Blog

It’s that time of year again, where all the dice return to their ancestral home and plane tickets to Indianapolis get crazy expensive: GenCon!

This year I will be at GenCon, participating in the Writer’s Symposium, signing books, and probably showing up in a few surprise places. If you haven’t checked out the events catalog, you should! In the meantime, here’s my schedule:

Thursday, 9 AM
Characters with Character: Creating multi-dimensional, dynamic characters can be the difference between a manuscript that sells and one that languishes on your hard drive. How do you create vivid, living, breathing characters that engage and intrigue your readers? Join our panelists as they share their methods for penning amazing, interesting characters. Other panelists: Elizabeth Vaughan, Dylan Birtolo, and Gregory Wilson

Thursday, 10 AM
Being (In)human: From talking rats to green-skinned monsters, discover ways to make your inhuman characters resonate with the reader. Our panelists discuss how to make the reader care about your monster without making it any less monstrous, ways to make inhuman heroes more than just people with fur, and tricks for getting the reader to root for your creature characters. Other panelists: Dave Gross, Richard Lee Byers, and Elizabeth Vaughan

Thursday–D&D Keynote! (I won’t be speaking, obviously, but I’ll be there! You should be too!)

Friday 10-11 am
Signing in the D&D Experience booth (With Ed Greenwood and Paul S. Kemp!). Those guys are going to have a much bigger line than me, so come and even it out.

Saturday, 8 AM
Dragons and Dwarves and Elves, Oh My!—Fantasy Tropes: We love fantasy, but it’s a challenge to write in a genre so steeped in clichés. Are you giving your reader what they want when you fill your tales with elves, dragons, and dwarves? Or does it show a lack of originality? Our panelists discuss when to embrace the clichés of fantasy fiction and when to run from them.  Other panelists: Dave Gross, Maxwell A. Drake, and Erik Scott de Bie

Saturday, 1-2 pm
Signing in the Wizards of the Coast booth (with Ed Greenwood again!). Come by and say hi!