Literary Community: My Chessiecon Schedule

[hrj]

Once again, I'll be spending Thanksgiving weekend at Chessiecon in the Baltimore MD area. The fabulous Seanan McGuire is writer guest of honor, and Ursula Vernon is artist GoH. (I've only met her online, so I hope I'll have a chance to meet her in person.)

If you plan to be there, be sure to bump into me to say Hi (and come to my programming, and bring or buy books to get signed and…and…and…) Here's my personal schedule (and the general schedule).

Friday

8-9pm (Greenspring I) - Women in Camelot

Our panelists discuss the role of women in the various Arthurian sources, both historical and modern.

Heather Dale, Cathy Hird (M), Lisa Padol, Kim Headlee, Heather Rose Jones

(I expect my specialty will be talking about some of the amazing queer Arthurian women I've been turning up for the Lesbian Historic Motif Project.)

Saturday

12:30-1:30 (Greenspring I) - Diversity vs. Tokenism in SF/F

Diversity lies in opening ourselves to diverse stories and diverse cultures, not in requiring each story to be populated by diverse characters. On the other hand, a story intended to depict a diverse society that only shows certain elements does a disservice to the ideal of diversity. How do various authors demonstrate diversity, and where do their attempts to do so fail?

Heather Rose Jones, Carl Cipra (M), Cathy Hird, Intisar Khanani, Mary Fan

04:15 PM - 05:15 PM (Greenspring I) - Gaylactic Spectrum Awards

The Gaylactic Spectrum Awards honor outstanding works of science fiction, fantasy and horror which include significant positive explorations of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender characters, themes, or issues. Join us as The Gaylactic Network presents the 2014/2015 awards.

Rob Gates, Carl Cipra

(Note: I'm not part of the programming here, but Daughter of Mystery was nominated for the Spectrum, so I'll definitely be in the audience biting my fingernails!)

6:45-8pm (Atrium) - General Autographing Session with many many guests

9:15-10:15pm (Greenspring I) - You Say "Mary Sue" Like it's a Bad Thing…

Whether the author is narrating their tale or the author is a main character in the story, what are the pitfalls, risks, and sheer fun possible from creating a Weird Waldo experience for your audience. What is a Mary Sue/Larry Stu, why are many authors sick of the phrase; how to avoid them, or why are authors no longer concerned with trying to avoid them?

Carl Cipra (M), Heather Rose Jones, Harrison Demchick, Julie Holderman, Timothy Liebe

Sunday

No programming, but you know, if you wanted to coax me to talk about the Alpennian stories, or you're sad that they weren't able to give me a reading slot and want to corner me and force me to read you something, or you want to hear more about the Lesbian Historic Motif Project, or you just want to chat…there are plenty of comfy chairs in the lobby and a decent coffee shop. Snag me if you see me at loose ends and I'm sure something can be arranged.

Comments

[dr-zrfq.livejournal.com]

I'm kinda sorry that Seanan isn't on the "Mary Sue" panel, as she wrote one of the best essays about the archetype I've ever seen. I do suspect that her definition of Mary Sue is nothing like that which will be discussed in the panel, however.

[hrj.livejournal.com]

These days, discussions about "Mary Sue" characters generally lean towards "deriding a female protagonist as a Mary Sue is part of the miasma of misogyny in SFF that sets up impossible requirements for female protagonists and then punishes them for achieving those requirements."

The notion that an abnormally competent, universally admired, "chosen one"-type protagonist is a sign of Bad Writing is a highly gendered reaction. In a way, I expect this panel to be a bit of a "Misogyny 101" discussion. (And I confess that I have no idea what a "Weird Waldo" experience might be.)

[dr-zrfq.livejournal.com]

Ah, the definitions are seriously different. Remembering discussions about "Mary Sue" and "Marty Stu" type characters from Skiffy at W&M (admittedly this was over 25 years ago now), one thing everyone agreed on was that all actual protagonists (and antagonists) were disqualified from M.S. status.