Swancon Thirty Six | Natcon Fifty Program

Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Monday

Below is the draft Swancon Thirty Six | Natcon Fifty program for Saturday. While we are making every effort to make sure all details are correct, we cannot guarantee that items won’t change. We also have plenty of space for last minute program ideas, so if the mood strikes and you want to organise something, we’ll help provide you with space to do it.

Contact us any time in the lead-up to the convention, or speak to a committee member once you arrive.

Colour codes: Entertainment | Interactive | Presentation

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Saturday
	Freshwater Bay	Dealers Room	Ballroom	Gaming Room	Mosman Bay	Plaza 1	Plaza 2	Plaza 3
8:30		Saturday Morning Breakfast with Editors with Ellen Datlow and Jonathan Strahan (in hotel restaurant)	Wellness Session			Romance Writers 1: Sizzling Sex Scenes with Nicole Murphy
9:30	Writers Stream: How to make it professionally details to be confirmed shortly		Sports Chanbara Weapon Fighting Master Class Presented by Sensei Shane Jiraiya Cummings and Sensei Graham Eacott		History of Gynaecon with Sarah Xu, Emma Hawkes, Gina Goddard, Sandra Norman	Romance Writers 2: Finishing The Story with Kaaron Warren	Conversation with Artists Part 1: Technique with Gaston Locanto, Christina Lorenz, Nancy Lorenz, Lisa Rye, moderator Kathryn Linge	Film Club: Inception with Tom Eitelhuber, Dave Thatcher
10:30					Oh Zombie My Zombie with Robert Hood, Grant Watson, Jason Nahrung, Alan Baxter	Romance Writers 3: Old Bones, New Flesh with Juliet Marillier	Readings	Video Quiz Hosted by Damian Magee
11:30			Professional SFX Presentation by Naomi Lynch		How to Judge a Book by its Cover with Jonathan Strahan, Theresa Anns, and Amanda Rainey		Dolls of Desire: Man’s Unnatural Selection of the Perfect Woman Presentation by Anthony Ferguson
12:30 – 2:00	Lunch break
2:00	Writers Stream	The Murdoch SF collection: A beacon in the dark or a missed opportunity Presented by Grant Stone	Rebel Empire: Fight Scene Performance		Do awards make a difference? with Cat Sparks, Russell Farr, Robert Hoge, Jeremy Byrne (moderator)	Romance Writers 5: The Structure of the Novel with John Cregan	M15+ warning Burning Man Presentation by David Cake	Ellen Datlow Interviewed by Kaaron Warren
3:00				Using Fiction for Better RPG with Dirk Flinthart and Peter M Ball	YA Fiction: Art and Industry with Cassie Lynch, Sean Williams, Richard Harland, Sue Bursztynski	Romance Writers 6: Researching the Historical Novel with Anna Jacobs	The New Frontier Presentation: David Medlen	Grant Stone’s History of WA fandom in Tshirts
4:00			So You Want to Be A Manga Character Presented by PANiC		The Voyager Panel: Meet the Authors	Romance Writers 7: Arousal with Nikki Logan	Cryogenics Presented by Marta Sandberg	Vikings Are Awesome with Grant Watson, David Cake, Chris Stronach
5:00					Irwin Allen Presentation by Damian Magee	Rise of Cthulu with Cassie Lynch, David Cake and Keira McKenzie (Moderator)	Staying Safe on the Internet Presentation by Paul Chamberlain	Book Launch: Justina Robson
6:00 – 7:30	Dinner break
7:30				Masquerade Red Carpet	Masquerade Photo and rest room			Forthcoming Movies in 2011 with Darran Price, Phil Jeng Kane, Warren Money, Leith Brindle, Brady Michaels
8:30			50th Birthday Bash DJs: Sean Williams and David Cake			Have a Chat with Mr Parker		Forthcoming Movies in 2011 with Darran Price, Phil Jeng Kane, Leith Brindle, Tiffany Douglas, Warren Money
9:30							Geek Sing-Along	Vid all the things Presented by Cathy Cupitt
10:30								Hammer Horror: The Vampire Years Presented by Damian Magee
11:30						12:00pm 12th Stroke Theatre

Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Monday
Questions? Comments? Send us an email.

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Panel Descriptions
(This isn’t a complete list yet. If there’s something you want to know more about feel free to email us.)

Burning Man
M15+ warning
Presentation by David Cake

Conversation with artists: technique
with Gaston Locanto, Christina Lorenz, Nancy Lorenz, Lisa Rye, Kathryn Linge (moderator)
Natcon Fifty is hosting Future Imperfect, a semi-professional art show exploring the ways in which people have historically imagined our present. In this panel artists featured in the show will discuss the different techniques they have used to construct their pieces, both traditional and digital.

Do awards make a difference?
with Cat Sparks, Russell Farr, Robert Hoge, Jeremy Byrne (moderator)
Awards seem to be an integral part of any creative culture and F&SF is no exception. What purpose to they serve? What difference do awards make? How does politics get into them? Can they do more harm than good?

Dolls of desire: man’s unnatural selection of the perfect woman
Presentation by Anthony Ferguson
The genesis of the modern sex doll is buried in a long and often secret history of man’s obsession with creating a perfect, silent, female sexual object. This particular fetish is expressed though a wide variety of forms, such as statues, corpses, mannequins, sex dolls, and gynoids. Join me on a brief journey through the evolution of these fascinating objects, from their original incarnation as sack cloth effigies, to inflatable girlfriends, to their current guise as elaborate cyber-technological marvels.

Forthcoming movies in 2011
with Darran Price, Phil Jeng Kane, Warren Money, Leith Brindle, Brady Michaels

Hammer horror: the vampire years
Presented by Damian Magee
Now that Hammer has return to the screens with the remake of Let the Right One In?, let’s turn back time by looking at those earlier vampires, from Dracula, Carmilla and a Circus with a Difference. Presentation with Q&A-video clips.

Have a chat with Mr Parker
He’s in there, waiting. Waiting for you. To come in and have a chat. What will we chat about you wonder. Well, that’s what he’ll ask you.

History of Gynaecon
with Sarah Xu, Emma Hawkes, Gina Goddard, Sandra Norman

How to judge a book by its cover
with Jonathan Strahan, Theresa Anns, Amanda Rainey
Yes, we know you shouldn’t do that, but from a selling point, you the publisher, and usually the author, want the potential reader to do just that. How should a book be designed, what should it have on it, what should it “say” to get not just the right reader to pick it up, but also many.

Justina Robson’s Heliotrope launch
Justina Robson’s debut short story collection Heliotrope, published by WA’s Ticonderoga Publications, will be launched by Guest of Honour, and one of Justina’s former Clarion tutors, Ellen Datlow.

Lost voyage in the land of time giants: Looking at Irwin Allen’s quartet of sci-fi classics
Presentation with clips that look at the TV series’ of Irwin Allen: Lost in Space, Time Tunnel, Voyage of the Bottom of the Sea, and Land of the Giants.

The Murdoch SF collection: a beacon in the dark or a missed opportunity (academic paper)
Presented by Grant Stone

Oh zombie my zombie
with Robert Hood, Grant Watson and Jason Nahrung
The walking dead are in high demand throughout all aspects of popular culture from artsy literature to flash mobbing. Why did a once obscure sub-culture become so mainstream?

Professional SFX
Presentation by Naomi Lynch
Introduction to Special Makeup FX: A Brief History.
An overview of the development of the art, from the ancient traditions of theatrical makeup, to the invention of film and the pioneers of prosthetic makeup, right though to the development of the techniques and materials in current use.
Uses of Special Makeup FX: What is Possible?
Developing an understanding of FX, what you can do, what you can’t. How has CGI affected the Special Makeup FX industry? Which effects can be achieved practically, vs which benefit from digital enhancement. The mechanics of filming effects: how it is done? Good, Fast, Cheap, Pick Two…
Reality Check: So you want to be a Makeup FX Artist…
Do you really know how much work goes into great effects? How much time is needed to learn the craft, and how much time you need to dedicate to become really, really, good, and how much it will cost you to do it?

Ready, steady, genesplice!: building a better unicorn
with Pamela Smith, Rob Masters, Colin Sharpe, Alicia Smith, Andy Phillips
It’s The Future and you’re in the brainstorming session for the latest pet craze! Does the market want a Dragonmouse? A Flying Lamb-rey? Easy! Three artists and their volunteers from the audience take suggestions and turn them into visual reality in their own very different styles. But there’s a twist — some of the artists have animal ethical and wildlife watchdogs observing and advising, so a leopard may well have to be replaced with a leopard slug! Vote for your favourite!

Rebel Empire: Fight Scene Performance
Rebel Empire Workshops is in its third year and we have come a long way. Come and see not only live performances, but short films created by our members here in WA. Now it’s Lights! Sound! Camera! and Action in abundance. Feel free to dress up and see our characters up close after the show.

Rise of Cthulhu
with Cassie Lynch, David Cake, Keira McKenzie (moderator)
This panel could also be called “Why H P Lovecraft is so cool?”, because after several decades of his loyal but cult following subsisting alone, the writings of H P Lovecraft are being discovered by new audiences, bypassing all other traditional horror and embracing he who describes the indescribable. What makes Lovecraft so cool and why is Cthulhu more cool than ever before now?

Romance Writers 1: sizzling sex
with Nicole R Murphy
There are few scenes harder to get right than a sex scene. It needs to sizzle, it needs to be sensual, it needs to be intimate and emotional and it needs to actually be anatomically possible. This workshop will look at how you use character, setting and language to create a scene that will satisfy both character and reader while also being true to the creed of every scene needing to move the story forward.

Romance Writers 2: finishing the story
with Kaaron Warren
One of the hardest things about writing short stories is finishing them. I have dozens of stories in my filing cabinet. One page, two pages, three pages, four. None of them finished.

I haven’t put one in that file for a long time, now. Once I start a story, I know I’m going to finish it, one way or another. I do have some tricks for this. Firstly, for working my way to the ending; secondly, for figuring out what that ending is; and thirdly, for polishing it to a level I’m happy to send it out into the world.

That’s what we’ll be working on. Bring along a short story idea or a story you’ve started.

Romance Writers 3: old bones, new flesh
with Juliet Marillier
Romance and fantasy grew up together, intertwined through history like a vine and its tree. They were part of traditional storytelling in the form of myths and legends, folklore and fairytales. We may no longer tell stories around the fire at night, but the life lessons contained in those traditional tales are still relevant in our vastly changed culture, and the mode of telling them still rings deeply true for us. In this workshop we’ll look at the strong themes and dynamic characters of folklore and fairytale, and discover how we can tap into old sources to create new work. The workshop is equally relevant for fantasy and romance writers.

We’ll focus on three traditional tales: “Vasilisa the Fair”, “East of the Sun and West of the Moon”, and “Bluebeard”. Through group discussion and practical exercises, we’ll tease out the elements of these stories that are relevant to today’s time and culture, and investigate ways we might use some of them in our own work. Be prepared to let loose your inner crone and unveil the skeletons in your closet.

Participants are expected to plunge enthusiastically into practical work. This will include robust group discussion, lots of writing and optional role-play / improvised drama.

Romance Writers 4: the structure of the novel
with JD Cregan
In this one hour workshop the principles of story design (audience engagement, the inciting incident, progressive complications, crisis, climax and resolution) will be explored. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and develop a story outline for a novel using the ideas and information provided.

Romance Writers 5: research – not just a load of dusty old books
with Anna Jacobs
Anna Jacobs is the author of 53 novels, 36 of them historical. She does a lot of research, not only for her historical novels, but also for her modern stories. In this session she will go through some of her own research techniques, what she does before, during and after writing a novel, storage and retrieval of information (a crucial and often neglected aspect), how to give information in a story without stopping the flow. She’ll also discuss two other sorts of research essential to a novelist, ie: market research and research into one’s own capabilities as a writer.

Romance Writers 6: arousing your reader
with Nikki Logan
All authors of commercial fiction seek to arouse their readers. Arousal leads to engagement and engagement leads to sales. Whether it’s through the heart-stopping chill of a good thriller, the intellectual arousal of a good mystery, the emotional arousal of a romance or the sensual arousal of erotic fiction. Understanding what arousal is and how it can work for your writing will help writers to deliver ‘emotional punch’. This craft workshop will identify the types of arousal, why it is an effective engagement tool and how to recognise it in your writing.

So you want to be a manga character?
Presented by PANiC

Sports Chanbara weapon fighting master class
Presented by Sensei Shane Jiraiya Cummings and Sensei Graham Eacott
Do you have what it takes to become the ultimate warrior? Sensei Shane Jiraiya Cummings and Sensei Graham Eacott provide a hands-on introduction to Sports Chanbara, Japan’s popular weapon combat sport. After the demo, the audience is invited to take up sword, spear, battestaff and shield to decide who will become the Swancon Sports Chanbara champion! [Note: weapons are safe for all ages]

Staying safe on the Internet
Presentation by Paul Chamberlain

The New Frontier
Presentation: David Medlen
Darwyn Cooke’s The New Frontier (2003/4) is an alternate history of America from 1940-1960 as a superhero story, but is also a re-writing of comic book history. What does this tell us about history, comics and science fiction?

The Voyager panel: meet the authors
Harper Voyager is the largest publisher of Australian fantasy. Theresa Anns introduces you to a good portion of this very successful Harper Voyager stable of writers and chats with them on how it is to be part of such a community.

12th Stroke Theatre
Bring your scariest tales to the midnight reading and share them with your fellow fans of the horrific.

Using fiction for better RPG
with Dirk Flinthart and Peter M Ball
Peter Ball and Dirk Flinthart are fantasy writers and tabletop gamers with decades of experience. Join them as they demonstrate how to apply techniques from fiction writing to enhance your gaming campaign. Learn tricks of structure, pace, and characterisation. Get tips on how to create instant plots, and slide them seamlessly into your game experience. Over an action-packed hour (or more, depending!) participants will generate a range of playable adventures, and develop one or more to the tabling-point, ready to go. Amaze your players with a revitalised gaming style that will let them live out adventures the equal of anything on the bestseller lists today.

Vid all the things
Presented by Cathy Cupitt
What’s new, what’s interesting, what’s hot. An overview of the latest in fan vidding and visual and audio remixing.

Video Quiz
Hosted by Damian Magee
For the fifth year the Quiz is back! Bigger, bolder, and badder — join in the fun as Damian tests you with clips from film, TV and music.

Vikings are awesome
with Grant Watson, David Cake, Chris Stronach
Seriously, they are awesome. How awesome? These guys will tell you. ’Cause these guys really know just how awesome Vikings are. And they know ’cause Vikings are awesome.

WriterStream 1: POD — future or dead end?
Simon Haynes, Stefen Brazil
Is the traditional taboo on self-publishing beginning to disappear in the world of e-pubs and print on demand.

WriterStream 2: Nobody cares about your dinner — get interesting or GTFO.
Tansy Rayner Roberts, Jonathan Strahan, Joanne Anderton
Marketing your writing through social media or irritating your friends and family for fun and profit?

WriterStream 3: The mid-list crisis and the cult of celebrity authors
Ellen Datlow, Justina Robson, Kirstyn McDermott
Is the space for midlist authors diminishing? Do the next generation of authors need to be celebrities already? Or at least young and attractive?

WriterStream 4: Filthy Lucre; writers and money.
Ian Nichols
J K Rowling is a billionaire, and there are other writers out there who are multi-millionaires through their writing. How likely is it that you will become rich from writing? The depressing facts are that it is not very likely at all. This paper discusses the results of an Australian Bureau of Statistics survey into writers’ income, “Don’t Give Up Your Day Job,” and also discusses some of the basic economics of writing.

WriterStream 5: Freelancing ain’t easy
Nick Evans, Sean Williams, Jason Nahrung
Can you turn non-fiction into a revenue stream?

YA fiction: art and industry
with Cassie Lynch, Sean Williams, Richard Harland, Sue Bursztynski
Young adult fiction has long been a place for quality writing and classics of literature, but since Harry Potter and Twilight, it has exploded as a popular fiction market, especially as it takes on more and more of an adult readership. The industry knows a money-spinner when it sees one, but can there be a balance of commercial wants and uncompromising storytelling?