Sarah Pinsker

Saturday 10:00 am: Not All Antagonists are Villains (Ends at: 10:55 am) EisenhowerPanelists:Larry Hodges, Natalie Luhrs, Diana Peterfreund, Sarah Pinsker (M), Allen L. WoldNot every villain has a mustache to twirl. The challenges can be nature, economics, or history etc. What makes these types of stories work? What about antagonists who are not evil but still opposing the main character? This includes a discussion of circumstances leading a character to bad acts.

Saturday 11:00 am: Reading: Martha Wells (Ends at: 11:25 am) WilsonAuthor:Martha Wells, Sarah Pinsker

Saturday 12:00 pm: SF<>Fantasy (Ends at: 12:55 pm) Washington TheaterPanelists:Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Gordon Linzner, Sarah Pinsker, Michael Swanwick, K.M. Szpara(M)Fantasy and science fiction are not the same. Both require research, world-building, and plotting, but they are typically different. Which is better or worse for what purpose? A comparison of the writing process for the two genres and the case for or against combining the styles.

Saturday 2:00 pm: Failure of SF Prediction (Ends at: 2:55 pm) TrumanPanelists:John Ashmead, Tom Doyle (M), Natalie Luhrs, Sarah Pinsker, K.M. SzparaSF is not really supposed to predict the future but presents possibilities. Still, comparisons are inevitable. What did past SF writers get right and wrong about today? How can writers do a better job (or shouldn’t they even bother trying?)

Saturday 6:00 pm: Politics of Fantasy Literature: Retrograde or Progressive? (Ends at: 6:55 pm) EisenhowerPanelists:James Morrow (M), L. Penelope, Sarah Pinsker, Jean Marie Ward, Sherri Cook Woosley Is fantasy inherently conservative – focused on returning the rightful king to power or mastering the lost magic of the ancients? Or are there ways to use fantasy for progressive ends? Is this a difference between epic and urban fantasy?

Sunday 11:00 am: More than Human? 100 Years of Theodore Sturgeon (Ends at: 11:55 am) TrumanPanelists:Kathryn Morrow (M), Suzanne Palmer, Sarah Pinsker, Darrell Schweitzer, Michael WalshTheodore Sturgeon was a writer’s writer. His novella 'Baby is Three' and the fixup novel 'More than Human' are considered classics but is he remembered at all today aside from his Star Trek work and inspiring Kurt Vonnegut’s Kilgore Trout? What were his contributions to science fiction?

Sunday 1:00 pm: The Near Future Problem (Ends at: 1:55 pm) EisenhowerPanelists:Robert Sawyer, Sarah Pinsker, Hildy Silverman, David Walton (M), Fran WildeHow do authors write about the near future without being outdated? Are things changing too rapidly to project in the short term? What can be done to avoid becoming outdated? Or do you just shift into alternate history?