For those of you attending Farpoint 2017 in a few weeks, here’s where you’ll be able to catch up with me at the show. The convention will take place Friday, February 17, through Sunday, February 19, at the Radisson Hotel North Baltimore, in Timonium, MD. The full schedule and program book are available online.

Friday — 17 February

“Robot/AI or Slave?”
5pm — Chesapeake 1
In much of science fiction, robots are thinking beings designed and programmed to be servitors. That sounds a lot like slavery. When we talk about robot/AI uprisings, are we talking about slave revolts? From the Butlerian Jihad in the Dune books, to Asimov’s laws of robotics, to the Terminator, are stories of rebellious synthetics actually tales of slaves who decide not to be slaves?
—David Mack, Jay Smith, T. Eric Bakutis, Jim Werbaneth

Farpoint Book Fair
10pm–Midnight — Dulaney/Valley 1
Meet and mingle with the authors at the Book Fair! Bring copies of my work for autographs, or just stop by to say “hi!”

Saturday — 18 February

Reading
12:40pm – Chesapeake 3–6
I will be reading a short selection from my upcoming original novel The Midnight Front.

Signing
1pm–2pm — Main Atrium
If you have any of my work you’d like autographed, bring it with you. Or just stop by to chat.

“The Shape of Stories”
2pm — Chesapeake 1
Kurt Vonnegut once theorized that there are only six basic shapes that stories can take. Other writers have developed their own theories about the universal structures that every story in the world can fit into. This panel will discuss various aspects about story theory, from what these categories are, how to use them to write insanely great endings, and how writers can incorporate this knowledge into their own plotting.
—Don Sakers, Stephen Kozeniewski, David Mack, Susanna Reilly

Signing
3pm–4pm — Main Atrium
If you have any of my work you’d like autographed, bring it with you. Or just stop by to chat.

Sunday — 19 February

“Writing for the Eye vs. the Ear”
Noon — Chesapeake 1
An old bit of advice most writers hear at some point is that we should read our work aloud, supposedly to help us recognize awkward bits of phrasing. But does it work? Taking the question further, does this work better with dialogue than with description? Better with fiction than non-fiction? Is it possible for a writer who delivers effective readings to miss the fact that their prose, absent their performance, is dead on the page?
—David Mack, Don Sakers, Aaron Rosenberg, Lauren Harris

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