Conventions have always been a challenge for me.  My natural shyness mentally locked me into a holding pattern where I felt that I needed to be asked rather than present my name to be worthy of being on a panel.  My good friend and mentor Jason Carl pushed me into getting my name out there.  He observed that it is the job of any artist to put their name and face out there.

I’m honored to be included as a guest at Orycon 35 for the first time this year.  I’ve included my schedule for the convention here.

Moderator indicated by (*)

Social Media and the Modern Writer
Jefferson/Adams      Fri Nov 8 12:00pm-1:00pm
Websites, Facebook fan pages, email lists, contests, twitter, tumblr, Pinterest, ads, blogs and that annoying thing called a “platform”: what
works, what doesn’t, and why you need to care (spoiler: you do).
Gr� Linnaea, William Hertling, (*)Jason Andrew, Aaron Duran, Cat Rambo, Peter A. Smalley

Game-anon
Hawthorne            Fri Nov 8 1:00pm-2:00pm
A discussion and critique of gamer culture
(*)Jason Andrew, Rhiannon Louve, Gabriel Martin

Getting Your First Professional Sale
Morrison             Fri Nov 8 2:00pm-3:00pm
An author can struggle for months or years before achieving their first success, but even after writing their opus, they can be tripped up by a process which is both entirely new to them and yet critical to their success.  This panel describes what an author may  experience as they
revel in their first success.
Jason Andrew, Liz Argall, Camille Alexa, Jennifer Linnaea

Writing and Art for the RPG Industry
Hamilton             Fri Nov 8 3:00pm-4:00pm
A how-to workshop on what it is like to work for the RPG industry.
(*)Jess Hartley, Larry Elmore, Jason Andrew, Robert Plamondon, Rhiannon Louve

Group 10 Horror Short Story
WW1                  Fri Nov 8 4:00pm-5:00pm
Closed One-on-One Critiques with Matt Vancil, Andrew Jason and writer John Marvin for short story Dark Sacrifice.
Matt Vancil, (*)Jason Andrew

GM School for Noobs!
Hawthorne            Fri Nov 8 5:00pm-6:00pm
A primer on how to run a game for those who are interested, but have never done it.
(*)Jason Andrew, Edward Muller, Carl Cook

Crowdfund Your Book!
Ross Island          Sat Nov 9 10:00am-11:00am
You’ve got a book. Your fans want it. How do you raise the funds to get it to them? Let them pre-order it via Kickstarter or the other crowdfunding sites. We’ll discuss best practices, when not to crowdfund, backer rewards people want, fulfillment nightmares and successes, and handling the haters (they gonna hate).
Katie Lane, Keffy R. M. Kehrli, MeiLin Miranda, (*)Jason Andrew

Social media, time suck or revolution
Idaho                Sat Nov 9 11:00am-12:00pm
Social media played a major roll in the Arab Spring, oppressive governments have turned off the internet. What is next?
Curtis C. Chen, Rob Wynne, (*)Jason Andrew

Interactive Writer’s Workshop
Roosevelt            Sat Nov 9 2:00pm-3:00pm
Interactive writing workshop in which participants will complete a number of short writing exercises designed to stimulate the creative process.  Bring either a laptop or pen/paper. All must participate!
Jason Andrew

Game Designing 101
Hawthorne            Sat Nov 9 5:00pm-6:00pm
Learning the basics.
(*)Jason Andrew, Jason M. Hough

Write what you don’t know
Roosevelt            Sun Nov 10 11:00am-12:00pm
How do you write about talking dragons, vampire detectives, alternate history, and space travel? Research and common sense can give your just enough background to really write what you don’t know.
Ann Gimpel, Adrian Phoenix, Diana Pharaoh Francis, Wendy N. Wagner, (*)Jason Andrew