I’m speaking at three cons in three months to start 2024:
- Arisia: January 12-15 in Boston
- Capricon: February 1-4 in Chicago
- ICFA March 13-17 in Orlando
Details below!
ARISIA
- Friday Night Erotica Reading!
Room: Faneuil
Time: 10PM
Date: Friday, January 12, 2024
The Arisia tradition resumes after a couple of pandemic years off! My Friday night erotica reading at Arisia has gone through many incarnations over the past 25+ years. Sometimes in the 1990s it was a group reading with multiple authors, and other times it was a solo show with just me reading smut to people for over an hour. As I used to announce, my goal was to turn people on enough to send them rushing back to their hotel rooms to scratch that itch. At least one couple not only did that, they conceived a child… who has since grown up to be a 20-something fan of mine. Oh my. One year, in the “Charles Hotel” years (where there wasn’t enough function space) the con cut the reading from the schedule, so I held it impromptu in a regular hotel room. Somewhere I have photos of about 50 people cramming into the room.
This year, we’ll have a special guest from out of town, Nobilis Reed of the Nobilis Erotica podcast! And I believe Sacchi Green will join us, as well.
- SF/F Erotic Books Tea Party
Room: 460 (on the party floor)
Time: 3PM to 5PM
Date: Saturday, January 13, 2024
Come meet me, Nobilis Reed, and other erotic sf/f authors. First 25 guests will receive a free book from the Circlet Press archives! Although I sold Circlet in January 2020 to Riverdale Avenue Books and got rid of all the old backlist inventory, this year a friend on the West Coast discovered a box we’d sent them around 1999 and shipped it back to me! I’m turning those classic erotic sf/f books into the door prizes for the party. 🙂 Come have some tea and chat with us about the erotic sf/f genre!
Room: Alcott
Time: 7PM to 8PM
Date: Saturday, January 13, 2024
Panelists: Ryka Aoki (GOH), Sacchi Green, Elijah Kinch Spector, JR Dawson, Cecilia Tan (moderator)
I’ll be moderating this panel with the following description: “The opportunities for LGBTQIA speculative fiction writers to find markets for their work have increased, but challenges remain. This panel will explore the current state of science fiction and fantasy for this community both in terms of how writers might use LGBTQIA themes in their writing, but also discussing ways for all writers to make sexual orientation and gender identity perspectives part of their work.”
CAPRICON
It’ll be my first time at Capricon, and I’ll be doing a LOT OF panels and events! It’s going to really be a blast since three of the four GOHs are longtime friends and colleagues from the ongoing efforts at diversifying the sf/f genre, K. Tempest Bradford, Victor Raymond, and Catherine Lundoff. I’m just going to paste the schedule in here because it’s a lot:
- Writing When You Have No Spoons
Columbus • Writing • Panel • Thu 5:00 PM–6:00 PM
Most folks know what it’s like to come home from work and have no energy left. Add in all the pressures of the real world and it can sometimes feel impossible to put your fingers to the keyboard. So how do you find the energy to keep writing? Our panelists explore their own struggles with a lack of spoons and share some of the strategies they’ve found helpful to get words down on the page.
Wrigleyville • Fan Interest • Participatory Event • Fri 11:30 AM–12:30 PM
LGBTQIA+ convention members are invited to meet and greet!
- Professional Organizations for Writers
Columbus • Writing • Panel • Fri 1:00 PM–2:00 PM
SLF, SFPA, SFWA, and RWA aren’t just acronym soup. These organizations are ways for authors to network, learn about their craft, and more. Current members will discuss what these organizations offer and how they can benefit you.
- Interview with GoH K. Tempest Bradford
Sheraton II • GOH • Panel • Fri 2:30 PM–3:30 PM
Cecilia Tan interviews Capricon Author GoH K. Tempest Bradford.
- Making Magic Make Sense in Fiction
Columbus • Writing • Panel • Fri 8:30 PM–9:30 PM
For many fantasy readers and writers, magic systems require rules. Magic, after all, comes at a cost, whether that involves time, energy, or even the health of its user. So what works and doesn’t? How do you make a magic system that makes sense? Our panelists discuss some of the best examples and offer tips for developing your own magic systems.
- Reading: Herkes/Jorgensen/Tan
Bridgeport • Reading • Panel • Sat 2:30 PM–3:30 PM
KM Herkes, Jeanna Jorgenson, and Cecilia Tan read from their works.
- The Many Hats of a Creative
Gold Coast • Art • Panel • Sat 4:00 PM–5:00 PM
In the present market, freelancers (artists and writers) are expected to be marketers, bookkeepers, customer service reps, production and distribution managers, and more. And they do all that in addition to writing and/or making art. But how exactly does one manage all of that? Our panelists talk about some of the tips, tricks, and tools you can use to make the ancillary work easier to manage!
- Sexy Words with Cecilia and Catherine
Gold Coast • After Dark/GOH • Panel • Sat 8:30 PM–9:30 PM
GoH Catherine Lundoff and Cecilia Tan give short readings from their erotica works, and share some thoughts about what makes fiction hot (or not)!
Gold Coast • Literature • Panel • Sun 11:30 AM–12:30 PM
While there are countless stories with romantic subplots, there is also an entire universe of romance novels set in SFF worlds. Our panelists discuss what makes SFF romance such a compelling genre and share some of their favorite works.
ICFA
I think the time and day of the following is still subject to change, but last I heard…
- Anthologies: Curation, Crowdfunds, and Copyedits
Room TBA • Panel • Friday 8:30 AM–9:45 AM
Panelists: Cecilia Tan, dave ring, Zelda Knight, and moderated by Kagunda Shingai Njeri
Yes, you read that right, I’m on a panel at 8:30 AM. ICFA is the only con where I’ll do anything that early, because I’ll spend the rest of the day absorbing photons beside the pool and reset my sleep schedule to be almost like a typical human’s. (As soon as I return to the frozen north I return to my vampiric ways.) I haven’t seen the official description of this panel, but here’s what I wrote when I proposed it:
“Several of the big anthologies from marginalized creators recently have been crowdfunded rather than published by traditional publishers, and small presses like Neon Hemlock and Atthis Arts rely on crowdfunding to launch anthologies with so-called ‘niche’ audiences. See Death in the Mouth I & II edited by Sloane Leong and Cassie Hart, Dominion: An Anthology of Black Speculative Fiction edited by Zelda Knight and Ekpeki Oghenechovwe Donald, the Sauutiverse anthology edited by Wole Talabi, and many others. Many award-winning stories have appeared in these crucial anthologies as well. Why would marginalized creators choose to self-publish and self-fund from their own readers rather than seek the support/approval of a large or traditional publisher? What advantages does crowdfunding provide, and what drawbacks?” We’ll talk not just about the money, but about how a strong editorial idea or vision translates to a strong campaign, and how artistic freedom and artistic vision relate.
Say hello if you see me out there on the road!
