I’ll be at Readercon 25 this coming weekend–I am always happy to meet new people and if I’m in one of the public spaces, that means I’m approachable. If I’m by myself, chances are good that I’ll be reading or knitting or drawing–please interrupt me! If I need alone time, I will be in my room.

That said, here are the panels I’m going to be on–to say that I’m excited about them all would be an understatement. I am not officially participating in Meet the Pro(se) on Friday night, but I’ll probably stick my head in for a little while.

Friday July 11

11:00 AM G This Whole Situation Is Monstrous!: Supernatural Excuses for Abusive Behavior. Leah Bobet (leader), Liz Gorinsky, Catt Kingsgrave, Natalie Luhrs, Veronica Schanoes, Peter Straub. Paranormal romance for adults and teens often provides supernatural excuses for abusive behavior. For example, in Cassandra Clare’s The City of Lost Souls, a character’s abusive behavior as a teenager stems from his confusion over being turned into a werewolf. Years later the teens reunite, explanations are given, and the boy’s redemption story briefly takes center stage in the narrative. Instead of focusing on abusers’ redemption through human aspects overcoming monstrous aspects, and obscuring the unpleasant truth that abuse is a very human behavior, is there a better way to use the supernatural to talk about abuse?

7:00 PM G Romance Recs for Spec Fic Fans. Saira Ali, Beth Bernobich, Rose Fox, Victoria Janssen (leader), Natalie Luhrs, Cecilia Tan. At Readercon 24, “Making Love Less Strange” discussed ways for spec fic authors to incorporate romance into their work. Building on that, this panel will provide and invite recommendations of romance novels that spec fic fans will enjoy and authors can learn from. Some examples include Meljean Brook’s The Iron Duke, a steampunk police procedural; Isabel Cooper’s No Proper Lady, starring a time-traveling demon-battling assassin; and Sara Creasy’s Song of Scarabeus, an action-packed cyberpunk space opera. Prepare to take notes.

Saturday July 12

11:00 AM G Criticism in the Service of the Field. Chris Gerwel, Andrea Hairston, Donald Keller, Robert Killheffer (moderator), Natalie Luhrs. An editor performs quality assurance (QA) on a book, making it the best book it can be. Literary critics might be seen as taking the QA role for the entire industry of publishing, or the specific portion of it in which they ply their trade. How does the practice of criticism change if critics of speculative fiction take it as their goal to help the field be the best it can be?

Sunday July 13

11:00 AM ENL Readercon Recent Fiction Bookclub: Ancillary Justice. Francesca Forrest, Adam Lipkin, Natalie Luhrs, Sarah Pinsker (leader), Sonya Taaffe. Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice is gender-bending space opera with a thriller pace and sensibility. Critics are hailing Leckie’s worldbuilding in the story of Breq, the remaining ancillary consciousness of a formerly great warship. We’ll explore Leckie’s themes of humanity and justice, as well as the way the book’s use of nearly exclusively female pronouns shakes up or affirms our notions of a gender binary.