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Where to Find Me at Readercon 25

Readercon 25 has released its program schedule! They’re not keeping me quite as busy as they have in previous years, but the good news is that it leaves me with plenty of time to catch other great programming. (Seriously, Readercon programming is always top notch.) Anyway, without further ado, here’s where you can find me:

Saturday July 12

1:00 PM CL Kaffeeklatsch. Nicholas Kaufmann, Barry Longyear.

[In case you don’t know what a Readercon kaffeeklatsch is, it’s an intimate get-together between an author and up to 15 readers, who will need to sign up in advance once they get to the convention. It takes place in a cozy but spacious room where free coffee is served. The room is big enough to allow two authors to have their kaffeklatschen simultaneously, though not necessarily together. So while we’re both listed for the same time, Mr. Longyear and I will be holding two separate conversations with two separate groups of people. Unless we all decide we like each other’s company and decide to merge, which could happen, too. So if you’re coming to Readercon and would like to meet me in a setting that’s more than a friendly hello in the hallway, signing up for the kaffeklatsch is your best bet!]

6:30 PM EM Reading: Nicholas Kaufmann. Nicholas Kaufmann reads a passage from the forthcoming novel, Die and Stay Dead (St. Martin’s, September 2014).

[In other words, come hear spoilers from the sequel to Dying Is My Business!]

Sunday July 13

12:00 PM G Horror for Diverse Audiences. Gemma Files, Nicholas Kaufmann, John Langan (leader), Shira Lipkin, Jennifer Pelland, Shveta Thakrar. Stereotypes and -isms often come from the id, from a place of deep fear. Horror writers have made use of this for ages, particularly describing monsters and monstrousness in ways that evoke racial anxiety, sexual anxieties, and fears of bodily change. However, that only works if your audience is in the racial majority, sexual majority, and able-bodied. What is the place of horror based on normalized fears for someone who doesn’t or can’t identify with the norm? How can writers effectively write horror for diverse audiences with diverse fears and anxieties? Can horror be a tool for expanding social empathy and social justice?

[I know it sounds like I’m saying “Come see a white, heterosexual man talk about horror for minorities and outsiders!” but I think this is actually going to be a really cool, really informative panel filled with smart folks. Come check it out!]

And that’s it for my Readercon 25 schedule. You might also find me in the lobby, in the bar, at other cool programming events, or hanging out at the ChiZine Publications table in the bookshop. Feel free to come say hello. I promise I’m friendly! I’m always happy to sign books, too!

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