Yeah, I think I qualify for that one. We'll talk about the process of putting a hat together and building a buckram frame. 

11:00am in The Gallery: Tripping the Lights Fantastic

Tim Morgan and I will talk lighting for props and costumes. Bring your own items to show off. Got a problem with your project? We'll help you troubleshoot.

2-4pm in the Con Suite: FenCon tea! Come have a cuppa. Buy discounted memberships. See the Mad Hatter, I mean conchair!

5:00pm in Programming 4 (Jackson): Artemis Guys v Gals

It should be fun. Should I wear a red shirt? I'll be teamed up with Mel White, Linda Donahue, Rachael Acks, Kathy Turski, and Tex Thompson. We'll be up against Michael Ashleigh Finn, Mark Finn, Aaron de Orive, Stephen Patrick, Adrian Simmons, and Stephen Sanders.

6:00pm in Programming 2 (Madison): Choose your Destiny: Researching Alternate History

Pretty much what it says on the tin.

With Shanna Swendson (M), Jeremy Brett, Stina Leicht, and Jeff Dawson. 

1:00pm in Programming 3 (Hamilton) Turning Stories into Screenplays

There's a little more to adapting a story for the screen (or audio) than sticking it on a board and driving a nail through it. My fellow compatriots and I will talk about it.

With SMarshall Ryan Marasca, David L. Gray, Mary Gearhart-Gray, Rachael Acks, and Aaron De Orive. I'll be moderating.

3:00pm in Main Programming (Jefferson) Intelligence is Overrated

We're not all as smart as Sherlock Holmes. So how do we get ourselves into that mindset and create all those cunning plans?

With: Seanan McGuire, Paul Black, Stina Leicht, Teresa Patterson. I'll be moderating. 

I have some goals for this year, and they're modest. One is to earn more money. The other is to increase my writing output. I have to temper that with the fact that I have some commitments for this year that I need to fulfill. I anticipate another busy year filled with stress. But hey, maybe if I have low expectations I don't be so bitterly disappointed.

And speaking of bitter disappointment, I've been seeing more and more stories of readers pissed to the gills when writers don't deliver the next book in a series in whatever time frame those readers expect. Holy crap, people. If you knew what a creative deals with on a day-to-day basis, you might think again. (Here's a piece I wrote a couple of years ago about that.)

Most writers are independent workers. Because we get to set our own hours and have the freedom to accept or turn down contract work, we're not covered by wage and hour rules. That's a two-edged sword. Hey! I can work when I feel like it, and in my bathrobe if I want! On the other hand, no one is obligated to offer me anything approaching a minimum wage for the time I put into a project. Hey! I'm free to negotiate a better rate! On the other hand, for every writer with talent and drive, for every writer who has paid their dues and worked their asses off to produce quality work, there are about a hundred people who think that because they learned to string two words together in school that they can do the same thing. And they're willing to take a pittance to get their names "out there."

The fact is that many - if not most - people writing fiction these days have other streams of inc