SFContario 2, 2011

     I went to SFContario 2011. I had a lottery - free ticket in your con membership bag. Drop by my kaffeeklatch, reading, signing or dealer table to see if you won one of the prizes.

     lottery, 5 panels, kaffeeklatsch, reading, signing, radio play.

• Your Techno babble is in my Science Friday 7 pm
  In writing one often finds oneself having to fake an advanced level of science. What happens when reality catches up or contradicts your fakery? How much science is necessary to drive a plot? How do you successfully fake it to make a story flow? (Eric Choi, Ian Keeling, Shirley Meier, Stephen B Pearl (M))


• Weapons and Armour Friday 8 pm
  An examination of the historical and ongoing technological race between weapons and the equipment that makes them obsolete. (Erik Buchanan, Stephen B Pearl, Adam Shaftoe(M), David Stephenson)


• The Near Future of Earth's Environment Saturday 12 pm, noon
  Biological species invasions, species extinctions, peak water, peak oil, new shifting watersheds, carbon sequestration, dramatically changing weather patterns... and that's just this year. Has the climate changed too much? How can we adapt? (Peter Halasz, Simon McNeil, Stephen B Pearl, Hayden Trenholm(M))


• Autographs - Stephen B. Pearl and Matthew Johnson Saturday 2 pm


• Powering the Future Sunday 10 am
  You want to write a hard SF story set in 2100. How will your world be powered? Will it be technical urban/nuclear, or subsistence rural/ renewable or something in between. (Eric Choi(M), James Nicoll, Stephen B Pearl, David Stephenson)


• Accents and Speech Patterns Sunday 11 am
  When representing accents and ways of speaking in fiction some authors choose to add slang terms while others may write entire novels in a vernacular accent. When is it too much? Is it worth sacrificing readability for authenticity? Our panel will give tips, strategies and techniques for accurately representing speech in fiction. (Richard Baldwin, Erik Buchanan, Ian Keeling, Stephen B Pearl(M), Robert Charles Wilson)


• Stephen B. Pearl Reading Sunday 12:30 pm - Stephen B. Pearl Pyramid Prize Lottery prizes awarded.


• Stephen B. KaffeeKlatsch Sunday 3 pm - Stephen B. Pearl Pyramid Prize Lottery prizes awarded.

SFContario 1, 2010

     4 panels, reading, signing, masquerade.

     This was the first convention and it was well run. It was great, enjoyable and fun. It has a literary bent that, of course, I like.

• How to write a synopsis. Friday November 19, 2010 7:00 pm
  A synopsis is an important part of the submission package you will use to sell your novel. But what is a synopsis and how is it developed and polished? Is there an ideal length? How much detail should it include? Panelists discuss common problems and errors. (Erik Buchanan, Michael Martineck(M), Stephen B. Pearl, Karl Schroeder).


• Stephen B. Pearl Reading Friday November 19, 2010 9:30 pm


• Is Extinction Really Forever? Saturday November 20, 2010 10:00 am
  Given that an extinct form of mouse has been cloned back into existence and dinosaur bone cells have been found in fossils, what are the ethical applications and limits of cloning technology? (Mark Offer, Stephen B. Pearl, Jane Carol Petrovich, Amanda Stock(M), Peter Watts).


• Biotech: Friend or Foe? Saturday November 20, 2010 3:00 pm
  This science holds out the possibility of supplying fuel while removing carbon from industrial emissions, regenerating cartilage restoring mobility to millions, curing human illness, generating plagues that are racially specific, destroying our food supply by killing off bees, converting farm land to deserts. A look at this double-edged sword and where it might take us, good and bad. (Eric Choi(M), Mark Offer, Stephen B Pearl, Alison Sinclair, Peter Watts).


• Autographs - Stephen B. Pearl Saturday November 20, 2010 4:00 pm


• What do you mean my stake won't work? Sunday November 21, 2010 10:00 am
  Drive a stake into the vampire's heart and it is dead right? In traditional vampire lore that stake better be made of Oak, Ash of Thorn wood or you just made it mad! How incorporating facts from actual mythology can add conflict and challenge to paranormal fiction. (Stephanie Bedwell-Grime, Karen Dales(M), Douglas Smith, Stephen B Pearl)