incidents and accidents, hints and allegations

I promised skygiants notes on this panel.

Description:
Alaya Dawn Johnson called Dorothy Dunnett "the literary equivalent of the Velvet Underground": not many people read her, but everyone who did wrote a book. A painter, researcher, and opera lover, she wrote what she wanted to read: epic historical drama. Come learn what our panelists and many other writers learned from Dunnett.
Alex Jablokow, Nisi Shawl, Lila Garrott, Kate Nepveu (mod), Victoria Janssen

This was a loose, engaged panel that was a great deal of fun. I made notes immediately after, but I was very very tired, so take with a grain of salt.

( cut for length, indiscriminate spoilers for everything but KING HEREAFTER, discussion of racism and consent issues )

Honestly I kind of want to reread Lymond now, but there's no way I could reasonably piecemeal them in the time available to me. Especially since someone after the panel convinced me to give Elizabeth Wein's Arthurian books another shot after I was so mad at The Winter Prince, so now that's a whole 'nother series on to the to-be-read list . . .

I have such a great schedule for this Readercon that even though all five panels of it are on Friday, I couldn't bear to give up any of them.

It consists of:

Reading and Life Stages, Part 1: 30s and 40s, Salon 5, Fri 1:00 PM
Our notion of who readers are is often built on the image of readers in their teens and 20s, but as people age, their reading habits change. In this intimate and personal two-part panel, panelists will discuss their age-related shifts in reading speed and ability to focus, time for reading, interest in reading, book acquisition and deacquisition, use of print, digital, and audio books, and other related topics. Part 1: readers in their 30s and 40s.
Kate Nepveu (m), Danielle Friedman, Bart Leib, KJ Kabza, Natalie Luhrs, Veronica Schanoes

Character Identity and Story Shape, Salon 5, Fri 2:00 PM
Writers trying to subvert stereotypes will sometimes take a common story shape—the quest adventure, the mystery investigation—and give it an uncommon protagonist. But once the protagonist changes, the story also has to change. How can writers integrate a character's identity into the very fabric of a story? If one begins by wanting to write a certain type of character, how does that influence the choice or creation of a setting, a plot, and a supporting cast?
Kate Nepveu (m), Gemma Files, John Chu, Scott H. Andrews

Futures That Feel like Home, Blue Hills, Fri 4:00 PM
Our panelists will discuss the fictional futures they find most appealing and would be happy to live in (maybe with some caveats). Does the work that depicts these futures provide a path or hints as to how humans might get there? What makes these futures worth rooting for and aspiring to?
Kate Nepveu (m), Francesca Forrest, J.R. Dawson, José Pablo Iriarte, Matthew Kressel

The Works of Nisi Shawl, Salon C, Fri 5:00 PM
Nisi Shawl has worked a warehouse job, has sold structural steel and aluminum, and has been in a band. Most notably, she writes. Her short story collection, Filter House, was a finalist for the World Fantasy Award and was one of two winners of the Tiptree Award as well one of Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2008. Her debut novel, Everfair, was a finalist for the Nebula Award. She is also a noted lecturer and teacher on speculative fiction, gender, and race, and Writing the Other, which she coauthored with Cynthia Ward, remains essential reading for all writers. We are overjoyed to welcome her to Readercon and to celebrate her work.
Terence Taylor (m), Samuel R. Delany, Kate Nepveu

Dorothy Dunnett, Literary Legend, Salon C, Fri 8:00 PM
Alaya Dawn Johnson called Dorothy Dunnett "the literary equivalent of the Velvet Underground": not many people read her, but everyone who did wrote a book. A painter, researcher, and opera lover, she wrote what she wanted to read: epic historical drama. Come learn what our panelists and many other writers learned from Dunnett.
Kate Nepveu (m), Alexander Jablokov, Lila Garrott, Victoria Janssen, Nisi Shawl

And now the usual: