Over the weekend I had my first experience ever at a Science Fiction/Fantasy (SFF) literary convention. Now I’m sure your gut reaction to hearing or rather reading this is “Wow, what a weirdo! How is a fan conference relevant to literature?” Well, that was my former opinion of SFF conferences, that is until my internship this semester led me straight to the heart of one: Lunacon in New York State. Part of my internship included programming panel discussions for the conference, so I couldn’t wait to go and see them in action. While there was a fair share of panels which discussed fan related issues such as the quality of Tolkien’s newest novel (The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun), the emergence of once monsters as romantic figures (ahem… vampires in Twilight), the golden age of comics vs. the dark gritty contemporary comics (such as The Dark Knight and Watchmen), and current popular fanzines. But one thing I never expected to see at a SFF con was dialogue that directly addressed the craft of writing genre fiction. There were panels varying from the fun and silly (“how to create your own evil lair” and “death of the funny robot story”) to the useful and technical (“writing swordfights,” “world building in SFF,” “writing point of view,” and “gender balancing in fantasy.”) One of the most engaging and insightful panels I went to was “writing swordfights.” The man who was presenting, Carl Frederick, was both an Australian author of SF and a world champion epee fencer. Having this adequate background in the mechanics of writing and swordfighting, he gave helpful hints and several dos-and-don’ts. To demonstrate his points, he brought his swords along with him and acted out techniques as he explained them. After he finished speaking he let everyone hold the swords and ask any specific questions.
In addition to panels aiding in the techniques of writing science fiction or fantasy, there were panels that addressed issues concerning the business side of being an author and how to go about being published. I myself went to a Book Editors’ Roundtable, an Agents’ Roundtable, a discussion of the State of the Small Press to list a few. The book editors’ roundtable was a discussion panel of four current editors at different publishing houses. They gave insightful hints about what they look for in a manuscript, what they see too much of, what annoys them, and what makes some writers a pleasure to work with. The agents’ roundtable was similar in detailing what current agents look for and avoid in clients. They also explained how to go about soliciting for an agent. I found the panel on the state of the small press particularly relevant to issues we deal with for the Long River Review. While it seems that the small press is in the midst of a mass extinction, it is important to note that the publishing giants like Harper Collins and Penguin seem to have grown too big for their own good. It is viable that the small press will be reborn and flourish in the ashes of the giants.
There were countless other panels which I wasn’t able to make my way to; such as a Query Letter Workshop, a Magazine Editors’ Roundtable, a SFF Poetry Slam, a panel on Marketing your Novel and one on Re-envisioning Fairy Tales. After having had only a taste of this extensive fount of information and networking opportunities, I find myself, the converted non-believer, gleefully awaiting my next chance to learn from the pros.