My Philcon 2015 Schedule

I’ll be at Philcon in Cherry Hill, NJ this weekend. My schedule is below.

Sat 11:00 AM, Plaza I
“The Legend of Korra”
Victoria Janssen (moderator), Brandon Wright, Laura Kovalcin, Hakira D’Almah, Savan Gupta

While its prequel show “The Last Airbender” had strong appeal for both younger and older fans, Korra – with its older cast and more mature themes- was clearly not intended just for children. Set seventy years after the events of The Last Airbender in a world heavily influenced by both the jazz era and the steampunk aesthetic, our protagonist struggled not with a mere invading army, but with politics, ideological zealots, and the very nature of her world’s reality changing. Managing to explore relationship dynamics without being cliched, the writers of Korra ultimately wound up giving her a happy ending that few would expect to see in an American animated tv show. So what’s next for the Avatar?

Sat 3:00 PM, Crystal Ballroom Two
“Sherlock Holmes in the 21st Century”

Hildy Silverman (moderator), Melissa James, Anastasia Klimchynskaya, Victoria Janssen, Steve Vertlieb

There’s been a lot of activity centered around 221B Baker Street in the last few years. Which adaptations are trying to keep characterizations and plot elements as close to canon as possible, and which are just using the original stories as a jumping-off point? And perhaps most importantly, which ones have you enjoyed the most?

Sun 12:00 PM, Plaza IV
“Romance Novels with SF versus SF Novels with Romance”

Victoria Janssen (moderator), D. Renee Bagby, Michael L. Brachman, D.L. Carter, Maureen O. Betita

When is a romance a plot element, and when is it genre-defining?

Sun 1:00 PM, Plaza V
“Fans, Fiction, and the Formative Years”

Lynati (moderator), Tony Finan, Victoria Janssen, Joseph Berenato

What stories made you first realize something new about yourself? When mainstream media doesn’t depict the kind of person you are, where do you turn to find characters you identify with?

About Victoria Janssen

Victoria Janssen [she, her] currently writes cozy space opera for Kalikoi. The novella series A Place of Refuge begins with Finding Refuge: Telepathic warrior Talia Avi, genius engineer Miki Boudreaux, and augmented soldier Faigin Balfour fought the fascist Federated Colonies for ten years, following the charismatic dissenter Jon Churchill. Then Jon disappeared, Talia was thought dead, and Miki and Faigin struggled to take Jon’s place and stay alive. When the FC is unexpectedly upended, Talia is reunited with her friends and they are given sanctuary on the enigmatic planet Refuge. The trio of former guerillas strive to recover from lifetimes of trauma, build new lives on a planet with endless horizons, and forge tender new connections with each other.
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