Day | Time | Title | Description | Panelists |
Fri | 6 pm | Opening Ceremony | | Panelists |
Fri | 7 pm | Fictional Linguistincs | Fictional Linguistics Do your names sound made up? A linguist talks about how to use linguistic principles to give your names and words -- and your worlds -- more depth. | John Lawler |
Fri | 8 pm | What Editors Want: How to break into the short story market | How do you catch the eye of a magazine editor? Editors and writers offer tips | Deb Taber, Patrick Swenson, Richard A. Lovett (m) |
Fri | 9 pm | Meet the Bellingham Authors (in Hospitality) | Come and socialize with Bellingham's established and up and coming science fiction and fantasy authors. This event will be held in hospitality | Alma Alexander, Deb Taber, Clete Smith, Julie McGalliard, Keffy R. M. Kehrli. |
Day | 10 pm | Ultimate Vampire Smackdown | Spike vs. David: who has the coolest hair? Louis vs. Edward vs. Angel
vs. Bill: who mopes best? Christopher Lee Dracula vs. Bela Lugosi
Dracula? Gary Oldman Dracula vs. David Carradine Dracula? Buffy vs.
Anita Blake vs. Blade vs. Van Helsing: who is the most awesome vampire
slayer? We don't pretend to offer answers, we just want to talk about vampires
and make fun of Twilight. | Julie McGalliard, Paul Carpentier |
Day | Time | Title | Description | Panelists |
Sat | 10 am | Foam Wars | Join Foam Wars for a discussion of fantasy-style combat and learn how you can get involved. | |
Sat | 11 am | Jack Skillingstead Kaffeeklatsch |
Sat | 11 am | Grandma's Intergalactic Bed and Breakfast | Author Clete Smith will discuss how he got the idea for the novel and how it got to its final form, followed by a reading. | Clete Smith |
Sat | 12 Noon | The Short Story | How do our authors craft a short story? Do they outline it first or just start writing? Where do they draw their inspiration? | Nancy Kress, Richard A. Lovett, Jack Skillingstead (m) |
Sat | 12 Noon | George Dyson Kaffeeklatsch |
Sat | 1 pm | Vonda McIntyre Kaffeeklatsch |
Sat | 1 pm | Foam Wars Demo (outside field) | Get some sun! Join Foam Wars in the outside field for a demonstration. If weather interferes, this event will be held on Sunday at 1 pm | |
Sat | 1 pm | The Young Adult Novel | What are the unique challenges of writing a young adult novel? Do you adjust plotting, characterization, or other elements to suit a younger audience? | Alma Alexander, Clete Smith |
Sat | 2 pm | Guest of Honor Reading: Nancy Kress |
Sat | 3 pm | Project Orion presentation | George Dyson presents a history of the Orion Project, a 1950s program to use nuclear bombs as spaceship propulsion. Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle used it to dramatic effect in their novel Footfall, to the detriment of Bellingham. | George Dyson |
Sat | 4 pm | Peter Ward Ad-lib | Join our panelists as they use Peter Ward's paleontology and astrobiology research to generate story ideas | Peter Ward, Nancy Kress, Vonda McIntyre, Jack Skillingstead, Jim Kling (m) |
Sat | 4 pm | Jonathan Sodt (aka Fenmere the Worm) Kaffeeklatsch |
Sat | 5 pm | Nancy Kress Kaffeeklatsch |
Sat | 5 pm | Local artist guest presentation: Guerrilla Publishing | Jonathan Sodt's specialty is what might best be called "hobbyist publishing" or "guerrilla publishing," with a focus on comics, but he has dabbled in poetry and short stories as well. If you've got work you want to show the whole world, and you want help, this presentation is a good place to start. | Jonathan Sodt |
Sat | 6 pm | Peter Ward Kaffeeklatsch |
Sat | 6 pm | Internet publishing and promotion | Our panelists will discuss novel publishing and promotional options for writers | Deb Taber, Alma Alexander, John Pitts (m), Vonda McIntyre |
Sat | 7 pm | Alma Alexander Kaffeeklatsch |
Sat | 7 pm | How I Sold My First Novel | Our panelists recently sold their first novel. They'll describe the process and offer tips to aspiring writers. | Jack Skillingstead, John Pitts |
Sat | 8 pm | Jordin Kare Kaffeeklatsch |
Sat | 8 pm | Guest of Honor Interview: Nancy Kress |
Sat | 9 pm | Is Life Self-Destructive? | Peter Ward discusses the ideas behind his new book The Medea Hypothesis: Is Life on Earth Ultimately Self-Destructive? | Peter Ward |
Sat | 10 pm | The Mathematical World of Juggling | | Jessica Reidel |
Day | Time | Title | Description | Panelists |
Sun | 10 am | The Future of Biotechnology | What will the exploding field of biotechnology bring in the coming decades? Advances in medicine and agriculture? Human augmentations? What dangers does it pose? | Nancy Kress, Richard Sucgang, Noel Yap, Jim Kling (m) |
Sun | 11 am | Socail Cartooning | Comic artists talk about reaching people through their artwork, through webcomics, newspaper strips, and commercial art. They'll also discuss the benefits and ease of working with and around other artists, such as in groups like the Bellingham School of Comics. | Jonathan Sodt (m), C.S. Inman, Julie McGalliard |
Sun | 12 Noon | Evolution: Dinosaurs Among the Machines | Will computers and robotics undergo Darwinian evolution? How can the science of evolution help us understand the future of humanity and the machines that are so interwoven into our lives? | Peter Ward, George Dyson, Jim Kling (m) |
Sun | 1 pm | Foam War Demo | (makeup time -- demo will only be held if weather interfered with Saturday's demo) | |
Sun | 1 pm | How to Resurrect a Convention | ValhallaCon is the spiritual successor to the long-running VikingCon. What can we do to gain momentum and keep it going? Our panelists discuss. | Echo Mae (m), Bobbie DuFault, Paul Carpentier, Mary Kay Kare, Julie McGalliard |
Sun | 2 pm | Onions & Roses | Come discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly. We'll take your suggestions to make the next ValhallaCon even better. | The ValhallaCon ConCom |
Sun | 3 pm | Dead Viking Party | Join the ConCom in saluting the end of the inaugural ValhallaCon. (And, since Valhalla is already where dead vikings go to party... this oughta be good!) | |