Surrey International Writers’ Conference

Tonight I’m off to the untamed and exotic wilderness of Canada for the Surrey International Writers’ Conference. Don’t worry, I’m packing plenty of moose repellant!

I’m really looking forward to this. I’ve heard good things about the conference, and there’s a great lineup of guest professionals.

My schedule for the weekend:

Friday:

• 9:30 a.m. Opening Session.
• 10:30 a.m. – Noon. Blue Pencil Sessions.
• 3:30 – 5 p.m. Workshop: Writing Diversity. In which a straight white dude talks about his ongoing process of creating more realistic and honest diversity in his work, including the danger of stereotypes and tokenism, his various mistakes and successes, and most importantly, the need to never stop listening.

Saturday:

• 9:30 a.m. Opening Session.
• 10:30 a.m. – Noon. Blue Pencil Sessions.
• 3:30 – 5 p.m. Workshop: Blogging, Social Media, and Self-Promotion. “If you’re going to be an author, you HAVE to do online promotion ALL THE TIME!” Or maybe not so much. Join a Hugo award-winning blogger as he talks about what he’s tried that worked, what failed miserably, and the unanswerable question of whether or not it’s worth it.
• 5:30 – 7 p.m. Book Fair. (Signing and cocktail social.)
• After Dinner: Keynote Address. (That’s right, they’re letting me do a keynote! Bwa ha ha ha!)

Sunday:

• 9 a.m. Opening Session.
• 9:30 – 10:45 a.m. Blue Pencil Sessions.

I expect to be thoroughly exhausted by the time I get back late Sunday night. I also expect to have a great deal of fun. I may even post the occasional update over on Twitter. (They do have internet in Canada, don’t they?)