OryCon 44

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OryCon 44

Welcome to the not-quite-ready-for-prime-time schedule for OryCon 44! Seriously - we’re still hard at work on the schedule, but we want to give you an idea of what wonders await you in just a few more weeks. Please check back frequently for changes and additions, and see you in October!

2:00pm PDT

Writing Comics Scripts

Friday October 18, 2024 2:00pm - 2:50pm PDT

You can write a story, but can you write in the style of a script? Learn about the special mechanics, industry tricks, gearing your work toward certain illustrators or publishers, writing notes for yourself to illustrate in solo work, and whether vague direction or meticulous description is right for your project!

Panelists

Lawrence Watt-Evans

Brandon Seifert

Friday October 18, 2024 2:00pm - 2:50pm PDT
Morrison

COMICS

3:00pm PDT

Promoting Accessibility

Friday October 18, 2024 3:00pm - 3:50pm PDT

Those of us who are able-bodied may not be aware of just how many things we take for granted in a day are impossible dreams for some of our fellow fen. Let's discuss promoting accessibility to public events (such as OryCon), for ALL people.

Moderators

Jennifer Rosenberg

Panelists

Bart Kemper

Irene Radford

Jennifer Willis

Friday October 18, 2024 3:00pm - 3:50pm PDT
Morrison

GENERAL INTEREST

4:00pm PDT

High Lord Eville vs What's His Name?

Friday October 18, 2024 4:00pm - 4:50pm PDT

When villains are more interesting than the heroes.

Panelists

Anthony Pryor

EM Prazeman

Shoshana Glick

Irene Radford

Friday October 18, 2024 4:00pm - 4:50pm PDT
Morrison

FANTASY AND HORROR

5:00pm PDT

Fairy Tale Usage Today

Friday October 18, 2024 5:00pm - 5:50pm PDT

Reinventing traditional fairy stories sometimes recasts them in vastly different contexts - were they entertainment, cautionary tales, teaching tales? What are we using them for now? How much damage did the Disney saccharine coating do?

Moderators

Alma Alexander

Panelists

Neil Cochrane

Rhiannon Held/R. Z. Held

Shoshana Glick

Friday October 18, 2024 5:00pm - 5:50pm PDT
Morrison

FANTASY AND HORROR

6:00pm PDT

Not Too Horrible

Friday October 18, 2024 6:00pm - 6:50pm PDT

I like to be scared, but not too scared. The show Supernatural gave me nightmares. What are the levels of spook? Suggestions for horror for the faint of heart?

Panelists

Erik Grove

Maquel A. Jacob

Anthony Pryor

Friday October 18, 2024 6:00pm - 6:50pm PDT
Morrison

FANTASY AND HORROR

7:00pm PDT

Scifi Utopias Dystopias and Everything in Between

Friday October 18, 2024 7:00pm - 7:50pm PDT

Science Fiction is often seen as a harbinger of things to come. Future universes can be friendly/ utopian, scary or depressingly dystopian, or a mixture. Where, when, and how do our favorite science fiction scenarios occur? Do some seem more likely than others? Can we change that?

Moderators

Bart Kemper

Panelists

Erica L. Satifka

Arwen Spicer

Tara Campbell

Fiction Editor, Barrelhouse

Tara Campbell is a writer, teacher, Kimbilio Fellow, and fiction co-editor at Barrelhouse. She received her MFA from American University. Previous publication credits include SmokeLong Quarterly, Masters Review, Wigleaf, Booth, Jellyfish Review, Strange Horizons, and CRAFT Literary... Read More →

Friday October 18, 2024 7:00pm - 7:50pm PDT
Morrison

SCIENCE FICTION

9:00pm PDT

The Reality of Violence

Friday October 18, 2024 9:00pm - 9:50pm PDT

How do we script violence into writing, art, and media in a realistic way? Discuss with our experts on the reality of violence, both during and the after effects, and discover the details that are often left out. 18+ please, some content may be offensive or disturbing.

Moderators

Rory Miller

Panelists

Bart Kemper

D.L. Solum

Debut Author of the Dark-Thriller-Urban-Fantasy series: Persephone-A Tale of Darker Seattle. Long time medieval re-enactor and arms and armor specialist.

Laura McShane

Friday October 18, 2024 9:00pm - 9:50pm PDT
Morrison

LATE NIGHT

10:00pm PDT

Polyamory in Fantasy vs Reality

Friday October 18, 2024 10:00pm - 10:50pm PDT

How does the fantasy of polyamory as portrayed in fictions compare to real world experiences? What are the types of polyamory, and what assumptions are made? How can you give your characters a healthy polyamorous relationship, or depict its trauma without harmful tropes?

Moderators

Theresa Reed

Panelists

Alan Olsen

Rhiannon Louve

Sean Robinson

Friday October 18, 2024 10:00pm - 10:50pm PDT
Morrison

LATE NIGHT

10:00am PDT

Dayjob or the Dream

Saturday October 19, 2024 10:00am - 10:50am PDT

Whether you’re fresh out of school and wondering whether to invest in creating or continuing education, or reevaluating your mundane life and debating taking time off to create, how do you balance the need for money with the spark in your soul?

Moderators

EM Prazeman

Panelists

Eric Distad

Professor DR Schreiber

Tara Campbell

Fiction Editor, Barrelhouse

Tara Campbell is a writer, teacher, Kimbilio Fellow, and fiction co-editor at Barrelhouse. She received her MFA from American University. Previous publication credits include SmokeLong Quarterly, Masters Review, Wigleaf, Booth, Jellyfish Review, Strange Horizons, and CRAFT Literary... Read More →

Sanan Kolva

Saturday October 19, 2024 10:00am - 10:50am PDT
Morrison

LIVING CREATIVELY

11:00am PDT

Evil Genius Wasted

Saturday October 19, 2024 11:00am - 11:50am PDT

When the hero is a doofus but wins anyway.

Panelists

Wendy N. Wagner

G.R. Theron

Alan Olsen

Saturday October 19, 2024 11:00am - 11:50am PDT
Morrison

FANTASY AND HORROR

1:00pm PDT

Essential Fantasy Novels

Saturday October 19, 2024 1:00pm - 1:50pm PDT

As most of us don't have the time to read every book that might interest us, which fantasy authors/novels can be considered essential reading, and why?

Moderators

Ken Lizzi

Panelists

Tom Whitmore

G.R. Theron

Kate Ristau

Andrew S. Fuller

Saturday October 19, 2024 1:00pm - 1:50pm PDT
Morrison

FANTASY AND HORROR

2:00pm PDT

Sword-and-Sorcery 101

Saturday October 19, 2024 2:00pm - 2:50pm PDT

Discussing the originators and early practitioners of the S&S sub-genre.

Moderators

Anthony Pryor

Panelists

G.R. Theron

Dale Ivan Smith

Ken Lizzi

Saturday October 19, 2024 2:00pm - 2:50pm PDT
Morrison

FANTASY AND HORROR

3:00pm PDT

Occupations of the Future

Saturday October 19, 2024 3:00pm - 3:50pm PDT

Careers of Tomorrow! If we end up living in space stations and on space ships, what kinds of workers/ occupations will we need to keep civilization ticking along?

Moderators

Bart Kemper

Panelists

Andrew Nisbet

George Willis

Robert B McMonigal

Saturday October 19, 2024 3:00pm - 3:50pm PDT
Morrison

GENERAL INTEREST

4:00pm PDT

Steampunk Realism

Saturday October 19, 2024 4:00pm - 4:50pm PDT

You don't need a steam engine for that. What 1890's technology could be used more authentically?

Moderators

Mark Chapman

Panelists

Bart Kemper

Thomas Gondolfi

Saturday October 19, 2024 4:00pm - 4:50pm PDT
Morrison

FANTASY AND HORROR

5:00pm PDT

Basics of Drawing Comics

Saturday October 19, 2024 5:00pm - 5:50pm PDT

You can draw, but can you tell a story with your drawings? Sequential art is a different beast than one off illustrations. Learn to read a script, understand how time is felt in panel pacing, balance composition of individual panels versus together on a page, and more!

Panelists

Jennie Breeden

Aarón Durán

Saturday October 19, 2024 5:00pm - 5:50pm PDT
Morrison

COMICS

7:00pm PDT

Beyond One World and One Species

Saturday October 19, 2024 7:00pm - 7:50pm PDT

Millennia of diaspora from Old Home Terra would almost certainly produce any number of subvariants of humanity including genetically engineered transhumans and cyborgs. Consider not "the" future of humanity but "the futures" of humanity. Save for a common heritage distant in time, they might be alien species. What might that be like?

Moderators

Manny Frishberg

Panelists

Bart Kemper

Erica L. Satifka

Shoshana Glick

Saturday October 19, 2024 7:00pm - 7:50pm PDT
Morrison

SCIENCE FICTION

10:00am PDT

Reviving Projects

Sunday October 20, 2024 10:00am - 10:50am PDT

It was abandoned, and you’ve side eyed that project for months, or years. It meant something to you once, enough that you started. How do you pick up the pieces, recover the intent, or nurture a new direction grown from the concept? Is it ok to just abandon it?

Moderators

G.R. Theron

Panelists

EM Prazeman

Dayle A. Dermatis

Arlin Robins

S

Starwolfe

Sunday October 20, 2024 10:00am - 10:50am PDT
Morrison

LIVING CREATIVELY

11:00am PDT

Reinventing the Monster

Sunday October 20, 2024 11:00am - 11:50am PDT

Rethinking villains.

Moderators

Wendy N. Wagner

Panelists

D.L. Solum

Debut Author of the Dark-Thriller-Urban-Fantasy series: Persephone-A Tale of Darker Seattle. Long time medieval re-enactor and arms and armor specialist.

G.R. Theron

Shoshana Glick

Sunday October 20, 2024 11:00am - 11:50am PDT
Morrison

FANTASY AND HORROR

12:00pm PDT

We all love a good caper story

Sunday October 20, 2024 12:00pm - 12:50pm PDT

Whether it's on screen or in print like The Kuiper Job the caper story is a framework that can be stretched in multiple directions

Moderators

David D. Levine

David D. Levine is the author of Norton Award winning novel Arabella of Mars (Tor 2016), sequels Arabella and the Battle of Venus (Tor 2017) and Arabella the Traitor of Mars (Tor 2018), and over fifty science fiction and fantasy stories. His story “Tk’Tk’Tk” won the Hugo... Read More →

Panelists

Tom Whitmore

Remy Nakamura

Kat Richardson

Sunday October 20, 2024 12:00pm - 12:50pm PDT
Morrison

SCIENCE FICTION

1:00pm PDT

Pulp Fantasy!

Sunday October 20, 2024 1:00pm - 1:50pm PDT

SFF, Horror, and Mysteries once rubbed shoulders in the great pulp magazines of yesteryear. After decades of being siloed, the children of the pulps are growing back together in new genres and cross-genres. What is the history and future of cross-genre fiction?

Moderators

Alan Olsen

Panelists

K.G. Anderson

Kat Richardson

Ken Lizzi

Sunday October 20, 2024 1:00pm - 1:50pm PDT
Morrison

FANTASY AND HORROR

2:00pm PDT

Onions and Orchids

Sunday October 20, 2024 2:00pm - 2:50pm PDT

Concerns, compliments? Are there things that you would like OryCon staff to know about? Please attend and tell us what is on your mind.

Moderators

Monica Beebe

Panelists

Ann Ezell

Rick Lindsley

Sunday October 20, 2024 2:00pm - 2:50pm PDT
Morrison

GENERAL INTEREST