I barely had time to think after arriving at the convention hotel and attending 5 panels already.

Popular Dystopias – Tad Daley, Tom Doyle, Diana Peterfreund

Most of the topic of discussion was different kinds of dystopias, post-holocausts, repressive governments – why people seem to like them, especially in YA lit.

So You Want to Be a Writer? -Brenda Clough, Tad Daley, Yoji Kondo, Nick Mamatas, Jim Stratton

This was entirely about traditional publishing. I was too chicken to address the topic of indie authors when the panel opened the floor for questions. General advice was write, write, and write some more, have the basic tools, read a lot, and have some talent.

The (non) Holy Bible – Lawrence Watt-Evans

Series bibles! Mr. Watt-Evans hilariously described his own experiences writing fan fic and his own fic and the kinds of series bibles he was sent, from the fantastically detailed Star Trek bible to the list of six X-File episodes he should watch.

Can You Hear Me Now? – Meriah Lysistrata Crawford, Elaine Stiles

Communication in the future. The topic tended toward dystopic visions of where modern technological breakthroughs in communication will lead us

Character Abuse – Meriah Lysistrata Crawford, Dave Klecha, James Maxey, Allen Wold

Characters! When writers respect them, the readers may not be satisfied, but at least they won’t throw your book across the room and come at you with a pitchfork. Authors need to write their characters to be internally consistent.

I’ll flesh these out if I have more time (I hope). It’s late, and I have a workshop in the morning. TTFN!