Boskone Schedule (Feb 16-18)

Hey folks-- as I've mentioned before, I'm going to be at Boskone in a few weeks, and now I've got a schedule!  I've been to Boskone twice before, and it's always a really good show.  The overall schedule, and mine in particular, is quite excellent, so I'm looking forward to it.  So if you're in the Boston area in the middle of February, come check it out.

Reading by Marshall Ryan MarescaFormat: Reading16 Feb 2018, Friday 17:00 - 17:30, Independence (Westin)Marshall Ryan Maresca

Fresh Fantasy WorldsFormat: Panel16 Feb 2018, Friday 20:00 - 21:00, Marina 4 (Westin)“High” fantasies in much of western speculative literature lean heavily on the European Middle Ages for inspiration. Pastoral landscapes, Camelottian castles, noble knights, distressed damsels. All much loved — all done to death. (Or killed off by George R. R. Martin.) Why do we still cling to them so? What’s it take to create a fresh fantasy world? Besides European models, what other options are there? And how do you enliven tropes, settings, and situations that have become old hat?Gerald L. Coleman, Andrea Corbin, John R. Douglas (M), Marshall Ryan Maresca, Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Autographing: Jeffrey A. Carver, Theodora Goss, Mary Robinette Kowal, Marshall Ryan MarescaFormat: Autographing17 Feb 2018, Saturday 11:00 - 12:00, Galleria - Autographing (Westin)Mary Robinette Kowal, Jeffrey A. Carver, Marshall Ryan Maresca, Theodora Goss

Parable of the Sower by Octavia ButlerFormat: Panel18 Feb 2018, Sunday 12:00 - 13:00, Burroughs (Westin)Octavia Butler's prescient dystopian novel Parable of the Sower was written 25 years ago. Set in the 2020s, it presents a society beset by climate change, social and economic collapse, corporate greed, wealth inequality … need we go on? What did Butler’s masterpiece get right — and wrong? How do her beleaguered characters cope? And what can the novel teach us today?Jennifer Pelland (M), Vandana Singh, Kenesha Williams, Scott Lynch, Marshall Ryan Maresca

Ending a SeriesFormat: Panel18 Feb 2018, Sunday 14:00 - 15:00, Burroughs (Westin)After writing three novels (or more!), how do you pull all your loose ends together to provide a satisfying conclusion? What are readers looking for in the final book of a series? And if you leave openings for another triptych or two, can it really feel like The End?E. C. Ambrose (M), Marshall Ryan Maresca, Debra Doyle, Walter H. Hunt, Sarah Smith