Convivial

Here's my Arisia schedule:  some appealingly crunchy panels in good company.  Though alas! I am opposite rushthatspeaks ' reading and sovay and cucumberseed on When Poets Write Prose and Vice Versa:  two things I would dearly love to hear.  And my reading is at 10 am on Monday!  If anyone is around and awake, I'll be doing a piece from the new Ben story, Exit, Pursued by a Bear.  That's the novella with Inigo Jones, Kit Marlowe's ghost, Queen Mab, and the succession.

The Bards' Tales: Musical Books
Friday 5:30 PM
Andrea Hairston (m), Tanya Huff, Greer Gilman, Sonya Taaffe

Countless authors have woven music into their works. Some like Asaro, Bull, and Huff have featured musicians in their stories, while others like Lackey have even included lyrics in their novels and later recorded tie-in filk albums. This panel will look at some of the best SF/F that has included music in its words.


Read ALL THE THINGS!
Saturday 10:00am
Randee Dawn, Greer Gilman, Adam Lipkin (m), Suzanne Reynolds-Alpert, JoSelle Vanderhooft

Sure, we have limited reading time, but there are some authors whose works clamor to be read in their entirety! Which authors? Come to this panel and find out! Each panelist will discuss the author whose complete works they deem absolutely essential. Come develop your reading list for the next year!


Tell Me a Story (I Couldn't Tell Myself)
Sunday 1:00 PM
Erik Amundsen (m), Greer Gilman, Sonya Taaffe, Trisha Wooldrige

Authors sometimes say that they started writing because they were looking for a story to read that they couldn't find. What happens when you can't find the story elsewhere and you can't make it either? What fragments do you have sitting around, ideas you wish someone would write for you and plot bunnies that plain up and died on you? Have you ever found something you wanted in a story in other media?


Theme Circle: Ballads of the Supernatural
Sunday 5:30 PM
Greer Gilman (m), Susan Weiner, Robert Rogow, Sonya Taaffe, Elizabeth Birdsall

Many traditional songs tell stories of the supernatural: ghosts, faeries, shape-changers, and so forth. Come listen or sing in this themed song circle.


Constructing Languages
Sunday 8:30pm
John Chu, Greer Gilman, Justine Graykin, Rose Mambert, James Shapiro (m)

Many SF/F worlds have their own languages, Elvish and Klingon being two of the best known. How do you create languages that make sense? From etymology to grammar to culture, there are many aspects to consider. How does a language reflect the identities of its speakers? How do we make our languages and vocabularies believable?


Reading: Erishkigal, Gilman, & Silva
Monday 10:00am
Anna Erishkigal, Greer Gilman, Richard A Silva

Authors Anna Erishkigal, Greer Gilman, and Richard A. Silva will read selections from their works.


Stick With It! Complex, Rewarding Literature
Monday 11:30 AM
Lila Garrott (m), Max Gladstone, Greer Gilman, Dennis McCunney, Sonya Taaffe

Most of the time, the SF we read is easy enough to get through; however, at times, we've picked up or been recommended a work of SF only to find it more than we bargained for. Not a tedious read, but rather an epic journey, fraught with trials and tribulations yet eminently Worth It. What favorite works of the panelists' are difficult to get through, but ultimately worth the read? How does one make the reading of one of these diamonds more feasible without losing any of the effect?

From Earthsea to Ekumen
Monday 2:30 PM
Lila Garrott (m), Mark W. Richards, Greer Gilman, Victoria McManus, Sonya Taaffe

Arguably Ursula K. Le Guin's two greatest achievements are the fantasy world of Earthsea and the SF universe of the Ekumen of Known Worlds. Earthsea is a world of natural magic in which the self-knowledge of the adept is the key to effectiveness. The Ekumen is a members-only interstellar organization encompassing numerous cultures. Do we see the same vision in these worlds? Are they different sides of the same coin? And how have these two worlds influenced the fiction of the last four decades?


And I also have my Boskone schedule, coming up on Valentine's Day weekend.  I'll repost that closer to the time, but for comparison, it's here:

Writers on Writing: In the Mood
Friday 17:00 - 17:50
Mary Kay Kare (M), Jo Walton, Scott Lynch, Greer Gilman

One of the most elusive qualities a story may possess, mood is also one of the most lasting memories that certain stories evoke. How does a writer accomplish this effect? What are a writer's most important mood-making tools: Word choice? Pace? What the characters themselves feel? Voice? Setting? What works have been most successful at setting a mood and making it memorable?

(Didn't realize Jo was coming down for Boskone.  Huzzah!)


Reading -- Greer Gilman
Friday 21:00 - 21:25
Greer Gilman

Writers on Writing: Character Versus Characterization
Saturday 12:00 - 12:50
Jeffrey A. Carver (M), Sarah Beth Durst, Steve Miller, Greer Gilman, Steven Sawicki

The success of any story relies upon its characters. But writers can get confused between establishing a character and characterization. What's observable? What's hidden? What do we see on the page, and what do we feel when reading about this character as a whole? Writers discuss ways to more deeply develop characters, and how characterization can either get in the way or be used successfully.


The Evolution of a Hero
Saturday 14:00 - 14:50
Jeffrey A. Carver (M), Debra Doyle, Jennifer Pelland , Greer Gilman

Heroes aren't born. They're made through a combination of choices and circumstances that mold them both internally as well as externally into someone powerful enough to represent a challenge to the story's antagonist. Has the once well-defined transition from zero to hero changed with the introduction of modern social structures? What about modern female characters who chafe against preconceived notions of who a hero is, what it means to be a hero, and how a hero is made? Are there differences between the growth of a hero for men and women? And what does this all mean for the antagonist?


Magicians in Society
Saturday 16:00 - 16:50
Tom Shippey (M), Nancy Holder, Sarah Beth Durst, Greer Gilman, Scott Lynch

How do magicians and their magic fit into the political, social, and class structures within an imagined society -- especially in worlds where most people don't possess such powers? What special challenges do magic-wielders face in a culture where magic isn't respected? Or even where it is? Moreover, what roles do science and scientists play in such a system, if any?

Good heavens, Tom Shippey!

Nine