I will be making my first visit to Ad Astra this weekend, and it looks like a great literary-streamed convention. Guests include: David Weber, Steven Erikson, Anne Groell, Patricia Briggs and Donato Giancola. As well, some of the convention’s past guests of honour will be returning, so Julie E. Czerneda, Ed Greenwood, and Robert J. Sawyer will also be in attendance!

I’m also excited to get to see a bunch of my Ontario writing friends, and to share panels with James Bambury and Marie Bilodeau.

Here’s where you can find me if you happen to be in Toronto this weekend:

Myth-Information in Modern Fantasy

Speakers: Chadwick Ginther, Jen Frankel, Marie Bilodeau, Stephen B. Pearl, Katrina Guy
Scheduled At: April 4, 2014, 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Hall: [Markham A]
Track: Telling the Story
Type: Panel

How do authors incorporate traditional lore and myths into their modern-day fantasy settings? Is it possible to make a witch burning pertinent in the twenty-first century? Discuss these, and other inflammatory questions, in this panel.

GoH and Author Signings

Speakers: A.M. Dellamonica, Alyx Harvey, Amanda Sun, Anne Groell, Chadwick Ginther, David Weber, Derwin Mak, Douglas Smith, Edith Chartier, Eric Choi, Erik Buchanan, Gabrielle Harbowy, Ian Donald Keeling, James Alan Gardner, Jaz Ashton, Julie Czerneda, Karen Dales, Leah Petersen, Linda Poitevin, Marie Bilodeau, Nina Munteanu, Patricia Briggs, Rob St-Martin, Sarah Tolmie, Stephanie Bedwell-Grime, Steven Erikson, Suzanne Church, Timothy Carter
Scheduled At: April 5, 2014, 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Hall: [Richmond A]
Track: Convention Related
Type: Event

A mass autograph session.

Comics as Literature

Speakers: Chadwick Ginther, James Bambury, Michael Martineck, Sarah WaterRaven
Scheduled At: April 5, 2014, 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Hall: [Markham A]
Track: Telling the Story
Type: Panel

This age-old (well, okay, decades-old) question is the focus of a panel set to discuss the merits of making room on the big-kid bookshelf for comics, the potential pretentiousness of the term ”graphic novel”, and which comics benefit best from a literary reading.

I would also feel remiss in not mentioning Michael Matheson’s reading Saturday at 10:30 pm in the Oakridge room, which has morphed into a Star Wars/Pacific Rim fanfiction affair guest starring Derek Künsken.

If you can’t find me at any of these places, you may want to check the bar. That is where writers are said to congregate…

Write on.