Keffy

everything i do is so fucking amazing that sparks are going to shoot out of your eyes

Orycon! (Nov 2-4, 2012) (Otherwise known as “WFC weekend”)

Ack! People keep asking me if I will be attending World Fantasy this year, and the sad, sad answer is no. I enjoy attending WFC in general and someday wish to go to Toronto (I have lived within 90 miles of Canada for my entire life except for the 9 months in Finland, and yet have visited Vancouver so rarely that it is shameful), but… finances. Woe.

Instead, I will be at Orycon next weekend, and I even have a schedule! I’m only on panels Saturday and Sunday because I was unsure of whether or not I’d be able to get down to Portland on Friday. I will, as it turns out, but I might spend the Friday of the con exploring the magical land that is Portland. I’ve only been meaning to do that for… uh… yeah. Anyway.

ORYCON 34 SCHEDULE:

Historical Figures in Action
Hamilton             Sat Nov 3 11:00am-12:00pm
What are the pitfalls of using people “everyone knows” in your fiction?
How can you get the “depiction” right?
Keffy R. M. Kehrli, Sara A. Mueller, Jim Fiscus, Louise Marley

I think the second set of scare quotes should be around the word “right.” 🙂

A touch of Farmer, a pinch of LeGuin
Morrison             Sat Nov 3 12:00pm-1:00pm
Panelists discuss their biggest influences and what books have changed the
recent landscape in SF/F/H literature.
Keffy R. M. Kehrli, Deborah J. Ross, Joyce Reynolds-Ward

Which reminds me that I need to do a rampage through my bookshelf and flip through a few things to remember why I was so taken with them. A lot of my influences weren’t SF/F, so much. THE HORROR.

The structure of writing
Lincoln              Sat Nov 3 5:00pm-6:00pm
Structurally speaking, what makes a good story?  Scenes, acts, pacing,
climaxes, dark moments, failure cycles … how do they all fit together
and when should you worry about structure?
Keffy R. M. Kehrli, A.M. Dellamonica, (*)Richard A. Lovett, Steven
Barnes
Keffy Kehrli’s Readings
Grant                Sat Nov 3 6:00pm-6:30pm

I’m not sure what I’m going to read yet. I imagine the audience for this will have some overlap with my audience  from Norwescon, so I’m wary about reading the same piece. (Even if I do enjoy going into performance fugue and screaming FUCK YOU at a crowded room.)

In any case, if people come to my readings (0r show up right afterward) we can go do dinner when I’m done! Which is much more exciting than anything I will do.

Getting your first professional sale
Hamilton             Sun Nov 4 12:00pm-1:00pm
An author can struggle for months or years before achieving their first
success, but even after writing their opus, they can be tripped up by a
process which is both entirely new to them and yet critical to their
success.  This panel describes what an author may  experience as they
revel in their first success.
Keffy R. M. Kehrli, Edward Morris, (*)J. A. Pitts

WOOHOO. I will talk about being a basket case and shooting yourself in the foot, and Pitts will talk about not being a basket case and actually building a career.

Beware newbie writers: Scams and pitfalls abound
Hamilton             Sun Nov 4 2:00pm-3:00pm
Eager new writers are always looking for a break.  And people looking for
a break are easy targets for scams that can sap both their money and their
motivation. This panel discusses professional pitfalls for new writers to
watch out for.
(*)Todd McCaffrey, Bill Johnson, Keffy R. M. Kehrli, Jim Fiscus

I was on a very small panel about this at Norwescon in which there were only two audience members. Before it started, I thought, “Okay, surely this will be a very dull, pointless panel, and everyone in the room already knows everything.” It turned out that the two people in the audience actually didn’t know anything about writing scams. One of the two had gotten taken by Poetry.com, and neither had heard of Writer Beware.  So, it seems pretty basic, but hey, I figure if a writing scams panel gives one person the tools to figure out if they’re about to lose money on bullshit, it’s worthwhile.

 

Hopefully I will see some of you in Portland next weekend!

2 Comments

  1. Here’s a map for the descriptions below:
    https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=203942614569376593901.0004cd1245097587863b6&msa=0&ll=45.516271,-122.683554&spn=0.026493,0.05343

    The convention center hotel is on the east side of the river, on Trimet’s Max rail line. One 2-hour ticket is $2.50. An all-day pass is $5. They’re sold in vending machines at the Max stops.

    Take Max west into the city and get off near NW Everett & 2nd. If the weather’s nice (hey – it could happen) and you want to spend $7 (with student ID), check out the Lan Su Chinese Garden — it’s really amazing. I work nearby and take any excuse to head over there at lunchtime. I have a membership and can get you in free as a guest, if you’d like to meet up on Friday.

    Next stop is NW Couch Street & 4th. Floating World Comics is fantastic. Right nearby, the 24 Hour Coin Operated Church of Elvis is worth taking a look.

    Walk up to to Powells Books on Burnside & 10th.

    Cross Burnside and head a block down SW Oak to check out Courier Coffee. I’m pretty sure it’s the most Portlandia coffee shop in Portland. I mock, but I love them. They are really friendly. They make excellent coffee, and they make the most amazing pastry item I’ve ever had — a cannele. It’s small, only $2, and glorious. http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/eat-and-drink/articles/cult-of-the-cannele-august-2012

    Stroll down SW 9th, and you’ll find the Alder Street food carts. Food carts are kind of holy in Portland, so you have to walk by some so you can say you did, even if you don’t have something to eat.

    Walk down 10th to the Art Museum. They’ve got an exhibit of Greek statues right now. I’m madly in love with their William Morris glass artifact wall (ask for directions to it. It’s in with the American Indian art.)

    Alternately, head down Alder to Broadway, head west on Broadway and admire Pioneer Square as you go by.

    Either way, head east to SW 5th & Main to the the Portland Building. It’s a Michael Graves design with brightly colored tile making a bow pattern. The reason to walk over is to see the big, copper Portlandia statue. She’s over the entrance. The best view is to go into the office building across the street, take the escalator up to the first floor and look across at her level. She’s really quite lovely.

    It if was warmer, you should continue west to admire the Ira Keller Fountain at SW Clay & 4th, but I think the water may be turned off in November.

    Head back east until you reach the Max tracks, and take the train west to the Zoo.

    Get off at the zoo stop and admire the core sample display in the wall. The max train heads west in a tunnel under the hills between Portland and Beaverton, and the stop at the zoo is the deepest train/subway stop in the world. They took a core sample from the top down, and they’ve displayed it (horizontally) at that subway stop, labeling each layer. It’s cool!

    If you want, you can take the elevator up and go to the Zoo, or to the Japanese Garden. This garden is as amazing as the Chinese one, plus views over the city towards Mount Hood.

  2. I think my comment above has “south” and “west” mixed up here & there. Oops. I’ve done a proper post here: http://janetl.livejournal.com/133078.html

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