Sasquan Schedule!

August 15, 2015

I'll be attending WorldCon again this year (labeled in 2015 as Sasquan, for it's Pacific NW location). Please feel free to say "hi" if you see me!

In addition to the panels I'll be moderating and guesting on, I'm also doing a reading and volunteering at the SFWA table on Friday morning. I've sold a very, very short (400 words) story to the new ezine Mothership Zeta, and it'll be circulating at the con on the back of a postcard. I'll try to bring some copies to hand out at my reading, as well as any extra copies of the Galaxy's Edge sampler I can nab (my story, "The Unchanging Nature of Stones" is in it), extra copies of my book, Loose Changeling, and Changeling Wars bookmarks. So there SHOULD be enough free stuff for everyone!

Schedule:

Female Characters in Video Games

Thursday 12:00 - 12:45, Bays 111C (CC)

How are female characters rendered and scripted in video games? How can we get more realistic female characters rather than the juvenile male fantasy that predominates the field?

Andrea G. Stewart (M), Tanglwyst de Holloway, Annalee Flower Horne, Lauren Roy

Worldbuilding And Sandbox Games

Thursday 15:00 - 15:45, 303A (CC)

Fantasy games such as Skyrim and Dragon Age: Inquisition, along with science fiction games such as Elite: Dangerous and Great Big Sky, provide an enormous open-world sandbox for players to explore. What is the draw of these games, and the challenge of designing them? What lessons can authors learn from games like these?

Brooks Peck (M) , Esther Jones, Lauren Roy, Andrea G. Stewart

We Won: How SF, Fantasy and Comics Have Taken Over TV

Thursday 17:00 - 17:45, Bays 111B (CC)

Not very long ago it was hard to find any SF on TV, let alone good SF. But today, every night has multiple shows. Some of the most talked-about shows on TV -- Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead -- are genre shows, Doctor Who is a worldwide phenomenon, and even shows that started as thriller shows like Person of Interest are clearly SF. Agents of Shield, Grimm, The Flash, Gotham, Orphan Black ... the list goes on. And what about the shows that start of promising and collapsed quickly (Twelve Monkeys)? Is the zombie-takeover of TV starting to peter out?

Darlene Marshall (M) , David Peterson , Andrea G. Stewart , Annie Bellet

Reading - Andrea G. Stewart

Friday 13:00 - 13:30, 301 (CC)

The Best Video Games Ever!

Saturday 17:00 - 17:45, 300D (CC)

Halo? Tomb Raider? Mass Effect? Pac-Man? What are the best video games ever?

Joy Bragg-Staudt (M) , Caren Gussoff , David Peterson, Andrea G. Stewart

Paying Off a Mortgage in Seven Years

June 25, 2015

A week ago, on our lunch break, my husband and I rode our bicycles to the bank and wrote a check. The line built up behind us as the teller made phone calls, asked his boss questions, and finally gave us our receipt.

We’d paid off our mortgage, and were now entirely debt-free. Yes, we high-fived.

We bought our house back in 2008, after a lot of searching and some unsuccessful offers. It was frustrating. We ended up offering over $30K above asking on the house we eventually purchased—for just under $300K in total.

Closing on our home was one of the best feelings in the world.

For Those Women, for My Friends

May 8, 2015

Mother's Day is coming up again, and amongst all the fanfare, commercials, and my own effusive love for my mother, I'm reminded of my friends for whom this is not a joyous holiday. Some of my friends have wanted to have children, but have been unable to for one reason or another. While some of them went on to eventually become parents, others did not.

This is for those women. You know who you are.

Better Than Dreams

Maya met him when she was twenty-three, stray bits of salt from last night’s tears clinging to her eyelashes, her lips still bruised from the kisses two nights before.

She barely missed stepping on the heels of her boss when the woman stopped. The tower of items in Maya’s arms--binders, reports, two bottles of water--threatened to topple. She took in a deep, slow breath as they settled. The scent of hot asphalt filled the summer air, mingled with the astringent smell of some burned, alien fuel.