Renovation, also known as the 69th World Science Fiction Convention, also known as WorldCon, will take place in (where else?) Reno, Nevada from August 17 to August 21 this year.
The programming folks gave me a fantastic schedule this year; I posted it below the cut, along with the relevant blurbs from the program book.
Thursday, August 18, 11:00 – 12:00
Astrobiology and the Problem of the Fermi Paradox
The emerging field of astrobiology has brought an interdisciplinary approach to the Fermi paradox and the question of whether [there] is extraterrestrial life. If there is, why haven’t we found it?
Mary A. Turzillo (M), Jim Young, Steve Gillett, Mary Rosenblum, Ian Tregillis
(This will be a lot of fun. Jim came to Bubonicon last year, but I only know the others by their reputations. I’m looking to meeting the rest of my panelists.)
Thursday, August 18, 17:00 – 18:00
The Works of Tim Powers
Tim Powers, author of such masterworks as The Anubis Gates, Last Call, and Declare, is one of the most important fantasy writers of the last thirty years. The panel discusses what makes his works so compelling and so effective.
Andrew Wheeler (M), David Cake, John Berlyne, Gary K. Wolfe, Ian Tregillis
(Clearly my best bet will be to shut the hell up and listen on this panel. What a lineup!)
Friday, August 19, 11:00 – 11:30
Reading
What will I read? An excerpt from The Coldest War? An excerpt from a brand-new novel in progress, ripped raw and bleeding from my netbook? A short story? The newspaper? The phonebook? It could be anything.
Friday, August 19, 12:00 – 1:00
Signing
Katy Stauber, Eileen Gunn, Michael Capobianco, Scott Edelman, A. C. Krispin, Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Ian Tregillis
(I’ll be there to fetch extra pens and pour water for the other folks while they’re feverishly signing away!)
Saturday, August 20, 11:00 – 12:00
The Role of the Companion: The Impact of the Companions on the Doctor
Charles Oberndorf (M), Beth Meacham, Seanan McGuire, Tara O’Shea, Ian Tregillis
(Hooray for Dr. Who! This will be a blast. I’m looking forward to hearing the others’ thoughts.)
Sunday, August 21, 12:00 – 13:00
Wild Cards
GRRM (M), Carrie Vaughn, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Paul Cornell, Keven A. Murphy, Daniel Abraham, David D. Levine, Walter Jon Williams, Ty Franck, Ian Tregillis
(Because you know there had to be one. Wild Card panels are usually pretty entertaining.)
Wow! That looks stellar, a lot of these panels do. As I deduce from the ‘Reading’ section above, you have to be reading from a love letter to pygmy giraffes, composed from a steaming cup of late-night coffee and summer fever, written down in black ink and sealed with a lover’s kiss. To be presented in Nevada.
Sorry, I got carried away there; I tend to be like that after writing for awhile. I’m sure you’ll do just fine. Too bad it’s so far; we’ll have to get you up here to Canada sometime!