I’m going to be at TWO book festivals this weekend, which kind of makes up for me entirely skipping out on the National Book Festival and going on vacation instead.
First up on Friday are my appearances at the Baltimore Book Festival. This year, I’ll be hanging out at the SFWA tent instead of the Children’s Tent, but hey, I write teen SFF, so I figure I’m splitting the difference. Anyway, here are the details:
Baltimore Book Festival
When: Friday, September 28, 2012 (the festival itself is Friday-Sunday, but Diana will only be in attendance on Fri.)
Where: Mount Vernon Place, 600 block of North Charles Street; East Park, Baltimore Maryland, SFWA Booth
What: Panels with her fellow Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) Members including:
12pm Flavors of Fantasy
Join our panelists to explore the roots of fantasy from ancient myths into the new millennium. It isn’t only Tolkien and Harry Potter; enough flavors of fantasy exist to tempt any reader.
Panelists include: Carmen Ferreiro-Esteba, J. R. Wagner, Aly Parsons, and Diana Peterfreund
2pm World Building Workshop
Talk with our experts about how to create a fictional world for science fiction or fantasy stories. You can either bring a specific story you’re working on or come more generally for the tips and discussion.
Panelists include: Richard White (workshop moderator), Walter Greatshell, Diana Peterfreund, Tiffany Trent, and Brandi Tarvin
6pm How I Got Published
Writers talk about how they broke into the field and give tips to aspiring authors on getting published.
Panelists include: Rahul Kanakia, Diana Peterfreund, and Catherine Asaro
As it says above, the entire Baltimore Book Festival goes from Friday to Sunday, but due to a prior commitment, I’ll only be there on Friday. So if you can get out of work/school, come on by and see me!
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Next up we have the Virginia Festival of the Book, AKA, the “Fall for the Book” Festival, which is taking place in various places in Fairfax County this weekend. I will be part of the festival at my favorite Arlington bookstore One More Page on Sunday, where I’ll apparently be discussing writing more “adult” YA — I can only figure I’m on this panel because my last book was an adaptation of a classic adult novel. But it should be a lot of fun. Come see me!
Fall For the Book Festival
When: Sunday, September 30, 2012, 4 p.m.
What: Young Adult Authors Panel
Where: One More Page Books, 2200 N. Westmoreland Street, #101, Arlington, VA
Kristen-Paige Madonia, author of Fingerprints of You, Diana Peterfreund, author of For Darkness Shows the Stars, Carmen Rodrigues, author of 34 Pieces of You, and Timothy Travaglini, Director of Children’s Acquisitions at Open Road Integrated Media, discuss the widening demands for Young Adult fiction — with a focus on fiction that might be considered “too dark” for young adult readers.
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Finally, heads up in October, where I’ll be chilling at Capclave, DC’s best (only?) Science Fiction Convention. It’s my first time, but I know a bunch of folks who swear by this convention — it’s apparently a ton of fun, a managable size, and packs a real punch.
Capclave
October 12-14, 2012; Gaithersburg, Maryland
Information Here
Panels:
| Friday 5:00 pm: Popular Dystopias (Ends at: 5:55 pm) Panelists: Tom Doyle, Diana Peterfreund Why are so many dystopias being written, especially for YA? Is this a reaction to the current political economic situation? Why do people want to read about depressing circumstances? And what will be its effect on readers, especially younger readers? Should there be a counter-utopian trend? |
| Saturday 12:00 pm: The Future of YA (Ends at: 12:55 pm) Panelists: Warren Buff, Victoria Janssen, Sherin Nicole, Diana Peterfreund What is the next big trend in YA now that Vampires and Dystopian have had their big hits? Will the audience for YAs continue to build or has it overexpanded? As YA books get longer and more sophisticated, is there really a need for a separate YA label? |
| Saturday 4:00 pm: Young, Adult, or Both? (Ends at: 4:55 pm) Panelists: Andrew Fox, Ron Garner, Victoria Janssen (M), Morgan Keyes, Diana Peterfreund How does a YA differ from a children’s book or an adult book? How is the pacing, characterization, and language different or the same? Are there things you can do in one and not the other? Are these distinctions needed? And what about series like Harry Potter in which the children grow up? |
| Saturday 6:00 pm: Dressed for Success (Ends at: 6:55 pm) Panelists: Ron Garner, Laura Anne Gilman (M), Victoria Janssen, Diana Peterfreund How detailed should your clothing descriptions be in your story. Does the clothing have anything to do with the character. Does it describe them or allow them to certain things. Do the readers care? |
| Saturday 7:30 pm: Mass Signing (Ends at: 8:25 pm) Panelists: Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Eric Choi, Brenda Clough, David Louis Edelman, Andrew Fox,Ron Garner, Morgan Keyes, Dave Klecha, Jonah Knight, Yoji Kondo (Eric Kotani), Dina Leacock,Edward M. Lerner, Craig Alan Loewen, James Maxey, Mike McPhail, James Morrow, Diana Peterfreund, Lawrence M. Schoen, Darrell Schweitzer, Alan Smale, Bud Sparhawk, Jean Marie Ward,Lawrence Watt-Evans This is the mass signing held before the presentation of the WSFA Small Press Award. |
| Sunday 12:00 pm: My First Time (Ends at: 12:55 pm) Panelists: Larry Hodges, Diana Peterfreund (M), Alan Smale Authors discuss their first science fiction and fantasy novels. Have those novels stood the test of time. Did they spur you to become a writer. |
| Sunday 1:00 pm: How Many Years in the Business Before They Stop Calling Me a New Writer?(Ends at: 1:55 pm) Panelists: Diana Peterfreund, Jamie Todd Rubin, Alan Smale Authors that have only been at it a couple years share their experiences and offer advice. How did they break into writing? How have they learned how to improve their craft? What would they have done differently if they had only known… |
