Readercon, which bills itself as “the conference on imaginative literature,” is meeting for the 28th time in Massachusetts from July 13-16 and I will definitely be there!

If you’re planning to attend, please say hello and come to find me at these readings and panels:

Thursday, July 13
8:00 p.m.
Salon A
Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading
With me, Susan Matthews, LJ Cohen, Tracy Townsend and others!
Broad Universe is an international organization supporting women writers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Members of the group will read short excerpts from their work. Each writer has just a few minutes to show you what she’s capable of.

9:00 p.m.
A Hero by Any Other Name
Salon 6/7/8
With me, Greer Gilman, Elaine Isaak, Kenneth Schneyer, Tamara Vardomskaya.
Would Maleficent be less terrifying if her name were Suzy? Would Arthur Dent and Zaphod Beeblebrox have been able to have each other’s adventures? In literature, names can serve as shorthand to imply a character’s age, ethnicity, time or place of origin, and emotional and psychological makeup. This panel will explore the art and psychology of character names.

Friday, July 14
8:00 p.m.
The Appeal of the Apocalypse
Salon 5
With me, Scott Edelman, Chandler Klang Smith, Sunny Moraine, Lauren Roy.
A great number of science fiction authors, including Mark Charan Newton, Jack Vance, N.K. Jemisin, and Delilah S. Dawson, write about disasters on a massive scale caused by natural forces, humans, nonhumans, or some combination thereof. Some characters try to prevent apocalypse, some try to survive it, and some try to make use of it. What role does global crisis play in the stories we tell? How does an apocalyptic setting change a character’s appeal to the audience? Is there a benefit to addressing the issues of the world we live in by destroying it?

Saturday, July 15
11:00 a.m.
Salon A
Tabula Rasa reading
With me, Barbara Krasnoff, Sally Wiener Grotta, Terence Taylor, Justin Key, Scott Lee Williams, and more!
My writing group, Tabula Rasa, will have a group reading! Stop by to hear some amazing talent … and a different story than the one I’m reading for Broad Universe.

3:00 p.m.
Blue Hills Room
Mainstreaming Fandom
With me, The Joey Zone, Natalie Luhrs, Sarah Lynn Weintraub.
Entertainment Weekly now casually mentions shipping—in the Kirk/Spock sense, not the international transportation sense. Fanfic and fandom concepts and terms are becoming mainstream, and the people on this panel have a lot of feels about it. These longtime fans will discuss their excitement that what used to be a secret, for so many different reasons, is now so easily accepted; their annoyance that their subculture is being commodified; and their favorite unexpected mainstream appearances of terms from fandom.

Sunday, July 16
1:00 p.m.
Blue Hills Room
Filing Off the Serial Numbers
With me, Gillian Daniels, Catt Kingsgrave, Naomi Novik, Kenneth Schneyer.
Many traditionally published works started life as fan fiction. Sometimes tales grow in the telling and veer away from fanfic; sometimes an author is deliberately modifying a completed fic to render it suitable for publication; and sometimes it’s more complicated. What are the benefits and pitfalls of filing off the serial numbers, with regard to creativity, logistics, and reader reaction?

Plus, I’ll have books for sale in the Dealer’s Room! See you there!