Capclave, my hometown con specializing in short fiction, is coming up this weekend. Don’t miss your chance to see our award-winning guests of honor, Ken Liu and Neil Clarke, as well as hang with the some of the friendliest writers around. (Yeah, I’ll be there, too. But the rest of them are really nice. Honest.)

My schedule this year is particularly choice, encompassing a number of topics dear to my heart. I hope I’ll see you at the panels and readings. And as always, I come equipped with chocolate.

Friday

3 PM, Rockville/Potomac

Worldbuilding in Science Fiction vs. Fantasy

Are there distinctions in how worldbuilding is approached for a fantasy setting rather than a science fiction setting? Are there different approaches in how the result is presented to the reader? Are there challenges on one side of the fantasy/SF split that are less of an issue on the other? Panelists: Charles Gannon, Jean Marie Ward (m), Lawrence Watt-Evans, Allen Wold

7 PM, Rockville/Potomac

Write What You Don't Know

Fantasy authors rarely get irate email from dragons saying they got it wrong. How to write characters from places and times that you don’t know but members of your audience do, and why it’s important to get outside your comfort zone. Panelists: Scott H. Andrews, Joshua Palmatier, Michael Ventrella (m), Jean Marie Ward

Saturday

11 AM, Bethesda

Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading

Broad Universe is an international organization with the primary goal of promoting science fiction, fantasy, and horror written by women. Members will be doing readings from their own works. Readers: Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Jeanne Adams, Vickie Hartman DiSanto, Karen Wester Newton (aka Carmen Webster Buxton), Jennifer Povey, Janine K. Spendlove, Denise Timpko, Jean Marie Ward (m)

1 PM, Bethesda

Reading (30 minutes)

4 PM, Salon A

Use of Mythology in Science Fiction and Fantasy

There are a lot of different mythologies out there, with both similarities and differences.  How do we incorporate and adapt them when writing our stories.  What's acceptable to adapt and change, especially when using a mythology from a culture not one's own. E.g. dragons in Europe and dragons in various Asian countries often have quite different motives and personalities ascribed to them. Panelists: Jack Campbell, Carolyn Ives Gilman, Scott Roberts, Michelle Sonnier, Jean Marie Ward (m)

Sunday

3 PM, Frederick

The Economics of Magic

How do you use magic in your fantasy work so that it doesn't become a get out of jail free option?  When your characters use magic what are the costs to the magic user or the fantasy world?  Should conservation of energy apply? Panelists: Scott H. Andrews, Jean Marie Ward (m), Lawrence Watt-Evans

"Cat Pictures Please" with a side of Aeslin Mice

Don’t expect me to rip the bandage off any dark secrets in this year’s #HoldOntoTheLight essay. No, I’m not blowing off the campaign. Yes, there’s a blog ahead. But I’m not going to beat myself up about it. I’m snuffling through the infamous Post Dragon-Con Crud (tm), and I lack the functional brain cells necessary for any kind of depth.

Which is the whole point. There are times even those of us blessed with a psychiatric nurse/expert Jungian for a mother and a personality default of Mean Girl can’t work up the energy for self-examination, much less meaningful social, political or emotional action.

And that’s okay.

Repeat those words. Say them to yourself and own them, because it’s not only okay, it’s important to your body and your soul to accept there are times when you need to be nice to yourself.

I won’t argue that disasters big and small crater the landscape—devastating hurricanes, earthquakes, political chaos, bigotry, war, famine, plagues, the fall of cultural icons and personal heartache. I also believe we need to throw our shoulders to wheel and do everything we can to address the problems we face. But not 24/7. The spirit may be willing, but the flesh is weak, and trust me, the flesh will do everything in its power to drag the spirit down to its level. When that happens, you do whatever you need to keep yourself going, no matter how silly or frivolous it might appear.

2006 and 2007 were two of the worst years of my life. My dear friend and cowriter Teri Smith suffered a fatal embolism in 2006, and my mother died the following year. To. The. Day. I got through it thanks to three things: my husband, my dearest and oldest friend Cath, and Duzie, the cat Teri and I rescued from the halls of her apartment building a few weeks before she died.

Duzie was my first cat. A better teacher in the ways of cat could not be found. He was gentle and tolerant, allowing me to cry into his soft fur as long as I wanted. But he had very definite views on his place in the food chain (at the top) and in the house (wherever he damn well pleased).

But he was also an old cat. He died in the spring of 2012 after a three-month decline. For those of you who don’t have pets, it may seem strange, but those three months were a nightmare flashback to the worst days of Teri’s and my mom’s death, with an added load of guilt, because I didn’t know what was happening, much less how to make it better. I should’ve been able to make it better. I was an educated human being, with all the advantages of 21st century veterinary medicine. Why couldn’t I help one small cat? And worse, the fear that whispered in the dark of night: Were my efforts to save him adding to his pain?

I quickly lost the ability to write. I expected that. It had happened before when my mom went on hospice care. So I knew the desire and ability would return once the worst of the grief had passed.

What I didn’t expect was losing the will to read. Oh, I could still make sense of words on a page. My comprehension was fine. But I lost all pleasure in the act. The lifeboat that had carried me through the worst of bad times was gone. Why? Because my emotional skin was too thin to suffer the conflict inherent in all good stories.

It took me a full two weeks after Duzie’s death to find something I could bear to read—Discount Armageddon, the first book in Seanan McGuire’s InCryptid series and the happiest, fluffiest novel she had published to date. I knew going in that everything would turn out okay. Along the way there was ballroom dancing, a found family of delightful oddballs, redemptive romance and, best of all, a colony of Aeslin Mice interrupting the action at the funniest moments to sing the oddest praises of the Price family.

Reading got easier after Discount Armageddon, but only because I didn’t push. I read for pleasure, not to impress anybody. If I felt like reading cozy mysteries or category romances, I did. Their formulaic structure was more than part of their charm; it was actively healing.

By the time Naomi Kritzer’s joyous short story, “Cat Pictures Please”, began collecting award nominations I was more than ready to vote for it. I had internalized the over-sized truth contained in its small word count: it’s the little kindnesses that make us whole. Share cat pictures or dog pictures or gifs of hamsters in hats, and you could ease someone’s (or something’s) pain just enough to save the world.

The idea isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds. Life is a lot like airplane turbulence. You need to be sure you can breathe before you can take care of anyone else.

So cut yourself some slack. Pamper yourself with ice cream, cat pictures, Aeslin Mice or whatever soothes your soul. A little break won’t turn a mountain of problems into a molehill, but a little kindness just might make that mountain easier to scale.

You’re welcome. No need to thank me. As the lady and the AI said, payment is in cat pictures.

#

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, Hope 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 (TWLOHA) and the National Suicide Prevention Hotline.

To find out more about #HoldOnToTheLight, find a list of participating authors and blog posts, or reach a media contact, go to http://www.HoldOnToTheLight.com and join us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/WeHoldOnToTheLight

All the cool kids posted their Dragon Con schedules last week. But I held out until I could be sure I had a reading. Thanks to John Hartness of Falstaff Books, now I do! On Saturday afternoon at one o’clock you can hear me read a teaser from “Blood and Strawberries”, the urban fantasy novella Falstaff will be publishing in 2018!

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Although the con’s programming folks hope their schedules are firm and good, things can change up to the minute we start the panel. Heck, I’ve sat on panels where things continued to change even after we took our places at the table. Wild as they seem, many of the details of my story “Protective Coloring” in Gilded Dragonfly Books’ new anthology The Rise of the Phoenix were drawn straight from con life.

But enough with the shameless self-promotion. You’re here for the schedule–and a fine one it is!

The Oldest Profession: History’s Most Famous Harlots
Description: History has a lot of unsung heroes, none more surprising as its harlots. Contrary to what you may have read in the history books, our present has been shaped and often guided by some of the most notorious and celebrated madams and working women. This survey panel showcases some of the best!
Time: Fri 10:00 PM Location: Athens – Sheraton (Length: 1 Hour)
(Tentative Panelists: Faith Hunter, Cherie Priest, Jean Marie Ward, Misty Massey)

Falstaff Books Reading
Description: John Hartness and the writers of Falstaff Books read from their new and forthcoming titles.
Time: Sat 1 PM Location: Piedmont – Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
(Tentative Panelists: John Hartness, Darin Kennedy, Jay Requard, Joelle Reizes, R.R. Virdi, Jean Marie Ward)

No Ordinary Town: A Midnight, Texas Fan Panel
Description: A moderated fan-panel discussion of the show based on the best-selling book series by Charlaine Harris
Time: Sat 05:30 PM Location: Chastain 1-2 – Westin (Length: 1 Hour)
(Tentative Panelists: Jeri Westerson, Jean Marie Ward)

Lost Worlds: The Science Fiction of Arthur Conan Doyle
Description: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is best known for Sherlock Holmes, but he also wrote sf. Our panelists help to shed light on these works.
Time: Sat 07:00 PM Location: Embassy AB – Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
(Tentative Panelists: Bethany Kesler, Jaym Gates, Jean Marie Ward)

The Deviance and Depravity of Victorian England
Description: The repression of the Victorian era meant depravity of the most devious kinds behind closed doors. This panel goes over the pornography, taboos, sexuality, and gender identity of those naughty Victorians. We’ll also be including visual examples from the era for the oh so mature of audiences.
Time: Sun 01:00 AM Location: Athens – Sheraton (Length: 1 Hour)
(Tentative Panelists: Sara E Neathery, Jean Marie Ward, Karianne Gottschalk)

1632: The Ring of Fire Series Author Roundtable
Description: 1632 and the subsequent novels, anthologies, and sprawling speculative fiction work of Eric Flint, Charles E. Gannon, and other authors who have contributed to anthologies have expanded this 17th Century Alternate History work into a grand shared world to be enjoyed, explored, and discussed.
Time: Sun 04:00 PM Location: Augusta – Sheraton (Length: 1 Hour)
Moderator / MC for panel
(Tentative Panelists: Jean Marie Ward, Eric Flint, Dr. Charles E. Gannon, Griffin Barber, Toni Weisskopf)

Playing in Someone Else’s Universe
Description: The rise of indie publishing and crowdfunding has led to an increase in shared world anthologies and other projects, many in well-established fictional universes. Panelists discuss the challenges they’ve faced adapting to worlds not of their own making.
Time: Sun 05:30 PM Location: Embassy AB – Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
Moderator / MC for panel
(Tentative Panelists: Jean Marie Ward, Dr. Charles E. Gannon, Kacey Ezell, Todd McCaffrey, Griffin Barber)

Collaborations, Critique Groups and Beta Readers
Description: Today’s writers find creative help in ways writers of the past didn’t have access to. What’s right for a writer depends on many things. This panel discusses whether a collaboration, critique group or beta reader is the perfect choice–and how to find them.
Time: Sun 07:00 PM Location: Embassy CD – Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
Moderator / MC for panel
(Tentative Panelists: Jean Marie Ward, Jane Yolen, Jake Bible, David B. Coe, Mercedes Lackey, Richard Lee Byers)

Beyond Victorian: Alt. History in Other Cultures and Eras
Description: if you can’t bear the sight of one more crumpet, how about nativepunk, retrofuture, or “Amish sci fi”? There’s a multitude of cultures and eras and subgenres that are begging to be explored. Our panelists explore new lands and times into the various aspects of alternate history.
Time: Sun 08:30 PM Location: Athens – Sheraton (Length: 1 Hour)
Moderator / MC for panel
(Tentative Panelists: Jean Marie Ward, Margaret S. McGraw, A. J. Hartley, Michael Bunker)

Win, Lose Or Draw
Description: Our host, Jean Marie Ward, puts contestants through their paces testing out their artistic abilities in getting teammates to guess names, places, things from science fiction and Dragon Con itself. There will be prizes!
Time: Mon 01:00 PM Location: Embassy AB – Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
Moderator / MC for panel
(Tentative Panelists: Jean Marie Ward)

Looking forward to seeing you there!

###

My Balticon 2017 Schedule

Spring has sprung, and Memorial Day is less than a week away. You know what that means: Balticon! This year’s con will again be held at the Marriott Renaissance overlooking Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, May 26-29. I’ll be appearing on six program items, including two readings:

Saturday, May 27

Noon, Kent Meeting Room (Sixth Floor)

Writing Interesting and Effective Short Stories

Hildy Silverman (Moderator), Scott Edelman, Malka Older, Jean Marie Ward and Fran Wilde

3 PM, St. George Meeting Room (Sixth Floor)

Author Readings

Bjorn Hasseler, Jean Marie Ward, Ted Weber

6 PM, Kent Meeting Room (Sixth Floor)

Broad Universe Rapid Fire Readings

Jean Marie Ward (Moderator), Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Roxanne Bland, Lauren Harris, A.L. Kaplan, Gail Z. Martin, Cara McKinnon, Christie Meierz, Jennifer R. Povey, Roberta Rogow, D.H. Timpko

7 PM, Pride of Baltimore Meeting Room (Sixth Floor)

Mythology as a Basis for Speculative Fiction

Kim Hargan (Moderator), Tom Doyle, Ada Palmer, David Silverman, Jean Marie Ward

Sunday, May 28

Noon, Pride of Baltimore Meeting Room (Sixth Floor)

Social Media Promotion Without Being Obnoxious

Jean Marie Ward (Moderator), Melissa L. Hayden, Nathan Lowell, Hildy Silverman, Michael Ventrella

4 PM, Guilford Meeting Room (Fifth Floor)

Judging an Editor’s Work

Kay Baiman (Moderator), Jamaila Brinkley, Jennifer Levine, Jean Marie Ward, Joy Ward

Hope to see you there!

Because some have forgotten

In 1883 a Jewish writer named Emma Lazarus was asked to write a poem to help raise money for the pedestal needed before the Statue of Liberty could be erected on what became Liberty Island in New York Harbor. She refused until southern writer (really southern--she helped sew the original Confederate battle flag) Constance Cary Harrison convinced her how important that statue could be to immigrants sailing into the harbor.

Ultimately she wrote a sonnet titled "The New Colossus", after the statue which stood astride the harbor of Rhodes, one of the original Seven Wonders of the World. Since 1903 the words have hung within Lady Liberty's pedestal. They read:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
 With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
 Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
 A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
 Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
 Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
 Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
 The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

 "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
 With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
 Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
 The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
 Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
 I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

As someone who was in the Pentagon on 9/11, two corridors away from the point of impact, I reject the hypocrisy of those hiding their craven bigotry under the flag of national security. I stand with the Mother of Exiles. I welcome the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. I live for the day when we once again open that golden door.

The Annual Awards Eligibility Post, 2017 Edition

We writers ask a lot of our readers. Not only do we ask you to read--and love!--our stuff, we want you to buy it, rate it, review it, and yes, nominate it for awards. Reading and loving feeds our twisted little writer souls. But sales, promotion and awards are what pay the rent and keep the cat in kibble. (Trust me, you do not want to attempt stringing words together around a hungry cat. It never ends well.) 

With that in mind, I'd like to say thank you again for everything you read and reviewed over the past twelve months. If your 2016 keepers happened to include any of my stories, I'd be thrilled if you nominated them. But the important thing is to recognize the work you loved in 2016. Awards are one of those rising tides that lift all boats. The recognition gives us all a boost. 
To get you started, here are some links to the awards now open for nominations: 

- The Dragon Awards 

- The Hugo Awards 

- The Nebula Awards

- The WSFA Small Press Award 

And just in case you were trying to remember the details of that story you loved, here is the relevant information for my 2016 releases, including excerpts: 

Story: "The Clockwork Nightingale" 
Length: 16,000 words (novelette) 
Publisher: E-Spec Books 
Release Date: May 29, 2016 
Excerpt 

Story: "The Five Bean Solution" 
Length: 9,200 words (novelette) 
Publisher: Zombies Need Brains, LLC 
Release Date: September 15, 2016 
Excerpt 

Tales from the Vatican Vaults (which includes "Cooking up a Storm", my secret history story about the Burning of Washington in 1814--with voodoo) was published in the United Kingdom in 2015, but wasn't released in the US until last month. I'm adding it to this list, because that 2016 US publication date means it wasn't eligible for a Nebula until this year.

Story: "Cooking up a Storm"
Length: 17,700 words (novella)
Publisher: Constable and Robinson
US Release Date: December 27, 2016
Excerpt

 Hey, a girl can dream!