mrissa | ConFusion Schedule

Hurrah for advance planning! I am going to ConFusion in Novi, MI (Detroit suburban area) January 16-19, 2020, and here is the schedule of where you can find me there:

Managing and Overcoming Professional Burnout Friday 1:00PM Charlevoix The Mayo Clinic defines burnout as "a state of physical or emotional exhaustion that also involves a sense of reduced accomplishment and loss of personal identity." It can affect people of all professions, but it presents particular dangers to creatives, whose work is often tied closely to personal identity. Our panel will discuss how to spot the signs of burnout, how to manage it, and how to overcome it. Marissa Lingen (m), Pablo Defendini, Ken Schrader, Kameron Hurley

Speculative Social Media in Science Fiction Saturday 5:00PM Charlevoix Thinly-veiled or even overt references to popular real-world social platforms are common in modern media--including in speculative stories like superhero tv shows and movies. But speculative worldbuilding often calls for a re-imagining of how humans interact--would the social media of the United Federation of Planets really look like ours? Or would a peaceful interstellar society be more likely to arise in a world where Google Reader never died? How can writers incorporate new visions of social media that reflect their speculative worldbuilding? Marissa Lingen (m), John Chu, Jennifer Mace, Annalee Flower Horne, Brandon O'Brien

Reading: Marissa Lingen, Tim Boerger, John Wiswell Sunday 10:00AM Saugatuck Marissa Lingen, John Wiswell, Tim Boerger

Great Lakes and Inland Seas In Secondary Worlds Sunday 12:00PM Isle Royale It's hard to really get a sense of the scale of the American Great Lakes if you've never stood on one of their shores. Those of us used to thinking of lakes as more akin to very large ponds are often surprised by the dunes, the waves, the wind, the distant horizon. Writers who know the lakes offer advice on how to incorporate great lakes and inland seas into our fantasy worlds--as a narrative setting, what separates lakes from oceans? What unique or surprising storytelling opportunities do lakes provide? Anthony W. Eichenlaub (m), Marissa Lingen, Phoebe Barton, John Winkelman