I'll be at ConDFW this weekend in Dallas, TX.
My schedule is:
Friday:
Reading 5 pm: Martha Wells, Melanie Fletcher
I'm going to read something from Emilie and the Hollow World
Saturday
Autographing 10:00 am
4 pm: Subverting Genres: Underhanded ways to change the ordinary
Panelists: Sabine Starr (M), Jo Walton, Paul Black, Jaye Wells, Martha Wells
According to TVTropes: “A subversion has two mandatory segments. First, the expectation is set up that something we have seen plenty of times before is coming, then that set-up is paid off with something else entirely. The set-up is a trope; the "something else" is the subversion.” So how can writers use this tactic to turn a genre on its head? The various ways of doing this will be discussed, unless the panel itself is subverted…
5 pm: Say That Again?: Creating a Multilingual World
Panelists: Mark Finn (M), K. Hutson Price, Jaye Wells, Rie Sheridan Rose, Martha Wells
Writers frequently make an assumption, to advance the plot or avoid exposition, that everyone in their future or fantasy settings speaks a common language. That's not always a realistic assumption, and you can get interesting conflict and thus drama when some characters don't understand other characters' language, or are in the process of learning it and understand it imperfectly, leading to miscommunications etc.
Where's the TARDIS when you need it? :P
Regional: Terms used where I grew up which aren't standard in Minneapolis include: tractor-trailer, regular tea, stringbeans, soda (which is making inroads.)