My Back to the ConFusion schedule

I'm attending the Back to the Confusion convention in Detroit from January 16 to 18. ConFusion is a great convention, melding the literary focus of a smaller con with the fun and perks of a larger convention. This year's guest of honor is Karen Lord. Other attending authors include Ted Chiang, Joe Abercrombie, and Steven Erikson. If that line-up doesn't make you want to embrace the ConFusion, I don't know what will.

Below is my convention schedule. I look forward to seeing everyone there.

Friday 5pm: The Next Big Thing in YA
First, it was vampires. Then, it was dystopian future. What will be the next big topic to flood the YA market?

Friday 9pm: Where Batman Went Wrong
Many popular comic book characters have been with us for 50 or more years. Some have been reinvented multiple times to keep up with fads and changes in society. What makeovers have worked, and which have been deservedly short-lived. What characters are due for make-overs?

Saturday 12pm: Characters we Love to Hate (TEEN FUSION)
What characters have you read or watched that you really don't like but still want to know more about them?

Saturday 4pm: Mass Autograph Session

Sunday 11am: Science or Science Fiction?
Science fiction novels continue to impress with amazing technological advances in so many areas. What's more impressive, though? That some of them are reality! Come talk about some of the things you see on the news today that you first read about years ago in a book.

Sunday 1pm: Post-Binary SF
Non-binary gender exists—it is not new, it is not confined to people in one cultural or linguistic group. Non-binary pronouns are in use by real people. The future, whether it incorporates non-binary gender(s) or goes beyond the binary—and it will do one, or both, of these things, in reflection of the reality of non-binary gender—will see shifts in language. It is absurd for science fiction not to reflect this. It is especially absurd in a genre used to language invented for the story. How can we improve on this?

Sunday 2pm: Reading with Leah Bobet

If short stories are a mistake, I plan to keep mistaking away

It appears that admitting to mistakes in one's writing career resonates with people. Not only is that post my site's most-read item of the year but it proved equally popular when SFWA reprinted it.

But I think I made a new mistake in my post by implying I regret my focus on short fiction.

It wasn't my intention to say that writing short fiction is a mistake. I love short stories. I will always read and write in the short story genre. In fact, I find short stories to be a perfect match for my aspirations and dreams as a writer.

For example, at this moment I have exactly 20 short stories in various stages of completion (along with a young adult novel I'm working on). As a writer I tend to jump back and forth between different stories — when I hit a snag with a story I jump over to the next story. By the time I return to the original tale I've usually cleared my head of enough writer's block that I can keep going.

But even beyond short stories being a good match for my writing style, I also believe the genre is a perfect match for today's hyper-fragmented and disjointed world. The days when a novel could be at the cutting edge of literature is probably passing, but short stories — damn, that's where the action is.

The problem, of course, is that short stories have a much smaller readership than novel-length fiction. I'm optimistic that this will eventually change, especially since current trends in e-publishing are so supportive of short fiction. But until things do change, my advice to new authors is to write short stories if you love the genre. That said, don't expect short stories to carry you to the bestseller lists or (almost never) to literary stardom. For that you'll need to branch out into novel writing. 

When I said focusing on short stories was a writing-career mistake, I was trying to say that if I'd wanted to be a bestselling author, then yes, I didn't pick the easiest path to achieving that goal. That's what I meant by a writing career mistake.

But here's a secret — making the bestseller list is not my writing goal. Instead, I want to write the best stories possible. I want to create stories which readers enjoy and which will live on after I'm gone. I want to write stories which tweak the world in glorious yet subtle ways.

Last week an editor I deeply respect read my post and wrote to me saying short stories are never a writing-career mistake. And that's absolutely true. I shouldn't have been so cavalier with that statement. I shouldn't have even listed that as one of my mistakes.

I love short stories. I'll always write them. And short stories have taken me to where I am today as a writer.

If that's a mistake, I plan to keep on mistaking until I die.

Jeff VanderMeer on the futility of language

"Perhaps so many journals had piled up in the lighthouse because on some level most came, in time, to recognize the futility of language. Not just in Area X but against the rightness of the lived-in moment, the instant of touch, of connection, for which words were such a sorrowful disappointment, so inadequate an expression of both the finite and the infinite."

From Acceptance, book 3 of
Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer

I've made every mistake an author can make in their writing career

Len Peralta's amazing adaptation of a certain superstar raccoon. The path we take to our creativity is totally unlike the path anyone else will ever travel. (Note: Be sure to check out and buy more of Len's artwork.)

This has been a tough writing year for me. I finished my first novel only to learn that at this point in my writing career it's going to be a hard sell. I've struggled with short fiction, publishing only two stories this year. I've even wondered why I'm writing stories in the first place (which probably ties back with the issues I've had with the novel and short fiction).

All of this caused me to step back and reflect on my writing career up to this point. And I've realized I've made just about every mistake an author can make, career-wise.

For example:

• I grew up loving science fiction and fantasy stories, but listened to teachers who told me I shouldn't waste my time writing "that kind" of fiction. It took me years to dig my way out of that writing mistake.
• I focused on short fiction when the market and readership for short fiction is nearly non-existent.
• I avoided going to literary and genre conventions for many years because ... hell, I'm not even sure why. But I avoided them for a long time. After all, why would an author ever want to meet fellow authors and editors and publishers and readers? (Note: This is sarcasm. Career-mistake sarcasm, but sarcasm all the same.)
• I spent far too many years writing the types of stories others expected me to write, instead of the stories I wanted to write.
• I assumed I was such a great writer that I didn't have to plot out my novel-length fiction. (Note to new authors: If you try this yourself, expect pain. Lots and lots of pain, along with a novel you'll likely struggle to publish.)

And those are merely a sample of the mistakes I've made. The list could easily go on and on. If you had to describe how to achieve success as an author, I'd pretty much be an example of what not to do.

Of course, the flip side to this is that the path I've taken, while perhaps not the best for furthering my writing career, has given me a unique voice and approach to storytelling. My love of short fiction has enabled me to experiment with stories and develop my voice in ways novel-length fiction wouldn't have tolerated. I've also been able to both publish my stories and reach new readers thanks to some amazing editors and the support of magazines like Interzone and Asimov's.

And most importantly, every mistake has taught me something.

At a recent convention — yes, I now go to conventions — I met artist Len Peralta and purchased several of his prints. Above is one of Len's prints which really stuck with me because it so perfectly highlights that great line from the blockbuster film Guardians of the Galaxy: “There ain't no thing like me, 'cept me!”

I don't know if I'll ever achieve all I want to achieve with my fiction writing, but I do know the creative path I've traveled has resulted in a writer who produces stories no one else could create. I also know I'll never stop reaching for my writing dreams.

Career wise, I've made just about every mistake an author could make. But writing wise, I wouldn't change a thing. Because my mistakes are part of what have taken me this far and helped me become who I am as a writer.

Why I won't be returning to the Context SF convention

Note: See updates at bottom of page.

This is a difficult post to write. I love the Context SF convention in Columbus, Ohio. The convention is a small, literary-focused affair and the first genre con I ever attended. I've been an author guest at the convention for many years and have met and become friends with so many wonderful people because of Context. And the most recent convention, held in September, was the best ever, in no small part due to the efforts of programming director Steven Saus.

Which makes it all the more painful to say that I can't return unless Context seriously changes how it does business.

After the most recent convention I'd heard rumors of a harassment incident. I didn't witness this harassment and didn't know the people involved (File 770 has more details if you desire). But like many convention goers and attending authors I assumed the issue would be dealt with according to the convention's Code of Conduct.

Well, yes and no.

As Steven Saus makes clear in a post where he resigns as Context's programming director, while the harassment was eventually dealt with, this was done only after Saus and others pushed for Context to follow its own rules. The people who run the convention made excuse after excuse as to why they shouldn't follow their own rules, made disparaging comments about the entire situation, and basically wanted to sweep all this under the rug. Saus and others didn't let this happen, but the whole situation was so disgusting, and he lost such faith in the process, that he resigned.

As Saus says, "I do not have faith that the harassment policy will be enforced or that reports of harassment would be treated seriously at Context in the future."

And Saus isn't the only one to resign. Long-time Context supporter and volunteer Lucy Snyder announced on Facebook that she is resigning as writing workshops director. Context has had an amazing writing workshop schedule in recent years because of Snyder's hard work and I know how much she loves the convention, so this must have been a painful decision for her. I've also heard from others that they will no longer work for FANACO, Inc., the 501(c)3 organization behind Context.

Saus and Snyder have done the right thing and now others need to do the same. Like Saus I've also signed John Scalzi's harassment pledge. In addition, my personal ethics won't allow me to attend a convention where behavior like this is tolerated.

I hope Context will change. But since many of the people who pushed so hard for Context to do the right thing appear to be no longer association with the convention, I don't have faith that the convention can change at this point.

As Saus says in his post, "This should have been simple." Yes, it should have been very simple. And until Context proves that they can handle harassment issues, my response is very simple: I won't be attending your convention.

Update: On December 1st Steven Saus wrote that over the weekend the Context Board "met and dissolved itself. The convention is starting over, with last year's Con Chairs (who were not part of the resistance I experienced) starting over. .... This change resolves the concerns that led to my resignation."

Obviously this is a very positive development. We'll see how things play out but I'm greatly encouraged by this news.

Update 2: Ignore previous update. ConText is dead. Details here.