Can*Con 2018!

In a couple of weeks, I’ll be back at my favorite Ontario convention, Can*Con in Ottawa. Here’s my schedule:

Friday, 4:00 pm: Star Wars, Heroism, and Society.

The galaxy far, far away has long been a reflection of society’s views. How are changing concepts of heroism and the fight of good vs evil reflected in the new Star Wars canon? Are we just telling different stories, or has our view of what a group of heroes should be genuinely shifted? And what is the influence of what’s ‘allowed on the screen’ today versus Hollywood norms forty years ago? Éric Desmarais, Ada Hoffmann, A.A. Jankiewicz, Sylvain Neuvel, Evan May (Moderator)

Saturday, 1:00 pm: She Is The Slayer: Analyzing Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

More than twenty  years since the television show debuted (and longer since the original film), Buffy the Vampire Slayer remains an enduring pop culture  phenomenon – and the franchise is said to continue in the near future. What is so compelling about this series? How did it break tropes and barriers in storytelling (or not)? What has it influenced since? And if it returns, how could the next iteration of slayers reflect today’s society?

Saturday, 3:00 pm: Career Paths in Short Fiction.

A lot of writers have made their mark on the industry or advanced their career into other streams by writing and selling short fiction. Where should you be looking if you want to level up with short fiction, and what tools are at your fingertips? Lex Beckett, Susan Forest, Ada Hoffmann, Rich Larson, Derek Kunsken (Moderator)

Sunday, 11:00 am: I Wrote A Novel! Now What Do I Do With It?

You’ve written “the end” on your finished draft. Now what? Is it as good as it can get? How do you know? If not, how do you improve it? After it is as *perfect* as you can get it, you kind of have three choices: (1) traditional publishers, (2) self-publishing, (3) trunking it. Jen Albert, Ada Hoffmann, Jennifer Carole Lewis, Rati Mehrotra, James Alan Gardner (Moderator)

Sunday, 2:00 pm: Reading.