joshuapalmatier

So this Thursday I will be getting up, teaching, then climbing on a plane an flying to Seattle to attend NORWESCON!!! I've attended this con for the last five years . . . I think. At least four. I started going the year before The Skewed Throne came out, because DAW was the guest publisher. And I have friends and relatives in Seattle I could visit while there. I loved the con--which contains a literary track, costume track, and game track, everyone getting along with everyone else--and so have returned again and again. For those in the area (or not), I highly recommend it!

And for those attending, here's my schedule:

Friday, April 2nd:

10:00 a.m.: Don't Say It, Have the Characters Say It

How can you avoid big blocks of narrative data-dump? By having characters
dump the data! Come join our panelists as we discuss different ways to have
the characters do the telling, while the author just does the writing.
Joshua Palmatier (M, hmm I should probably prepare for this), Alma Alexander, A.M. Dellamonica, Jean Johnson, Kevin Radthorne

9:00 p.m.: Hey, Check out the Sex Scene in My Fantasy

Writers discuss the challenges and rewards of writing sex scenes. What do
you need to construct believable sex scenes? How can you tell when they are
a necessary addition to the plot? Is it O.K. to just be hot? How explicit do you need to be to best serve your story? Examples may be read aloud, so use your judgment if you are easily embarrassed. Greg Cox (M), Mark Henry, Joshua Palmatier, Eden Robins

Saturday, April 3rd:

9:00 a.m.: Building a Balanced Mythos

When building a religion for your world, how do you make it balanced and
plausible without riffing off of existing religions? How will myth and
religion impact your plot and motivate your characters? Why should there be several types of belief systems on a world? Mary Robinette Kowal (M), Jason Henninger, Joshua Palmatier, Mary Rodgers

6:00 - 6:30 p.m.: Reading: Joshua Palmatier

"Mastihooba," SF Horror short story, Rated: PG; Joshua Palmatier

***************

The "Mastihooba" short story I'll be reading from comes from the anthology Close Encounters of the Urban Kind, edited by Jennifer Brozek, and is being released on April 4th. I've been told that there will be copies of the anthology for sale at the con. You can preorder the anthology here if you're interested. Or pick it up at the con!

I haven't heard anything about an autographing session, but if you find me at the con at some point, I'm more than happy to autograph books or anthologies for you. They don't even have to be mine! *grin*

Hope to see you all there!

First up, Julie E. Czerneda--who has a new book out this month, Rift in the Sky--is offering up a copy of the book as a prize over at the dawbooks community. In addition to entering her contest by commenting with what you think the answers are, any comment automatically enters you into the running for the montly free DAW paperback for July! So two contest entries in one over there. But you have to enter at that post to be qualified.

In addition, and to my utter shock, I've been put on programming at Worldcon. I figured I'd registered a little too late to be included in the planning process. Here's my tentative schedule for the con so far. I need to discuss this with my partner to see if we'll be there for all of the days and whatnot, but if there are any changes made to this, I'll announce them when it's a little closer to the con. But here you guys go. They seem to have really thought about what panels I'd be good for, based on what I write. I'm impressed.

Friday, August 7th:

2pm: Author Reading: Leah Bobet, Elaine Isaak, Guy Gavriel Kay, and Joshua Palmatier will do readings for this hour and a half event held in P-512AE. (English)

3:30pm: Preparing to Write a Series: M.D. Benoit, Laura Anne Gilman, Joe Haldeman, Mindy Klasky, Joshua Palmatier, and Fiona Patton discuss the following in a one hour event held in P-522B: How does a writer plan to write a series? Or is it unplanned until you sign the contract? Writers discuss how they set up and wrote novels that are part of a "series." (English)

Saturday, August 8th:

11am: Writing Workshop U: M.D. Benoit and Joshua Palmatier will run a critique session for previously submitted manuscripts at this two hour event held in D-Vitre. (English)

Sunday, August 9th:

11am: Writing in a Culture Not Your Own: Emma Hawkes and emma_in_oz, David D. Levine, Joshua Palmatier, David Sklar, and Kaaron Warren comment on the following for this one hour event held in P-522B: How does a writer get into the head of a character from a different culture, race, planet, gender? How can writers include diversity in their writing without using stereotypes? Or should they not try at all? (English)

1:30: Signing: For 30 minutes, Joshua Palmatier will be nailed down at a table and will sign copies of his books, or whatever else you have for him to sign. But never fear, if you miss him at the official signing, you can catch him at the succeeding Kaffeklatsch, where he'll also be willing to sign whatever you've got. I'm not sure where the signings are going to be held. It only says "other" in my information. It also says I'll be signing for twelve hours and thirty minutes, but I'm assuming that's a typo. (English)

2pm: Kaffeeklatsch: Come drink coffee, hot chocolate, or even a White Russion with Joshua Palmatier for this day long *ahem* I mean one hour event held in P-521B. Ask anything you want, all those burning questions. You may even get a coherent answer. (English, or an approximation thereof)

4:30pm: Writing Gender Issues: Jason Bourget, Jane Carnall, Lila Garrott-Wejksnora, Anne Harris, Nancy Johnston, John Kessel, and Joshua Palmatier answer the following questions for this one hour event held in P-513B: How do writers approach gender and gender issues? What’s taboo? Can women write men and men write women without making a mess of it? How do you write a story that explores gender issues without hitting the reader over the head? (English)

***************

So that's my schedule according to them. And OMG, I've got a reading with Guy Gavriel Kay! *pause while I hyperventilate* Someone might actually be there! So who else is going to Worldcon?

I'm attending both Confluence at the end of this month, followed by Worldcon in Denver at the beginning of August. It's a little early, but others seem to be posting their panel schedules and seeing who else is going, and since I am a giant lemming ("I'll go get my ball" for those who've seen the trailer for Bolt), here we go!

Confluence Panel Schedule:

Friday 7:00pm Rhyme, Meter, and Language in Fantasy (Herb Kauderer, Joshua B. Palmatier (M, GAH!), Tamora Pierce, Michelle (Sagara) West)

In her essay "From Elfland to Poughkeepsie," Ursula Le Guin discusses the importance of style in fantasy. She contents that fantasy requires a style that, if not followed, can hurl the reader out of Elfland and send him or her to Poughkeepsie. (She cites the way characters in fantasies by Zelazny and Leiber break into contemporary slang as examples.) The panel discusses the importance of style in fantasy.

Saturday 11:00am Making It Real: Bringing a Fantasy or SF Setting to Life (Kenneth B. Chiacchia, Joshua B. Palmatier, Tamora Pierce (M), Michelle (Sagara) West)

Saturday 2:00pm Comedy in High Fantasy (S. C. Butler (M), Susan Dexter, Joshua B. Palmatier, Tamora Pierce, Karina Sumner-Smith)

Saturday 5:00pm Reading (0.5 hrs) (Joshua B. Palmatier)

Sunday 2:00pm My Favorite Series: The Best Current Fantasy and SF Series (S. C. Butler (M), Susan Dexter, Timothy Liebe, Joshua B. Palmatier, Karina Sumner-Smith)

What are you're favorite series -- both recent and classic. George Martin's Song of Ice and Fire. Lois Bujold's Miles stories? Repairman Jack? What about series you really like that you feel are very underrated?

Denvention Panel Schedule:

Writers reading from their juvenalia Thur. 10am

Using Myths to Kick Off a Fantasy World Fri. 4pm



So who else is going to either of these?