…I am practically spamming the friends boards today. I forgot to mention that next week is Life, the Universe, and Everything, a local convention that is FREE! and always a good learning experience.

Note that Tracy Hickman and his wife, Laura, are the guests of honor, and special guests include my author Rebecca Shelley (who wrote Red Dragon Codex as R.D. Henham), Brandon Mull, Howard Tayler, Brandon Sanderson, James Dashner, Dave Wolverton, and L.E. Modesitt, Jr. I appear to be part of the "and many more!" participating guests (in previous years they’ve posted my name, at least), but I seem to be in good company–those joining me on various panels include such awesome authors as Mette Ivie Harrison, Kristin Randle, Jessica Day George, and another of my authors, Clint Johnson (Green Dragon Codex, also writing as R.D. Henham). I’ll still be on a goodly number of panels (six, to be exact), so if you’re interested in writing science fiction and fantasy–for adults or children–it’s a great place to get some good information without having to pay an entrance fee.

Panels I’ll be on (notice that these times are subject to change, so you’ll want to check the final schedule next week:

Thursday

Noon
Middle-Grade and Young Adult fiction: What is it? Why are so many YA/MG books becoming so popular? What (or who) should you be reading?
(James Dashner, Suzy Gehring, Jessica Day George, Mette Ivie Harrison, Stacy Whitman)

Friday

Noon
Writing Romance
(Lynn Kurland, Lesli Muir Lytle, Laura Hickman, Tracy Hickman, Stacy Whitman, Julie Wright)

2:00 PM
Writing for the YA/MG market
(James Dashner, Jessica Day George, Mette Ivie Harrison, Rebecca Shelley, Brandon Mull, Dan Willis, Stacy Whitman)

Saturday

Noon
What makes a YA/MG book different from a mainstream book? (Note that the word "mainstream" as used here is incorrect, as "mainstream" is actually what would be used for non-genre books, adult or children’s, and the question here is what the difference is between young adult/children’s fantasy and adult fantasy. People cringe from it because they think it sounds nasty, but really, that’s what it is: fantasy fiction for adults.)
(Jessica Day George, Clint Johnson, Aprilynne Pike, Laura Swift, Stacy Whitman)

4:00 PM
Worldbuilding 101: What every beginning writer needs to know
(Kristin Randle, Charlotte Randle, Stacy Whitman, Dan Willis, Anna del C Dye, Larry Correia)

7;00 PM:
Editing dos and don’ts
(Stacy Whitman, Kristen Randle, Greg Park, Roger White)

Hope to see you there if you’re local!