, in light of still needing some submissions (thank God I anticipated this and built a few months into the schedule. Editor win?). I've decided to expand the disability metaphor a bit, as I am getting a lot of subs about ableism, accomodations, and disability rights in our own mundane world, but not so many about disability and disability tropes in SF/F/H. As WisCon is also about genre and not just social justice, this lack is...kind of a deal.

So. Keep sending me proposals to jo.vanderhooft @ gmail.com. I'm looking for essays about the following:

* Positive (and negative!) portrayals of people with disabilities in SF/F/H. (Especially H. I mean, I love horror with much love, but boy are there ever a lot of "craaaaaaazy" killers running around in it. And then there's the subject of body horror, which pretty much sees injuries and disfigurements as terrifying, so...)
* Tropes and character types that can be seen as metaphors for disability. (Mutants, cyborgs, robots, superpowers as disabilities/disabilities as superpowers)
* Current healthcare technology/prosthetics and how it ties into assistive devices SF/F imagined.
* Science fiction/fantasy/horror and psychology (for example, how do various SF/F/H worlds deal with people with mental illnesses? I mean, the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender apparently has mental hospitals, but do any other places?)
* Autism and fandom
* Disability in Doctor Who (come on people, this is just begging to be written!)
* And so, for that matter, is disability and Star Trek/Star Wars/Sherlock/Supernatural/basically any big fandom. (I really am wondering why no one sent me a Sherlock essay yet, considering John's PTSD and how many fans read Sherlock as autistic...)

If you'd still like to write an essay on ableism and social justice directly, I would really love to see something about how disability impacts all forms of activism. For example, someone with severe social anxiety may not be able to engage in online debates about sexism or racism without having a panic attack, and someone with chronic fatigue syndrome may want to participate in protests but find them inaccessible.

Seriously, there are so many places we can take this book and this topic. Please shoot me an email with your ideas. This really is your book if you're a WisConnite. I'm sort of just putting the puzzle together.

And of course, I really do want more panel write-ups. I've only gotten one so far.

General guidelines are here: http://wiscon.livejournal.com/362591.html#comments

I'm also willing to consider submissions from people who have never attended WisCon before, but who would like to. So as long as you know what the con is and isn't about, I'm all ears.

I'd like to have proposals in to me as soon as possible. No later than Sept. 15, and finished essays by Oct. 31 so I can meet my due date for this book without any last-minute flailing. I'd really like less of that in my life, believe me. ;) Any questions? Shoot me an email. And please disseminate this widely.

If you'd like to add some reading or viewing recommendations to the list of disability-friendly SF/F/H I'm compiling here for (somewhat edited for space) inclusion in the Chronicles, just follow the link and leave a comment!