On My 2010 Shore Leave Schedule

Shore Leave! It’s the media science-fiction convention held in Hunt Valley, Maryland every mid-July. This year, it falls on the calendar from July 9th through 11th. :spock:

This year, barring any unforeseen happenings, I will again be attending the convention as a guest.

My schedule for panels looks like:

Friday

• Meet the Pros
  Hunt/Valley Hallway — 10pm-Midnight
  It’s the traditional author meet-and-greet; meet your favorite authors and get your books signed.
  Note: I’m planning on having copies of the limited edition of Star Trek Magazine #26 with me, which has my article on Star Trek: Generations, as well as a few of the chapbooks I produced for Farpoint.

Saturday

• Writing Fiction at Stupidly Short Lengths
  Salon A — 10am-11am
  Learn about Twitterfics, Drabbles, and Flash Fiction as writers talk about creating stories at super-short lengths that make conventional stories look like War and Peace by comparison. Discover the appeal of the super-short form, uncover the techniques writers use to conceptualize and create at that length, and try your hand at your own super-short story!
  Panelists: Allyn Gibson, Dayton Ward
  (Note to self: Prepare handout)
• Doctor Who: Smith and Steve
  Salon A — 11am-Noon
  The fifth season of Doctor Who — and the first since 2006 without David Tennant — has just concluded on BBC America. With an entirely new cast headed by Matt Smith in front of the camera and new people headed by Steven Moffat behind the scenes, the show underwent a creative rebirth. What did we learn about the last of the Time Lords, and what does the future hold for the new series?
  Panelists: Kathleen O. David, Allyn Gibson, Terri Osborne, Rigel Ailur, Alan Kistler
• Magic, Myth, and Merlin
  Chase — 5pm-6pm
  The age of Camelot lives again in Merlin, the reimagining of the Arthurian legend now airing on the BBC and SyFy. What makes this take on the King Arthur myths different and where might the stories take us in the season to come?
  Panelists: Allyn Gibson, Terri Osborne, Marco Palmieri

Sunday

• If I Were Joe Quesada for a Day!
  Derby — 2pm-3pm
  Imagine you were Joe Quesada, in charge of one of the major comic book companies, like Marvel Comics, today. What would you do? What comics would you publish? What movies would you develop from your properties? What are the trends shaping comic books today? The panelists discuss the comic book industry, where it is, and where it might be going, all by asking the question, “If I were Joe Quesada for a day…?”
  Panelists: Allyn Gibson, Dave Galanter, Glenn Hauman

And, of course, there’s the Shore Leave Bar. 😉

I may see about picking up one more panel on Saturday.

There are some other intriguing things on the schedule this weekend, such as panels on the future of spaceflight on the science track.

I’m very interested in the screening of The Hunt for Gollum, the Lord of the Rings fanfilm, Sunday morning at 10 o’clock; I’ve watched it on my computer monitor (and it’s fantastic stuff), but the opportunity to see it on a wider screen is sorely tempting for this Tolkien fan.

That’s Shore Leave. Hopefully, I’ll see some of you there! :cheers: