TusCon 35 (last year) Prelim Schedule

Friday

2:00 -    Video room opens

2:00 -    Con-suite opens

3:00 -    Art Show opens

3:00 -     Dealers’ Room opens

4:00 -     Some like it hot.  What’s causing Global warming?  Pollution?  Cosmic rays?  Can we do anything about it?  Volcano anyone? Carol DePriest, Brian Gross, John Vornholt

5:00 -     What is urban fantasy today?  Where did it start?  How has it evolved?  Pamela Lloyd, Jill Knowles, Yvonne Navarro, Janni Lee Simner

6:00 -     The Phoenix Mars Scout Mission.  The inside story.  Melissa Lamberton

6:00 -     Story vs. Craft (1) - what’s most important?  And what the hell is Voice?  Diana Gabaldon,  Ed Bryant, David Lee Summers, Will Shetterly

6:00 -     Reading by Emma Bull

7:00 -    Art Show closes

7:00 -     Dealers’ Room closes

7:00 -    Con-suite closes

7:00 -     Meet the Guests

8:30 -     Blurring Genre lines (1) - Is it mystery? Horror?  Romance?  Historical fiction?  Suspense?  What are readers (and editors) looking for in each?  If you read it, where do you find it, and if you write it, how do you sell it?  Diana Gabaldon, Nickolas Cook, Adam Niswander, Elaine Charton

8:30 -     Will religion always be with us?  (1) Is it hardwired?   Does it have a practical purpose?   Ingrid Saber, Keith Henson, Deb Dedon, Emma Bull

8:30 -     Reading by Pamela Lloyd and Karl Grotegut

9:00 -     Con-suite opens

9:00 -     Art Show opens

9:30 -     Where does science-fiction leave off and fantasy begin?  Pamela Lloyd, Catherine Wells, Adam Niswander, Dennis McKiernan

9:30 -     December 21, 2012.  Why is the end of the world so popular?  How will it end?  Larry Vela, Bruce Wiley, Carol DePriest

9:30 -     Reading by Larry Hammer

10:00 -    Art Show closes

10:30 -     How much CGI is to much?  David Brown, Dave Qualls, Larry Vela 

10:30 -     How is the appeal of horror distinct from that of other speculative genres?  Is it true that it’s more popular during Republican administrations?  Ed Bryant, Nickolas Cook, Sue Thing

10:30 -     Reading by Jill Knowles

Saturday

9:00 -     Con-suite opens

10:00 -    Art Show opens

10:00 -     Dealers’ Room opens

10:00 -     Can we get there from here? Star travel propulsion: laser pulses, solar cells, rocket, fule cashes.  Keith Henson, Homer Tilton, Dave Qualls, David Foster

10:00 -     Paranormal research.  What is the science? Brian Gross, David Brown, William Everist, Scott Glener

10:00 -     Genre snobbery - You read That?  Why?  What does your secret sin supply that other genres don’t?  Frances Robertson, Nickolas Cook, Larry Hammer, Paul Edwards 

10:00 -     Reading by Catherine Wells

11:00 -     Running on Empty?  Energy for the future.  Ben Nault, Keith Henson, Alan Binder Ph.D

11:00 -     An Hour with Diana Gabaldon

12:00 -     You’ve got a story written, now what?  The nuts and bolts of submitting your work.  Jeff Mariotte, David Lee Summers, Jill Knowles, Dennis McKiernan

12:00 -     Not your parents’ science-fiction - the boom of YA SF and Fantasy.  Liz Danforth, Larry Hammer, Janni Lee Simner, John Vornholt

12:00 -     Psychic Investigation.  How is it done?  True life tales.  Brian Gross,William Everist, Deb Dedon, Rebecca Petithory-Hayes

12:00 -     Reading by Will Shetterly

1:00 -     Time Travel: Is it possible? How? Should we change events?  Diana Gabaldon, David Brown, William Everist, Larry Vela, Earl Billick 

1:00 -     Doesn’t that just rip your bodice? How does Paranormal Romance differ from Fantasy, SF, and Horror - or does it?  Are paranormal romances stealing readers from the other genres?  Catherine Wells, Jill Knowles, Yvonne Navarro

1:00 -     Magic mirrors.  How are telescopes made?  New binocular telescope.  Adaptive optics.  Getting rid of twinkle.  David Lee Summers, David Foster

1:00 -     Meet the Groups.  Meet the various fan related groups that operate in Tucson.

1:00 -     Reading by Jeff Mariotte

2:00 -     Mass Autographing

2:00 -     Designing human beings.  Genetic manipulation.  Body mods.  Who will do it first?   How will society adapt?  Ken Morse, Ingrid Saber, Deb Dedon, Paul Edwards

3:00 -     Psychic testing.  Zenner cards.  Remote viewing,  precognition, or telepathy?  Brian Gross

3:00 -     Is a picture worth a 1000 words?  Graphic novels: who reads them?  How are they different from “real” novels.  Diana Gabaldon, Jeff Mariotte, Joe Palmer, Larry Hammer

3:00 -     Reading by Frances Robertson

4:00 -     New York vs. small press vs. self-publishing.  Is NY stagnating?  Catherine Wells, Ed Bryant, Weston Ochse,  David Lee Summers, Janni Lee Simner 

4:00 -      What is consciousness?  If we are largely a sequence of electro-chemical reactions, can we ever up-load our consciousness?   NDE’s, astral travel, past lives.  Transcendent experiences.  David Brown, William Everist, Deb Dedon, Dennis McKiernan

4:00 -     Reading by Adam Niswander

5:00 -     Con-suite closes

5:00 -     What is love?  Speed dating by smell.  Emma Bull, Frances Robertson, Scott Glener

5:00 -     Have e-books and web publishing finally broken out?  Is this the beginning of the end for print?  David Lee Summers, Will Shetterly, Elaine Charton, Jill Knowles

6:00 -    Wine and cheese party for participants

6:00 -     Ghost tour of the historical “Snob Hollow” downtown area.  Wear your walking shoes and bring a camera.  Meet in the lobby.  Rebecca Petithory-Hayes

6:00 -     Dance of Arabia performs.

7:00 -    Con-suite opens

7:00 -     Dealers’ room closes

7:00 -     Quest for immortality.  Exercise, calorie deprivation, and telomeres.  How will the resulting stratified society function?  Paul Jablonka, Dave Qualls ,Carol DePriest, David Foster

7:00 -     Reading by Nickolas Cook

8:00 -     I’m not a rocket scientist or dominatrix, just a a good researcher. Authors reveal their sources.  Diana Gabaldon, Emma Bull, Adam Niswander 

8:00 -     Blurring Genre lines (2) - Is it mystery? Horror?  Romance?  Historical fiction?  Suspense?  What are readers (and editors) looking for in each?  If you read it, where do you find it, and if you write it, how do you sell it?  Ed Bryant, Will Shetterly, Dennis McKiernan, Yvonne Navarro, Jeff Mariotte

8:00 -     Reading by John Vornholt

9:00 -     You made the world, now you’ve got to write in it. How does your world shape your story, or does your story shape your world?  Emma Bull, Dennis McKiernan, John Vornholt

9:00 -     The coming plague years - drug resistant bacteria, bugs released from melting ice caps, bio warfare, computer viruses.  David Brown, Brian Gross, Bruce Wiley, Earl Billick, Carol DePriest

9:00 -     Reading by Denise Agnew
 
10:00 -     The three greatest horror/SF movies of all time.  Ed Bryant, Gloria McMillan, Paul Edwards, Sue Thing
 
10:00 -     Reading by David Brown

10:00 -    Art Show closes

11:00 -     Reading by Ed Bryant

Sunday

9:00 -    Con-suite opens

10:00 -    Art Show opens

10:00 -     Dealers’ Room opens

10:00 -     Along Genre Lines - SF, Fantasy, Horror Poetry  Larry Hammer, David Lee Summers

10:00 -     Was “classic SF” as good as we remember?  Earl Billick, Gloria McMillan, Sue Thing, John Vornholt

10:00 -     Reading by Dennis McKiernan

11:00 -     Remembering Asimov, Heinlein, and Clarke.  How did they shape modern SF? Weston Ochse,  Ben Nault, Keith Henson, Adam Niswander

11:00 -     Reading by Janni Lee Simner

11:25 -     Barry Bard Memorial Movie Previews and Swag Dispersal

12:00 -     Story vs. Craft (2) - what’s most important?  And what the hell is Voice?  Emma Bull, Dennis McKiernan, Yvonne Navarro,  Janni Lee Simner

12:00 -    Art Show closes

1:00 -     Does role playing make you a better person or destroy your morals? Do face-to-face FRP games have a different influence than computer games?  What about MMOs?  Brian Gross, Weston Ochse, Liz Danforth, Dennis McKiernan, Sue Thing

1:00 -    Art Auction

2:00 -     Will religion always be with us? (2)  Is it hardwired?   Does it have a practical purpose?  David Brown, Pamela Lloyd, Will Shetterly, David Foster

2:00 -     Reading by David Lee Summers

3:00 -     Dealers’ Room closes.

3:00 -     Getting that perfect art effect (shading, texture, color, etc.).  Gloria McMillan, Liz Danforth, Earl Billick, 

4:00 -     What makes a “bad” movie become a cult favorite?   Nickolas Cook, Joe Palmer, John Vornholt

4:00 -    Dead Dog Party commences.

9:30 -    Video Room closes.