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"(On the writing F&SF workshop) Wanted to crow and say thanks: the first story I wrote after taking your class was my very first sale. Coincidence? nah….thanks so much."
~K. Richardson
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GenCon 2024: Where I'll Be
Thursday, 10 AM Twenty Types of Terror: Exploring Horror Subgenres in Fiction and Games
Marriott Ballroom 1 – Cost $16, duration 2 hours
Horror comes in a variety of flavors, each with its own special advantages and disadvantages. Content warning: horror writing may range into all sorts of sensitive areas, including graphic violence and death. In this workshop, award-winning author and teacher Cat Rambo will run through the various forms, talking about how to write them, and performing exercises to generate storylines in several subgenres.
Thursday, 2 PM Get in the Fight: Activism in Genre Writing
Marriott Ballroom 2 – free, duration 1 hour
Join our panel of writers as they discuss the need for every one of us to do what we can in the fight for equality – and what that could look like within the pages of your stories. Featuring: Cat Rambo, Bryan Young, Danian Darrell Jerry, Khaldoun Khelil, Victor Raymond PhD.
Thursday, 4 PM Book Signing and Meet & Greet with Cat Rambo and Jeremy Bernstein
Exhibit Hall – free, duration 1 hour
Swing by the back of the Exhibit Hall to meet the panelists of the Writers’ Symposium and get your books signed. Or, buy a book or game – and get it signed on the spot. Or, just stop by and say hello! Most panelists will have merchandise for sale, but you’re welcome to bring what you already own to get signed. You may stop by without a ticket and we’ll try and accommodate you, time permitting.
Join writers of the Gen Con Writers’ Symposium to say hello, get your existing books signed, or purchase new ones here). Tickets are nice but not required during this 3hr open-house event! Many authors will have books for sale, and the GCWS USB drive will also be for sale. Featuring: Akis Linardos, Anthony W. Eichenlaub, Ava Kelly, Ben Riggs, Bradley P. Beaulieu, Brady McReynolds, Brandon Crilly, Brandon O’Brien, Bryan Young, C. S. E. Cooney, Carlos Hernandez, Cat Rambo, Kwame Mbalia, Danian Darrell Jerry, Daniel ‘Doc’ Myers, Dedren Snead, E.D.E. Bell, Erin M. Evans, Gabrielle Harbowy, Gregory A. Wilson, Howard Andrew Jones, James Farner, Jason Sanford, Jennifer Brozek, Jeremy Bernstein, Jerry Gordon, Jordan Jones-Brewster, Jordan Kurella, Khaldoun Khelil, Linda D. Addison, Marie Bilodeau, Michael R. Underwood, Monica Valentinelli, Richard Dansky, Sharang Biswas, Sheree Renée Thomas, Victor Raymond PhD, and Will Sobel.
Friday, 10 AM Ageism in SFF: Broadening the Ages of Protagonists
Marriott Ballroom 3 – free, duration 1 hour
Join our panel of writers as they discuss ageism in genre fiction, and the need for and techniques of writing diverse protagonists of a certain age. Featuring: Ava Kelly, Cat Rambo, Chris A. Jackson, Danian Darrell Jerry, and Jeri “Red” Shepherd.
Friday, 12 PM Embrace Your Weirdness (and Find Where it Intersects with Markets)
Marriott Ballroom 2 – free, duration 1 hour
Join our panel of writers and multi-media creators as they discuss how to effectively market authentic weirdness – and love yourself more for it!
Featuring: Cat Rambo, Akis Linardos, Briana Lawrence, Jerry Gordon, and Shauna Aura Knight.
Friday, 2 PM New Books! New Games! New Love!
Marriott Ballroom 3 – free, duration 1 hour
Join our panel of authors as writer and host S.E. Lindberg asks each about the inspirations and challenges behind their new books, games, and works. This fun experience back from last year by request! Featuring: S.E. Lindberg, Cat Rambo, Erin M. Evans, and Kwame Mbalia.
Friday, 5 PM Story Fundamentals: How to Write Short Stories – Cost $34; duration 4 hours
A compressed version of a six-week workshop, this single-session class gives you all the tools you need to start writing and sending out your own stories. You will do some writing exercises in class, but most of the time will be spent on lecture and discussion. You should emerge from the class with a greater command of storywriting as well as a hearty store of encouragement and motivation for creating new stories. In this workshop, award-winning author and teacher Cat Rambo will cover story structure, character-building, worldbuilding, plotting, and submitting the stories you’ve written.
Saturday, 10 AM How to Unban Books
Marriott Ballroom 4 – free, duration 1 hour
Practical advice on how to challenge book challenges, run for school and library boards, and otherwise defend books. Featuring: Mikki Kendall, Cat Rambo, Dedren Snead, Kwame Mbalia, and Richard Lee Byers.
Saturday, 1 PM Book Signing and Meet & Greet
Exhibit Hall – free, duration 1 hour
Swing by the back of the Exhibit Hall to meet the panelists of the Writers’ Symposium and get your books signed. Or, buy a book or game – and get it signed on the spot. Or, just stop by and say hello! Most panelists will have merchandise for sale, but you’re welcome to bring what you already own to get signed. You may stop by without a ticket and we’ll try and accommodate you, time permitting.
Sunday, 9 AM Systems of Magic: How to Use Your Magic to Enrich Your Worldbuilding
Marriott Ballroom 2 – cost $16, duration 2 hours
How magic works in your world affects its inhabitants, its economy, and so much more, down to the smallest details. We’ll cover how to use a magic system to create a world that can cast a spell over its readers. In this workshop, award-winning author and teacher Cat Rambo will provide tips, techniques, and writing exercises will enable you to create or flesh out a world’s intrinsic magic.
Sunday, 10:30 AM Farewell Breakfast for Patreon supporters and Wayward Writers Academy supporters
Location TBD – free, duration 1 1/2 hours
Time to say goodbye! Let’s do it over a late breakfast in a location that will be announced on Patreon and the Discord server, or ping Cat in e-mail to get the details.
What makes Seattle particularly well suited to writing speculative fiction set in it?
Kat – Marvelously creepy weather, and distinct neighborhoods that preserve their history. What are ghosts but history that won’t go away?
Julie – The weather for sure, as well as the visual landscape it provides. The distinct neighborhoods with life. Any fiction set in a distinct city is better.
John – The diversity of culture and people as well as the landscape
K.C. – The geography and the weather, which can go from fog to crystal clear one day to the next.
What landmarks of Seattle lend themselves to spec-fic writing?
Kat – Pioneer Square. The first year I was here, an unusual fog struck and all I could see were the disembodied feet of pedestrians moving in it, which inspired all sorts of possibilities writing-wise. Seattle has lots of layers, which are great writing points, the places where the skeleton is partially exposed.
Julie – Seattle has lots of distinctive features. The Greenlake district is really distinctive, but there are lots of different settings that are suited to different moods.
John – The greenness of winter as well as the wilderness and the places to get lost that it provides
K.C. – The whimsical details of the city, such as the five foot concrete dragon in the park near me in West Seattle. I wrote my story, I Must to the Barber’s Chair, because of a sign I’d seen: “Psychic” in one window and “Barber” in the adjoining one. After the story was published, the barber who owned that shop wrote to me. He said the psychic had gone out of business (which you think they would have seen coming) and he’d been moved to buy the “Psychic” sign and add it to his own window.
How do you research Seattle-based stories?
Kat recommends Historylink.org, which has its own Twitter stream, as a resource.
Also the Museum of History and Industry.
Most participants like to go to places to research and get the ambience that affects a story.
K.C. believes in fussing with setting details, while John suggests fussing on a different level by researching names and cultural background. He strives for enough concrete details to make something authentic then makes up the rest, creating a veneer of research that doesn’t bog him down.
Kat: I’d like to be right all the time but the city keeps changing, like the Picnic Pavilion in Occidental Park, which got torn down after the book holding it was published.
Cat suggests one of the Seattle ghost tours, and recently did this one. Learned details like a place at Pike Place Market where three ley lines meet, and Dr. Linda Hazard, an early Seattle serial killer.
Details of Seattle that make it particularly well suited to the weird:
High number of serial killers
Lots of wildlife – cougars and bears
Fertility of the soil
Banana slugs and geoducks
Thursday, 6 PM
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