Sasquan

Sasquan is coming up, and I’ll be there! Here is my schedule:

  • We Won: How SF, Fantasy and Comics Have Taken Over TV
    • Time/Place: Thursday, August 20, 5:00 p.m., Bays 111B
    • Description: 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 off promising and collapsed quickly (Twelve Monkeys)? Is the zombie-takeover of TV starting to peter out?
    • Participants: Darlene Marshall (M), Annie Bellet, David Peterson, Andrea G. Stewart
  • Basics of Creating a Language
    • Time/Place: Friday, August 21, 10:00 a.m., Bays 111B
    • Description: Conlanger David Peterson is the creator of Dothraki and will help you understand how to get started creating a language.
    • Participants: David Peterson (M)
  • Moving Beyond the Books: Speculations on the Future Directions of Game of Thrones
    • Time/Place: Friday, August 21, 4:00 p.m., Bays 111B
    • Description: What happens when this popular TV series moves beyond its source material?
    • Participants: Priscilla Olson (M), Alan Boyle, Julie McGalliard, David Peterson, Jason Snell
  • Autograph Session
    • Time/Place: Saturday, August 22, 10:00 a.m., Hall B
    • Description: General autograph session. I’ll sign Living Language Dothraki, A Song of Ice and Fire books, napkins, warrants…
    • Participants: Jeffrey A. Carver, David Hartwell, Esther Jones, David Peterson, Bryan Thomas Schmidt, Sara Stamey
  • Alien Linguistics
    • Time/Place: Saturday, August 22, 12:00 p.m., Conference Theater 110
    • Description: Science fiction and fantasy often deals with alien or made-up languages. What makes a convincing language? What can we learn about creating such languages from the diversity of human languages?
    • Participants: David Peterson (M), Annalee Flower Horne, Stanley Schmidt, Lawrence M. Schoen, Julia Smith
  • The Best Video Games Ever!
    • Time/Place: Saturday, August 22, 5:00 p.m., 300D
    • Description: Halo? Tomb Raider? Mass Effect? Pac-Man? What are the best video games ever?
    • Participants: Joy Bragg-Staudt (M), Caren Gussoff, David Peterson, Andrea G. Stewart
  • Kaffee Klatche
    • Time/Place: Sunday, August 23, 1:00 p.m., 202A-KK1
    • Description: Kaffee Klatches allow attendees to sit down and chat with a program participant for an hour. (Follow the link to sign up!)
    • Participants: David Peterson

Also, on a personal note, things have tipped over the edge for me. I’ve gotten so busy that I’ve been forced to let things slide everywhere—and many of these happen without my realizing it until it’s too late. Consequently, I haven’t been able to be as attentive to this blog, or a lot of other things. I expect this to persist for a while. We’re moving into a new house that we’re also renovating, and I’m knee-deep in translation for Game of Thrones and The 100—plus I’ve unwisely taken on a number of new language creation process, and those take a lot of time and energy. Going to WorldCon at all was probably not the best idea—especially as I’ll be leaving immediately after recording the audio book version of my upcoming book The Art of Language Invention—and that will be happening days after moving in. It’s going to be roughest on the cats. :( Plus, if you haven’t heard it elsewhere, my wife and I are expecting our first child on or about December 2nd.

So yeah, aside from the fact that there’s no Game of Thrones going on at the moment (or, there is, but not publicly), I haven’t had any time for this blog, or a lot of other things. I do plan to continue working on it, though. There’ll be quite a bit to talk about next season. Until then, probably not so much. Thanks for your patience, and thanks for reading!

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