Readercon, reworked
Now I've got my revised schedule for Readercon, which will be this weekend (5-8 July) in Burlington, Massachusetts.

I'll be on two panels:

"Smooth and Lumpy Expanded Universes" on Friday at 4PM with James Alan Gardner, Anil Menon, Yves Meynard, and Rick Wilber. Panel description: "There are convincing and unconvincing ways for a writer to build on a created world. The introduction of the Bene Tleilax in Dune Messiah strikes many readers as an off-note, because it's inconceivable that the organization wouldn't have been mentioned in the original novel. In contrast, the Order of the Phoenix fit beautifully into J.K. Rowling's world. Isaac Asimov spent the last years of his career relentlessly expanding and merging his created universes, with controversial results. What other examples stand out? What are some of the tricks of the trade?"

"Sense of Wonder, or Sense of Cool?" on Saturday at 12N with John Joseph Adams, Thomas A. Easton, Laura Anne Gilman, and Ernest Lilley. Panel description: "Sf seeks that sense of wonder, but we think much of today's best sf brings forth a different feeling. To some of us, stories such as those in Charles Stross's Accelerando sequence evoke a response more along these lines: "It really might be like that? Cool!" The emotion is less an awed contemplation of the universe and its inhabitants, and more the delight we have toward a new, really loaded computer, electronic gadget or online capability-what can we do with it, what are the implications? What the author shows us may be amazing, beyond present technology or knowledge, but it feels better understood and more under our control than the cosmic wonders of older sf. Cool is more widely shared than wonder, but less, er, wonderful. Can this be part of the reason for the decline in the popularity of sf-cool can be reliably found in more places?Does fantasy supply wonder more reliably today?"

Kaffeeklatsch on Sunday at 1PM. For those who haven't been to one, a kaffeeklatsch is a small gathering (usually 8 to 15 people) with an author or editor (in this case, me), around a table for a free-ranging discussion of whatever the participants are interested in (usually something to do with the guest and his career). There's a sign-up sheet at the registration table.

Hope to see (some of) you there!