Alex Shvartsman is a writer, translator, and anthologist from Brooklyn, NY. His political fantasy novel Eridani’s Crown was published in 2019. Over 120 of his short stories have appeared in Analog, Nature, Strange Horizons, and many other venues. His website is www.alexshvartsm... Read More →
L.S. Johnson writes about the past to better understand the present, and about monsters to better understand ourselves. She is the author of the Chase and Daniels quartet of queer gothic novellas and over 40 short stories. Her first collection, Vacui Magia, won the North Street Book... Read More →
Kelley Frodel is an editor with a background in creative writing. She provides copyediting and proofreading for traditional publishers, as well as substantive editing for self-publishing authors. Her favorite part of editing is exploring the in-depth worlds writers create and building... Read More →
Premee Mohamed is an Indo-Caribbean scientist and speculative fiction author based in Edmonton, Alberta. She is the author of speculative fiction novels 'Beneath the Rising' (2020), 'A Broken Darkness' (2021), and novellas 'These Lifeless Things' (2021), 'And What Can We Offer You... Read More →
Saturday May 16, 2020 9:00am - 10:00am CDT
Athos Stream
Doesn't everyone just write and worry about word count later? Don't I simply make my story shorter by scrimping on description? No and no. On this panel we'll share the secrets of manipulating the elements of storytelling in order to manage story length.
Suzanne Vincent serves as Editor-in-chief of Flash Fiction Online Magazine, one of the most outstanding and enduring markets for flash fiction on the web, where stories of few words speak volumes. In her spare time she teaches piano lessons, maintains a large vegetable garden, and... Read More →
Alex Shvartsman is a writer, translator, and anthologist from Brooklyn, NY. His political fantasy novel Eridani’s Crown was published in 2019. Over 120 of his short stories have appeared in Analog, Nature, Strange Horizons, and many other venues. His website is www.alexshvartsm... Read More →
My fiction is featured in Jonathan Strahan’s Year’s Best Science Fiction and two volumes of Rich Horton’s Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy. My stories have appeared in Analog, Apex, Clarkesworld, Interzone, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and in Science... Read More →
Wendy Nikel is a speculative fiction author whose short stories can be found in Analog, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Nature: Futures, Podcastle, and various anthologies and e-zines. She is editor-in-chief at Flash Fiction Online and a member of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America... Read More →
Brandon O’Brien is a writer, performance poet, teaching artist and game designer from Trinidad and Tobago. His work has been shortlisted for the 2014 Alice Yard Prize for Art Writing, the 2014 and 2015 Small Axe Literary Competitions, and the inaugural Ignyte Award for Best in Speculative... Read More →
Saturday May 16, 2020 10:00am - 11:00am CDT
Athos Stream
In this panel we'll bring to light some of the misconceptions about the Dark Ages we find in fantasy literature. From sword-and-sorcery to mythic fiction, authors have taken a lot of license with the medieval period. Not all of it is bad, but there are some times when we wish for a bit more verisimilitude. Our guests will discuss issues that will allow you to enhance the authenticity of your worldbuilding, from the mundane (like fashion) to the ridiculous (dragons?).
I love to combine history, mythology, fantasy and romance in my fiction. My undergraduate degree is in History, German and Ancient Greek, and I hold an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. My husband and I had a Medieval wedding at a castle in central Pennsylvania... Read More →
Hannah Charlton grew up in Eastern Washington. She studied art at Whitworth University, where she first became interested in medieval art history. This was encouraged by an internship at the Grünewald Guild, an arts retreat center that held classes in stained glass, calligraphy... Read More →
Saturday May 16, 2020 11:00am - 12:00pm CDT
Athos Stream
A discussion on collaborative artist-writer relationships in comics, graphic novels, illustration, and other media. Comics, screenplays, and sometimes novels require collaboration between several creative individuals of different skill sets. Navigating this give and take can be tricky, especially when inspiration creates strong feelings that collaborators don't necessary share. This panel of professionals will discuss their experiences in collaboration, both high points and pitfalls.
Wendy Xu is a Brooklyn-based illustrator and comics artist with three upcoming graphic novels from Harper Collins.She is the co-creator of "Mooncakes", a young adult fantasy graphic novel published in 2019 from Lion Forge Comics. Her work has been featured on Catapult, Barnes & Noble... Read More →
Victoria Ying is an author and artist living in Los Angeles. She started her career in the arts by falling in love with comic books, this eventually turned into a career working in animation and graphic novels. She loves Japanese Curry, putting things in her shopping cart online and... Read More →
JOHN PICACIO is one of the most acclaimed American artists in science fiction and fantasy over the last decade, creating best-selling art for George R. R. Martin's A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE series, as well as the STAR TREK and X-MEN franchises. Winner of the 2020 Hugo Award for Best... Read More →
Suzanne Walker is a Chicago-based writer and editor. She is co-creator of the Hugo-nominated graphic novel Mooncakes (Oni Press/Lion Forge) with artist Wendy Xu. Her short fiction has been published in Clarkesworld, and she has published nonfiction articles with Uncanny Magazine... Read More →
Saturday May 16, 2020 12:00pm - 1:00pm CDT
Athos Stream
Ever wonder why some stories have boat loads of fan art and others don't? Artists utilize symbolism, color theory, and visual metaphor to communicate ideas in much the same way that writers use words and sentence structure. Learn how to use an artist's tools to create deeper audience connections with your work.
You've got pen and ink, you've got watercolors and you've got oil paints. But how do you translate those things into images featuring someone else's words? From covers to chapter sketches, drop capitals to full page illustrations, our panelists will talk about using their tools to turn words into images. Note: this panel is about the artistic process. If you're looking for the business side, please check out Networking for Creatives or Freelancing for Illustrators.
Terri Ash is the Manager and Artist Wrangler at Geek Calligraphy. She’s an avid knitter who cooks, makes her own jam, and gardens via the practice of benign neglect. A voracious consumer of many kinds of SFF media, nothing makes her happier than talking about it for hours.
JOHN PICACIO is one of the most acclaimed American artists in science fiction and fantasy over the last decade, creating best-selling art for George R. R. Martin's A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE series, as well as the STAR TREK and X-MEN franchises. Winner of the 2020 Hugo Award for Best... Read More →
Oscar Joyo (b.1992) Malawian born artist Oscar Joyo is an artist who specializes in Afrofuturism/afrosurrealism which he expresses through both traditional & digital media. As a child and even further in his career, Oscar was heavily influenced by animation, graphic novels, film... Read More →
Hannah Charlton grew up in Eastern Washington. She studied art at Whitworth University, where she first became interested in medieval art history. This was encouraged by an internship at the Grünewald Guild, an arts retreat center that held classes in stained glass, calligraphy... Read More →
Saturday May 16, 2020 2:00pm - 3:00pm CDT
Athos Stream
Everything you wanted to know about writing comics but were afraid to ask! In this panel, creators offer insight to those who are interested in transitioning into writing comics. We will delve into collaborating with artists and editors, scriptwriting tips, and ways in which comics workflow differs from other types of writing.
Suzanne Walker is a Chicago-based writer and editor. She is co-creator of the Hugo-nominated graphic novel Mooncakes (Oni Press/Lion Forge) with artist Wendy Xu. Her short fiction has been published in Clarkesworld, and she has published nonfiction articles with Uncanny Magazine... Read More →
Sarah Kuhn is the author of the popular Heroine Complex novels—a series starring Asian American superheroines. The first book is a Locus bestseller, an RT Reviewers’ Choice Award nominee, and one of the Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog’s Best Books of 2016. Her YA debut... Read More →
Darcie Little Badger is a Lipan Apache writer and geoscientist. Darcie's debut novel, Elatsoe, will publish with Levine Querido in August 2020. Notably, Elatsoe was honored as a BookExpo 2020 Young Adult Buzz Finalist. Her short fiction, nonfiction, and comics have appeared in multiple... Read More →
Marieke Nijkamp is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of YA novels, graphic novels, and comics, including This Is Where It Ends, Even If We Break, and The Oracle Code.
Saturday May 16, 2020 3:00pm - 4:00pm CDT
Athos Stream
Are you ready to push your idea out into the world... and if you build it, will they fund? Panelists share their experiences and ideas on how to approach Kickstarter, Patreon, and other crowdfunding mechanisms as a creative.
Mur Lafferty is a Hugo-award winning podcaster, a Hugo and Nebula award nominated writer, and co-editor of the first science fiction podcast, Escape Pod. She streams gaming and live podcasts on Twitch.
C Stuart Hardwick is a regular in Analog Science Fiction & Fact magazine, a winner of the prestigious Writers of the Future contest, and a six-time Jim Baen Memorial award honoree. In addition to scifi, he writes about science for numerous publications, and his work has been translated... Read More →
Alex Shvartsman is a writer, translator, and anthologist from Brooklyn, NY. His political fantasy novel Eridani’s Crown was published in 2019. Over 120 of his short stories have appeared in Analog, Nature, Strange Horizons, and many other venues. His website is www.alexshvartsm... Read More →
Cat Rambo has published 200+ short stories. In 2021 her book publications are fantasy novel Exiles of Tabat (May, Wordfire Press), anthology The Reinvented Heart, coedited with Jennifer Brozek (July, Arc Manor), and space opera, You Sexy Thing (September, Tor Macmillan).
Aidan Doyle is an Australian writer and editor. He is the co-editor of the World Fantasy Award-nominated Sword and Sonnet and the author of The Writer's Book of Doubt. His short stories have been published in places like Lightspeed, Strange Horizons and Fireside. He has visited more... Read More →
Saturday May 16, 2020 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Athos Stream
Artists talk about the unique ways that they use their skills and talents in tabletop gaming, share best practices and discuss how they broke into the industry.
Hi! I\\'m a freelance writer, RPG writer/designer, speaker and games critic. I started writing games journalism for magazines back in 2001 and my work has appeared in all kinds of publications. I\\'ve written for nearly twenty years about games, tech, the internet and even social... Read More →
Game artist and illustration professional of six years, best known for work on games like Slay the Spire and Numenera. Awards: Illustrators of the Future vol 34, Chesley Award 2020 nominee. Annuals: Spectrum (vol 26 & vol 27), Infected by Art (vol 5, 6, 7, 8, 9).
Saturday May 16, 2020 5:00pm - 6:00pm CDT
Athos Stream
Have you ever wondered what goes into creating the worlds you explore as a GM or player in a tabletop roleplaying game? Join this group of experts as they discuss the ins and outs of making settings and scenarios, histories and cultures, villains and heroes, and all the other bits and pieces that make a roleplaying game fun for everyone involved.
Liz Gorinsky (she/they) is a speculative fiction editor. Liz began her publishing career at Tor Books, editing a list that included popular and acclaimed speculative fiction authors Felix Gilman, Mary Robinette Kowal, Liu Cixin, George Mann, Annalee Newitz, Thomas Olde Heuvelt, Cherie... Read More →
Hi! I\\'m a freelance writer, RPG writer/designer, speaker and games critic. I started writing games journalism for magazines back in 2001 and my work has appeared in all kinds of publications. I\\'ve written for nearly twenty years about games, tech, the internet and even social... Read More →
Eddy Webb (with a “y”) is a freelance writer, designer, and consultant for video games and RPGs. He’s worked on Pugmire, Futurama, Firefly, Red Dwarf, and Sherlock Holmes. In his spare time, he advocates for more inclusion of people with hearing loss.
Lauren M. Roy is a writer and tabletop RPG developer. Her urban fantasy series NIGHT OWLS is published by Ace Books, and her short fiction has appeared in Fireside Magazine and on Podcastle. She's written for RPGs such as Changeling: The Lost, The Trinity Continuum, Trail of Cthulhu... Read More →
Saturday May 16, 2020 6:00pm - 7:00pm CDT
Athos Stream
This panel of four female podcasters invites you to join our adventure as we explore how community unleashes creativity. Join the discussion about how our passion for speculative fiction allows us to escape the challenges of everyday life. Podcasting, personality, and perspective, let's unleash the keys to productivity!
Molly is a writer as well as a podcaster & audio editor on Semi-Sages of the Pages. Additionally, she has a black belt in judo (obtained 2012). Molly has competed, coached, and instructed at the national level. She also has experience teaching self-defense seminars and organizing/choreographing... Read More →
Morrigan is an award winning teacher, writer, and perpetual student of life! She enjoys embracing novelty through original experiences and developing a variety of skills. When she is not writing or teaching her amazing students, she hangs around with friends, works on the family ranch... Read More →
S. Faxon writes urban fantasy, dark fantasy, and horror novels. She served as the president of the San Diego Writers and Editors Guild, is currently the Co-Chair of the Horror Writers Association San Diego chapter, a committee chair for StokerCon 2024 San Diego, and is an English... Read More →
Theresa Halvorsen has never met a profanity she hasn’t enjoyed. She’s generally overly-caffeinated and at times, wine-soaked. The author of the dystopian romance Warehouse Dreams and paranormal romance, River City Widows, Theresa wonders what sleep is. When she’s not writing... Read More →
Saturday May 16, 2020 7:00pm - 8:00pm CDT
Athos Stream
How to use elements of mystery and noir to plot speculative fiction. May include discussion of common reader expectations, tropes, and recommended reading.
Joshua Bilmes founded JABberwocky Literary Agency in 1994, and represents many of the top names in speculative fiction, including #1 bestselling authors Brandon Sanderson and Charlaine Harris, other NY Times bestselling authors such as John Hemry, Simon R. Green, Peter V. Brett and... Read More →
John P. Murphy is an engineer and author, with a background in robotics, machine learning, and network security. His novella The Liar was a finalist for the Nebula Award, and his debut novel Red Noise will be out June 2020.
Kat Clay is a crime and horror author from Melbourne, Australia. She is the author of novella Double Exposure, and her short story ‘Lady Loveday Investigates’ won three prizes at the 2018 Scarlet Stiletto Awards, including the Kerry Greenwood Prize for Best Malice Domestic.Kat’s... Read More →
Laurence Raphael Brothers is a writer and technologist with 5 patents and a background in AI and Internet R&D. He has published around 30 short stories in magazines such as Nature, PodCastle, the New Haven Review, and Galaxy\'s Edge. His WWI-era fantasy novel \"Twilight Patrol\" and... Read More →
Saturday May 16, 2020 8:00pm - 9:00pm CDT
Athos Stream
If you ever wanted to get a behind-the-scenes look at the design process from the owners of one of the world's top escape rooms as voted by enthusiasts, this is your chance! You choose the theme and objective, and we'll design the game. See how ideas become puzzles, and puzzles become rooms. Part design adventure, part hilarious romp, come join us for the fun!
Word-smithing doesn't have to be hard! Here's a guide to crafting stronger sentences and paragraphs, which Kurt will demonstrate by taking a red pen to E. L. James' breakout hit Fifty Shades Of Grey.
Kurt Pankau is a computer engineer in St. Louis. He has a weakness for board games, dad-jokes, and stories about time travel. His fiction has appeared in various and sundry places around the web, including Nature Magazine, Escape Pod, and Daily Science Fiction.
Saturday May 16, 2020 10:00pm - 11:00pm CDT
Athos Stream
You've spent time and energy writing and revising a short story and it's finally ready for submission—so what happens next? With so many fantastic venues for short-form science fiction available today it can be hard to know where, and how, to submit your work. Our panel of successful authors will share their insights on the process—from complying with submission guidelines to understanding the varying responses you might receive, and everything in between—and will be happy to answer your questions.
Science Fiction Collections Librarian, Sydney Jones Library, University of Liverpool
I'm a queer, Greek-Cypriot writer and scholar of science fiction, fantasy and horror. I hold a Ph.D. in English and African American Studies from Yale University and am currently the Science Fiction Collections Librarian at the University of Liverpool, where I steward the largest... Read More →
Victoria Sandbrook is a speculative fiction writer, freelance editor and reviewer, and Viable Paradise graduate. Her short fiction has appeared in Giganotosaurus, Sword & Sonnet, Podcastle, Shimmer, and elsewhere. Victoria and her family live in Brockton, Massachusetts. She reviews... Read More →
José Pablo Iriarte is a Cuban-American writer and teacher who lives in Central Florida. José’s fiction can be found in magazines such as Lightspeed, Strange Horizons, Fireside Fiction, and others, and has been featured in best-of lists compiled by Tangent Online, Featured Futures... Read More →
My fiction is featured in Jonathan Strahan’s Year’s Best Science Fiction and two volumes of Rich Horton’s Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy. My stories have appeared in Analog, Apex, Clarkesworld, Interzone, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and in Science... Read More →
Sunday May 17, 2020 6:00am - 7:00am CDT
Athos Stream
Everything you ever wanted to know about small presses and didn't know to ask. Peril and positives, daring and drawbacks. Take this panel: It's dangerous to go alone.
dave ring is a queer editor and writer of speculative fiction living in Washington, DC. He is the publisher and managing editor of Neon Hemlock Press, as well as editor of the anthology Glitter + Ashes: Queer Tales of a World That Wouldn’t Die. His short fiction has been featured... Read More →
Art Director + Projects Manager, FIYAH Literary Magazine
L.D. Lewis is an award-winning SF/F writer and editor, and serves as a founding creator, Art Director, and Project Manager for the World Fantasy Award-winning and Hugo Award-nominated FIYAH Literary Magazine. She is the author of A Ruin of Shadows (Dancing Star Press, 2018) and... Read More →
Catherine Lundoff is a Minneapolis-based award-winning writer, editor and publisher. Her books include the novels Silver Moon and Blood Moon and the single author collections Out of This World: Queer Speculative Fiction Stories and Unfinished Business: Tales of the Dark Fantastic... Read More →
J.R.H. Lawless is a bestselling SF author from Atlantic Canada who blends comedy with political themes — drawing heavily, in both cases, on their experience as a lawyer and as Secretary General of a Parliamentary group at the French National Assembly. A member of SFWA and Codex... Read More →
Sunday May 17, 2020 9:00am - 10:00am CDT
Athos Stream
You've gotten your work through a beginning, a middle, and an end (maybe), but you're ready to tackle a revision. How can you wrap your head around the mammoth task of fixing plot holes and worse? How can structure inform and reinforce your plot choices? What other tools can you use to rethink and reinvision your biggest moments?
Victoria Sandbrook is a speculative fiction writer, freelance editor and reviewer, and Viable Paradise graduate. Her short fiction has appeared in Giganotosaurus, Sword & Sonnet, Podcastle, Shimmer, and elsewhere. Victoria and her family live in Brockton, Massachusetts. She reviews... Read More →
Valerie Valdes’s short fiction and poetry have been featured in Uncanny Magazine, Time Travel Short Stories and Nightmare Magazine. Her debut novel Chilling Effect was shortlisted for the 2021 Arthur C. Clarke Award and was named one of Library Journal’s best SF/fantasy novels... Read More →
Martha Wells writes SF/F, including The Murderbot Diaries and The Books of the Raksura series. She has won a Nebula Award, two Hugo Awards, two Locus Awards, and her work has appeared on the Philip K. Dick Award ballot, the USA Today and the New York Times Bestseller Lists.
Melissa Caruso is the author of the Swords & Fire trilogy: THE TETHERED MAGE (Orbit, 2017), THE DEFIANT HEIR (Orbit, 2018), and THE UNBOUND EMPIRE (Orbit, 2019), as well as the forthcoming Rooks and Ruin trilogy, beginning with THE OBSIDIAN TOWER (coming June 2020 from Orbit). Melissa's... Read More →
Sunday May 17, 2020 10:00am - 11:00am CDT
Athos Stream
You suddenly have free time due to the Pandemic! You sit down, planning to write that sci-fi novel, sketch out that cloaked figure in a mask or even design the next Red Flags card game. But maybe you can't focus or your creation is flowing and you're wondering what the next steps are. Join this panel to discuss Creating (or Not) in Hard times.
Theresa Halvorsen has never met a profanity she hasn’t enjoyed. She’s generally overly-caffeinated and at times, wine-soaked. The author of the dystopian romance Warehouse Dreams and paranormal romance, River City Widows, Theresa wonders what sleep is. When she’s not writing... Read More →
Miri Baker is an award-winning cosplayer, lapsed Magic: the Gathering judge, cartoon junkie, writer of fantasy for adults and weird YA,14-time NaNoWriMo winner (and 1-time loser), and Ravenpuff all-purpose nerd.
Scott A. Johnson is the author of ten novels, three true ghost guides, a chapbook, and a short story collection, as well as hundreds of articles about writing and about the paranormal. To find out more about him and his work, visit his website at http://www.creepylittlebastard.co... Read More →
LaShawn M. Wanak lives in Wisconsin with her husband and son. She writes science fiction, fantasy, and a little bit of horror. Her works have been published in Fireside Magazine, FIYAH, Uncanny Magazine, and many others. She is the editor of the online magazine GigaNotoSaurus and... Read More →
Molly Elizabeth Atkins lives in St. Louis with her husband, two children, and a surprisingly large dog. Fueled by copious amounts of tea, she wakes every morning at five to squeeze in some writing time before chaos takes over the house. Molly’s short story, “Obsidian Spire... Read More →
Sunday May 17, 2020 11:00am - 12:00pm CDT
Athos Stream
Panelists will address a wide range of topics related to genre translation. From translator's rights and the unique challenges of editing and publishing translated fiction to finding the most rewarding translation approach in the target language, to striking the right balance between modifying the original content with tailoring it for a new audience, there's more to the art and business of literary translation than meets the eye.
Alex Shvartsman is a writer, translator, and anthologist from Brooklyn, NY. His political fantasy novel Eridani’s Crown was published in 2019. Over 120 of his short stories have appeared in Analog, Nature, Strange Horizons, and many other venues. His website is www.alexshvartsm... Read More →
S. Qiouyi Lu writes, translates, and edits between two coasts of the Pacific. Their fiction and poetry have appeared in Asimov’s, F&SF, and Strange Horizons, and their translations have appeared in Clarkesworld. They edit the flash fiction and poetry magazine Arsenika. You can find... Read More →
Rachel Cordasco has a PhD in literary studies and currently works as a developmental editor. She also writes reviews for publications like World Literature Today and Strange Horizons and translates Italian speculative fiction. For all things related to speculative fiction in translation... Read More →
Tracy Canfield's space-opera computer game I, Cyborg was published by Choice of Games, and her fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies. Her PhD is in computational linguistics. CNN once called her a "Klingon scholar".
Sunday May 17, 2020 12:00pm - 1:00pm CDT
Athos Stream
Writers with podcasts discuss the pros and cons of having your own or participating in them as a frequest guest. We'll talk about how podcasting intersects with (or interferes with) writing, tips and tools for starting your own, and share out favorite author-centric podcasts.
K. Tempest Bradford is a science fiction and fantasy writer, writing instructor, media critic, reviewer, and podcaster. Her short fiction has appeared in multiple anthologies and magazines including Strange Horizons, PodCastle, Sunspot Jungle, In the Shadow of the Towers, and many more. She’s the... Read More →
Alasdair Stuart is a professional enthusiast, pop culture analyst, and writer. He co-owns the Escape Artists Podcast Network, and hosts their weekly horror fiction show, PseudoPod. He is a three time Hugo finalist, writes an award-nominated weekly pop culture newsletter, The Full... Read More →
Mur Lafferty is a Hugo-award winning podcaster, a Hugo and Nebula award nominated writer, and co-editor of the first science fiction podcast, Escape Pod. She streams gaming and live podcasts on Twitch.
Trace Kerr is a lifelong Pacific Northwesterner who loves writing stories about undaunted queer teens and magic. Her debut YA novel, The Names We Take comes out May 19, 2020. When she isn't writing, Trace is the producer and co-host for Brain Junk, a lighthearted fact finding podcast... Read More →
Sunday May 17, 2020 1:00pm - 2:00pm CDT
Athos Stream
Sending out your work for publication can feel like tossing stones into a black hole. Join us for a discussion with agents and editors that will shine a light on the factors that influence what stories are accepted and rejected. Learn how to stand out as a new author and do's and don'ts of the submission process.
Cislyn Smith (she/her) writes speculative short stories and poems, and you can find her wordy work in Strange Horizons, Diabolical Plots, Daily Science Fiction and scattered hither and yon else-internet. She is a first reader for Uncanny Magazine and Giganotosaurus, a graduate of... Read More →
Bridget Smith has been an agent at JABberwocky Literary Agency since May 2019. She grew up in Connecticut and graduated from Brown University with a BA in anthropology in 2010. After graduation, she interned at Don Congdon Associates, worked at a secondhand bookstore, and read submissions... Read More →
Diana M. Pho is a queer Vietnamese-American independent scholar, playwright, and Hugo Award-nominated fiction editor. She has over a decade of experience in traditional, Big Five publishing, including Tor Books, Tor.com Publishing, and the Science Fiction Book Club. Additionally... Read More →
Liz Gorinsky (she/they) is a speculative fiction editor. Liz began her publishing career at Tor Books, editing a list that included popular and acclaimed speculative fiction authors Felix Gilman, Mary Robinette Kowal, Liu Cixin, George Mann, Annalee Newitz, Thomas Olde Heuvelt, Cherie... Read More →
Sam Morgan is a literary agent based out of Brooklyn, NY. He specializes in fantasy and science fiction. He represents such authors as Jenn Lyons, Megan E. O'Keefe, Jay Posey, Alexander C. Kane, and Daniel Polansky.
Sunday May 17, 2020 2:00pm - 3:00pm CDT
Athos Stream
LaShawn M. Wanak lives in Wisconsin with her husband and son. She writes science fiction, fantasy, and a little bit of horror. Her works have been published in Fireside Magazine, FIYAH, Uncanny Magazine, and many others. She is the editor of the online magazine GigaNotoSaurus and... Read More →
Diana M. Pho is a queer Vietnamese-American independent scholar, playwright, and Hugo Award-nominated fiction editor. She has over a decade of experience in traditional, Big Five publishing, including Tor Books, Tor.com Publishing, and the Science Fiction Book Club. Additionally... Read More →
Henry Lien is a 2012 graduate of Clarion West Writers Workshop, Seattle. He is the author of the critically-acclaimed and award-winning Peasprout Chen middle grade fantasy series. His short fiction has appeared in publications like Asimov’s, Analog, and F&SF, and he is a four-time... Read More →
S. Qiouyi Lu writes, translates, and edits between two coasts of the Pacific. Their fiction and poetry have appeared in Asimov’s, F&SF, and Strange Horizons, and their translations have appeared in Clarkesworld. They edit the flash fiction and poetry magazine Arsenika. You can find... Read More →
Nafiza Azad is a self-identified island girl. She has hurricanes in her blood and dreams of a time she can exist solely on mangoes and pineapple. Born in Lautoka, Fiji, she currently resides in BC, Canada where she reads too many books, watches too many Kdramas and writes stories... Read More →
Sunday May 17, 2020 3:00pm - 4:00pm CDT
Athos Stream
Just like fiction, there is an art to freelancing. In this panel, we'll to some people who have been successful in building a freelance business that can help support their fiction habit when things get tough. From pitches to taxes, we'll cover as much as we can in the time allotted.
I love to combine history, mythology, fantasy and romance in my fiction. My undergraduate degree is in History, German and Ancient Greek, and I hold an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. My husband and I had a Medieval wedding at a castle in central Pennsylvania... Read More →
C. L. Kagmi is a freelance writer and author of stories which have appeared in Compelling Science Fiction, Crash Philosophy, Writers of the Future, and an upcoming anthology from Baen Books. She holds a B.S. in Neuroscience from the University of Michigan, and loves applying her training... Read More →
Sunday May 17, 2020 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Athos Stream
Fictional religions can add important layers of worldbuilding to a setting, especially in a fantasy world or alien culture. But the task of coming up with the relevant details, and which details to focus on, can be daunting. This presentation describes some of the key elements of a religion and explores a few ways a writer can approach each of these elements in a conscious and conscientious way to create believable beliefs and rituals for a fictional religious tradition.
Alexei Collier is a disabled and neurodivergent human who writes fantasy inspired by science and science-fiction inspired by folklore. He was born in sunny Southern California, grew up in a house his family moved into on his very first Halloween, and went to school in a creepy old... Read More →
Paul Goat Allen has 25+ years of experience reviewing for Publisher's Weekly, BlueInk Review, Barnes & Noble, and Kirkus. In this conversation he looks back at the 10,000+ reviews he's written during the course of his career and reflects on what it takes for a novel to receive a "starred review" and his "Reviewer's Hierarchy of Needs."
Prof. of Creative Writing, Franciscan University of Steubenville
I have several short stories published on a small Australian press. I created & co-host a writing podcast titled "The Archetypist," wherein we dissect bestselling novels and distill them down to their basic elements in order to create tools for writers. I also taught 400 level creative... Read More →
Paul Goat Allen has been reviewing books for more than 25 years. In addition to BlueInk Review, his work has appeared with BarnesandNoble.com, The Chicago Tribune, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and more. He also teaches in Seton Hill University’s Writing Popular Fiction graduate writing... Read More →
Sunday May 17, 2020 6:00pm - 7:00pm CDT
Athos Stream
How do you write nightmares in a time period that so often seems nightmarish? The panel will talk to you about coping mechanisms, strategies and markets to send work to as well as talk about some of their own favourite pieces of speculative horror and what we can learn from them.
J.T. Greathouse’s short fiction has appeared, often as Jeremy A. TeGrotenhuis, in BCS, Deep Magic, IGMS, and elsewhere. Upon graduating with a degree in history and philosophy from Whitworth University, he taught ESL in Taiwan before returning to Spokane, WA. After working as a... Read More →
Scott A. Johnson is the author of ten novels, three true ghost guides, a chapbook, and a short story collection, as well as hundreds of articles about writing and about the paranormal. To find out more about him and his work, visit his website at http://www.creepylittlebastard.co... Read More →
Catherine Lundoff is a Minneapolis-based award-winning writer, editor and publisher. Her books include the novels Silver Moon and Blood Moon and the single author collections Out of This World: Queer Speculative Fiction Stories and Unfinished Business: Tales of the Dark Fantastic... Read More →
Kat Clay is a crime and horror author from Melbourne, Australia. She is the author of novella Double Exposure, and her short story ‘Lady Loveday Investigates’ won three prizes at the 2018 Scarlet Stiletto Awards, including the Kerry Greenwood Prize for Best Malice Domestic.Kat’s... Read More →
Sunday May 17, 2020 7:00pm - 8:00pm CDT
Athos Stream
In this panel we'll explore how writers can create teams of characters with interesting group dynamics without sacrificing each individual character's personality and arc whether you're writing a Leverage-like heist, working out how to make your starship crew more like the Enterprise and less like the Borg, or keeping whodunit a secret until the end of the mystery.
K. Tempest Bradford is a science fiction and fantasy writer, writing instructor, media critic, reviewer, and podcaster. Her short fiction has appeared in multiple anthologies and magazines including Strange Horizons, PodCastle, Sunspot Jungle, In the Shadow of the Towers, and many more. She’s the... Read More →
Becky Chambers is a science fiction author, best known for her Hugo Award-winning Wayfarers series. Her books have also been nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Locus Award, and the Women's Prize for Fiction, among others. She has two new works coming out in 2021: The Galaxy... Read More →
Valerie Valdes’s short fiction and poetry have been featured in Uncanny Magazine, Time Travel Short Stories and Nightmare Magazine. Her debut novel Chilling Effect was shortlisted for the 2021 Arthur C. Clarke Award and was named one of Library Journal’s best SF/fantasy novels... Read More →
Sunday May 17, 2020 8:00pm - 9:00pm CDT
Athos Stream
