Month: August 2017

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Dragon*Con Final Schedule: Where I’ll Be and What I’m Talking About!

So here is the Dragon*Con Schedule, ya’ll. And if you can’t find me at one of these, then I generally lurk in the hallways like the raspberry seed you can’t floss out.

Title: Alternates
Time: Fri 11:30 am Location: Hanover AB – Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
Description: Craft alternate realities, histories, & time-travel fiction. Historian Bethany Kesler reveals everything needed to craft historically authentic alt- worlds–what research is good, how to avoid the rabbithole of too much research, and how to pick your cascade points.

Title: History Will Be Televised: Accuracy May Suffer
Time: Fri 02:30 pm Location: M301-M301 – Marriott (Length: 1 Hour)
Moderator / MC for panel
Description: History as covered by the media will be will cover many of the shows that say they are showing things like they were…or the way we’d like to think they were. Discussion will cover Reign, the White Princess, Will, & others of this ilk.

Title: How the Westworld Was Won
Time: Fri 04:00 pm Location: M302-M303 – Marriott (Length: 1 Hour)
Moderator / MC for panel
Description: The reinvention of this classic has really turned reality on its ear. Questions of sentience, humanity, conspiracy, & religion are all combined with story that often left us puzzled & amazed.

Title: Queer-Coded Villains in Classic Sci-Fi
Time: Fri 10:00 pm Location: M103-M105 – Marriott (Length: 1 Hour)
Description: Ever watch classic Sci-Fi & think the bad guy is a little flamboyant or the villainess is too super-assertive? Discuss how perceptions & stereotypes of homosexuality & gender-nonconformity made classic villains such as Star Trek’s Q seem more villainous & the ways it still happens today.

Title: Practical Time Travel for the Storyteller
Time: Sat 04:00 pm Location: Athens – Sheraton (Length: 1 Hour)
Description: This panel discusses the real science behind time travel, as well as how these scientific theories can place both challenging & rewarding demands on the stories we tell. Time dilation, the grandfather paradox, & others will be explained & these theories discussed.

Title: Lost Worlds: The Science Fiction of Arthur Conan Doyle
Time: Sat 07:00 pm Location: Embassy AB – Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
Description: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is best known for Sherlock Holmes, but he also wrote SF! Our panelists help to shed light on Doyle’s futuristic works.

Title: Earth Station One Presents: The Princess Bride’s Inconceivable 30th Anniversary
Time: Sat 10:00 pm Location: M103-M105 – Marriott (Length: 1 Hour)
Description: Have fun storming the castle with fans of the movie that taught us the meaning of wuv. True wuv.

Title: American Classic Musicals & All That Jazz
Time: Sun 11:30 am Location: M103-M105 – Marriott (Length: 1 Hour)
Description: Musicals & geekiness go jazz-hand in jazz-hand. American? Yep. Classic? Yep. Sci-Fi? Well, how do you explain all that choreography?

Title: A Ladies’ Guide to the Apocalypse
Time: Sun 01:00 pm Location: Chastain F-H – Westin (Length: 1 Hour)
Description: From Katniss to Furiosa & beyond, now more than ever female characters are taking the end of days head on. Discuss the increasing presence of heroines in apocalyptic media, as well as paying tribute to those characters who helped pave the way.

Title: KRULL: Witness the Glaive
Time: Sun 08:30 pm Location: M103-M105 – Marriott (Length: 2 Hours 30 Min)
Description: March toward a solid face of rock to discuss Krull, the glaive, the cyclops, & raisins in our brain-cases.

Title: Superhero-versary: Batgirl, Spider-Man, Hulk, Thor, & More
Time: Mon 08:30 am Location: M103-M105 – Marriott (Length: 1 Hour)
Description: Celebrating the debut years of the greatest heroes. We refer, of course, to Detective Chimp, Captain Carrot, Ch’p, & tThe Human Fly.

Title: Westworld: Labyrinth of Lies
Time: Mon 02:30 pm Location: M301-M303 – Marriott (Length: 1 Hour)
Moderator / MC for panel
Description: The web of plots & sub plots, mysteries & time lines leads to some complex organization & not a few eureka moments as things click together. We’ll look back over all those threads & what ones might be coming up in the next season.

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Book Review: The Ice Orphan of Ganymede

Book two in the The Jupiter Chronicles, The Ice Orphan of Ganymede kicks off with a bang.  The Jovians are free from Phobos, but there’s still a lot of cleanup to be done and a civil war that is threatening to erupt.    First Petros’ popularity has taken a hit and one of the Jovian General is advocating for his replacement.

But that’s not all,  Ian back on Earth is sick and getting sicker.   Nothing on Earth is able to help him, so Callie tries to take him back to Jupiter to see if they can cure him.    What they find is a mess of a situation and a possible lead in the Book of Ganymede.     Except the Book of Ganymede is missing so Ian and Callie have to go off to find it first.  In doing so, they find much more than just something to help Ian.

The second book in this series ably builds on the framework set up by the first novel and opens up more the intriguing universe set up by the author.   We learn more about Jupiter and its inner workings and the plot twists are delightful.   I can hardly wait to see where the next book takes us.

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A Response To The Anti-Diversity Screed Leaked Today

https://gizmodo.com/exclusive-heres-the-full-10-page-anti-d…

So this went viral today and I want to encourage every white male I know seeing this to go ahead and read it. Because this is one of you. This is one of your peers.

The document is well put together, sounds calm and reasonable, uses bullet points and proper grammar. It is also tearing away at the humanity of women and non white men. Someone who looks just like you, who jokes around at the watercooler/coffeepot, who is one of the “generally good guys” felt comfortable enough to write this 10 page document and actually post it on the internet.

It is important for you to understand that this man? This educated engineer who wrote this steaming pile of absolute garbage? He is NOT an anomaly. He is part of the status quo and has been for a while. He’s not going to stop or pay any attention to any of the women who have responded to this document. We don’t matter.

The document made the news and has been circulating around everywhere and yet not once have I seen any article name the man that wrote it. The press had the courage to publish his screed that claims that women are biologically inferior to men, but not the courage to name him. If that claim sounds familiar, it’s because it’s been used for centuries to discredit anyone different who might present a challenge to the default white male status quo.

This is the kind of power that men like him have.

But how you respond to it will be important. Men like him are dime a dozen. Silence will be treated as tacit approval of these viewpoints. It’s rough to speak up – there will push back and I know the societal pressure will be to keep quiet. To not rock the boat.

This boat, however, needs to be rocked. Women and POC’s have been confronting things like this on a daily basis. So my question to you is will you stand up with us?

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The Con of Dragons Approacheth!

Here is my tentative schedule for Dragon*Con this year.  I’m once more an Attending Professional, which is always an honor and a pleasure.   I say this is a tentative schedule, because sometimes panels change and things get all swapped around.

I also know that the After Hour Sprints for the Hourly Workshops are not on here and I will be doing those as well alongside my partner in fiction writing,  Alison Sky Richards.  They’re Friday from 7-9.

Provided schedules align properly, I’m also planning on being at the Star Wars Holiday Special (yes, THAT one) shindig that the SciFi Classics track is throwing.  And I am always down for coffee or munchies during the moments I’m not presenting.  Come find me.  I promise not to dress as Waldo this year, and make it easier to locate the tiny person in the LOUD Hawaiian shorts.
Also side note – if you’re looking for me in the app, I’ll be under the muggle name for all my panels.
Title: Alternates
Description: An exciting look into how to craft alternate realities, histories, & time-travel fiction. Historian Bethany Kesler AKA DJ Gray will outline the rules, do’s and don’ts, as well as equip you with the all the tools needed to craft historically authentic worlds for all your fiction needs. What research is good research, how to avoid the rabbit hole of too much research, and how to pick your cascade points.
Time: Fri 11:30 am Location: Hanover AB – Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

——————-
Title: History will be televised – Accuracy may suffer
Description: History as covered by the media will be will cover many of the shows that say they are showing things like they were… or the way we’d like to think they were. Discussion will cover Reign, the White Princess, Will and others of this ilk.
Time: Fri 02:30 pm Location: M301-M301 – Marriott (Length: 1 Hour)
Moderator / MC for panel

——————-
Title: How the Westworld was Won
Description: The reinvention of this classic has really turned reality on its ear. Questions of sentience, humanity, conspiracy and religion are all combined with story that often left us puzzled and amazed.
Time: Fri 04:00 pm Location: M302-M303 – Marriott (Length: 1 Hour)
Moderator / MC for panel

——————-
Title: Gender-Queer Villains in Classic Sci-Fi
Description: Ever watch classic sci-fi and think the bad guy is a little flamboyant or the villainess is too super-assertive? Discuss how perceptions & stereotypes of homosexuality and gender-nonconformity made classic villains such as Star Trek’s Q seem more villainous and the ways it still happens today.
Time: Fri 10:00 pm Location: M103-M105 – Marriott (Length: 1 Hour)

——————-
Title: Practical Time Travel for the Storyteller
Description: This panel discusses the real science behind time travel, as well as how these scientific theories can place both challenging and rewarding demands on the stories we tell. Time dilation, the grandfather paradox, and others will be explained and stories told that reference these theories discussed.
Time: Sat 04:00 pm Location: Athens – Sheraton (Length: 1 Hour)

——————-
Title: 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)

——————-
Title: American Classic Musicals and All That Jazz
Description: Musicals and geekiness go jazz-hand in jazz-hand. American? Yep. Classic? Yep. Sci-fi? Well, how do you explain all that choreography?
Time: Sun 11:30 am Location: M103-M105 – Marriott (Length: 1 Hour)

——————-
Title: A Ladies’ Guide to the Apocalypse
Description: From Katniss to Furiosa and beyond, now more than ever female characters are taking the end of days head on. Discuss the increasing presence of heroines in apocalyptic media, as well as paying tribute to those characters that helped pave the way.
Time: Sun 01:00 pm Location: Chastain F-H – Westin (Length: 1 Hour)

——————-
Title: KRULL: Witness the Glaive
Description: March toward a solid face of rock to discuss Krull, the glaive, the cyclops, and raisins in our brain-cases.
Time: Sun 08:30 pm Location: M103-M105 – Marriott (Length: 2.5 Hours)

——————-
Title: Superhero-versary: Batgirl, Spider-Man, Hulk, Thor, and More
Description: Celebrating the debut years of the greatest heroes. We refer, of course, to Detective Chimp, Captain Carrot, Ch’p, and The Human Fly.
Time: Mon 08:30 am Location: M103-M105 – Marriott (Length: 1 Hour)

——————-
Title: Westworld – Labyrinth of Lies
Description: The web of plots and sub plots, mysteries and time lines all leads to some complex organization and not a few eureka moments as things click together. We’ll look back over all those threads and what ones might be coming up in the next season.
Time: Mon 02:30 pm Location: M301-M303 – Marriott (Length: 1 Hour)

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Sale and A Patron

There will be more reviews coming shortly,  in addition to the Book Log, I have a stack of media reviews to queue up.    Due to some illness, I’ve been a bit delayed in getting them up.   My apologies, everyone,  my lungs have been on a bit of a strike.

So there are two pieces of news that are quite exciting that I want to share.   The first being that I have sold a short story that will be included in the latest Lovecraft anthology from Alban Lake Publishing,  The Mad Visions of al-Hazred.    Publication date still to come and I will keep you updated!

The second major bit of news is that the Patreon for my short stories is now live.   Find it here .     I am super excited to have launched it and I am looking forward to seeing what comes out of that!

A lengthier update to follow later this week.   For now,  stay lovely and don’t eat those mushrooms the lady down the street offered you.  They’ll take you down the wrong sort of rabbit hole.

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