Balticon 42 Program Ideas (Updated 2008/01/22) 1. Amateur Radio in Fandom. 2. The Best Science Fiction Anime: What are the best Science Fiction Anime movies or shows ever? What makes a great Science Fiction anime? Find out more about the best Science Fiction anime with shows from Nausicaa to Evangelion to Astro Boy. 3. The Best Science Fiction Movies of the Year: The best Science Fiction films of last year as decided by the fans are what the “Best Dramatic Presentation: Long Form” Hugo recognizes. We discuss these films along with other films that should have been on the Hugo's “Best Dramatic Presentation: Long Form” ballot 4. The Best Science Fiction TV Shows of the Year: The best Science Fiction TV shows of last year as decided by the fans are what the “Best Dramatic Presentation: Short Form” Hugo recognizes. We discuss these episodes along with other shows that should have been on the Hugo's “Best Dramatic Presentation: Short Form” ballot. 5. Internet Talk Radio: interviews, and how to become a guest on a radio or tv station, 6. Panels on marketing and promoting books, writing proposals to obtain sponsors, encourage a role playing game for vampires. 7. Animals in SF/Fantasy. (Or, if you wanted to make it more specific, Pets in SF/Fantasy) 8. Panel to debate the merits of Joseph Campbell's monomyth. 9. Classical literature and science fiction 10. Panel on plagues, past, present, and future (to go along with the Doomsday Book). 11. As another Connie Willis idea, how about a panel on Christmas and the fantastic? 12. Millennialism and apocalyptic fiction. 13. SF/F Film Explosion" - A discussion of the big, highly anticipated SF/F films rolling out in 2008-2009, including Indiana Jones 4, Star Trek, Iron Man, Hulk, and The Dark Knight. 14. "Re-mastering Mania" - The remastering of the original Star Trek TV series might have set a new precedent. Could other effects-heavy science fiction and fantasy TV shows and films also benefit from a similar re-mastering? What would your dream r-emastered movie or show be? Or should we leave the classics as they are? 15. "Trek to the Future" - What lies ahead for Star Trek? Will J.J. Abrams' movie set the stage for further greatness...or will the saving grace arise from fan films, animation, fanfic, or another corner of the media universe? Is the future unlimited, or is this franchise all but tapped out? 16. "Breaking In" - A discussion of breaking in as a writer, artist, editor, podcaster, or other SF-oriented professional. What are some of the pitfalls to avoid? What tips can help the newbie climb the ladder? 17. What kind of SF would interest young people most to pursue science?. 18. Blended genres with SF as a strong component: *To Say Nothing of the Dog* was a SF/mystery blend but also a nod to *Three Men in A Boat*. *Passages* dealt with Titanic mythos and neurological research. 19. A series of "state of the genre" panels in anime and film. The idea would be to consider things a little more broadly than panels devoted to single shows like Heroes or Doctor Who. 20. The medieval in science fiction: e.g., The Domesday Book, Eifelheim, et al. 21. How to Lie with Statistics. A tutorial on how to deceive by using statistics. 22. Those Terrible Middle Ages! Exploring certain credulously accepted myths about the period. 23. The Scientific Revolution in the Middle Ages. Could the scientific revolution have occurred 300 years earlier, in the 14th century? What factors drove it? What factors worked against it? 24. Who Really Wrote the Works of Connie Willis? The books and short fiction attributed toConnie Willis are obviously too impressive and extensiveto be thework of any one individual. This panel will attempt to identify the true author(s) using logic, sound reasoning, evidence in the texts, and random guesses. Is "Connie Willis" actually Carolyn Keene? Esther Freisner and the rest of the SFWA Musketeers? The Duke of Padua? The Analog Mafia? 25. Connie-stellation: Professional writers pitch their story ideas for the ALTERNATE CONNIE WILLIS' anthology. 26. On The Use of Dogs and Ocean Liners As Literary Devices in Science Fiction Self-explanatory - but we'll explain anyway. The panel will explore the ways in which Connie Willis has used some unconventional-for-SFliterary devices to great effect in her writing. 27. Alternate history, 28. Baen Books presentation , complete with many giveaways. 29. Programming on technology in the future and on money management for writers. 30. Shaking up storytelling genres to adapt work to new media. As a for instance, prose novel in monologue form from the shifting perspectives of different characters, combining theater and long-form literature, specifically to take advantage of the podcasting medium. Other authors are writing novels and releasing them as podfic in a seasonal format like television shows, complete with cliffhanger finales and self-contained arcs within the overall work. People are applying narrative structure to viral videos. They're using all this meta technology to create interactive shared worlds. We're all telling stories in ways no one's told them before. 31. A panel on the social sciences in speculative fiction, which is a particular area of Ms. Willis'. Either that or soft science fiction authors vs. hard science fiction authors. Gladiatorial combat to the death. 32. Retrospective on Connie Willis' award-winning stories. 33. "How to Win More Hugos than Isaac Asimov." 34."When Kung Fu Meets Reality," 35. Things The Go Bump In The Night: Ghosts This panel would be about ghosts in legend, literature, movies, and television. Panel participants will tell their favorite ghost stories and discuss what is the appeal of ghosts. Is it that a ghost sighting is so personal? Do people who believe in ghosts see them as proof of life after death? How do ghost stories differ in different cultures? Are ghosts becoming more popular because of television shows like "The Ghost Whisperer", "Ghost Hunters", and "Most Haunted", and Asian horror movies, which often feature vengeful ghosts? 36. The number 42, i.e. Numerology, important dates in Skiffy-related history holding the number 42, scientific import revolving around 42, etc. 37. Jerome K. Jerome's "Three Men in a Boat" as proto-science fiction? 38. Magical Worlds - A discussion of the different magic systems from various fantasy, SF, and mainstream books. Rants and complaints over inconsistent magic systems. 39. Weapons & Action Scenes - Can you really hold a broadsword in one hand? Will a bo staff break across another's back? These types of questions will be discussed as well as how to write action scenes withoutmaking them readlike a grocery list. 40. World Building - Show me the money! How to create SF and Fantasy worlds that make sense and are consistent. 41. Murder, Magic, and Mayhem. As with any genre, fantasy novels contain elements from mysteries, suspense, and horror. While these elements are not the main focus of the plot, they’re important enough that you need to get them right. This panelwill concentrate on how to solve murders without modern technology, using magic in crime detection, and weapons (i.e. Can you really survive a sword thrust through the stomach?). 42. Publicity, Poisons, and Purple Cows: You may be wondering what purple cows have to do with publicity, and if there is such a thing as a poisonous promotion outside politics. Actually these three items do have something in common, promoting yourself as a writer. Even before the call comes and you sign a book contract, you should be aware of all the opportunities available now to market yourself as an author. Even purple cows need publicity. 43. The Publishing Labyrinth: The world of publishing is a complex maze. This workshop will help writers who want to navigate the twists, find short cuts, and avoid traps of submitting manuscripts to publishers and agents. Topics of discussion include how to find a reputable agent and/or a reputable publisher, submission dos and don’ts, avoiding disreputable agents and publishers, and how to handle rejection and keep on submitting. 44. The Business of Writing: What’s next after you finish a short story or novel? This workshop’s focus will be on submitting your manuscript for publication. Discussion topics include standard manuscript formatting, finding the right markets for your fiction, copyright information, submission do’s and don’ts,writing resources, and dealing with rejections. 45. Showing vs. Telling: One of the most repeated advice to new writers is to show not tell. Which leads many writers to ask: What does this mean? and How do I avoid telling? This workshop will answer both of those questions. By using five different fiction writing techniques, the writer can avoid flat boring prose like, “Mary was angry” (telling), and instead write, “Mary yanked Bob’s silk shirts off their hangers and fed them into the paper shredder” (showing). 46. Getting Started: Have you always wanted to write, but haven’t found the time or motivation? Thinking about writing and actually sitting down and writing can be a hard transition. This workshop will help get you started. Topics of discussion include setting short term goals, creating a writing space, first drafts, and giving yourself permission to call yourself a writer. There will be an in-class writing exercise. 47. Generating Story Ideas: This workshop will help writers to discover ideas from everyday sources and help them explore and develop these ideas. Using a variety of writing exercises and writing prompts, this hands-on workshop will help you find ideas that you are passionate about and can expand into a fictional story of any length. Come prepared to write! 48. Character is Key: In fiction, characters are the common denominator. If you don’t have interesting and believable characters you don’t have a story. This workshop discusses how characters drive the plot, and how their choices and personality will take the story in a specific direction. How to cast your novel's characters will also be included. 49. Dialogue and Emotions: Dialogue is an important aspect of a fictional story and a great way to show emotion to the reader. Like any writing technique, there are dos and don’ts involved, good examples and bad examples, and some guidelines. 50. Point of View: POV is what makes fiction so fascinating. It lets the reader view the world from someone else’s eyes. When writing, the question with POV will be whose emotions are we sharing? And which POV to use - first, second, third or omniscient. This workshop will discuss who to chose as your main POV character and how close you want to get to their thoughts and emotions. 51. Near Death Experiences - Truth or Fiction? 52. Are you a Bellwether? What are the new fads and trends in SF/F? Are they here to stay or just a flash in the pants? 53. Time Travel - Science Fiction or Fantasy? 54. 42 Reasons Why You Should Write for Young Adults 55. A panel to discuss what topics might lead to a new tomorrow. When you consider the great writers from the 50's time frame and how they basically laid the foundation for things like robotics, cloning and space travel. 56. A panel about outlaws (from Robin Hood, highwaymen, bandits, Batman, etc. -- anyone outside the law). Why we like them so much, their use as literary devices, the hagiographical process where we turn historical outlaws into heroes by rewriting their stories. 57. Reinventing the myth; retelling well known fairy tales, myths, folk tales, etc. (Ex: Wicked, Lackey's Elemental Masters series, Card's Enchantment) 58. Workshops on placing basically contemporary Earth-bound characters into the strange and sometimes eerie worlds of The Future and/or ones delving into the introduction of paranormal (fantasy) beings into contemporary or historical Earth settings. 59. Writers who have survived the test of time: Why do people still read Doc Smith, but not Edgar Wallace? 60. "Cover Art: How effective is it in selling books?" 61. "Competitive insults ( without swear words)" - Folks from the panel of the audience can do a monologue and tell insults and insult tall tales of up to 5 minutes, with the audience voting. 62. - Faeries, ogres and elves. 63."Does it really matter? How do deal with the drama of day to day life" 64. Self Promotion for Artists, Writers and other Gentlefolk. 65. Writers' Platforms: In today's highly saturated book market, a strong publicity and marketing campaign requires that authors have a solid platform to get the kind of media attention necessary for sales. If you are self-published, your platform can help you get the attention you need to sell books. But what is a platform, and how do you acquire one? We'll answer this question, and we'll discuss the difference between fiction and nonfiction platforms, how publishers use them and what they're good for, and how you can start building one right away. As books get more and more difficult to sell, publishers care more and more about how developed your platform is, because it gives them an indication of a built-in market for your book. It also lets them know how professional you are and how well you understand the business of selling books, which ends up being the author's responsibility 9 times out of 10 these days. Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, you must have a platform that is appropriate to your genre if you want to have an edge over the thousands of other manuscripts in the pile. 66. Doomed to Repeat It* The role of history in the works of Connie Willis--and why that history is always bad. 67. *The Latest Thing* Pop culture as science fiction in the works of Connie Willis 68. Story Identification Challenge: Bring your vague memories of stories you read years ago, and challenge the panelists to give you the name and author, even if all you remember is a city named Lys or a character named John Thomas. 68. Reverse Story Identification Challenge: Come to the panel with the idea or theme you think no one ever used; let the panelists name as many stories as they can that match your parameters, whether it's stories where astrology works, or ones in which poker and aliens play a prominent role. 69. Elections and Electioneering in SF and Fantasy: It's presidential election time again... 70. Megastructures in SF: Larry Niven, Chuck Rothman, Tim Zahn, Stephen Baxter and (much more recently) Karl Schroeder and Charles Stross have written about huge structures, like ringworlds, Dyson spheres, Alderson disks and odder things. Let's talk about them. 71. Crossing Genres: Metamor City blends epic fantasy, urban fantasy and cyberpunk with bits and pieces of several other genres, so I have some experience with this. 72. * Writing in Shared Settings: Much of one author creates a setting and others add in their own characters and contribute to building the world, much like George R.R. Martin's WILD CARDS setting. their advantages and disadvantages, especially for new writers, trade-offs involved in opening up one's creation in this way. 74. Ghostbusting 101: The rise in popularity of the paranormal has paranormal investigative groups popping up everywhere. Learn how to do this and how many approaches can be taken. 75. The Popularity of the Paranormal in Both Nonfiction and Fiction: Since X-Files the paranormal has become the hottest ticket today in books, TV and movies. Find out why. 76. E-publishing Versus Print: Is one better than the other, or can both be co-exist? 78. E-Books: Another way to read these days. In this days of collecting too much stuff in our homes and yet, wanting to keep your books, find another way it can still be done and not add clutter to your house. Learn all about e-books, and how you can read them and how easy. 79. E-Books & E-Marketing: Submitting What, How, and Where? When submitting to an e-publisher, standard format isn't just standard anymore. What kinds of submission formats do publishers want and why and how NOT to leave garbage code behind when files are converted. Get to know about the various files types and how to format your submissions in the body of an e-mail. 80. A role playing game for vampires. 81. Mixing Sex With the Paranormal: Making love to an Alien, Fairy or Werewolf: the romance authors are doing it. How dark can you go, or how exotic? Find out how they develop new worlds for the same old ghost, werewolf, vampire, shapeshifter, alien.