Tag Archives: Convention

See you at FantaSci

Hey everyone, I’ll be at FantaSci in Durham, NC next weekend (24-26 March 2023). I’m going to have a book release party for Sorcerers of the Black Fortress on Friday, and here is the rest of my schedule. I hope to see some folks there!

Friday

1-2pm     Azalea                 The other 98% of the Military

5-6pm   Magnolia            A Discussion On The Coolness Of Dragons     

8-9pm   Camellia             Military Strategy             

Saturday

11am-12pm Azalea      Assassins           

4-5pm   Camellia             Monsters And Mythical Beasts

7-8pm   Camellia             What Doesn’t Kill You…    

9-10pm Camellia             No $*~!,There I Was…             

Sunday

10-11am Magnolia          Tanks, Ships, and Crayon Eaters

Kal’s LTUE 2020 Schedule

Hey everyone.  Late post, but I’m headed to Life, the Universe, and Everything writers convention in Provo, Utah.  I’ll be a panelist again this year.  See below for my schedule.

The King of the Battle Field: An Introduction to Artillery
2PM · THURSDAY · BRYCE
Worldbuilding
Panel
How to Usurp a Kingdom
9AM · FRIDAY · ARCHES
Worldbuilding
Panel
When Life Isn’t Organic: Alternatives to Organic Chemistry for Life and Material Science
1PM · FRIDAY · BRYCE
Worldbuilding
Panel
Book Signing Event (6:30-8:00)
6PM · FRIDAY · EXHIBIT HALL B

Kal’s Spike Con Schedule

Hey everyone,

I’ll be at Spike Con this coming week.  Here’s my schedule:

Thu Jul 4 5:45:pm Thu Jul 4 6:45:pm Cats in Speculative Fiction
Stratus 9 Our feline friends, big and small, have always been in our tales of fear, magic, and even science fiction. They feature as pets, threats, and even protagonists. Come discuss your favorite books with cats in them and what makes a fictional cat believable.
Dr. Karen Purcell Elektra Hammond Gibbitt Rhys-Jones John M. Olsen Kal Spriggs

 

Fri Jul 5 4:30:pm Fri Jul 5 5:30:pm Kal Spriggs Signing
Autograph 3 Kal Spriggs Friday signing
Kal Spriggs

 

Fri Jul 5 7:00:pm Fri Jul 5 8:00:pm Yes, But What Are They Eating?
Stratus 9 World-building requires paying attention to all kinds of details, like government and monetary systems, climate, and more. But while food is something that every reader interacts with every day, it is often not considered during world-building. Our panelists talk about examples where authors have been successful in incorporating dietary habits into their world-building, and talk about what it takes to do it well.
Alastair Mayer K. D. Julicher Kal Spriggs Merri Halma Troy Lambert

 

Fri Jul 5 9:30:pm Fri Jul 5 10:30:pm Injury and Recovery for Character Building
Meridian E The injuries a character can sustain vary widely, as do the impacts of these injuries on the character and how well they recover. A look into reasonable injuries for various settings and how authors can use injuries to further the plot.
Anna Marasco Kal Spriggs Paul Genesse Robert E. Hampson Thea Hutcheson

 

Sat Jul 6 11:30:am Sat Jul 6 12:30:pm Playing Nice With Others: Shared Universes
Meridian E How do various shared universes work? Are contributors’ stories off to the side or integrated into the main plot? What happens when there are competing ideas of How Things Ought To Be?
Bradley H. Sinor Eric Flint Erika Kuta Marler Kal Spriggs Sue Sinor

 

Sat Jul 6 12:45:pm Sat Jul 6 1:45:pm Kaffeeklatsch with The Four Horsemen Universe
HIE Boardroom Kaffeeklatsch: From the German for “coffee” and “gossip”, an informal social gathering at which coffee or other beverages are served while chatting. Join your favorite presenters for all their insights. Seats are very limited so sign up at the Information Desk in the Sky Lobby 8am on the day of the social! Welcome to the world of Human Mercenaries in Mechs, killing aliens and getting paid. A new fandom featuring the works of Mark Wandrey and Chris Kennedy Publishing.
Kal Spriggs Robert E. Hampson Thomas Coonradt

Kal’s 2019 Liberty Con Schedule

Hey everyone.  I’m going to be at Liberty Con this year, but I’ve  got a bit more narrow of a window, as I’ll only be there Saturday and Sunday.

Here’s my schedule:

Day Time Name of Event
Sat 10:00AM Autograph Session (MJ Allen, Buettner, Del Arroz, Spriggs)
Sat 02:00PM Critters
Sat 04:00PM Chris Kennedy Publishing – The Year Ahead
Sat 05:00PM Author’s / Artist’s Alley (S. Osborn, Spriggs, Swann)
Sat 08:00PM Reading: Cedar Sanderson & Kal Spriggs
Sat 09:00PM Seventh Seal Press & Rob Howell present the Chris Kennedy Publishing combined Room Party and Book Launch for Alabaster Noon
Sat 10:00PM New Voices in YA Science Fiction
Sun 10:00AM Kaffeeklatsch
Sun 12:00PM Author’s / Artist’s Alley (Duntemann, J. Hunter, Ibson, Spriggs, Weyand)
Sun 01:00PM Author’s Alley (Q. Allen, J. Hunter, Malone, Spriggs)

If you’re attending Liberty Con, I hope to see you there!

 

Kal’s Starfest 2019 Schedule

I’ll be at Starfest this weekend, so if you’re in the area, I’d love to see you there!  I’m on two panels:

Combat in SF and Fantasy (Friday 9 PM)

A discussion of the good, the bad, and the ugly scenes of combat and action in Science Fiction and Fantasy. To include the differences between games, movies, and literature and examples of each.  Also a discussion of the morality and emotional impact both upon the audience and the characters involved

These Aren’t The Drones You’re Looking For  (Saturday 8:30 PM)

A look at modern cyber and drone warfare and delving into the future of where things are headed.  Killer Robots aren’t just in the future, they’re here and now.  We’ll talk about how to use them in writing as well as where it’s going in the future.

Change of Schedule: Liberty Con

Hey everyone.  If you haven’t heard, Liberty Con has shifted the date of their convention.  I’ll still be there (I hope) but the date is shifted from 30 May-1 June and is now 28 June – 30 June.  They’ll also be at a different hotel there in Chattanooga (Marriott rather than the Read House).  Last year the hotel situation led to some issues with space, the Marriot is adjacent to the convention center, but the convention didn’t have much of the spaces over there and there were weird restrictions on food and drink.  Hopefully they get all that ironed out, despite the short time to do so.

The change of dates makes Liberty Con back to back with Spike Con/Westercon/how-many-other-conventions-can-be-held-in-the-same-place-at-the-same-time-con (like, seriously, there’s at least 2 mini-cons and 3 official conventions, it’s sort of nuts).  My plan is to attend both, but it’s going to be a crazy week (4th of July is in the middle somewhere too…).

The only other convention I have on my radar right now is Starfest, though I haven’t heard anything from them yet about panels.  I hope to be attending, but since my wife is having surgery that month, I’m not sure how big my involvement will be.  I don’t know that I’ll have time for any other conventions this year, mostly because it’s looking to be a very, very busy year for me.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to see folks at Liberty Con & Spike Con!

 

Kal’s Whimsy Con Schedule

Hey everyone, sorry for the delayed post, this was supposed to go up yesterday.  Here is my schedule for Denver’s new Steampunk convention!

 

Merging Steampunk and Fantasy
Mesa Verde A
Fri Mar 2 7:00:pm – 7:50:pm
A discussion on laying the ground work for creating a believable world using the elements of both Steampunk and fantasy.
A.M. Burns, J.A. Campbell, Kal Spriggs, Lou J Berger
Writing Steampunk
Mesa Verde B
Sat Mar 3 9:00:am – 9:50:am
The Steampunk genre doesn’t have well defined edges or boundaries. How do you write a Steampunk aka sci-fi, fantasy, punk, futuristic, Victorian story?
Kal Spriggs, Terry Kroenung, Tonya L. De Marco
Discussing Combat in Fiction
Wind Star A
Sat Mar 3 10:00:am – 10:50:am
The good, the bad, and the ugly scenes of combat and action including the differences between games, movies, and literature. Also a discussion of the morality and emotional impact both upon the audience and the characters involved.
Kal Spriggs, Melissa Koons, Sam Knight, Traci Cartwright
Ow, My Spleen!
Wind Star B
Sat Mar 3 2:00:pm – 2:50:pm
All too often in a book or movie, the characters undergo severe physical trauma, only for them to undertake heroic acts in the following scenes. How do you write realistic fiction where your characters are injured and face the consequences yet still manage to allow them to do what you need?
Jessica Lauren Gabarron, Kal Spriggs

LTUE 2018 In Review

Apologies for the delay in posting this.  Between the long drive out and back and the backlog of stuff I had to do once I got home, I’m a bit behind on posting.

LTUE is always a fantastic convention.  It is predominantly a writing convention, which makes it more focused and the group, as a whole, is filled with writers more than fans.  Pretty much everyone there is there to improve their writing craft and to network and socialize.

The panels, as always, are fantastic.  There’s a huge range of panel topics, which offer great topics  that are useful for new writers as well as experienced writers who are looking to learn about new subjects.  Unlike some other conventions, though, the big draw is the time spent between panels, chatting with other authors and having the opportunity for one on one discussions.

If you are a prospective author, the convention is fantstic and I can’t recommend it enough.

Kal’s LTUE Schedule

Hi, everyone.  I’ll be at the LTUE convention in Provo, Utah this week.  Below is my schedule.  If you are in the area, feel free to swing by.  LTUE is a really great writing convention and for those of you who are aspiring authors, I can’t recommend it enough.  Even for those of you who are published, there are some great panels on everything from producing audiobooks to networking with authors to improving your craft.  Besides that, it’s fun and there are a lot of great people.

Thursday 10:00:00 How to Feed an Army (M) Arches

Saturday 09:00:00 Powered Armor: Design and Tactics (M) Amphitheater

Saturday 14:00:00 Building Seaworthy Ships (P) Elm

Saturday 17:00:00 Writing Battle Scenes (M) Amphitheater

See Kal at Myths and Legends Con in Denver

I’ll be at Myths and Legends Con this weekend.  Here’s my schedule.  I’ll also have a table so you can meet me there outside of my panels.  Saturday is my main day.

Myths and Legends Con is one of my favorite Denver conventions because it’s a smaller, more personable place.  There’s lots of time to talk with authors and panelists, and it’s probably the best run convention in Denver (maybe even Colorado!)

See my panels below:

Sat, 1:00 PM-1:50 PM, Writing Combat in Science Fiction & Fantasy(Room of Requirement)
Sat, 2:00 PM-2:50 PM, Sympathetic Villains (Serenity)
Sat, 4:00 PM-4:50 PM, Trope if You Want To (The Shire)
Sat, 5:00 PM-5:50 PM, Discussing Combat in Science Fiction & Fantasy (Room of Requirement)
Sat, 8:00 PM-8:50 PM, The Muse and the Devil (The Shire)
Sat, 9:00 PM-9:50 PM, The Price of Magic (Serenity)

Hope to see some folks there!