ChessieCon is going to have its annual workshop this coming November and we are very excited to announce that our very own Harrison Demchick is one of the guests.
Harrison will be participating in numerous panels and is also returning as a guest judge for the Turkey Awards.
If you’re heading to ChessieCon, check out Harrison at the following sessions:
Friday, 24th of November
04:15 PM – 05:15 PM Summoning your muse — Where Writers Get Ideas
Non-writers often ask authors about this, as if writers have access to some secret stash of story fodder. The panel will divulge their methods for coming up with story ideas, and for passing the time until some come along. Harrison will be joined by fellow authors Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Meg Eden, Alanna Morland, and Jay Smith.
09:15 PM – 10:15 PM Group Discussion: Writer’s Block
What do you do when the words stop flowing? Come discuss your strategies, rituals, and coping mechanisms for writer’s block. Harrison will be joined by Kim Headlee.
Saturday, 25th of November
11:15 AM – 12:15 PM Turkey Awards Panel
Harrison will be participating in the humorous and entertaining Turkey Awards Panel once more, this time with Steve Kozeniewski, Timothy Liebe, Don Sakers, Michelle D. Sonnier.
12:30 PM – 01:30 PM PowerPoint Improv
Volunteer presenters pick a slide deck they’ve never seen before from a list of titles on a variety of topics, and improv a comedic or serious presentation loosely based on the slides for up to 5 minutes. Audience participation comes with each presentation’s brief Q&A session! As improvisations accumulate, we can build off each others’ ideas. Harrison will be joined by Sarah Elkins, J.L. Gribble, Cristin Kist, Steve Kozeniewski, and Valerie Mikles.
SPECIAL EVENT 01:45 PM – 04:00 PM Building a World: The Genre Fiction Workshop
Working on a sci-fi novel? Fantasy? Horror? Want to be sure you’re on the right track? This year, ChessieCon will host “Building a World: The Genre Fiction Workshop”, open to up to six writers working in the diverse world of speculative fiction. Led by developmental fiction editor and literary horror/dystopian novelist Harrison Demchick (The Listeners, Bancroft Press), Building a World is an opportunity to sit down with fellow authors to analyze, critique, and improve those crucial first 10,000 words of your novel-in-progress. If you’re serious about making sure that the early chapters of your novel engage your readers—if you want your characters clear, your story engaging, and your world compelling and tangible—then this is the workshop for you. To sign up, send an email to programming@chessiecon.org.
Sunday, 26th of November
11:15 AM – 12:15 PM Serious Subjects in Children’s Media: How Do You Approach Them and How Cautiously?
Not everything made for children is 100% sunshine and rainbows. Children’s media has plenty of memorable, if sometimes traumatic, moments that cover heavy real-life subjects or dark themes such as death, loss, evil, and sometimes even horror. Society seems to be of two minds; many say that these subjects are too scary for children and they should never be exposed to it, while some, such as animator Don Bluth, believe that children can handle anything as long as there’s a happy ending. What side of the fence are you on? Do you believe there’s a middle ground? Where do you draw the line, and how carefully should you tread around it? Harrison will be joined by Mary Fan, Tamora Pierce, Michelle D. Sonnier, and Mary Spila.
There will be readings, games, concerts, book signing and a lot more. To see the full schedule, check it out here.
ChessieCon will be in Radisson North Baltimore Hotel (formerly North Baltimore Plaza Hotel) on November 24-26, 2017.
For more info and for registration, you may visit their site, or contact Jo Hogan at jo@chessiecon.org.
Harrison Demchick came up in the world of small press publishing, working along the way on more than two dozen published novels and memoirs, several of which have been optioned for film. He is an award-winning, twice-optioned screenwriter, and the author of literary horror novel The Listeners. He’s part of The Writer’s Ally team as a developmental editor of fiction and memoir, for which he’s currently accepting new clients.
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