It’s difficult as a thinking, feeling, breathing human being not to be incredibly distressed by the needless violence of the last week, from the horrific ISIS bombings in Medina and Baghdad to the senseless deaths of both civilians and cops here in the US. Life is messy, and people can be horrible, and standing in my place of privilege and safety much of what I can do is put my donations and my vote behind the people I believe have the best interests of the whole country, the wider world, and safety and peace for all at heart. So that’s what I’m doing. Also, please register to vote, if you’re eligible and you’re not registered yet. One person, one voice, one action can make a difference. (Just look at Brexit. Let’s not be Brexit, okay?)

In the meantime, this weekend there’s a chance to celebrate imagining better, more inclusive, more positive worlds, so I’m going to Readercon. If you too should happen to be in Quincy, MA this weekend, here are some of the places you may find me:

Friday

• 4 pm “Speculative Retellings” or “Harry Potter Goes to Grad School and Gets a Job”
• 5 pm “Clockwork Phoenix Group Reading” or autographs with Catherynne Valente
• 6 pm Guest of Honor reading by Catherynne Valente
• 7 pm “Single Wise Advisor Seeks Same”

Saturday

• 10 am “Instant Communication in Genre Fiction” or the Odyssey Writing Workshop intro session
• 11 am “Beyond Strong Female Characters” or “Colonization and Beyond: The fiction and science of exoplanets”
• Noon “Engineering in Fantasy”
• 1 pm “I Pass the Test: the depictions, meanings, and consequences of magical tests and trials” or “If Thor can hang out with Iron Man, why can’t Harry Dresden use a computer?”
• 3 pm “Ladybromances”
• 4 pm “Interview with Catherynne Valente”

Sunday

• 10 am “Magic! In! Spaaaaaaaaace!”
• Noon “Short Stories Explained for the Novelist” with Mary Robinette Kowal (yay!)
• 1 pm “Keytars in Science Fiction”
• 2 pm “Science Fiction and Fantasy Fashion” or “The No-Good, Very Bad Antagonist”

Any other time:

• The Broad Universe table in the Bookstore – this is a great and welcoming group of folks who support women writers in sci-fi, fantasy, and horror. And truthfully, possibly you’ll find me anywhere else in the Bookstore as well. That does happen on a fairly regular basis, after all.
• If I get sick of panels I will go to readings. There are lots of cool looking readings!
• ….I need a Time Turner or a TARDIS, seriously.