mmerriam | Michael and Minicon

It is a official, these are places I will be.

Writing Cross-Genre: Cross-genre fiction is coming popular at the same time that many new sub-genres are being defined. What is there about SF today that calls for ever more specific categories while also inviting blurring of those boundaries? One might say the whole point of genre is to help bookstores/libraries/etc know where to shelve your book, and cross-genre books are notoriously difficult to categorize. And if no one knows what to do with your book, it probably won't sell well. So why write cross-genre fiction? What is the appeal? Friday 8:30 PM – Krushenko's

Minn-Spec Meeting and Meetup: Learn about this resource-sharing network for professional and aspiring speculative fiction writers. Saturday 11:30 AM - Krushenko's

The Editors Panel: Editors answer questions/share their thoughts about the craft of editing. Saturday 2:30 PM – Krushenko's

Reading: I'll read an excerpt from my forthcoming novella, The Horror at Cold Springs and something from my collection, "Shimmers & Shadows." Saturday 4:00 pm Veranda 1.

Including Disabled People In Fiction: How is disability presented in movies, book and TV? What are some of the best examples, and what makes us change the channel or press the eject button? How can publishers and authors make media more friendly and accessible to disabled fans? Sunday 2:30 PM – Verandas 3 / 4

Reading:

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Come for the Michael, stay for the me! Looks like I'm reading right after you.

That's what we would call, I believe, a Rock Block.

Unrelated but every time I see that photo I have to say I cannot express how absolutely awesome that hair is :-P

Hee, thanks!!

That "disabled" one sounds interesting. I haven't read a lot of books with deaf characters (I think blindness is the more... "popular" disability in books, or in sci-fi/fantasy anyway) but I know that on TV deaf characters are often very controversial with real deaf people, especially if the story touches on cochlear implants. It's probably the touchiest subject in deaf culture and it's almost never done right. The implant is pretty much always treated like some sort of miracle, which is far from reality.

That's a really interesting observation, I think you've got a good point there. Blindness seems to have a role in some folklore and fantasy -- Billy Blind, the blind seer of Krull, etc. I'm really just guessing here, but I wonder if people perceive blindness as being more isolative -- and therefore mysterious -- than deafness.

Also, I think there's maybe a cultural perception that deafness is touchy in general. Like, there's no way to handle it right, so we just don't go there. I think in reality, as with all things, some folks are just touchier than others, but my perception is that it's just too easy to offend someone if you try to "do" deafness. But if that barrier isn't a realistic one, it would be interesting to see it broken down.

I wonder if the deaf community is generally just "touchier" than the blind community.

I think that, in fiction, blindness offers the opportunity for a character who is disabled but still able to communicate with others, especially in fantasy settings. There is also the whole archetype of the blind seer, as you mentioned. And if you go into comics, then it's much, much easier to visually convey that someone is blind, rather than deaf.

Well, I'm certainly willing to "go there" if the other panelists are up for it...

It's me, you, Elise, and Betsy. Oh, I think that group is up for anything.

I know I don't have the same perspective on deafness and you and

tiny_wings not being, you know, deaf, but I worked at a catalog retailer (Harris Communications) who sold equipment and goods to the deaf and hard of hear community, and even in the workplace (almost everyone who worked there was deaf or HoH or work in the community as an ASL interpreter)there were obvious tensions between employees who were deaf and Deaf with the capitol "D." There is some of this in blind community as well, but it doesn't seem to be hard hard core.

And that's not even touching other forms of disabilities, like paralysis, missing limbs, whatever else... There's more of that in sci-fi (because of cool possibilities for prosthetics generally) than in fantasy. It's interesting how different genres will deal with different themes regarding disability...

I am very interested to see where the conversation goes, because I have written a deaf character into my current project (and much of what I did with her scenes is based on what I learned from the panel on disability at CONvergence). It has been difficult to describe the communication process when my characters are not vocalizing their dialogue. With a blind character, you don't have to make any special notes about their dialogue, they can just "say" things.

Have fun, Michael. I hope the reading goes well :)

Michael and Minicon

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blindness is the more popular disability

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