Starting Friday, I'll be attending FOGcon (website) in Walnut Creek, which is a local convention for speculative fiction writers and enthusiasts. It runs March 6-8 this year, and yes, it is still on despite the coronavirus threat. As I am not in a high-risk population, I plan to attend.

You can buy a membership for a full day's events at FOGcon whether you come Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or all of the above. It's a small con, but that's part of the reason why I enjoy going so much--there's so much opportunity to check in with other writers and fans that live locally.

These are the panels and readings I'll be appearing at:

-Food in Genre Fiction, panelist, Fri, 3:00–4:15 pm. Inspired by Mary Anne Mohanraj's latest publication being a cookbook, let's think about food and its place in genre fiction! In stories where a stranger visits a new culture, we often hear about their food choices (Becky Chambers's "Record of a Spaceborn Few" comes to mind). Food can be a marker of similarity or difference between people, and ultimately, it is a necessity. When our worlds change, what happens to the food in them?

-Choosing Your Own Adventures, panelist, Sat, 10:30–11:45 am. For many of us, the "Choose Your Own Adventure" books were an early exposure to speculative fiction -- and we remember them with fondness. They are also experiencing a pop-culture resurgence. Panelists will discuss some of their favorite examples, what is different about the books (both the experience of writing and reading them), and their influence on the wider culture.

-People Aren't Food: Cliches in Description, panelist, Sun, 10:30–11:45 am. Her heart-shaped face. His chiseled jaw. He's ruggedly handsome. Her rose-colored complexion. The women are stunningly beautiful or haggardly ugly. Her cinnamon visage, his coffee-colored arms. He stared stonily. Women sob. Men weep. What are better ways to describe actual people and what they do, without falling into gendered and racialized tropes?

-Reading #10, Sun, 1:30–2:45 pm, reading with Elwin Cotwin, Jr., and Andrea Stewart. During this event, I'll giving away a copy of Wings Unseen, and Andrea will also have a few books for audience members to hopefully win! Enticements for coming to the last reading of a convention are always appreciated.

And you can often find me hanging out in the lobby bar. Come say hi! Wings Unseen will be available in the vendor's room (or ask me if they run out!).

Fogcon 2019 starts tomorrow!

As per usual, I don't feel ready, but do I ever for conventions? This year, I'll be at Fogcon all weekend. Here is my schedule, should you care to join me at any point:

Friday, 4:30 pm, Salon A/B: It's Dangerous to Go Alone! Take This--Writer Support Networks in the Bay Area. Panelist.

Scene: The writer types alone, perhaps with a bottle of bourbon for companionship and a cat on the lap. The writing lifestyle is often portrayed as solitary, but as with all careers, writers need support to improve and to get their work seen by the wider world. Come learn what resources are available for speculative fiction writers in the Bay Area, from critique groups, to marketing, to writing classes, to kicking back and talking writer shop with others going through the creative struggle of the written word.

Saturday, 10:00 am, Salon F: Discovering Short Fiction. Panelist.

We live in golden age for short SFF, but there’s so much out there and relatively few reviews and recommendations compared to novels. How are people finding short fiction? What are some techniques the panelist can suggest for those looking to read more short stories? And what can the community do to help showcase the awesome short fiction happening now?

Saturday, noon, Lobby Bar: East Bay Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Meetup Group Craft Klatsch. Host.

Join my East Bay critique group for SF/F writers during Saturday's lunch hour in Fogcon's lobby bar to unwind from the con so far and catch up on what's been great and what folks are looking forward to next.

Saturday, 8:00 pm, Salon F: Small Houses, Big Futures--Publishing SF with Small Presses. Moderator.

While many of us dream of a Big 5 deal, there are numerous Small Press publishers that are taking risks the larger publishers can't, giving more writers access to the market. But that access comes with smaller (or no) advances and a larger proportion of labor on the author. What's different about publishing with a Small Press vs. a big publishing house? How is the experience different, for the editor and for the writer?

Sunday, 1:30 pm, Santa Rosa room: Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading. Host and Reader.

Broad Universe is one of the oldest organizations supporting female writers of speculative fiction. At conventions nationwide, Broad Universe hosts Rapid Fire Readings to highlight the amazing work of our members. Several members of the group take part by sharing short bursts of fiction that keep the reading lively and exciting.

And from there...home! Is it wrong that I'm looking forward to that last part already?

This Friday is Day 1 of FogCon, a literary-themed, genre fiction convention that takes place in Walnut Creek every year. But for me, Friday is Day Everything! That's because I have three--3!--events going on that day, and I would love for you to join if you're attending the festivities.

First up is the Social Media for Writers and Authors panel, taking place 3:00-4:15 pm in Salon A/B. I thought my food blogging background might yield a different perspective on this topic, the description for which is "Join our panelists for a nuts and bolts discussion from personal experiences in the brave new world of Social Media as Writer and/or Author. What platforms work, and for what? How do you get followers/fans? What is the most effective way to reach people who will buy my books, not just other writers? How do you keep these people engaged and interacting on your networks?"

Immediately thereafter, I'll be hosting and reading in the Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading session in the Santa Rosa room, 4:30-5:45 pm.

Broad Universe is an organization of female writers and their supporters of all genders that work together to raise the profile of women in the industry. Our Rapid Fire Readings are a mainstay at many science fiction conventions around the nation, and this one will consist of two rounds of 8-minute readings from four authors...and we may have a special guest author as well! The slate is myself, Loren Rhoads, L.S. Johnson, and Sarah Grey.

Then, I get to eat dinner! And get more of a break before my second panel, How Did You Survive the Election? We will be tasked with tackling this terrifying topic in Salon A/B at 9:30-10:45 pm. Ah, such a sweet way to send us to slumber...The full panel description is "The 2015-2016 election season drove many of us to desperation, drink, or other distractions. Some of us turned into political denialists, some of us became political junkies, some of us amassed gigabytes of cute cat videos. How did you survive the campaigns, the stresses, the misrepresentations, coping with relatives who didn't understand/were partisans for the wrong side, and so on? Panelists and audience share their experiences with this tectonic election, as well as tips for surviving the stresses of political campaigns, political work, and dealing with the political news." I'll be approaching the topic from a viewpoint of ways to become an activist without breaking down relationships with those close to you whom have a different political persuasion.

And after that...I'm off the hook! Well, almost! Saturday and Sunday, you may often find me at the hotel's lobby bar when I'm taking a break from checking out someone else's reading or panel. But you will for sure find me there on Saturday during the lunch block, 12:00-1:15 pm, when I'll be the point person for members of the East Bay Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer's Meetup to, well, meet up! If you're interested in meeting other East Bay genre writers, that'll be a great time to swing by. But whenever you see me, I'm generally always down for a chat!

Hope to see you through the Fog this weekend!

I am way behind on all my travel posts, but I’m hoping to get that taken care of in the next few weeks. Here’s one on a trip the husband and I took to High Point, NC, for the 35th Stellarcon. “Now old enough to run for president!” was the unofficial slogan. This was my third speculative fiction convention, and Ben’s first.

What did I think? It was fun! Stellarcon convinced me to sign up in large part because I was amazed that such a small conference offered so much programming. As an author, I’m most drawn to the panels on writing-related aspects that I need more guidance on, but I also really enjoyed the fan-based panels, though I only attended two. One was on love for New Who and the other was a celebration of that glorious genre called B-movies.

A sci-fi/fantasy convention, you say? Where are the crazy pictures? Well, since you asked . . .

Klingon Karaoke!

Apparently, this is a Stellarcon tradition, with a Klingon and an Enterprise crewwoman hosting the event. I sang a little No Doubt—pretty badly since I didn’t remember the verses to Spiderwebs. Sigh. Other singers had more success.

The esteemed Klingon MC singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

On Day 2, Ben and I went for a walk around High Point, as I’d never been there beyond stopping to take a picture there during the Giant Furniture Adventure. I was surprised by many of the awesome buildings High Point has that are definitely worthy of a shot or two.

The Convention Center.

A nice, new-looking bus station.

The Forbidden City . . . in High Point?!

A nice statue of John Coltrane. There’s a plaque nearby that plays excerpts from several of his works.

Loved this ship-shaped building.

This is a familiar NC sight.

That evening, we headed to the costume competition, which is always a highlight for me of these events. Here were my favorite costumed competitors.

I don’t know who this was supposed to be, but you have to love a wizard with a clawed wand..

Oh, Arthur Dent. Who doesn’t love you?

A Dharma worker—don’t let him know you’re looking!

A lovely Star Wars costume.

I couldn't leave out the creepy clown from New Who.

And yes, that’s Raven again, looking like the smashing steampunk character he is.

I’ll post some more pictures on our photo site eventually, but I’m even farther behind updating there. Oh, the torment of sharing too much personal information over the interwebs--my digital life can never keep up with my real one.