Thursday Schedule

A dedicated place for BIPOC and AAPI members of the Norwescon community to gather, rest, and refresh.

BIPOC=Black, Indigenous and People of Color. AAPI=Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Test your aim on a variety of targets with our assortment of Nerf blasters! Participants must check in at registration to confirm vaccination status and get a wrist band before playing. Underage players must have a parent present to check in. Badges are not necessary for this event. Note: Shoes required.

Why are some bad movies just BAD, while other bad movies are SO BAD they’re actually… good? Somewhere on the wheel of quality there is a tipping point where bad movies go far enough to become beloved. Where is that line? Can “good” bad movies be made intentionally, or is it something that only happens accidentally? Let’s talk about the Bad, the Good, and the SO Bad it’s GOOD!

After entering a deep depression, Katie Zornes decided to compile a list of 22 hard things she wanted to do by the end of 2022. Then she shared her journey online. Her list ranged from brushing her hair every day, to seeing a dentist, to completing a triathlon even if she finished last. Sharing her journey publicly has inspired others to start their own lists. Do you want to start yours? Bring pen and paper or a writing device, or just join the discussion to bounce ideas.

The metaverse, the idea of a massively multiplayer multidimensional virtual reality, has gained traction as Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Unreal, and other companies explore ways to implement an idea which has been part of science fiction for decades. This panel looks at what a metaverse needs to function, and how it connects to such current concepts as machine learning, network graphs, decentralized identifiers, verifiable credentials, the Internet of things, and the geospatial web.

Members of the audiovisual team will familiarize panelists with the AV hardware used during the convention. This includes using microphones, hooking up laptops, and identifying needed cables or adapters. Bring the gear you will use for your panel, and we’ll check how it works with the convention gear.

Come check out games from our lending libraries. We have role-playing games, card games, board games, and more. An official state license or state ID is needed to check out games. There are tables to play games you bring and games you borrow. Do you need accommodation related to a disability? Please speak to our staff so we can meet your needs. Maxi’s Ballroom is located on the top floor of the tower.

Come sign up for a game! We have Pathfinder Society, Adventures League, role-playing games, card games, and more. After scheduled games closes, this area is available for open games. If you need accommodation related to a disability, please speak to our staff when you sign up so we can meet your needs. The salon is located within Maxi’s on the top floor of the tower.

Come sign up for a game! We have Pathfinder Society, Adventures League, role-playing games, card games, and more. After scheduled games closes, this area is available for open games. If you need accommodation related to a disability, please speak to our staff when you sign up so we can meet your needs. The Rotundas are located down Concourse 1 or 2 on the first and second floors.

Editors and agents considering a manuscript often ask writers to submit their first 50 pages. A panel of publishing professionals discuss what they look for—good and bad!—in those first 50 pages. We cover common dos and don’ts, and suggest book examples that nail those first 50 pages.

So many aliens, so little time! Let’s talk about the aliens that have invaded our lives over the years. Which ones are our favorites? Which ones are the scariest? The sweetest? The most annoying? Let’s explore the wonderful universe of aliens we have come to love, hate, and fear!

Space battles follow the basic rules of storytelling, but it’s easy to fill pages with ships firing ineffectually at each other. Getting the science correct is key, but bombarding your reader with technical details is not engaging. Military SF writers share their tips for creating space battles that keep readers on the edge of their seats.

What’s new in the nuclear power biz? Okay, not much. But what COULD be new? How would generation IV reactors affect the story you’re writing? Talk to the techies while the moderator keeps things cool.

Have you ever wondered what it takes to create an audio track for your masquerade entry? This workshop gives you easy tricks and free tools for crafting a 30- to 60-second music track for the masquerade. Bring your laptop and install Audacity (https://www.audacityteam.org/) before the workshop. Bringing a music track you want to work with is a plus. Purple-planet.com is a good source of royalty-free music.

We all do it—write fanfiction, that is—and we shouldn’t be ashamed. Learn about the world of fanfiction writing, including techniques, avenues for sharing, and where to grow from there. For tweens and teens.

Persephone: A Tale of Darker Seattle is a new series of urban fantasy based in Seattle. D.L. Solum will read from an adult tale of werewolves, vampires, fay, witches, and the mortals who love them. Rated PG.

What happens when ships become canon? In the past 10 years, we have seen a dramatic increase in the portrayal of queer relationships on screen. What does this mean for what Henry Jenkins dubbed textual poachers, the folks in fandom who use queerness in fan art and fanfic to transgress norms? Can fanfic retain its unique cultural value when its non-heteronormative worldview moves into the mainstream?

Can’t tell a sewing machine from a Dalek? Break out in hives at the thought of threading a needle? Talk to our panelists and see costumes that require little more than imagination, time, and a willingness to experiment. Minimal sewing, found items, and judicious gluing can make for great costumes!

Some heroes aren’t born, they’re dragged kicking and screaming into heroics. Who are our favorite reluctant heroes? What makes them unlikely, and what makes them heroic despite their resistance to action?

Do you want to turn your writing into an audiobook? Do you want to narrate your own audiobook, or those of others? This panel of authors and audiobook-makers share their experiences.

If you could travel back in time, where would you go? Time travel adds a slew of cultural complication to historical fiction. Consider Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court and Octavia Butler’s Kindred. This panel discusses what makes such stories so intriguing.

We’ll read poetry together, create a group poem or two, and have the kids write and share their own (if they choose to). For youth ages 0-8.

A picture is worth 1,000 words, but how many words does it take to make a picture? In this workshop, you will receive stories, excerpts, and words to inspire drawings. Bring your artistic imagination, we’ll provide drawing materials and story prompts. For tweens and teens.

Liftoff, The Rayatana Book 1. Liftoff is a sci-fi action-adventure novella for a YA/teen audience. Amaya had planned to spend the afternoon in a movie theater, eating popcorn with her new friends, when the theater rumbles and shakes. She tries to get her friends to safety, but is trapped in the theater, which she discovers is actually an alien spaceship, and the cute guy working at the movie theater isn’t human. The story takes a serious turn as Amaya finds herself in the middle of a war, dealing with aliens from multiple worlds, a life-changing promise she didn’t mean to give, and powers over which she has no control. Rated PG.

Some of the highest-paying writers’ markets are in constant need of content, but go completely ignored. Greeting cards, newsletters, inspirational testimony, local historical pieces, paragraphs on menus… all of those words come from somewhere! Learn how you can bring value to these markets and stay afloat between fiction sales.

Salt is the only rock that humans routinely eat. Must eat, in fact. What is salt? Where is it found? Why do people and animals need it? How is and was it used in food?

Strategic nuclear weapons have been used only twice, both times against large urban targets. Much attention is paid to the big bombs, but, since the 1950s, the major military powers have developed a range of small atomic weapons, from artillery shells to backpack weapons. This panel examines how a nuclear weapon is built, and how tactical nukes might be employed on the 21st century battlefield.

A new Addams Family show rose from the slab last year with Tim Burton’s Wednesday. Actress Jenna Ortega (Scream, Scream VI) may have danced her way into Addams fans’ still-beating disembodied hearts, but is it really our beloved Wednesday if she (gasp) fits in somewhere? In any case, this is the best Thing yet. Snap, snap.

Panelists discuss how to approach world-building without getting lost in the weeds or contracting worldbuilder’s disease.

Everyone has that one thing that got them hooked on what they love. What was it? A book someone recommended. A movie caught on TV. A television show you stayed up to watch after your parents went to bed. We all have a catalytic moment that drove us to science fiction, fantasy, space travel, magic, historical reenactment, or whatever drives our engines. Find out what brought our panelists into the fold, and discuss the things that initiated our love of a genre, and whether those inspirations hold true today.

Whether it’s a spirited pie fight or buckles that need swashing, violence is a tool for the writer’s toolbox. We’ll discuss how to write believable and purposeful scenes of violence, and use them to advance a story, develop character, and provide comic relief.

Sing or play whatever you want, to the most supportive crowd you will ever run into anywhere! Filk, an offshoot of folk, is the oldest form of geek music, with an intentionally open and deeply participatory culture. Bring your instrument and plan to stay awhile.

Learn to do a dino stomp, move like a mammoth, and roar like a tyrannosaurus while learning about dinosaurs. A way to get the wiggles out! For youth ages 0-8.

Like poetry? Sci-fi? Come blend the two as we embrace the new form of scifaiku and figure out how to make it work for you! For tweens and teens.

Let’s find a way to eliminate those pesky humans for good!

Folk horror, which uses folklore and rural themes to construct a local and surreal flavor of terror, has had some wonderful entries in recent years. Consider Midsommar, Victor LaValle’s The Changeling, and Wyldling Hall by Elizabeth Hand. This panel explores the history of folk horror and our changing relationship to the land.

Every costumer knows that a thrift store can be your friend. Learn from the pros what to look for, and how to take thrift store trash and turn it into costume treasure. Practical tips, examples, and show-and-tell reveal how to shop smart, and cheap, for a rich look.

International science fiction and fantasy is flourishing, with non-English works being translated in unprecedented numbers, and writers and readers from diverse cultural backgrounds interacting in real time. Why is the global approach to SFF important to the future of the genre? Who are the authors and translators to watch, and what are some of the most fascinating works and trends?

Before we contact extraterrestrial civilizations, we can practice communicating with alien intelligences right here on Earth. Researchers are creating a lexicon of dolphin vocalizations in the Caribbean. Elephants communicate using frequencies that humans can hear only through scientific instruments. Do E.T.s think in a way we can even fathom?

Norwescon 45 officially kicks off at Opening Ceremonies. Enjoy interviews with our guests of honor, get a preview of events, and find essential information to maximize your fun this weekend.

What is a biological science fiction or fantasy problem you want solved? We got you.

What makes a good sex scene? When should a writer fade to black? When is more a good idea? While a horror publisher may be fine with a scene, a YA publisher might be completely opposed. Listen to pros share their stories and methods for writing about boot-knockin’ in their particular genres. For ages 18+.

Start your convention with a celebration of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and speculative fiction short films, featuring selections from around the world. Block A: Horizon, La Terra Promessa (Promised Land), Last Trial—A Star Wars Collateral Story, My Little Creature, Ro Ninja, and Wasteland.

Sing or play whatever you want, to the most supportive crowd you will ever run into anywhere! Filk, an offshoot of folk, is the oldest form of geek music, with an intentionally open and deeply participatory culture. Bring your instrument and plan to stay awhile.

Play Nerf until the wee hours, either with or against your friends! All equipment provided.

After opening ceremonies, get moving at the Multiverse of Music with DJ Wüdi, spinning dance tunes crossing decades, styles, and genres with something for everyone. From con standards to pop hits, dance floor classics to modern mashups, new wave to dark wave, enjoy an evening of eclectic tunes chosen to keep the dance floor moving. Send in your song requests now!

Part two of the Speculative Film Fest brings more science fiction, fantasy, horror, and speculative fiction short films, featuring selections from around the world. Block B: At the End of the Canyon, Erden, Eua-Lander, Food of the Future, My Day // The Love Project, Phase 9, Play the Game of Thrones, Reformat, The Forbidden Fruit, and The Stuck Ones.