Worldcon 2013

We’ll be at Lone Star Con 3/Worldcon 2013 here in San Antonio, TX on Saturday and Sunday.  We decided on day passes for the weekend because our jobs were in the way on Thursday and Friday (and Monday’s events are pretty boring).  It’s going to be pretty hectic; there’s a lot to do!

On Saturday night and Sunday night respectively, we’ll be cramming into the Grand Salon along with everyone else to see the Masquerade and Hugo Awards, but we’ll probably spend most of the daytime attending panels.  My likely schedule is:

Saturday 8/31

10:00 a.m. — 1 hour

2045 | Happy Birthday, Doc Savage!

Convention Center: 103B • Panel, Literature

For a legendary super hero who just turned 80, he doesn’t look a day over 33! Our panel will join Doc Savage historian Anthony Tollin in a discussion of the origins and influence of one of the all time great heroes.

Anthony Tollin (M), Mike Ward, David Liss, Jess Nevins

11:00 a.m. — 1 hour

2160 | Author by Day, Poet by Night

Convention Center: 102A • Panel, Poetry

A number of authors are also poets in the fields of fantasy and science fiction. Our panelists discuss current and past masters of the craft and the relationship between genre poetry and prose writing. Is there such a thing as “speculative poetry?”

Nancy Hightower (M), Paul Herman, Juan Perez

Noon — 1 hour

2275 | What Will Replace Urban Fantasy?

Convention Center: 008B • Panel, Literature

Cat Rambo (M), Leigh Perry, Susan Krinard, Steven Diamond, Gini Koch

OR

2285 | Poetry Inside Out: Bridging Cultures

through Language

Convention Center: 101B • Panel, Poetry

Can you translate extraordinary poems from their original language and reach a new audience? Will a different language deliver the same impact and images?

Emily Jiang, Guadalupe Garcia McCall

OR

2295 | The Howard Boom: Barbarians,

Fanzines, and the 1970s

Convention Center: 102B • Panel, Fannish

Robert E. Howard fans have always been vocal, and they took to fanzines during the heyday with aplomb. Battlescarred veterans of the Howard fanzine boom are here to talk about their ongoing involvement in Howard Fandom.

Bill Cavalier (M), Jeffrey Shanks, Damon Sasser, Rob Roehm

1:00 p.m. — 1 hour

2415 | But Why Can’t You See My Genius?

Convention Center: 101A • Panel, Industry

Let’s face it; nobody likes rejection, but every writer is going to get rejection letters at some point. Why the rejection? Why don’t they love you? Your work may be wrong for the publisher, may have arrived on the wrong day, or it may simply be the 350th angsty vampire novel the poor sorry slush pile reader has seen that week. How can you turn a rejection letter into a “hell yes!”

Beth Meacham (M), Michael Underwood, Eleanor Wood,

Mary Robinette Kowal, Joshua Bilmes

OR

2440 | I Married a Werewolf:

Paranormal Romance

Convention Center: 103B • Panel, Literature

Vampires and werewolves (and sometimes even zombies, as the recent film Warm Bodies showed) are more complex creatures than they used to be. Moreover, over the years, they have become the subject of romance. Why, and in what ways?

Darlene Marshall (M), Carrie Vaughn, Jean Johnson,

Gail Carriger, Charlaine Harris

OR

Lunch

2:00 p.m. — 1 hour

2510 | Use of Language in Fantasy

Convention Center: 006A • Panel, Literature

How do you determine the stye of language to use in fantasy? Do you use archaic language, modern language or poetic language - which works best and in what circumstances?

Mary Robinette Kowal (M), Jaime Moyer, Susan Krinard,

Matthew Johnson, Carol Berg

OR

Lunch

3:00 p.m. — 1 hour

2635 | The Poetry of Robert E. Howard: The Dark Bard of Texas

Convention Center: 003B • Panel, Poetry

Robert E. Howard wrote more than 700 poems in his lifetime. His accomplishments as a poet are often eclipsed by his genre-bending and world-building efforts. But in his day, Howard was recognized as a gifted, intuitive poet.

Bill Cavalier (M), Rusty Burke, Paul Herman

4:00 p.m. — 1 hour

Dinner already?  Just walking around the exhibits and dealers?

5:00 p.m. — 1 hour

2905 | Robert E. Howard: The Weird, West, and Worms

Convention Center: 006B • Talk, Academic

Paper session. Jeffrey Shanks and Mark Finn, Independent Scholars, present “Vaqueros and Vampires: Robert E. Howard and the Genesis of the Weird Western.”

And Jeffrey Shanks, Independent Scholar, presents “Evolutionary Otherness: Anthropological Anxiety in Robert E. Howard’s “Worms of the Earth.’”

Donald M. Hassler (M), Mark Finn, Jeffrey Shanks

6:00 p.m. — 1 hour

3050 | Beyond Godzilla vs. King Kong: Monsters of Japan and the Americas

Convention Center: 103B • Panel, Media

Both East and West love monsters. The ghostly Japanese creatures known as yokai are many and varied, and have a broad Western analogue in cryptids such as the Sasquatch and the chupacabra. The giant city-smashing kaiju, well the West has a few of those as well. But what are the differences, and what are the similarities, between these monsters? Why do adults still love monsters, and what do monsters mean when they appear in fiction, film, or folklore? Come and find out!

Seia Tanabe (M), Masao Higashi, Toh EnJoe

7:00 p.m. — 1 hour

Nothin.’

8:00 p.m. — 3 hours

7:30 p.m. — Doors open

3105 | Masquerade

Rivercenter: Grand Salon • Event, Events

Come join aliens, scientists, and fantastic creatures who are invading us - Deep in the Heart of Texas. Watch the most inspirational and wondrous costumers of our world as they show their stuff on the biggest stage at LoneStarCon 3. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. and we will start at 8 p.m. to highlight the creativity of our friends, starting with Young Fans and following them into the night with costumers of all levels. The show will also feature our Special Guest, Leslie Fish singing her stylings and magician Drew Heyen in an interactive show with some of you, our audience. Wear your costume and someone may also want to take your picture! This is a show for all.

Paul Cornell

Sunday 9/1

10:00 a.m. — 1 hour

3355 | Autographing

Convention Center: Exhibit A • Autographing

Amanda Downum, Mary Robinette Kowal, Elizabeth Anne Hull, Jack Skillingstead

11:00 a.m. — 1 hour

3440 | Co-Ops, Unions and Classes

Convention Center: 101A • Panel, Art

How to find the right artist support group. What are the different types available, online and in real space? What should you look for? What makes a good fit?

Bridget Duffy (M), Maurine Starkey, Alan F. Beck,

Mitchell Bentley

OR

3445 | Disaster and the Literature of the Supernatural

Convention Center: 101B • Panel, Literature

The inexpressible damage done to Japan by the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami of 2011 is but the latest in a long line of disasters. The relationship between natural calamities and literature of the supernatural has never been so profound. We will use both visuals and commentary to describe the current state of the damage done by disasters, and will explore the relationships between disasters, traditional ghost stories and the literature of fantasy, as well as Japan’s unique folk cultural traditions. We will present graphic

images of unusual Japanese spirits, demons, and monsters.

Masao Higashi (M), Toh EnJoe, Seia Tanabe

Noon — 1 hour

3515 | Reading: Charlaine Harris

Convention Center: 001AB • Reading

OR

Lunch

1:00 p.m. — 1 hour

3690 | Crowdfunding: the Good, the Bad & the Ugly

Convention Center: 008B • Panel, Real World

Crowdfunding is an easy way to raise money — or is it? You still have to solicit and work at it. What works, and what is going to fail? What should you look out for? What are the sites to use, and to avoid?

Howard Tayler (M), Tobias Buckell, Christopher J. Garcia,

Catherynne M. Valente

OR

3705 | The Wild, Weird, and Wonderful Westerns of Robert E. Howard

Convention Center: 102A • Panel, Literature

At the end of his life, Robert E. Howard was making good money writing humorous, and also very dark, westerns. In fact, westerns abound all throughout Howard’s short, intense career. Our panelists talk about everything from the hilarious Breckinridge Elkins series to the deadly earnest story, “Wild Water.”

Dennis McHaney (M), Jeffrey Shanks, Mark Finn, Dave Hardy

OR

Lunch

2:00 p.m. — 1 hour

3820 | Fantastic Victoriana: The True Roots of Steampunk

Convention Center: 008A • Panel, Literature

Where did Steampunk come from? Was it Jules Verne, or the Wild Wild West? Our panel of experts will kick it around and come up with a must read list of titles for newcomers or long-time fans alike.

Jess Nevins (M), Drew Heyen, David Boop

OR

3755 | Kaffeeklatsch: Catherine Asaro, Steven Brust, Mary Robinette Kowal

Riverwalk: Riverview • Kaffeeklatsch

OR

Lunch

3:00 p.m. — 1 hour

3935 | Getting Research Right in

Historical Fiction

Convention Center: 008A • Panel, Literature

How much research needs to be done when writing a story set in an historical period? How far can you stray before readers will notice? Do the readers care, or even know enough to care?

Rick Wilber (M), Laura Frankos, Barbara Galler-Smith, Harry Turtledove, Kay Kenyon

OR

3955 | Reading: John Scalzi

Convention Center: 102A • Reading

4:00 p.m. — 30 minutes

4030 | Reading: Mark Finn

Convention Center: 002B • Reading

AND

4:30 p.m. — 30 minutes

4130 | Reading: Mary Robinette Kowal

Convention Center: 002B • Reading

OR

4:00 p.m. — 1 hour

4110 | The Sundering — Splitting D&D Down the Middle

Convention Center: 204B • Presentation, Gaming

Jon Schindehette talks about D&D’s new story arc, and how it is going to be experiences in a transmedia context. From the world building, to the story development, to the actual execution of the story.

Jon Schindehette

5:00 p.m. — 1 hour

4155 | How to Extend Your Book Beyond the Page into Social Media

Convention Center: 006A • Panel, Industry

Karen Anderson (M), Jaime Moyer, Gabrielle de Cuir, Lee Harris

OR

Dinner

6:00 p.m. — 1 hour

4255 | Robert E. Howard at the Ice House

Convention Center: 006A • Panel, Literature

Howard was an amateur boxer, and wrote mountains of boxing stories. No kidding! Here’s a rare opportunity to hear about the boxing canon of Robert E. Howard from the editors of the 4 vol. series currently being published by the Robert E. Howard Foundation Press. Warning: attending this panel may cause an outburst of laughter, followed by a burning desire to read Howard’s boxing stories.

Jeffrey Shanks (M), Patrice Louinet, Chris Gruber, Mark Finn

7:00 p.m. — 1 hour

Nuthin.’

8:00 p.m. — 3 hours

4315 | Hugo Awards Ceremony

Rivercenter: Grand Salon • Event, Events

The Hugo Award is the only major science fiction award that is voted on by fans around the globe. Join us as we honor our nominees and winners Sunday evening in the Grand Ballroom. The ceremony starts at 8:00 PM, doors open at 7:30 PM.

11:00 p.m. — 3 hours

4350 | Steampunk-themed Late Night Dance

Convention Center: Ballroom A • Event, Dance

Swing out or get down and boogie with the band that’s taking the Steampunk dance scene by storm. Scott Bradlee (of Bioshock Infinite renown) and his Postmodern Jukebox ensemble transform the pop-chart hits of today into the anachronistic party favorites of a yesteryear that never was! This is modern pop reinvented with a classy, retro edge. We’ll wrap up the convention in high style with this cut-loose late-night club dance.

Post Modern Jukebox