Dragon*Con, Here I come

It's the most wonderful time of the year...
No, silly, not the winter holiday season.  I'm talking about Dragon*Con, where you too can be surrounded by forty thousand of the closest friends and acquaintances you never met before--like these charmers.

I'll be doing my thing on five panels this year:

Friday, August 31, 1 p.m. (Hyatt, Fairlie Meeting Room)
Talking Cats and Clever Rats--Animals as symbols and characters in SF and fantasy.
Panelists: Lynn Abbey, Diane Hughes, Jean Marie Ward (Moderator)

Saturday, September 1, 2:30 p.m. (Hyatt, Greenbriar Meeting Room)
Good War/Bad War--How have recent conflicts shaped or influenced today's SF?
T.C. McCarthy, Jean Marie Ward (Moderator), Michael Z. Williamson

Sunday, September 2, 5:30 p.m. (Hyatt, Greenbriar Meeting Room)
Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading--Well-known and up-and-coming women writers read from their works.
Too many writers to count.  ;-)

Monday, September 3, 1 p.m. (Hyatt, Fairlie Meeting Room)
SF Win, Lose or Draw--The third annual Win, Lose or Draw competition comes to Dragon*Con.  Put together a team or join one when you arrive.

Monday, September 2, 2:30 p.m. (Hyatt, Embassy D-F)
Writer's Wonder Panel--Writers discuss the wonders--good and bad--of being a writer.
Lynn Abbey, Carole Nelson Douglas, Nancy Knight, Jennifer St. Giles, Jean Marie Ward, Janny Wurts

Looking forward to seeing you there!

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Princess Alethea's Traveling Sideshow, Dragon*Con Edition

More chewy video goodness. This one dates to Dragon*Con 2011 and features authors Leanna Renee Hieber, Gray Rinehart and Princess Alethea--Alethea Kontis--herself.

The annual Dragon*Con photo blog

For those of you who view clicking through picture galleries with the same horror our parents reserved for slide shows of Aunt Ermintrude's trip to the Catskills, today's post at Beyond the Veil is for you. I've cherry-picked some of my best photos of Dragon*Con 2011 and wrapped them in the lightest of all possible con reports. And there isn't a panel table anywhere in sight. Enjoy!

Dragon*Con Photos & More

It's been a challenging week here at Casa Ward/Uchrin. Days of rain succeeded in doing what earthquake and hurricane failed to do: postpone my work on my Dragon*Con photos and videos.

We're still dealing with the aftermath of the flood, but the photos are sorted and posted at Flickr. I plan to post a Thursday Thirteen at Beyond the Veil in the near future, but Flickr's the place if you want to see the complete set.

Meanwhile, Buzzy Multimedia has posted my interviews with authors Maria V. Snyder and Paolo Bacigalupi. We're also tweaking my Tour of Tor. I'll post the link soon.

Finally, I want to remind everybody that my story "Billy's Monster" will be published in Hellfire Lounge II: Rat Pack Redux. The story leans more toward horror than my usual, but with a scheduled publication date of late September/early October, it's certainly in keeping with the season. ;-)




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The photo at the top is perhaps my favorite from this year's Dragon*Con. It shows Cruxshadows violinist JoHanna Moresco demonstrating violin technique to a young friend before the band's early, early Monday morning show.

The Dragon*Con Schedule Has Landed

One of the best things about being a writer is being able to post a convention schedule. Not only is it a measure of your achievement, it also means you’ll be seeing your long distance friends. And when the schedule happens to be for Dragon*Con, well, let the party begin!

Friday, September 1

11:30 AM: Just the Facts, Ma'am
Description: Non-fiction is a market that needs good writers. If this appeals to you, come listen to these pros tell you how to make it happen.
M Chapman, G. D. Falksen, John L. Flynn, Anya Martin, and Jean Marie Ward
Location: Manila / Singapore / Hong Kong - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

8:30 PM: New and Next Weird
Description: New weird, mash-up, slipstream, interstitial, crossover... what does the future of "genre" hold, especially for the darker fringes of fantasy?
Lou Anders, Stephen H. Segal, Ann VanderMeer, Jeff Vandermeer, and Jean Marie Ward
Location: Cairo - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

10 PM: Broad Universe Reading
Description: Quick cuts read by some by the women authors of Broad Universe
Gail Z. Martin, Jody Lynn Nye, Jean Marie Ward, Trisha Wooldridge (moderator) and many more.
Location: Greenbriar - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

Sunday, September 4

1 PM: Broad Universe Reading Part 2
Description: More great reads by the women authors of Broad Universe.
Gail Z. Martin, Jean Marie Ward and many more.
Location: Fairlie - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

Monday, September 5

11:30 AM: Win, Lose or Draw - SF and Fantasy Style
Description: A replay of our popular game show where your job is to draw sf and fantasy names and phrases to get others to guess them. Prizes available.
MC: Jean Marie Ward
Location: Fairlie - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

Hope to see you there!

My 2010 Dragon*Con Images Are Live

The Cruxshadows Dancers at the band's September 5 Dragon*Con performance.

I've posted a Thursday Thirteen of pictures for my monthly blog at Beyond the Veil. But be warned, those shots are just the teaser. To see the rest of the photos you'll need to follow the link at the end of the article. Enjoy!

The 2010 Pre-DragonCon Post

Is now live--with pictures--at Beyond the Veil. Enjoy!

Surfacing at last

I know, I know. The only interesting blogging I've been doing lately has been on behalf of S.J. Willing. It's not that I've given up blogging for un-Lent or anything. I've just been busy, working on some fiction, nonfiction and, for the first time in ages, some fan fiction.

You'll like the short story. It's the new and improved "Syren Bridge", twice as long with more characters, more fun and all the strudel-ly goodness you loved in the first version. I hope to be able to tell you more about its new home in a couple months.

It'll be a lot longer before I can talk about the nonfiction project. It's very different from anything I've done before, but you'll definitely want to read it.

On the guilty pleasures front, I succumbed to the lure of John Scalzi’s June fan fiction challenge. Scalzi is a very evil man, and I say that in full knowledge that he is now president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and therefore ruler of the known SF/fantasy multiverse. But he’s still ebil, Ebil, EBIL.

To benefit the Lupus Alliance of America, Scalzi, Wil Wheaton (yes, that Wil Wheaton), Catherynne Valente, Patrick Rothfuss created a chapbook for electronic publication by Subterranean Press later this year. If that’s all they did I would’ve give them a karmic pass and scoped out the book when it appeared. But noooooooooooo, they couldn’t let it go at a good deed. Somebody (and I think we know who that is) commissioned Jeff Zugale to create the attached cover art. But that wasn’t all they did. Scalzi, Wheaton and SP solicited fanfic writers to create stories explaining the picture. The best story, as determined by the Jury of Awesomeness, will be awarded double the SFWA-defined professional rate/word and be included in the chapbook.

And this is how I spent my June.

Before it was over, Scalzi & Co. received over 350 submissions—which tells you how the Jury of Awesomeness is going to spend their July, August and possibly September. From the links posted after the contest closed, some of the entries were mind-boggling. How does anyone compete with a complete play? Meep!

In other news, I'm attending a new con. I've been added to the guest list of Intervention, the Washington DC-area webcomics con. Intervention will be held at the Rockville Hilton (home of Capclave) September 10-12. I'll be sharing the bill with fellow DC Area Storyteller Anthony Stevens and, for the first time, the love of my life. Yes, Greg Uchrin of IV Caffeine will be attending Intervention as a guest and a dealer. Come and cheer him on...and buy lots of stuff.

In the meantime, there’s ReConStruction and DragonCon.

ReConStruction (August 3-8 in Raleigh, North Carolina) is the tenth occasional North American Science Fiction Convention—in other words, what happens when WorldCon travels somewhere other than the U.S. or Canada for the summer, like this year. It boasts all the usual WorldCon events, including dances, masquerades, auctions, interviews and panels. Laurie Toby Edison, one of my very favorite jewelers, will be there, too. No word on the final program yet, but the interim list of participants and panels looks really good.

Then there’s DragonCon, the ultimate end of summer party. It’s bigger than ever this year. We even sucked in the Westin. Soon all the business district will be ours! Then…

Er, leaving off the plans for world domination, programming is coming together for that, too. What I’ve seen looks fabulous. And if you’re there, be sure to join us for the Broad Universe Rapid Fire Readings. I’ll firing up two new stories: “Syren Bridge” and “Lord Bai and the Magic Pirates”. I am told my impression of a Wagnerian soprano singing about strudel is enough to scar a person for life. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

The Library of Congress, signing with Nora, and DragonCon--oh my!

RavenCon isn’t the only thing on my calendar this month. Monday, April 12, barely hours after I return from Richmond, I’ll be reading at the Library of Congress in downtown Washington, D.C. The Library of Congress! You can’t see it, but I’m grinning so hard my cheeks are aching.

The reading resulted from a collaboration between the library’s Science Fiction and Fantasy Forum and Broad Universe, an international organization dedicated to exploring and promoting the work of women writers in science fiction, fantasy and horror. It will take the form of a four-person Rapid Fire Reading featuring Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Sarah Avery, fellow BtV blogger Christine Norris and me. You’ve already seen the poster I prepped when the reading was announced. Now you can read the bios, too, in the hand-out I’ll be using as our program.

But that’s not the only reason I may expire of excitement. I’ve been added to the roster of major authors (like Charlaine Harris!) signing with Nora Roberts at Turn the Page Bookstore Café in Boonsboro, Maryland, on Friday, April 16. My name and web site link seem to wander around the page, but the confirmation of my presence is right there at the bottom of the page: the buy link for Fantasy Art Templates.

I signed With Nine You Get Vanyr at the Turn the Page spring mega-signing in 2007. Nora and the top names sell hundreds of books, and even small fry like me sell in the dozens. This time, there are some new rules. For example, the writers can only sign books purchased at the event. Trust me, that’s a relief. Yes, you sign that much.

Finally, it’s official. I’m on the guest list at DragonCon. Atlanta, here I come. I can’t wait.

The DragonCon Report, 2009 Edition

Want to see--and read--more? It's all at Beyond the Veil. Enjoy!

DragonCon 2009: First Notes

Back from DragonCon. I had such a fabulous time I'm way to tired to write coherently about it, but I thought I'd post a few (a very few!) of the highlights as a teaser of things to come--as soon as I finish sorting the 570 photos I took. Until then, this will have to do:

- FINALLY getting to see a panel with James Marsters (with green hair, no less) and Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto Jones in Torchwood).

- Running into an old friend I hadn't seen in years directly afterwards.

- Hanging with friends like artist/writer Marianne Plumridge and her husband, artist Bob Eggleton, Jana Oliver, Teresa Patterson and my roomie Dorie. Also ran into the old Press Room gang--Star, Leigh, Kelly, Dave & Phyl. (Randi couldn't make it, but I did talk to her and the new bambino.)

- Dinner with Crissy Brashear (owner and publisher of Samhain Publishing), Jacob Hammer (Samhain's office manager), Alex Ross (Jacob's girlfriend) and writers Ally Blue and Rosemary Laurey/Georgia Evans and her husband George at Nikolai's on the Roof, the extraordinary restaurant on the top of the Hilton. The company was fabulous and the dinner... Well, let me put it this way, the meal started on plates with gilded images of Faberge eggs and ended with the presentation of a single red rose to all the ladies.

- The amazing historical and Steampunk costumes, and dressing up in my own less amazing Steampunk outfit (see Marianne's great picture of her husband, artist Bob Eggleton). At least the hat, the rose from Nikolai's, and all of Marianne's DragonCon pics were splendid. ;-)

- Sitting back-to-back with William Shatner, Kate Mulgrew and Leonard Nimoy at the DragonCon Awards Banquet. (BTW, they're actually serving meat now--the banquet, I mean, not the stars.)

- The Cruxshadows concert. (Duh!)

- Surviving a four-panel Sunday running from 10 a.m. (after the Cruxshadows concert--ow!) to 11 p.m., after the "sex panel": "Sex in SF/Fantasy--Too Much or Not Enough?"

- The Lost Boys concert at the Pirate Ball followed by costume watching at the Marriott Starbucks, which has replaced The Perk as the ultimate people-watching destination since the Hyatt has gotten pissy about photos in the lobby.

- Sitting next to Rogue on my last panel, "Under Raven's Wings: 200 Years of Poe", listening to three of his dramatic readings, including the awesome "Annabel Lee", and having him autograph this year's Cruxshadows single for Bree and me when the panel was done. And day-um, he smelled good. White musk, I think. (Made me wish I'd packed my favorite Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab scents, but I've been afraid ever since my hand lotion triggered Barbara Hambly's allergies at World Fantasy Con.)

- Drinking 12-year-old Glenlivet single malt in the Green Room at the Hair of the Dog Party (i.e., the clearing of the Green Room after the Dead Dog Party). I didn't even know they had Glenlivet in the Green Room.

- Getting back home to Greg and the Duz. Gotta recover in time for next year, after all. ;-)

Eight Panels & Counting: My 2009 DragonCon Schedule

Are we there yet?

DragonCon, the world’s greatest summer camp for wayward adults (2009 edition), starts in five or six days, depending on whether you count the Alternate History Track Meet & Greet at Max Lager’s brew pub and the concerts Thursday night. (I do.) I’m pumped. I’ve got my postcards (for Fantasy Art Templates, the art book slated for release in March 2010). I’ve got bookmarks for Master of Crows, Grace Draven’s fabulous fantasy romance. I will have postcards and bookmarks for the spouse’s web site, Intravenous Caffeine as soon as they arrive at home of an Atlanta-based friend.

But I don’t have a thing to wear!

Actually I’ve got quite a lot. I need it, because in addition to the Meet & Greet, the Time Travelers Ball (Friday, September 4) and the Pirate Party (Sunday, September 6), I’ve got eight panels! And once again, The Powers That Be have blithely assumed that I will be conscious and capable of carrying on intelligent conversation with the likes of Peter David and Katherine Kurtz at 10 a.m. on the morning after the Cruxshadows’ midnight concert. They are so insane. I am so doomed. Of course, I’ll be worse at 1 p.m., Monday, September 7, when they’ve scheduled me on a panel with Rogue, the Cruxshadows’ lead singer. Get your earplugs now. Given the fan girl squee that’s building, you’ll need them.

There will be photos.

Eventually. ;-) Hope to see you there!

Saturday

You Say Religion, I Say Magic – An examination of the use of religion and magic systems in science fiction & fantasy. What is their place and why? Panelists: D.A. Adams, Linda L. Donahue, James Palmer, Stephanie Souders (Moderator), Jean Marie Ward. 1 p.m., Greenbriar Room (Hyatt)

They SHOULD Be Movies! Books You Want to See on Film – Indulge your fantasies. Talk about the books you most want to see on the big screen…and who’d you most like to see do them. Panelists: Van Plexico, Jean Marie Ward. 4 p.m. Fairlie Room (Hyatt)

Sunday

Where Do You Go When You Need…? – The pitfalls and benefits of doing research for your writing. Panelists: Peter David, Katherine Kurtz, Terri Osborne, James Palmer, Jean Marie Ward. 10 a.m. Fairlie Room (Hyatt)

Beyond Binaries – Gender Roles in Science Fiction & Fantasy – What fantasy and science fiction literature has gone beyond traditional gender definitions? How successful is it? Does this require aliens or magical creatures? Panelists: Lee Martindale, Jean Marie Ward. 2:30 p.m., Greenbriar Room (Hyatt)

Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading –The broad-minded science fiction and fantasy writers of Broad Universe bring you a buffet of snack readings just when you need it most. Unlike most other DragonCon panels, this one will run two and a half hours to accommodate lots of writers, including some not listed on the guest list. Panelists: Marcia Colette, Kathryn Hinds, Gail Martin, Racheline Maltese, Sandra Ann McDonald, Tee Morris, Jean Marie Ward, Trisha Wooldridge and more. 7 p.m., Fairlie Room (Hyatt)

Sex in Science Fiction & Fantasy: Too Much or Not Enough? – With the rise of paranormal romance, sex seems to have become de rigueur. Is this right or wrong? Why or why not? Panelists: Sandra Ann McDonald, Van Plexico, Jean Marie Ward. 10 p.m. Greenbriar Room (Hyatt)

Monday

The Future of Urban Fantasy – Where does the genre go from here? Panelists: Jennifer Heddle, Althea Kontis, Heather Osborn, Jeanne C. Stein, Jean Marie Ward. 11:30 a.m., Montreal/Vancouver Room (Hyatt)

Under Raven’s Wings: 200 Years of Poe – Poe’s influence on popular culture – sometimes in unexpected ways. Panelists: John Everson, C. Gilbert, Kat Richardson, Rogue, Stephen H. Segal, Jean Marie Ward. 1 p.m., Montreal/Vancouver Room (Hyatt)

17 Reasons Why DragonCon Is a Regency Country House Party

Would I lie to you? Well, not about this...
Enjoy!

Forget Necessity

Desperation is the mother of invention in this house.
I was trying to line up the August blogs I owe to blog sites other than my own. The goal was to get it all over with now, so I'd have more time to write next month. They were all playing nicely except my August 22 Samhain blog. Given the date, I'd be a fool not do something related to DragonCon, but what? The program schedules are almost never finalized until the week before Labor Day, and I was pretty sure I've written everything there is to write about the con.
Should I do something about the balls? The Masquerade? The guests? My costume changes?
Then it hit me: Sixteen Ways DragonCon Is Like a Regency Country House Party.
The weird thing is, it works.
'Til later...

DragonCon Whoops

That's whoops as in "cheers", not the kind you say when you drop something. Derek Tatum, the chair of the DragonCon Dark Fantasy track, has posted his preliminary guest list, and look who's on it:

Michelle Belanger
Doug Bradley
Elizabeth Donald
John Everson
Allan Gilbreath
Christopher Golden
Rosemary Ellen Guiley
Charlaine Harris
Raven Hart
Mark Henry
Stacia Kane
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Jackie Kessler
Caitlin Kittredge
Alethea Kontis
Rosemary Laurey
J.F. Lewis
Jonathan Maberry
Marianne Mancusi
Richelle Mead
Mike Mignola
Scott Nicholson
Cherie Priest
Kat Richardson
Stephen H. Segal
Jeanne Stein
Jean Marie Ward
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Can you tell I'm grinning from ear to ear? :D
Cheers and smiles,

Going to Dragon*Con

I’m about to leave for my favorite summer camp for wayward adults: Dragon*Con. This year they’re working me to the bone, and I hate to suffer alone. So if you’d like to drop by to cheer, jeer or just say hello, this is where you’ll find me:

Saturday

Paranormal Romance vs. Urban Fantasy - The panel hopes to explore what distinguishes the two genres and whether it’s possible for writers to break genre barriers and still keep their core audiences. Panelists: Raven Hart, Rita Herron, Carol Malcolm (Moderator), Jackie Kessler, Jean Marie Ward. 2:30 p.m., Montreal/Vancouver Room (Hyatt)

Magic and Religion in Science Fiction and Fantasy - Magic as religion? Or religion as magic? Is there such a thing? Can it be both? A. Davis, Glenda Finkelstein (Moderator), Katherine Kurtz, Jody Lynn Nye, Jean Marie Ward. 4 p.m. Fairlie Room (Hyatt)

Attack of the Dead Authors Society - You want to see what happens when I channel Mary Shelley? It ain’t gonna pretty--especially when they let me loose against a bunch of guys. I'm not kidding, despite Stephanie's presence on the panel, they're all coming as male authors. That is so wrong on so many levels. Come and see the carnage--I mean, fun. Joe Crowe, Larry Davis, Van Allen Plexico (Moderator), Stephanie Souders, Jean Marie Ward. 10 p.m. Fairlie Room (Hyatt)

Sunday

Other Worlds, Other Times - Romance is now exploiting the tropes of science fiction--space voyages, time travel, magical lands, etc. What are the key motifs for today’s romance writers? How do they use them differently than their SF/fantasy colleagues--especially when, under other names, they may be the same people? They’re letting me run this one, and for some reason, they expect me to be conscious the morning after the Cruxshadows' midnight concert. I believe the term "cock-eyed optimist" was coined for situations like these. Panelists: Sandra Hill, Susan Kearney, Susan Sizemore, Jean Marie Ward (Moderator), C.L. Wilson. 10 a.m., Montreal/Vancouver Room (Hyatt)

Dark Secrets, Shadowed Hearts - Tortured anti-heroes or insufferable jerks? Why we lover (or hate) alpha males and “bad boys”. Panelists: Carole Nelson Douglas, Rita Herron, Donna Lynch, Carol Malcolm (Moderator), Jeanne C Stein, Jean Marie Ward. 1 p.m., Montreal/Vancouver Room (Hyatt)

Plumbing the Anima: On Fritz Leiber - Everything Fritz Leiber will be up for discussion. Since he’s the fantasy writer who inspired me to write fantasy, I’m looking forward to this. I’d look forward to it more if there were more of us on the panel, though. Panelists: T. Leonard, Jean Marie Ward. 2:30 p.m. Greenbriar Room (Hyatt)

Monday

Tales of Dragaera - This time around this discussion centers on Steven Brust. Expect the good, the bad, and lots of Eastern European food porn. Panelists: Van Allen Plexico, Jean Marie Ward. 11:30 a.m., Greenbriar Room (Hyatt)

What’s Next for Romance? - These days, it seems you can’t have a con without asking this question. Industry professionals talk about the current trends in the romance genre and where they expect the field to go next. Panelists: Althea Kontis, Carol Malcolm (Moderator), Deborah Smith, Jean Marie Ward. 2:30 p.m., Montreal/Vancouver Room (Hyatt)

See you there!