World Fantasy Convention Program

I just found out my schedule for this year's World Fantasy Convention. And it's AWESOME! Snoopy Dance of Joy!

I was going to wait until closer to the event to blog about my schedule, but I'm way too excited about this to hold it in.

The World Fantasy Convention (WFC) is one of my favorite cons. (Click here and here for my trip report from last year's WFC.) It's an annual conference where readers, writers, editors, agents, artists, librarians, and booksellers gather to discuss the fantasy genre, practice flying on our telepathic dragons, and select our pet griffins for the year. (Most fantasy writers lease their griffins. It's far too expensive to purchase them outright these days.)

Anyway, this year's convention is being held in Sarasota Springs, New York, on November 1-4, and the attendee list is incredible: Betty Ballantine, Charlaine Harris, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Guy Gavriel Kay, George R.R. Martin, Patricia McKillip, Garth Nix, Tamora Pierce, Jane Yolen... and on and on. I was NOT expecting to be on the program at all. But I am! TWICE!

Saturday 1pm - Panel: There's an Archetype in My Soup!
Much fantasy deliberately employs elements of fairy-tale and myth, often after much scholarly research. But there's still the old argument that if you have to learn an archetype, it isn't one, that these patterns are universal in human storytelling. What is the mythic "buzz" we all know when we see it, even when we have difficulty defining it?
Elizabeth Bunce, Sarah Beth Durst, Mark Ferrari, Margo Lanagan, Tim Powers

Saturday 3pm - Reading: Young Adult Writers
Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, Sarah Beth Durst, Tiffany Trent

I feel like a fairy godmother just drifted down from the sky, tapped me on the head, and said, "You may go to the ball!"

I really hope I don't trip over my glass slippers. Or cluck like a chicken. (Yes, I know, it's an irrational fear, but just think how embarrassing it would be if it happened!)

I can't wait for November!