First convention of 2023 is Boskone in Boston from February 17-19. Here’s my schedule:
Saturday, 10:00am
Dialogue Matters: Like the unfurling of a sail that carries a ship forward through a storm, powerful speeches in literature can come in small impactful moments that reveal character motivations, backstory, and connections. How does dialogue create reader engagement? We read aloud some of our favorite and most impactful exchanges from well-known stories and film, before discussing in detail how and why the words work so well. *Spoilers.*
Saturday 2:30pm
Group Reading: Humorous Speculative Fiction: Our group reading will feature up to five humorous speculative fiction authors who will each read from one of their published or in-process works. They will also host an author Q&A as time permits.
Saturday 4:00pm
Casting Your Lot with Shirley Jackson: From The Lottery to The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson has inspired writers inside and outside of the horror genre and in the process, shaped the genre. We look at how she turns ordinary moments into extraordinary fiction. What more is there to her work and her legacy? Does she continue to inspire and shape horror today?
Saturday 7:00pm
Silver Haired Warriors: Heroic deeds in fiction tend to be reserved for the young. But there is a place for heroes with mileage, too! Give us those dashing older mercenaries and space captains, those silver-haired mages and veterans of a thousand battles and wars. Let’s discuss fiction that takes older characters from the sidelines and places them firmly in those coveted main character slots.
