Program Schedule

Schedules will be published shortly. Of course it must be kept in mind that panels may be changed or dropped at any stage, due to unforeseen circumstances. Some of the items on the schedule (such as the book launches, auction, guest of honour interview etc) don't need much explanation. However the other panels do, and this is a list of the proposed panels with a short description of each item.

A good read: The panelists talk about their favourite books and authors, and what book recommendations they would make.

Apocalypse Rising: Apocalyptic themes in movies, television, books, and music.....even prophecy, theology, and mythology.

Boondoggles we knew and loved: Let's look back at things that "seemed like a good idea at the time" but flopped, fizzled or just plain never got off the ground. Controlled nuclear fusion has been 30 years away for the past 50 years. Plans to build personal helicopters and auto-planes date back to the 1930s and 1940s. This panel will look back, chuckle, and discuss what went wrong.

City Building: From Ankh-Morpork to Ambergris, well-crafted cities are central to the genre's most successful SF worlds. What goes into creating a believable city and its culture? What aspects of the urban experience are universal? How can a city affect the surrounding suburban areas, national politics and identity, scientific and artistic development, and everyday life? The panelists may collaborate with the audience on sketching out plans for a new city, time permitting.

Comic Books Go to the Movies: Comic books and graphic novels are showing up on the big screen, and television. Why so many recently? Are they just easier to adapt? How important is accuracy in the conversion? Is this good or bad for comics?

Eye of newt and toe of frog: Do you prefer your magic fiddly and detailed or sweeping and woolly? The panel discusses how to make magic believable, and the best way to turn you into a pig.

Ghosts and Vampires and Werewolves, Oh My!: An exploration of current trends in paranormal romance. The panel discusses which trends they like, which trends they hate, and which trends might be the next big thing. What are the best reads currently available?

How much does SF need science?: How hard should authors strive for plausible science? When does the science behind the plot, or an obvious lack of it, start to get in the way of the story?

How to Write with a Full Time Job: They love to write, but the bills need to be paid, so how do they juggle and balance the two.

Life As The Partner Of A Full Time Author: What it is like to live with an Author? The partners of some of our guests discuss issues such as does it affect your social life? Do you have to tip toe around them? Or maybe a chance to dish the dirt on them.

Military SF: Is MilSF just today's space opera? Is there room for real SF in among the ranks and exploding spaceships, or is it doomed just to be Hornblower with rockets and does that matter if we enjoy it anyway? Is all MilSF fans just right wing fascist propaganda?

Myth and Folklore in Fantasy: How do writers use myth in their stories? What are the most common myth cycles drawn from? Has traditional folklore been run out of town by urban legends? Why is the appeal of these stories so strong after millennia?

Possible and Impossible in Physics: What could an advanced civilization accomplish, given the laws of physics as we understand them today, but no engineering constraints? FTL? Time travel? Immortality? Arbitrarily fast computation?

Real and Fake Religion in SF/Fantasy: People who couldn't tell Adam from Absalom can give you detailed analyses of the beliefs of Hobbits or Bajorans. Real world religions might pop in "The Dybbuk" or "The Exorcist" but often writers have trouble acknowledging religion at all. How is religion depicted in SF/fantasy books?

Research 101: Writers must know what they are writing about or must they? How much research is enough? How can you research a non existent world?

Science Fiction is a Girl thing too!: Is Science Fiction only aimed at boys? The panelists offer their opinions and suggestions, for girls and boys, too.

The lion, the witch and the bookshelf: What ingredients make up the classic children's books? When you re-read your childhood favourites do you smile or cringe? The panel recommends books to grab the imagination of the next generation.

The Tech Savvy Criminal: What tools, techniques and technologies would be required today for someone to break the law and evade detection or capture? What will CSI Mons Olympus need to keep up? This panel is for discussion purpose only, and is not intended to be a handy dandy guide to our criminal elements...

The Universal Library: Imagine if all the information of the world was available via the web; all the books, magazine, videos, TV shows and crossword puzzles ever produced. What would be the effect be on the world? How would it come about, and would it change the world?

Visualisation: How important is it to ’see’ what you write? How real is your internal vision?

World domination a project management approach: This training session seeks to address the demonstrable lack of project management expertise among those seeking to take over the world. Learn how some simple, valuable tools and skills can ensure your plan succeeds.

Writers' Workshops & Critique Groups: Participating in a writers' workshop or critique group can be like navigating a minefield. How can you tell whether a group will provide useful feedback on your work? What are the best types of groups to join? What are the danger signs of groups to avoid? How can you keep your group on track? What are the advantages of the different types of groups--local, genre, Internet, college, and residential?