This weekend, September 19—21, I’ll be a guest of honor at GrandCon, a gaming and comics convention held in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They have a slew of other great guests joining me, including Jeff Dee, Dave Dorman, Ed Greenwood, Jeff Grubb, Richard Launius, Brad McDevitt, Mark McKenna, Pop Mhan, Mark Nelson, Paul Peterson, Keith Pollard, Boyan Radakovich, Stan!, Ryan Stegman, and hometown heroes Erik Bauer and Steven Schend.
My schedule, I’m told, includes:
Friday, September 19
- 1 PM: World Building Seminar, Basic Concepts Pt. 1: You want to build a world for a campaign or a story. Where do you start? Hear how the masters of the Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, and myriad other settings create their worlds and swap stories from the dawn of gaming. With Ed Greenwood, Steven Schend, Jeff Grubb, and Stan!
Saturday, September 20
- 10 AM: World Building Seminar, Basic Concepts Pt. 1: Okay, you have your basic fantasy (or not-so-fantasy) universe. What now? The Elder Gods of the Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, and other great fantasy universes talk about what happens next and how worlds and campaign settings evolve. With Ed Greenwood, Steven Schend, Jeff Grubb, and Stan!
- 1 PM: Shared Worlds: Let’s take a look at the strengths & strains of working on a shared intellectual property from a fiction writing perspective. Are shared worlds stronger for stories or just bigger tapestries? Find out from several best selling authors and writers what they really think about writing in shared worlds. Come ask anything you need to know about shared worlds and writing. With Ed Greenwood, Steven Schend, Jeff Grubb, and Stan!
Sunday, September 21
- 10:30 AM: Writers’ Feedback: Writing’s a solitary thing, but we all need other opinions for feedback & clarity. Unfortunately, not everyone knows how to critique well. Learn how to make sure you get what you need (and learn what to ignore). This panel can help answer questions on the best (and worst) feedback and critique. Many of our panelists are in a long-time writer’s group spread coast to coast called the Alliterates. All of them have also been both authors and editors at various stages across their careers. With Ed Greenwood, Steven Schend, Jeff Grubb, and Stan!
The rest of the time, I’ll either be wandering around and playing games, catching up with friends, or hiding in my hotel room and racing impending deadlines. This looks to be my last convention of the year, so if you can get out to the western side of Michigan this weekend, I hope to see you there!
