Here are the panels I will be on:

FRIDAY

10-10:50am (210AB)

THAT OLD STORY

Why are stories always described in terms of other stories? It’s Game of Thrones meets The Notebook! It’s The Fault in Our Stars, but in space! There’s an idea that there are no new stories, only new ways of telling the same fundamental and ancient tales. What’s the truth in this? What’s the difference between trope and cliché, between retelling and plagiarizing? How is story affected by the act of telling? Come sit around the campfire.

 

12-1:15pm (210AB)

PLOT HOSPITAL!

Are you writing a book? Is it broken? Are you deeply confused as to how this happened? Did the plot flatline? Do you just know something is wrong but can’t figure out what? Book doctor Holly Black is here to help at the Plot Hospital! Like Dr. House, she can diagnose the problem. It’s often not what you think. It’s never lupus.

 

1:30-3pm (Signing Area)

AUTHOR SIGNING

 

SATURDAY 

11-11:50am (210AB)

SOLID, LIQUID, GAS: HOW A STORY MOVES FROM ONE STATE TO ANOTHER

Why does the plot of a book so often change on the way to the screen? How does a set of old photos become a novel? How does a book become a webseries? This panel discusses the chemistry (alchemy?) of taking a story from one medium to another. It’s Potions Class, but for books. 

 

12-1:15pm (210CDE)

THE GLOAMING AND OTHER AUTHOR TALES

What actually happens when you publish a book? Is it true that when you sign a book contract you are magically welcomed into the published authors’ club? When do you get to buy your castle in Scotland? Is it true that James Patterson appears in your mirror when you hit the New York Times bestseller list? The myths and realities of being an author will be discussed, confirmed, or debunked. We’ll also explain what a “gloaming” is. 

 

1:30-3pm (Signing Area)

AUTHOR SIGNING

 

5:15-6:30pm (210A-D)

I WAS A TEENAGE WRITER

We do it every year because it’s awesome. See and hear some of today’s top YA writers reading from some of their early—very early—works. Works that possibly should have been destroyed, but thankfully, were not. We’ve all got to start somewhere.