Alex Shvartsman's Speculative Fiction

I’m back from the Baltimore Book Festival, but Capclave is right around the corner! Here are the panels, signings and other cool things where you can find me during this wonderful convention. If you are able to attend it, you really should.

Seems like I will have a very busy Friday and Saturday followed by a very relaxed Sunday. 🙂

 

Friday, 5pm – Rockville/Potomac

Humorous SF (Ends at: 5:55 pm)
Panelists: John Ashmead (M), Norm Sherman, Alex Shvartsman, Jean Marie Ward
It’s easy to name the funny fantasy books, but what about the funny SF books and short stories? For instance, Unidentified Funny Objects was an entire anthology of funny SF.

 

Friday, 9pm – Rockville/Potomac

Ending Stories – Bang or Whimper? (Ends at: 9:55 pm)
Panelists: Scott Edelman, Pamela K. Kinney, Dina Leacock, Alex Shvartsman, Ian Randal Strock, Allen Wold (M)
So many short stories start out well but end abruptly or just trail off, leaving the reader to wonder, what’s the point. Why does this happen and how can writers avoid this fate? How do you determine your endings? Is a twist ending a cheat?

 

Saturday, 11am – Rockville/Potomac

Anthology Builder (Ends at: 11:55 am)
Panelists: Neil Clarke, Ron Garner (M), Robert Greenberger, David G. Hartwell, Mike McPhail, Alex Shvartsman
So you want to edit and publish an anthology. How do the stories get picked? How do you come up with a theme? What sells and what doesn’t? How do authors produce readable fiction in the straitjacket of an original themed anthology? How do you properly curate your anthology?

 

Saturday, 1pm – Frederick

Crowdfunding Dos and Don’ts (Ends at: 1:55 pm)
Panelists: Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Bill Campbell, Neil Clarke, Jonah Knight, Alex Shvartsman (M), Lawrence Watt-Evans
So you have a fabulous idea or product and a shortage of funds – what do you do. Panelists will discuss successful and unsuccessful crowdfunding campaigns, either their own or those of other people. Topics include how to set reward levels, how to budget how much money you need and the merits of various crowd funding sites such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo and Pozible.

 

Saturday, 4pm

Author Table Maxey / Shvartsman (Ends at: 4:55 pm)
Authors: James Maxey, Alex Shvartsman

 

Saturday, 5:30pm – Frederick

Reading

 

Saturday, 7:30pm – Salon A

Mass Signing (Ends at: 8:25 pm)
Participants: Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Sarah Avery, Paolo Bacigalupi, Holly Black, Marilyn “Mattie” Brahen, Neil Clarke, Tom Doyle, Andy Duncan, Scott Edelman, Jim Freund, Charles E. Gannon, Max Gladstone, David G. Hartwell, Alma Katsu, Pamela K. Kinney, Barbara Krasnoff, Dina Leacock, James Maxey, Will McIntosh, Mike McPhail, Sunny Moraine, James Morrow, Sarah Pinsker, Benjamin Rosenbaum, Lawrence M. Schoen, Darrell Schweitzer, Alex Shvartsman, Jon Skovron, Alan Smale, Bud Sparhawk, Janine Spendlove, Genevieve Valentine, Michael A. Ventrella, Lawrence Watt-Evans
The Saturday evening mass autographing session.

 

Saturday, 8:30pm – Salon A

Awards Reception and Presentation (Ends at: 9:55 pm)

The WSFA Small Press Award winner will be announced. The Guest of Honor Gifts will also be presented.

#SFWAPro

 

I’ll be attending CapClave this weekend, having chosen it over the NY Comic Con.  I’ll be missing NYCC for yet another year, but given CapClave’s focus on short fiction, choosing to drive 4+ hours to attend it instead of a 45 minute subway ride to ComicCon makes a lot of sense to me.

My current CapClave schedule is as follows:

#SFWApro

Friday 4:00 pm: Editors’ Pet Peeves (Ends at: 4:55 pm) Panelists: Mike McPhail, Norm Sherman (M), Alex Shvartsman, Hildy Silverman The next great story has been sent to the editor. But the author did this…

Friday 5:00 pm: Author’s Table Friday 5 (Ends at: 5:55 pm) Panelists: Alex Shvartsman

Friday 9:00 pm: Reading: Alex Shvartsman (Ends at: 9:25 pm) Panelists: Alex Shvartsman

Saturday 9:00 am: Short Fiction Sources (Ends at: 9:55 am) Panelists: Neil Clarke, Mike McPhail (M), Alex Shvartsman, Sean Wallace Aside from the not so big anymore three magazines, where do you go for short fiction? What online sources have the best stories?

Saturday 4:00 pm: The Worlds of Clifford Simak (Ends at: 4:55 pm) Panelists: Jamie Todd Rubin (M), Darrell Schweitzer, Alex Shvartsman, Michael Swanwick 50 years ago Simak won a Hugo for Way Station. He also wrote City and the Hugo and Nebula winning “Grotto of the Dancing Deer.” Yet today, few younger fans have read his work which is available only in the small press and “public domain” compilations. What happened? What makes his stories so timeless? What do you think is his best work and how can it be revived for today’s audiences?

Sunday 9:00 am: Jesus Saves, So Should Writers. Ctrl-S (Ends at: 9:55 am) Panelists: Judi Fleming, Rahul Kanakia (M), Dina Leacock, Alex Shvartsman, Bud Sparhawk Practical tips for writers – How do you keep track of different versions and edits? How often do you back up? How do you track where a story has already been submitted? And what do you use for outlining/note taking?

There are occasionally last minute changes and additions. You can click on this link to see the most up-to-date list of panels I’ll be participating on at the con.