My schedule for Readercon 34 just became official.
This year’s Readercon is back where it used to be, in the Boston Marriott Burlington, July 17-20.
For those who don’t already know, the THURSDAY events at Readercon are OPEN TO THE PUBLIC and FREE OF CHARGE. Later events (Fri-thru-Sun) require purchasing a membership. It happens that two of my events are on Thursday. 
Anyway, here’s what I’m doing:
Solo Reading !
- Thursday 8:00 p.m., Empower/Embrace room
- (Not yet sure what I’m going to read.)
What Time Loops Reveal
- Thursday 9:00 p.m. Salon G/H
- (Ken Schneyer (moderator), David G Shaw, Ian Randal Strock, Marianna Martin PhD, Mark Painter.)
- “The time loop is a favorite premise in science fiction, fantasy, and, increasingly, romance. What is the nature of its appeal, and has it been growing over time or does it only feel that way? What are the different fun variations on the theme, what does the fascination with going over and over until you get it right say about our society, and how many times have you read this description now? Are you sure?”
Coherency in Storytelling
- Friday 1:00 p.m. Salon G/H.
- Kate Nepveu (moderator), Ken Schneyer, Richard Butner, Walter Williams.
- “When Alison Bechdel sent her mother a copy of her frank memoir, Are You My Mother?, her mother’s summary judgement was, “Well, it coheres.” Most writing advice is based on the assumption that coherence of narrative is a paramount value in storytelling, but is that assumption borne out? Are there works of fiction that don’t cohere, but in ways that still satisfy?”
Sense of Wonder, Sense of Conviction
- Friday 7:00 p.m., Salon I/J
- Caitlin Rozakis (moderator), Andrea Martinez Corbin, Ken Schneyer, Max Gladstone, Victor Manibo.
- “In his 1960 WorldCon guest of honor speech, James Blish argued that genre science fiction was not more popular and influential because readers seek ‘not the sense of wonder, but the sense of conviction…. the feeling that the story is about something worth your adult attention.’ Too much science fiction, he thought, was content to offer only ‘comfort and safety’; yet ‘good science fiction is neither.’ How does this assessment hold up today, particularly given SFF’s dominance of popular culture?”
Meet the Prose
- Friday 10:15 p.m., Salon F
- “At the Friday night Meet the Pros(e) party, program participants are assigned to tables with a roughly equal number of conferencegoers and other participants, and then table placements are scrambled at regular intervals so that everyone gets to meet a new set of people in a small-group setting. Think of it as a low-key sort of speed dating where you need never be the sole focus of anyone’s attention, and the goal is just to get to know some cool Readerconnish people. Please note that this event will include a bar and is mask-optional, unlike most other programming.”
Take Your Novel to Work
- Sunday 10:00 a.m., Salon G/H
- Ken Schneyer (moderator), Leigh Perry, Marianna Martin PhD, Melissa Bobe, Sarah Pinsker.
- “In the genre of fanfic known as ‘take your fandom to work,’ favorite characters are placed in the author’s work environment, often resulting in delightfully concrete and minute details about ecological field research or running a bodega or being a summer camp counselor. How do stories of everyday vocation enhance the experience of reading and writing fiction, and what works of speculative fiction take best advantage of the granular details of work life? What can bringing characters to work tell us about both the characters and the work itself?”
Kaffeeklatsch: Ken Schneyer
- Sunday 1:00 p.m., Suite 830
- (Great opportunity for us to chat, if we haven’t had a chance to do so already.
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Kenneth Schneyer 
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