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    Tuesday, October 4, 2016

    My Capclave 2016 Schedule



    It’s Capclave season! If you’ll be in the Washington, DC, area this weekend (October 7-9) you couldn’t do better than to join us at the Gaithersburg Hilton for the MDV’s premier science fiction/fantasy literary convention. This year’s guests of honor will be Tim Powers and Sarah Beth Durst.
    They’re even giving me some panels, too:

    7 PM, Friday, October 7
    Rockville/Potomac Meeting Room
    Fictionalizing Real People (Ends at: 7:55 pm)
    Panelists: Tim Powers, James R. Stratton, Jean Marie Ward (Moderator), Allen L. Wold
    When you put a real person in a story, how much do you need to know about that person? What biographical information do you keep or leave out? What are the pro's and con's of writing such a character?

    1 PM, Saturday, October 8
    Salon A
    Humor in Science Fiction & Fantasy (Ends at: 1:55 pm)
    Panelists: Doc Coleman (M), William Freedman, Larry Hodges, Alex Shvartsman, Jean Marie Ward
    When is it good to have a laugh? An exploration of not only humorous books, but putting humorous elements in a dramatic story.

    10 PM, Saturday, October 8
    Rockville/Potomac Meeting Room
    Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading (Ends at: 10:55 pm)
    Panelists: Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Jeanne Adams, V. Hartman DiSanto, Kelly A. Harmon, Christie Meierz, Jean Marie Ward (M)
    Listen to the Broad Universe Writers as they reveal their literary gems. Expect some extra members of the Universe to join the fun!

    11PM, Saturday, October 8
    Bethesda Meeting Room
    Unused Secret Histories (Ends at: 11:55 pm)
    Panelists: Tom Doyle, Bjorn Hasseler, James Morrow (Moderator), Jean Marie Ward
    Tim Powers' novels frequently use secret histories in which the recorded history does not change but the reasons behind the events are rather different. What historical events would make for a good secret history and what would be your explanation?


    See you there!

    Monday, September 12, 2016

    I Thought I Was one of the Good Guys: a #HoldOntoTheLight Post



    A blog post in support of #HoldOnToTheLight SF/F Authors and Fans for Mental Wellness

    Everybody wants to be a hero. Finding our cause might take a while, but it’s always there waiting.
    For me the epiphany happened when I was an intern at the old Army Development and Research Command. I thought my office was great. My colleagues were pleasant, respectful and never asked me to make coffee a second time. (Back then men never made their own coffee. In my own small way I helped change that. All it took was a little lemon juice.)

    Then the excellent colonel who ran the office went away on an extended training course. His temporary replacement was a part-time lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves who thought his rank and gender entitled him to chase me around the office desks when nobody but the colonel’s secretary was looking. Accustomed to friendship and support from all the other women in the office, I approached her for help.

    “Get used to it,” she sneered. “It used to happen to me all the time. Now it’s your turn.”

    Her voice seethed with malice and a warped kind of triumph. What was wrong with this woman? Harassment wasn’t something you passed on like a family heirloom. It was something you fought, not just for yourself but for all the people who came after you. I resolved I would never be like her. I would fight for people being sexually victimized by their supervisors, colleagues, or anybody who thought themselves entitled to prey on others by virtue of their position or gender.

    I was lucky. I found other allies, and together we encouraged the lieutenant colonel to return home seven weeks early. But I never lost my resolve to protect others from sexual predation. It led some interesting throw-downs with military officers, senior enlisted personnel and political appointees during my Pentagon years. But defending others made me feel useful and good, far beyond any of my bureaucratic achievements.

    Caught up in my vision of myself as an anti-harassment crusader, it never occurred to me that I, too, could be a bully.

    Don’t waste any sympathy the jerks who went trolling the interns, the summer hires and the secretarial pool. They deserved everything they got and then some. But the same ferocity that made me so good at fending off predators also left unintended damage in its wake. Government offices are surprisingly random. They bring together people of all backgrounds, education and personalities, and every single one of them has a breaking point.

    Thirteen years after my encounter my life-changing encounter with the colonel’s secretary I was hired as the senior public affairs officer for the Defense Finance and Accounting Service. The job entailed managing corporate communications and public relations for the agency’s headquarters, operating centers and field offices. My center staffs included some exceptional writers and publications people, and I held them up as examples to the rest. I had high standards. I wanted us to be the best public affairs outfit in the Department of Defense. But I liked to think of myself as fair. I never insulted or belittled my public affairs personnel in front of their colleagues and peers. I always praised them to their supervisors and center chiefs.

    I also judged everyone’s products—news releases, publications, outreach initiatives—against the best of the best. When asked for my opinion, I gave it. In detail. How would those who didn’t excel at writing, design or programming improve if I didn’t tell them when they got it wrong?

    In case you haven’t noticed, I can be rather…forceful. I grew up on Army bases where even little skinny little girls in glasses learned to be wicked fighters. As an adult, when I finally graduated to the government’s version of the grown-up table, I was frequently the only woman in the room. I learned to pitch my voice low and hard, and to stare down men twice my weight. As a result, scary became my default setting.

    I didn’t realize how intimidating I’d become until we held a conference for center public affairs officers in Indianapolis. Whenever I staged an agency-wide conference, I always scheduled a “fun event” where participants could mingle without worrying about official directions or agendas. At my request, the Indianapolis center made reservations at a restaurant/magic museum the evening before the conference’s official start.

    Everyone arrived on time except one center public affairs officer. We waited for her until the group nearly lost our reservation. She still didn’t appear. We double-checked her hotel and the restaurant—it was a magic museum, after all. But she wasn’t in her room or in collusion with the magicians.
    Since her boss, the center director, could be capricious, we figured it must be something work-related and settled back to enjoy the meal and the show. Recovering reporters and marketing types have a reputation as heavy drinkers, but we all went light on the alcohol. The night was pouring rain, and all of us out-of-towners had gotten lost at least once on the way to the restaurant. We didn’t want to risk something worse on our way back to our respective hotels.

    By mid-meal I was worried. Where was the missing public affairs officer? Yeah, her boss could’ve sent her on a snipe hunt, why didn’t she call and tell us about it? We had some of the best public affairs officers in the department at that table. Between us we could fix whatever her director might have broken.

    This was in the Dark Ages before cell phones, so I couldn’t call more than a couple of times from the restaurant. She didn’t answer no matter how long I let it ring. I returned to my hotel and called again. She still wasn’t answering. Now I was really alarmed. I decided to call every hour until midnight. If I didn’t reach her by twelve my next call would be to the police.

    I finally connected around eleven. She sounded groggy and upset, like I’d woken her after she’d cried herself to sleep.

    I asked her what was wrong. Why hadn’t she come to the restaurant? Everybody missed her.

    “Really? Really?” she practically shrieked. “Well, I couldn’t. I couldn’t find the damn place. I got lost downtown. In the rain. I wound up going the wrong way on a one way street. Then this cop pulled me over. And…and…” Her voice broke on a sob.

    “Oh no, [Name Redacted], are you all right? Do you need me to pay your ticket?“

    “No, I’m not all right! My husband’s in the hospital for a double bypass, and I’m here in Indianapolis for this stupid conference, and a cop pulled me over and now I’m going to lose my job.”

    “Your husband’s in the hospital?” I repeated stupidly. For a double bypass? My mind boggled. “What are you doing here?” Why didn’t you tell me?

    “Why do you think I’m here? I’m attending your stupid conference. My center director told me I had to come. He said it was important. You could get me fired. I can’t get fired. My husband has a bad heart. I need this job.”

    Your center director said what?

    I wouldn’t…

    I never…

    But in a way I had. This public affairs officer had come up through the secretarial ranks, which gave her a distinct inferiority complex with respect to those of us who’d always been classified as professionals. She never worked on newspapers or studied publication design, which meant she bore the brunt of my “helpful” opinions. I’d never given her a reason to trust me or believe I had her best interests at heart. To her I was an unfeeling, judgmental harpy who kept shoving her into a mold she couldn’t possibly fit. I never praised her for all the things she did right. Hell, I never bothered to find out what they were.

    I spent the next fifteen minutes apologizing and trying to find some way to help. Had she received a ticket? Did she need me to pay it?

    No to both. She was already crying when the cop pulled her over. He let her go with a warning and drew a map to get her back to the hotel.

    Did she want to go home? I’d clear it with her center director. Hell, I’d figure out a way she could stay with her husband for the duration.

    No, she wanted to stay. She wanted to do her job.

    I was humbled. I was horrified. I was sickened by the unintended consequences of my actions. I was disgusted with myself in ways I hadn’t been disgusted by anyone since that long-ago secretary refused to help me with that jerk of a reserve lieutenant colonel. How did this happen? I thought I was one of the good guys. Yet I behaved like a bully. I terrorized a colleague into abandoning a desperately ill spouse out of fear for her job. She was so afraid of me and what I might do, she couldn’t bring herself to tell me what was happening until it was almost too late.

    The experience changed me in many ways. Most importantly, I learned it wasn’t enough to prevent others from doing harm. We need to police ourselves. We’re all heroes in our own minds, but nobody gets a pass for good intentions. The road to Hell is paved with them, after all. What matters is our actions and how they affect those around us. Or to quote an instruction more venerable than any contained in the U.S. Code: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

    Speaking from personal experience, it’s never easy. But it’s always worth it.

    #

    About the campaign:

    #HoldOnToTheLight is a blog campaign encompassing blog posts by fantasy and science fiction authors around the world in an effort to raise awareness around treatment for depression, suicide prevention, domestic violence intervention, PTSD initiatives, bullying prevention and other mental health-related issues. We believe fandom should be supportive, welcoming and inclusive, in the long tradition of fandom taking care of its own. We encourage readers and fans to seek the help they or their loved ones need without shame or embarrassment.

    Please consider donating to or volunteering for organizations dedicated to treatment and prevention such as: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Home for the Warriors (PTSD), National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Canadian Mental Health Association, MIND (UK), SANE (UK), BeyondBlue (Australia), To Write Love On Her Arms and the National Suicide Prevention Hotline.


    To find out more about #HoldOnToTheLight, find a list of participating authors, or reach a media contact, go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/276745236033627/.

    Tuesday, August 30, 2016

    My Dragon Con 2016 Schedule

    Almost forgot the promotional part of running away to join the circus that is Dragon Con—my schedule! Hope to see you there. This year’s con is sure to be more amazing than usual, since the Dragon is turning thirty. My, they grow so fast. I remember when it was just a little wyrm, too small and too young to vote... ;-)
    Happy Labor Day Weekend, everyone!

    Time: Fri 08:30 pm Location: Embassy CD - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
    Title: Social Media as a Tool--not a Trial
    Description: Face it, savvy authors use social media to their advantage. But, it's a two-headed demon...Secrets of taming that beast.
    Moderator / MC for panel
    (Tentative Panelists: Gail Z. Martin, Jean Marie Ward, Debbie Viguie, Sheila English, Julie Kenner)

    Time: Sat 02:30 pm Location: Embassy AB - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
    Title: Getting it Wrong and Living to Tell About It
    Description: Writers aren't perfect. (I know, shocking, isn't it?) Sometimes, they get their research wrong, or publicly insert both feet in their mouths and try to run with them. Sometimes, they even change facts on purpose. Panelists talk about the times they screwed up, and how they fixed it.
    Moderator / MC for panel
    (Tentative Panelists: Jean Marie Ward, L. M. Davis, A. J. Hartley, Milton J. Davis, Roshani Hitesh Chokshi)

    Time: Sat 04:00 pm Location: Piedmont - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
    Title: Reading: Broad Universe
    Description: The ladies & gentlemen of Broad Universe read snippets from their work.
    (Tentative Panelists: Gail Z. Martin, Jean Marie Ward, Trisha J. Woldridge, John G. Hartness, Clay and Susan Griffith)

    Time: Sun 08:30 pm Location: Embassy AB - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
    Title: Kicking You Out - What Throws You Out of a Story?
    Description: You're reading a really good book, caught up in the storyline. Suddenly it happens. A factual mistake, a really bad typo, a favorite character suddenly acting totally wrong...or something else. What is it that can kick you totally out of the world the writer is presenting?
    Moderator / MC for panel
    (Tentative Panelists: Jean Marie Ward, Trisha J. Woldridge, Chris A Jackson)

    Time: Mon 01:00 pm Location: Embassy AB - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
    Title: SF Win, Lose or Draw!
    Description: Compete with fellow fans in getting your team to decipher your drawings of words, phrases and items from around the SF world. The winners will receive prizes and accolades.
    (Tentative Panelists: Jean Marie Ward)

    Time: Mon 02:30 pm Location: Chastain DE - Westin (Length: 1 Hour)
    Title: The End of the Line: A Lost Girl Fan Panel
    Description: A moderated fan-panel discussion of the beloved series' last season, and whether or not it provided closure and a satisfying ending.
    (Tentative Panelists: Kevin Bachelder, Jean Marie Ward, Valerie Hampton, E.J. Stevens)

    Tuesday, May 24, 2016

    My Schedule for Balticon 50

    Taking a moment away from baking double batches of molasses cookies and pecan snowballs to share my tentative schedule for Balticon 50. Why did I tantalize you by mentioning baked goods made with butter and sugar and vanilla and all sorts of wonderful things? Because they and a lot of other homemade goodies will be waiting for you at the E-Spec Books Launch Party on Sunday night. I’m also bringing chocolate to the Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading Sunday afternoon.
    This means you’re coming to Balticon, right? Right?
    Can’t wait to see you there!

    Saturday 1-1:50 PM, Guilford (Renaissance)
    Writing: It's My Job AND What I Do For Fun—Our panelists discuss how awesome it is having their job be something they love to do: the work itself, the fan, the other authors they meet, the places they get to visit.
    Panelists: Carl Cipra (Moderator), Keith DeCandido , Jody Lynn Nye, Jean Marie Ward

    Saturday 6-6:50 PM, St. George (Renaissance)
    Steampunk and Urban Fantasy Readings with Keith R. A. DeCandido, Christine Norris, Jean Marie Ward, and D. C. Wilson

    Sunday 3-4:20 PM, Pride of Baltimore (Renaissance)
    Broad Universe Rapid Fire Readings—The woman of Broad Universe are back with flash readings to tweak your appetites!
    Panelists: Randee Dawn (Moderator), Roxanne Bland, Carmen Webster Buxton, LJ Cohen, Vonnie Winslow Crist, Kelly A. Harmon, Lisa Hawkridge, Tamara Siler Jones, Paula S. Jordan, Gail Martin, Jody Lynn Nye, Jean Marie Ward

    Sunday 7-9 PM, MD Salon B (Renaissance)
    E-Spec Books Launch Party—The authors contributing to Gaslight and Grimm, The Weird Wild West, The Side of Good/The Side of Evil and Defending the Future invite you to help them celebrate! Panelists: Danielle Ackley-McPhail, R. S. Belcher, Danny Birt, Keith DeCandido, John L. French, Eric Hardenbrook, Kelly Harmon, Chris Hiles, Emily Leverett, Diana Bastine, Gail Z. Martin, Mike McPhail, Bernie Mojzes, Christine Norris, Jody Lynn Nye, Ken Schrader, Bud Sparhawk, David Lee Summers, Jean Marie Ward, Robert Waters, Jeff Young

    Monday 12:00 - 12:50 PM, Parlor 8029 (Renaissance)
    What's Hot Short Fiction?
    Panelists: Sarah Pinsker (Moderator), Alex Shvartsman, Michael Underwood, Scott Edelman, Jean Marie Ward