I am thrilled, and greatly honored to be asked to speak on these amazing topics alongside forefronts, childhood heroes, and grand masters!  Following is my schedule at the 74th World Science Fiction Convention, MidAmeriCon II in Kansas City, MO August 17-21.

I’ll be doing some relational research on these topics in addition to what my writing and background already bring to the table, and I look forward to bringing well-rounded discussion and relevant sources.  Engage!

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Life on a Meridional World

Thursday 21:00 – 22:00, 2204 (Kansas City Convention Center)

What would life be like without a diurnal cycle? How would plants adapt? Would penguins and polar bears (somewhat used to this kind of thing already) make good colonists? If a world is completely dark, or light, what do we do after that? The panel forget all these questions (for the most part) and enjoy how we’ve written about this for years, from Pitch Black to S.H.I.E.L.D.

Dr. Charles Gannon, Eva Elasigue, Joe Haldeman, Christine Taylor-Butler (M), Larry Niven

Creative Commons Rights for Creators and Fans

Wednesday 17:00 – 18:00, 2209 (Kansas City Convention Center)

Ask fans, authors and experts about what Creative Commons Rights mean and current examples of people using the license in different ways when publishing their work. We will also look at creator sentiment about publishing within this spectrum. Does information want to be free?

Eva Elasigue, Marguerite Kenner, Cory Doctorow, William Frank (M)

‘Have at You!’: Writing a Great Fight Scene

Thursday 11:00 – 12:00, 2210 (Kansas City Convention Center)

Fight scenes are a hard beast to write. Who’s hitting who and why? How do you describe what is happening? What’s that guy doing on the floor? How is the protagonist going to react, given her history? And wow, was that just a scratch, or did it take that other person’s leg off?! In this session panelists explore the different ways to experience a good fight scene in science fiction and fantasy, as writers, readers and martial artists.

Eva Elasigue (M), Dr. Claire McCague, Kathryn Sullivan, Ms. Jeffe Kennedy, Steven Gould

“Go for the Eyes, Boo!” Character Design in Videogames

Friday 12:00 – 13:00, 2210 (Kansas City Convention Center)

From the humble plumber to the treasure seeking adventurer, getting characters right in videogaming is a crucial element of worldbuilding in games. Our panel discuss some of the classic characters in gaming, as well as some of the failures. Why do we love our WoW characters? Is Navi really that annoying? And what suggestions do the panel have for making great avatars and characters?

Elizabeth Bear, Andrea G. Stewart (M), Vivian Trask, Lindsay Mealing, Eva Elasigue

Two Suns in the Sky

Sunday 10:00 – 11:00, 2503A – A/V (Kansas City Convention Center)

With the discovery of so many exoplanets by Kepler photometry, research into double stars has gained increasing iimportance.  Many multiple star systems have planets, with some of them even in the habitable zone. New discoveries about binary systems are still being made.  Come and learn the latest about multiple star systems, their planets, what we’ve learn about them and what they’ve taught us about the rest of the universe.

Courtney Schafer, Eva Elasigue, Joe Haldeman

Men in Comics… !?!?!

Wednesday 16:00 – 17:00, 2204 (Kansas City Convention Center)

Our title satirises the horrible “Women in Comics” panels that have featured a full panel of men. This panel discusses different manifestations of gender in comics and in the comics industry (our panel will pick!), some of the ways to avoid the erasure of talented authors, storylines, characters of all genders, and ways forwards. Our moderator will flutter.

Kaja Foglio, Eva Elasigue, Mr Paul Cornell (M), Tamara Jones, Tamora Pierce

Freelancing in the Publishing Industry

Friday 15:00 – 16:00, 2503A – A/V (Kansas City Convention Center)

The publishing industry makes copious use of freelance talent, from editors to proof readers.  What freelancing roles are there?  What do they do?  How does one break into freelancing behind the scenes?

Betsy Mitchell (M), Eva Elasigue, Arnie Fenner, Erin Wilcox, Richard Shealy