What I'm Doing This Weekend: BayCon (AKA: Lots to do)

So, this weekend I am attending BayCon, which Dario Ciarello was kind enough to invite me to last year on his Guest pass. I spoke to one of the organizers about my willingness to do some panels for it, and now, a year later, I am doing the following:

1. Give Me That Old Time Religion on Friday at 2:00 PM in Alameda
   (with C. Sanford Lowe, Setsu Uzume, Randy Smith (M))

   Pagans, Wiccans, and Pastafarians: There are religions besides the big three. Panelists discuss faiths they've explored or studied.

2. Writing in a Galaxy Far, Far Away: The Rewards and Challenges of Writing Media Tie-in Novels on Friday at 3:30 PM in Alameda
   (with Kevin Andrew Murphy (M), Matt Maxwell, Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff)


 Writers of media tie-in novels share their experiences working in someone else's universe.

3. CSI: Science Fiction vs Reality on Friday at 5:00 PM in Alameda
   (with Kay Tracy (M), Lynx Crowe)

  Sure, you have to take some shortcuts trying solve a couple of murders in 45 minutes of screen time, but it sure helps to have devices as futuristic as the matter duplicators of Star Trek.  Which tools used on CSI are the dreams of a semi-scientific screenwriter annd what are the real tools that forensic scientists use today?

4. Surveillance and the End of Privacy on Sunday at 11:30 AM in Bayshore
   (with Jason Malcolm Stewart (M), David Friedman, Dario Ciriello)


   Between government surveillance of citizens and ubiquitous cameras, is privacy a lost cause? What can you do to preserve your privacy?

5. You Don't look like an Alien… on Sunday at 2:00 PM in San Tomas
   (with Kathleen Barthlomew, Jay Reynolds Freeman, S.L. Gray (M))

   We know what other people's concepts of aliens are, but what is yours?  Learn how to create an alien-looking alien without settling for pointy ears and prosthetic foreheads.

6. The Science of the Honor Harrington Universe on Sunday at 3:30 PM in Stevens Creek
   (with Christine Doyle, David Weber, Martin Lessem (M))

   Wormholes, gravity waves that travel faster than light, DNA manipulation. What is the likelihood that the achievements in science and technology presented in the Honor Harrington series will someday become a reality?

7. Female Archetypes in Fantasy on Sunday at 5:00 PM in Stevens Creek
   (with Beth Barany, Ursula Vernon, Taunya Gren (M))

   In fantasy stories set in worlds with their own system of gods and goddesses, are the female archetypes too limited, to roles such as The Mother or The Daughter? Do we need more stories with a full spectrum of female archetypes, such as those in the pantheon of India?

If you happen to be in the Bay Area, and attending, please look me up...

Nebula Awards Weekend

My friend, Chuck Gannon, has been nominated for the Nebula Award this year for Best Novel. He was kind enough to ask if I wanted to tag along for the banquet. I, of course, said, "Hell yes!"

I was asked if I was willing to put on a panel or workshop, but my other LE friends are not attending so I went back to talk to Chuck, my personal rain-maker, who said he'd be glad to help out with a panel. Some days later we decided on our subject:

Cops and Spies: Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence in SF
Griffin Barber and Charles E. Gannon
Friday, May 16, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Blossom Hill Third Floor

If you are attending the awards weekend, please come. If you aren't, please send me your good thoughts regardless. I will assume you already voted, if eligible, for Chuck's fantastic work.

Next Week I Appear, And You May See Me...

Going to MarCon in Columbus, Ohio next weekend, for the 1632 MiniCon and another milestone for me: next Saturday, a friend of mine, Alistair Kimble, and I will be putting on a writing workshop at MarCon entitled Law Enforcement For Writers. We'll talk about everything and anything our attendees want to ask or hear about. I'm rather excited to see what people come up with.