I’m looking forward to my first time at this convention. I’ll be on two panel discussions:
Science and Magic
Format: Panel 1 Nov 2019, Friday 15:00 - 15:55, Marquis 1-3 (Marriott Los Angeles Airport Hotel)
From faster-than-light drives to mad inventors, fantasy is filled with science that borders on magic. The Millennium Falcon works mostly because Han Solo and R2-D2 are really wizards of technology. Miyazaki's films feature dreams of flying, brought into reality by improbable airplanes built by child geniuses. And steampunk hinges around technology that really shouldn't work. Why are we so fascinated by the merging of technology and magic?
S.B. Divya, Christine Taylor-Butler (M), Scott Drakeford, Corry L. Lee, Sarah Langan
A Culture Not My Own
Format: Panel 2 Nov 2019, Saturday 14:00 - 14:55, Marquis 1-3 (Marriott Los Angeles Airport Hotel)
How can one best write fiction set in a culture or religion/mythology the author wasn’t raised in? How can one avoid cultural appropriation? Should non-Asians avoid Asia-set stories? Non-Norwegians not write about the Norse gods? And what about crossing cultures, combining elements from more than one?
S.B. Divya, John R. Fultz, Cindy Hung (M), Sheila Finch, Catherine Cooke Montrose