Life, the Universe, & Everything 39

Guests of Honor Alaya Dawn Johnson Melinda M. Snodgrass Kaitlund Zupanic

The Marion K. “Doc” Smith Symposium on Science Fiction and Fantasy February 11–13, 2021 online

Watcher in the Mist © Kaitlund Zupanic; ltue.net used by permission

Letter from the Chair

Oh what a year it has been since we last came together! rewarding to see the committee moving forward even as Neither of us ever thought we would start 2020 by throw- we, their Co-Chairs, were struggling with trials that kept ing our hats in as Co-Chairs for the volunteer commit- us from leading in the way we wanted to. tee. And we, like the rest of the world, never expected Whether we are meeting much too close together in the series of events that would become known simply as cramped hotel event rooms or much too far apart in vir- “2020” and that would continue into 2021. tual video channels, LTUE continues to be a place where It has been incredible seeing how everyone has come creators and fans of speculative fiction can come together together to support each other in turbulent times. Our to take a break from the world and support, teach, and committee had to evolve quickly to adapt to the pandemic, inspire one another in an event that is truly unlike any shifting to virtual meetings and eventually moving our other. We look forward to seeing you all in person next entire event online. It’s been inspiring to watch com- year. mittee members step up to help as others were dealing So long and thanks for all the fish! with personal challenges. Many have taken on additional assignments and given many additional hours to ensure Kira Nicole Harris and Renae Kingsley LTUE 2021 would be a success. It has been especially LTUE 2021 Co-chairs

Symposium Committee

Co-Chairs: Kira Harris & Renae Kingsley Filking: Joe Ficklin, Michael Clark Assistant Chair: Ben Pistorius Film Festival Coordinator: Nick Mills Secretary: Michael Clark Guest Services Coordinator: Josh Mayne Schedule Coordinator: Mike Bishop Hospitality: Dave Doering Academics Track Head: Marny Parkin Marketing Coordinators: Jenna Allen, Newell Wright Art Track Head: Renae Kingsley; Assistant: Sara Kingsley Podcast Coordinator: Nate Edwards Books Track Head: Ben Pistorius Publications Coordinator: Marny Parkin Editing Track Head: Marny Parkin Recordings Coordinator: Jeff Jensen Gaming Track Head: Andrew Owens Registration Coordinator: Mike Bishop Professional Development Track Head: Micheal Johnson; Assistants: Social Media Coordinators: Jenna Allen, Jeff Jensen, Mike Bishop Erika Kuta Marler, Joe Monson, Dave Doering Sponsorships Coordinator: Jeff Jensen Theater & Media-Arts Track Head: Nick Mills; Assistants: Amanda Trainings Coordinator: JJ Safley Rodriguez, Joe Ficklin Trustees: Dave Doering, Marny Parkin Worldbuilding Track Head: Alpheus Madsen Volunteer Coordinators: Diana Parkin, Deidre Logan Writing Track Head: Stephan Fassmann; Assistant: Diana Parkin Website: Jeff Jensen, Michael Clark, John Harris, Joe Everard, Niki Accessibility: Kira Harris Thornock, Ben Pistorius Anthology Managing Editor: Joe Monson YouTube: Jeff Jensen App: John Harris Other Committee: Kate Jenkins, Sotia Jensen, Ben Meibos, David Art Show Coordinators: Melissa Meibos, Luke Clement Meibos, Ashlin Awerkamp, Carolyn Nicita, Logan Kearsley, Attendee Coordinator: Kira Harris Kimberly Edwards, Wade Edwards Blog Coordinator: Nick Mills Creative Director: Jeff Jensen Special Thanks to Calvin Bishop for creating the scheduling database Discord & OBS Coordinators: Diana Parkin, Deidre Logan

Anyone can join our staff! Students are especially needed, from both UVU and BYU. If you are interested in helping make the next symposium bigger and better, come to our first staff meeting for LTUE 40 Saturday,on February 26, at 10 am in the Discord server.

1 General Information

Viewing Availability Having a hard time picking your favorite class? Links to our daily streams will remain available to registered attendees until the end of March, after which many of our classes will be posted on YouTube. Some of our guests are offering proprietary information that will not be available later on our YouTube channel, so be sure to take advantage of the extra viewing time. Equipment You’ll need to plan ahead to have a good internet connection and sound control (speakers, headset, etc.) to have the best experience with our virtual event. App Don’t forget to download our app for quick easy access to the schedule and general information: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.mydowntown.ltue https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ltue-symposium/id1448187412 Join Our Public Discord Server We’re using Discord to run our virtual event. Please download Discord and join our server a few days early so you can learn how to join sessions and can familiarize yourself with our server before classes start. There you can find links to all our livestreams each morning of the conference. You can also chat with other attend- ees in dedicated channels, submit your questions for Q&As during sessions, and sign up for special events, such as Creator Chats and Game Demos. You can also get help and support through our q-and-a channel. You can join our server using the link you received in your email.

Don’t Miss These Special Events and Opportunities Art Show Our virtual art show is full of incredible art—and it’s free and open to the public. You can find the link in Discord and on our website under the Participate menu the week of the conference. Creator Chats This is a great opportunity to chat with your favorite author, artist, gamer, etc. in a small group of people. Sign up is available on Discord on a first-come-first-serve basis. Filking Folk singing with a science fiction/fantasy slant. Bring your guitar, lute, lyrics, or simply your voice and join your fel- low bards in making musical magic in this jolly sing-along. Filking will be held in the Jules Verne room each evening; the link will be available in our Discord server. Film Festival Join us in the Douglas Adams room on Thursday evening for a three-hour viewing of the best new science fiction and fantasy films from around the world. The link will be available in our Discord server. Meetups This year our meetups are going virtual. Check out the #writers-meetup, #artists-meetup, and #gaming-meetup chan- nels in our Discord server to find like-minded individuals any time throughout the conference. Please Note Contents Please review our Child Policy, Accessibility Policy, and Harassment Policy, located on our website at http://ltue. Letter from the Chair 1 net/policies/. Also note how these have been implemented Symposium Committee 1 in our online enviornment this year by reviewing the Rules General Information 2 channel in Discord. Guests of Honor 3 Etiquette with the Pros 4 Special Guests 5 If You Have Trouble Connecting to Discord Participant Bios 6 For help downloading Discord, please refer to our how-to Art Show and Artists Alley 13 video: https://youtu.be/HX7gwpP8u6w Listing of Events with Participants 15 If you still need help after installing Discord and click- What’s a Creator Chat? 17 ing on the Join Discord link in your email, contact us at Creator Chats and Game Demos 17 [email protected]. In Memoriam 25 Acknowledgments 27 Early 2022 Membership Special 28

Guests of Honor

Alaya Dawn Johnson A turning point in her career came with the publication Alaya Dawn Johnson was born in Washington, DC in of her debut YA novel, The Summer Prince, which was long 1982, the first of three children. Both sides of her fam- listed for the National Book Award for Young People’s ily have extensive ties to the DC metropolitan area. Her Literature. Her most recent YA, Love Is the Drug, brought maternal grandfather bought the family home in south- her deep speculative imagination and social commen- east DC in the 1930s and raised ten children there as one tary to the world of modern Washington, DC. The first of the first generation of African American government was nominated for and the second won the prestigious employees. Andre Norton Award for YA Science Fiction and Fan- Alaya attended high school at the National Cathedral tasy, awarded by the Science Fiction Writers of America. School for girls and college at Columbia University, where In the past decade, her award-winning short stories have she majored in East Asian Languages and Cultures. While appeared in many mag- studying abroad Japan, she hitchhiked throughout the azines and anthologies, southern islands and ended up in Naha, Okinawa. It was including Best Ameri- there that she was inspired to write her first published can Science Fiction and fantasy short story, “Shard of Glass,” a meditation on his- Fantasy 2015, Feral Youth, tory, legacy and race, placing US history in a more global Three Sides of a Heart, context, that would prefigure the themes of her work in and Zombies vs. Unicorns. the coming decade. Her Nebula-award In 2007 she published her first novel,Racing the Dark, winning short story “A with the Chicago-based small press Agate Books. She then Guide to the Fruits of sold a pair of urban fantasy novels set in roaring twenties Hawai’i” was published New York City to a major house and dedicated herself in the Magazine of Fan- full-time to writing. tasy & Science Fiction.

3 Alaya has a degree in East Asian languages and cultures Urged on by Martin, from Columbia University and received her master’s Melinda entered the degree with honors in Mesoamerican studies from the world of Hollywood Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Her thesis in 1989, writing a spec explores fermented food and its ritual symbolism in pre- script “Measure of a conquest Mexico. Alaya has made her home in Mexico Man,” for Star Trek: The City since 2014, where, with her new band Cananea, she’s Next Generation. The finally getting a chance to explore her creativity musically, script was nominated writing and singing songs that are a mix of the personal for the Writer’s Guild and the unabashedly speculative, just like her fiction. Award for outstanding writing in a drama series. Her most recent novel, Trouble the Saints, was published It has also been voted as by Tor in July 2020. Her short story collection Reconstruc- is forthcoming from Small Beer Press in January 2021. one of the ten best Star tion episodes from all http://www.alayadawnjohnson.com Trek the series. She was on the writing staff for Melinda M. Snodgrass The Outer Limits, Rea- sonable Doubts, and The Profiler, to name only a few of the Melinda Snodgrass is an incredibly talented writer. TV shows she’s worked on. In addition, she scripted an Widely known for her work on Star Trek, she and George adaptation of Star Blazers for Disney. She has written six R. R. Martin also cooked up the now twenty-eight-book pilots—one of which, Star Command, aired on the UPN Hugo-nominated Wild Cards series, a shared world network. She is also producing the Wild Cards TV movie. anthology with a focus on the real impact of super heroes Melinda grew up in New Mexico riding, shooting, swim- in our world. ming and fly fishing with the support and encouragement

Etiquette with the Pros

One question any symposium-goer inevitably asks is, When you want to meet the authors or artists, wait for “How do I talk to authors and artists?” Getting to know a good moment when they aren’t busy. If they are talking them takes a few common sense rules of etiquette that with someone else, wait patiently for them to finish, then will make the experience enjoyable for both of you. introduce yourself. Try to say something nice before you First, remember that the authors and artists are only fire away with criticism. Remember, they may be as shy human. Just because they write fantastic books or draw of meeting you as you are of meeting them. fabulous pictures doesn’t mean they are ready to be on Most importantly, don’t monopolize! Share with others­ stage at any moment. An author or artist may have just these marvelous people you’ve just met. Rather than say- had a lousy night or be suffering from something the sym- ing everything at once, try talking to them on several posium committee fed them at lunch. Don’t take it per- occasions. (Even your mother would rather hear from sonally if they don’t want to talk to you right then. you for three minutes once a week than for three hours Also, don’t try to dazzle them with your latest story once a year.) idea or pet project. Many are paid to critique material; Just remember to be courteous. Respect their privacy don’t expect them to do it for free. and respect their time. They have come to the symposium And don’t make the mistake that one convention to meet people, though, so don’t be afraid to approach attendee made when he tried to discuss the wage differ- them. That’s why they came! ences between British and American actors with a main guest. We promise you, brilliant as they may be, authors and artists don’t know everything.

4 from her father. She also studied voice at the Conservato- art illustration course with Howard Lyon. She honed her rium der Stadt Wien in Vienna, Austria. She graduated skills and branched out into oil painting. Using past and with a history degree (magna cum laude) and then earned present masterwork painters as her new inspiration, she her law degree. She practiced law for three years, first at now hopes to make her fantastical ideas come to life in Sandia National Laboratories and then at a corporate law digital and traditional paintings. firm. (She soon discovered that even though she loved the http://www.kaitlundzupanic.com law, she wasn’t terribly fond of lawyers.) At the urging of fellow author Victor Milan, she decided to try writing. She never looked back. Her latest novel, The Hidden World (book 3 in the Imperials series), Special Guests was released in December 2020. She won the 2019 Skylark Memorial Award. Michaelbrent Collings In addition, she was the inspiration for the “dumb stick,” One of the most versatile writers around, Michaelbrent a vital tool for writers on Star Trek: The Next Generation Collings is an international best seller, produced screen- and used for fomenting story ideation. writer, and is the only person ever to have been a finalist In her “spare” time, she is an accomplished horse woman, for a Dragon Award, Bram Stoker Award, RONE Award, riding and showing her two horses: a stallion Venta de and Whitney Award. While he is best known for horror Brogan’s and a buckskin Lusitano gelding Donhador, at (and is one of the most successful indie horror authors in the Grand Prix level in dressage. the United States) he has also written best-selling thriller, https://melindasnodgrass.com fantasy, science fiction, mystery, humor, young adult, and middle grade works, and Western Romance. Kaitlund Zupanic http://WrittenInsomnia.com Kaitlund Zupanic never doubted what she would be when she grew up. She always wanted to be an artist. On Tom Durham school assignments, she would label herself as one even if Tom is a writer, filmmaker, and Emmy-winning pro- it wasn’t an option. She needed to explore her own fan- ducer/director. His career spans many mediums—from tasy worlds and create mythical creatures to live in them. commercials to reality TV to live shows to an upcoming The horses, chickens, dogs, cats, and many other animals sci-fi audio drama. Tom’s indie feature film, was a she grew up with became her main inspiration, but her 95ers, favorite at festivals and among time travelers and secured favorite creature to draw lived only in her imagination. international distribution. After having made numerous Dragons took shape on countless pages. mistakes figuring out how to get paid to be creative, Tom Fantasy books, games, is now the Chief Creative Officer of a rapidly expand- and movies fueled Kait­ ing production studio with numerous intergalactic proj- lund’s love of dragons, ects in development and production. Growing up, Tom and she decided she moved around quite a bit, splitting time between Middle wanted to create them Earth, Tatooine, and the for the video game indus- Enterprise. https://www.tomdurham.com try to see them live. She took all of the painting and illustration classes Ravyn Evermore she could and achieved Ravyn is a trans (she/her) content creator and influencer. an AAS in animation in She is the Creative Director for The Ravyn Evermore, a 2014. She primarily focused on anatomy and animals in pro GM, TTRPG designer, VOA, and graphic artist. She fantasy illustration. has a passion for storytelling and creating spaces for mar- Shortly after graduation, she discovered that her love ginalized groups, esp. LGBT+. She also runs Blackfeather for animation and 3D modeling hadn’t been as strong as Guild, a community for TTRPG fans on twitch.tv/ravvyn her love for painting. In the fall of 2015, she took a fine and Blackfeather.club. She has been a full-time content

5 creator for two years and has worked in executive man- Julie Wright agement for thirteen years. Links at linktr.ee/theravvyn. Julie Wright has written twenty-four novels and is a two- http://TheRavynEvermore.com time winner of the Whitney award for best romance with her books and and Jessica Day George Cross My Heart Lies Jane Austen Told Me is a Crown Heart recipient. Her book Death Thieves was Jessica Day George is the NYT best-selling author of over a Whitney finalist. She loves writing, reading, traveling, a dozen fantasy books for young adults and middle read- hiking, playing with her kids, and watching her husband ers. She is passionate about knitting, the Vikings, dragons, make dinner. small dogs, and dark chocolate. She has lived in four states, https://juliewright.com crossed the Arctic Circle and gone through the Panama Canal, but she has never seen the Grand Canyon. http://www.jessicadaygeorge.com Participant Bios Kristy S. Gilbert Kristy S. Gilbert has been editing and designing books and Nicholas P. Adams grew up in the small, rural town of Boring, Oregon, stories for over a decade. She graduated from Brigham with his six brothers and sisters. Upon his escape, he studied pre-med to become a surgeon before realizing he doesn’t handle being around Young University with a BA in English and a minor in sick people well. He then went on to receive his master’s of architecture editing; she went on to receive her MA in English empha- from the U of U and now designs buildings in the real world (and under sizing folklore and media studies. When not immersed in his real name). He dreams of winning the Golden Pen from the Writers of the Future. So far, he has received five honorable mention awards her clients’ books, she teaches introduction to print pub- from WotF. http://www.nicholasadamswrites.com/ lishing and advanced editing courses at BYU. She enjoys C. M. Adler (Christine Nielson) I am a dark fantasy and thriller cooking, kayaking, and krav maga. author. I have been published since 2012 in multiple genres and now http://looseleafep.com have the experience of owning my own publishing company. Witches much? http://queensandcrows.com​ David Afsharirad is a writer and editor living in Austin, Texas. Troy Lambert http://www.davidafsharirad.com​ Courtney Alameda is a novelist and comic book writer. Her debut Troy Lambert is a freelance writer, author, editor, and novel, Shutter, was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award and hailed publisher who has dreamed of writing books since he was as a “standout in the genre” by School Library Journal. Her novel Pitch a young boy. He wrote his first book, Dark was a Junior Library Guild selection, and she writes the comic George and the Giant book series with screenwriter Kurt Sut- when he was six years old. After being told by Sisters of Sorrow Sons of Anarchy Castle, ter. Her latest novel, Seven Deadly Shadows, is a retelling of Kurosawa’s teachers, counselors, and many people around him that Seven Samurai, cowritten with Valynne Maetani. https://www.court​ writing was a great hobby but not a great way to make a neyalameda.com​ Holli Anderson has a bachelor’s degree in nursing and discovered her living, Troy explored other money-making options. joy of writing during a very trying period in her life when escaping into After nearly three decades amassing a collection of make-believe saved her. Besides being an author, Holli is the chief editor name tags, hairnets, and various careers, he finally found of Immortal Works, a publishing company that strives to bring readers the way to fulfill his dream of writing full-time and mak- books that are appropriate for teens and intriguing to adults, publishing books of all fiction genres, middle grade through adult. http://www.holli- ing a living at it. He currently has written over two dozen anderson.com/ books including ghostwriting projects, is a freelance writer, J. M. Anjewierden spends his days hawking others’ books in his content strategist, ghostwriter, publisher, and occasional job for the Salt Lake County Library System. It’s a job he loves, and being able to recommend good books is a big part of that. So is run- editor. ning a weekly Dungeons and Dragons game for the teens. He writes Troy lives, works, and plays in Boise, Idaho, with his everything from sf/f to romantic suspense. He lives in Sandy, Utah, wife and a pack of very talented dogs who are occasionally with his wife and their two small children. https://www.amazon​ enlisted to write blog posts and book blurbs. Learn more .com/J-M-Anjewierden/e/B071DG1X1L Kris Atkins writes fantasy stories for adults and laces them with about his publishing work at www.mooneyandlambert.com. characters with mental illness living extraordinary lives. She was diag- https://troylambertwrites.com nosed with bipolar II disorder in 2009 and has since become an advo- cate for banishing the stigma around mental illness. She has a BA in linguistics from Brigham Young University and an MFA in creative writing from Converse College. https://krisatkinswrites.com/​

6 Shannon Babb is a professional STEM through teaching, mentoring, helping authors Whitney Award and recently won the Dragon curriculum writer and scientist who enjoys get their thoughts on paper, or fine-tuning Award. He likes to hang out in Utah with his writing disaster, historical, and disability fic- their writing. http://www.editingbysuzy​ novel-writing wife and their three children. tion in her spare time. She works for Central .yolasite.com http://www.davidjohnbutler.com​ Utah Water Conservancy District and is cur- Rebecca Bischoff is a writer, speech-­ Justin Travis Call is a graduate of Harvard rently training for an all-women Antarctic language pathologist, history buff, and a casual University and the author of The Silent Gods Expedition. sci-fi nerd. She has two published novels: a series (Master of Sorrows, Master Artificer). In Kenneth A. Baldwin loves stories you can contemporary YA novel, The French Impres- addition to being a novice screenwriter, Eng- sink your teeth into. He lives nestled under sionist, and a spooky historical MG novel, The lish teacher, and voice actor, Justin is also the the Wasatch mountain range with his wife Grave Digger. A third novel, a humorous MG CEO of Broomstick Monkey Games and and dog. He writes historical fantasy. When story titled Hole in the Rock, will be released by codesigner of the board games Imperial Har- he’s not working on his next book, he can be Immortal Works Publishing in 2021. Rebecca vest and Royal Strawberries. https://justint​ found teaching story mechanics or sketch lives in Idaho with her family. http://www​ call.com/ comedy writing. Baldwin teaches comedy .rebeccabischoffbooks.com J. Anne Campanile writes primarily writing at BYU and serves as the faculty advi- Micheal Boudreaux is a medievalist spe- romance with a side of horror/parody. She sor for the university’s premiere sketch group cializing in the early Middle Ages, particularly graduated with a bachelor’s in business man- Divine Comedy. He published his first novel, the intersection of emotions, violence, and agement from the University of Utah, where The Crimson Inkwell, early in 2019. conversion in the Carolingian Saxon Wars. she gained valuable insight on the ways that Kate Baray, also writing as Cate Lawley, Jonathan Bowen is a creative who is pas- human beings clash, connect, and collabo- is a full-time genre fiction writer and author sionate about design, engineering, technology, rate with each other. https://www.facebook​ of over twenty-five books. Her previous and story telling. He has worked with world- .com/j.a.campanile careers in business and law gave her the tools class companies, including Walt Disney Amy Michelle Carpenter is a develop- necessary to succeed as an indie, where the Imagineering and Cricut, to create amazing mental editor with Eschler Editing and a pro- title author means being both a writer and a experiences and products. For several years, fessional blogger. She’s written hundreds of small business owner. http://catelawley.com/ role-playing games such as D&D and Arium blogs and news articles for local and national cate-lawley/ have fueled his passion for collaboratively tell- companies. Her debut novel, Becoming Human, J. Abram Barneck writes science fiction ing stories. released in December 2020 from Immortal and fantasy when he is not writing code. He Jay Boyce is the author of A Touch of Works Press. http://amymichellecarpenter​ has an undergrad degree in English creative Power series published with Mountaindale writes.com writing and a master’s in computer science. Press. She is an editor turned author who also Blake Casselman is a comic book writer, He has published two books in his urban spends her time working with deaf students screenwriter, film producer, and teacher. He fantasy series with the third on its way. He at her local university. Has worked as an edi- graduated from the University of Utah with lives in Bluffdale, Utah, with his wife and four tor for fantasy and Gamelit novels as well as a bachelor’s in film studies and later earned an kids. J. Abram Barneck is an all thing techni- working with Chinese and Korean translating MFA in education. He is the cowriter/cocrea­ cal when it comes to writing. He has coded web novels, most notably on The King’s Avatar. tor of the graphic novel Devil’s Triangle with programs to help create ebooks. He has pre- http://www.jayboyce.com Brian C. Hailes. He cowrote and produced sented on creating high-quality ebooks and Natalie Brianne (Anderson) is an author, the award-winning feature-length comedy on advanced find and replace. As well as editor, graphic designer, illustrator, and imagi- Adopting Trouble (available for rental or pur- publishing two novels, he lives poetry and nation enthusiast. Her first book,Constantine chase on Amazon Prime) and his short fiction has written over sixty poems, many in son- Capers: The Pennington Perplexity, is coming has been published in a number of antholo- net form. He once entered a writing contest out from Immortal Works in March 2021. gies. https://rarelegend.com/ he found out about at 8 pm and submitted at https://nataliebrianne.com Kaylee Casutt has been nonstop writ- midnight, placing second with an unedited John D. Brown is an indie and traditionally ing since she was eleven and enjoys teaching story. https://jabrambarneck.com published author that writes action-packed classes to teenagers about the love of creativ- Bethany is a skilled, experienced, and novels with characters you want to cheer for ity. She not only loves the pen but also enjoys versatile artist with nearly ten years’ experi- in the thriller, epic fantasy, and science fic- crafting, drawing, and acting out her charac- ence using digital media. She has worked in tion genres. He currently lives with his wife ters and plot through stage combat and role the animation/game industry as a character and four daughters in the hinterlands of Utah, play. She will do anything to make sure her artist, prop artist, and an environment artist. where one encounters much fresh air, many characters and world building make a good Currently she teaches a combination of 2D good-hearted ranchers, and the occasional story. http://agreaterdestiny.weebly.com/ and 3D courses at the Art Institute. https:// wolf. http://www.johndbrown.com/ Born and raised in Salt Lake City, Ann www.bethanysportfolio.com/ Beth Buck is the director of acquisitions Chamberlin also spent big blocks of time as a Suzy Bills is an author, editor, and fac- at Immortal Works and the editor of the child in Europe. Ann is the author of twenty ulty member in the editing and publishing anthology Of Fae and Fate: Lesser-known Fairy published books, mostly historical novels, program at BYU. She’s owned a writing and Tales, Retold. https://bethbuckauthor.word​ many set in the Middle East. She has also editing business for a decade, working with press.com written many plays, includingJihad, which individuals and companies to publish every- D. J. (Dave) Butler has been a lawyer, a won the best off-off Broadway new play of thing from fiction to marketing materials. consultant, an editor, and a corporate trainer. 1996 and which also received a production in Her first book was published in 2018, and her He is published by Baen, Knopf, WordFire Bogota, Colombia, at a conference for theatre second book will be published in 2021. She Press, and Immortal Works. He is a past win- women for peace. http://www.annchamber​ loves sharing her skills with others, whether ner of the AML Award for best novel and the lin.com

7 Quiana Chase has helped produce large- published Don’t Date the Haunted in October Max Florschutz was born in the distant scale simulations put on by Heroic Youth, 2020, and her second book comes out in April wilds of Alaska many years ago. Upon sur- Simulations Week, and others. Her jobs 2021. https://craedarc.wordpress.com/ viving to adulthood, he attended college in include flight director at the Lion’s Gate space Ryan Decaria is the award-winning Utah, graduating in 2011. Two years later, he center, an elementary school educator, and an author of We Shall Be Monsters, a YA story of published his first book, soon followed by acquisition editor for Q Branch Books. Her girls fighting mad scientists, which won the another, and then a whole string of releases! book, My Brother Is Human, was published by 2020 Silver Quill Award. He believes writ- Today he continues to delight audiences of Drabatic Press. http://www.quianachase.com ing is a mad science, where imagination and science fiction and fantasy with everything A Tolkien fan for years, Cindy Smith has skill fuse together to create the impossible. from space battles to wild west adventures, completed an MA in Tolkien and medieval Read his ramblings at madsciencefiction.com. while also running the weekly writing advice studies from Signum University with a thesis https://madsciencefiction.com series “Being a Better Writer” on his website, on politics and Tolkien and is ready to talk Robert J Defendi was one of the writers Unusual Things.http://maxonwriting.com about Tolkien, Beowulf, and children’s and for Savage Seas, Exalted, Spycraft, Shadow- Brent Foley I am a retired CIA operations YA fantasy authors. https://www.facebook. force Archer, Stargate SG-1 roleplaying game, officer and author of two books:CIA Street com/cynthia.smith.5494360 Spacemaster, and critically acclaimed setting Smarts for Women: Spy Skills to Tell the Prince Author of six novels and an anthology, The Echoes of Heaven. Death by Cliché was his from the Predator and Mission: Man. In the Stan Crowe wrote his first book at age five. first published novel. He’s in several antholo- first book, I apply everything that I learned, Stan splits his time among writing, a day gies, including Writers of the Future XIX practiced, and taught during my career (well job, his wife, ten children, and a cat. He also and When Darkness Comes. http://RobertJ​ almost!) to help a women “read” and avoid presides over the Moab, Utah, chapter of the Defendi​.com abusive men, then be free to enjoy healthy League of Utah Writers. Because really, if Scarlett Doc is a child and adolescent psy- relationships. https://ciastreetsmarts.com you’re going to write awesome stuff, why not chiatrist, specializing in in-patient treatment Lani Forbes is the daughter of an ex- live in an awesome place too? https://st4nj9​ of adolescents facing crises related to mental drug smuggling surfer and a librarian, which .wixsite.com/authorstanjohnson health challenges and trauma. She started explains her passionate love of the ocean and Daniel Cureton considers himself an her medical career as an EMT while finish- books. She is the author of The Age of the Sev- avant-garde poet and postmodern writer. ing her BS in chemistry and minor in medical enth Sun series, a fantasy trilogy published His poetry exposes the deeper meanings of humanities. While completing residency and through Blackstone Publishing. She is a mul- experiential living and his stories are idea fellowship, she focused on serving patients tiaward-winning member of RWA, SCBWI, platforms. He has previously been published dealing with trauma, neurodevelopmental and the Idaho Writers Guild. https://lani​ in Peculiar: A Queer Literary Journal, The Rocky disorders, and severe mental illness. forbes.com/ Mountain Review, Trilithon: The Journal of the Dennis Dorrity is a designer and passion- Richie Franklin’s historical fiction writing Ancient Order of Druids in America, A Shanghai ate fantasy/science fiction illustrator. He has has been described as Joseph Conrad meets Poetry Zine, and Enheduanna: A Pagan Literary recently achieved success selling his fantasy Edgar Rice Burroughs. Since his first MG Journal, for which he is the editor. http://www​ warrior artwork around the globe. https:// novel was published back in the early 2000s, .danielcureton.com/about.html dendorrity.deviantart.com he has written several more novels, one of Els Curtis is the author of Thrice-Cursed, James Eck I wrote a book once, now I game them with a publisher he met right here at Thrice-Blessed, a middle-grade fantasy; “Trial master at least once a week and write RPG LTUE. Additionally, he has written RPG con- in Name Only” a satir novella, and “Lenses,” content. I am best known for creating the tent for Gallant Knight Games and interac- a graphic short story illustrated by H. A. Rotating Labyrinth. https://mindweaverpg​ tive fiction for the game company Choice of England. She has a BA in English from USU. .wordpress.com Games. His award winning poetry and short Although a new Indie writer, she has been Natasha Ence has been playing tabletop stories have also been published. http://www​ writing since the sixth grade and has never RPGs since she was seven years old. She cut .richiefranklin.net/writer/ gone anywhere without at least a notebook, a her teeth on Traveller and Dungeons & Drag- Gordon E. Frye lives and works in west- pen, a sketchbook, and three novels. ons before moving on to other rules systems ern Washington State, teaches history on J. L. Curtis has two series, The Grey Man like Pathfinder, Mutants & Masterminds, Naval Base Kitsap, and works as a merchant series—current fiction with cops vs. the car- and Blades in the Dark. Tabletop gaming and of death. He has worked in the film indus- tel in South Texas—and Rimworld—a mili- a voracious love of stories lead her to study try as a horseman, historical consultant, and tary science fiction series from the grunt’s literature, teaching, and creative writing at armourer, has been a professional jouster perspective. He’s also published short stories university; this gave her an even better foun- and mounted shooting competitor, and occa- and novellas in various genres. A retired naval dation to be the stellar GM she is today. When sionally writes articles on sixteenth-century flight officer, he spent twenty-plus years in not writing or gaming, Tasha can be found in mounted warfare. the Navy, then worked as an engineer with a the kitchen whipping up one of her favorite With a BA from the University of Wash- defense contractor for another twenty-plus dishes or in the yard training and playing ington Drama School, Nancy Frye has worked years. He now lives North Texas and writes with her dog, Captain. https://www​.tales​off​ for the UW and Seattle Opera costume shops, full time. http://oldnfo.org thetable.com/​ Taproot Theatre, and others. While driving a C. Rae D’Arc has her bachelor’s degree in Rosalyn Eves is a writer, educator, and wagon at a Civil War reenactment, she met English and has been occupationally involved reader. She teaches English at Southern Utah her future husband, who introduced her to in every stage of a book’s life. As a writer, edi- University and writes both fantasy and his- the wacky world of film and TV work. This tor, retailer, reader, and reviewer, she has torical fiction, including the award-winning led to work as wrangler, background cavalry, worked four part-time jobs at the same time. Blood Rose Rebellion series. http://www.rosa​ and assistant armorer on various films. She Thankfully, one of them actually paid her. She lyneves.com​ continues to work in film, both in front of

8 and behind the camera. http://nancyfrye​ Holmes, starring Millie Bobby Brown and moderating fan fiction groups, western wear, .mystrikingly.com/ Henry Cavill. She also writes game scripts for construction (particularly electrical), ranch- Jason Fuesting US Navy veteran, elec- visual novel apps. http://mickey-george.com ing, and commercial fishing.http://www.old - tronics tech second class. IT security profes- Ann Gimpel is a USA Today best-selling hatnation.com​ sional, both civilian side and DoD. Currently author. A lifelong aficionado of the unusual, Dan Haring is an author whose novel a college senior majoring in physics and until she began writing speculative fiction quite a The Star Shepherd—which he illustrated and recently, an applied mathematics dual major. few years ago and has published over eight- cowrote with MarcyKate Connolly—came Currently tolerated by two cats and a woman five books to date. Once upon a time, she nur- out in 2019. Dan is also a VFX and anima- who swears she’s my wife. tured clients. Now she nurtures dark, gritty tion artist who has worked on films such as Amanda G. Studied English and theatre fantasy stories that push hard against reality. Tangled, Hotel Transylvania, and The Incredible arts at BYU. Currently works in phlebotomy When she’s not writing, she’s in the backcoun- Hulk and is currently making video games. but works on cosplay, photography, writing, try getting down and dirty with her camera. He loves comic books, especially Batman. He and wood working in her spare time. Is pas- https://www.anngimpel.com lives in Utah with his awesome wife and kids. sionate about stories, art, and sharing the art Robin Glassey grew up in a small town https://danharingart.com/ of oneself with the world. with a leaky nuclear power plant, turning Alex Harrow is a queer and nonbinary M. Todd Gallowglas Take raw imagination. her into a human EMP. She graduated with a author of science fiction and fantasy with Two parts coffee to one part whiskey. Equal BS in psychology and analyzes her four boys, LGBTQ+ protagonists. When not writing heaping spoonfuls of angst, whimsy, snark, and converts people to Doctor Who, and writes queerness with a chance of explosions, Alex a dash of imposter syndrome. Drop in an MFA, clean YA fantasy. In The Azetha Series, Robin is a high school English teacher, waging epic sprinkle a healthy dose of shenanigans on top transports readers to a world of sorcery and battles against comma splices and misused while chanting either “What’s a gleeman?” or secrets. Although Robin writes about epic apostrophes. Their debut science fiction novel, “Tell me a story” to personal taste. Best served journeys, if she ever went on one, she’d most Empire of Light, is out now with NineStar with a cloak of tales at Con temperature. likely die within the first mile.https://www ​ Press. https://www.alexharrow.com/ Shiny! http://www.mtoddgallowglas.com​ .robinglassey.com/ Michael F. Haspil, the author of Graveyard V. J. O. Gardner is an award winning Drea Gryphon is a sword-swinging writer/ Shift, Umbra Case Files, and others, is a veteran, hybrid author. After writing for thirty years, artist who specializes in novels, comics, and gamer, geeky engineer, and nerdy artist. He she has written many novels and published creature design. She graduated in illustration hosts the story analysis podcast Quantum three. Valerie is an invited speaker at confer- in 2013 from BYU, where she took many con- Froth Dispatches and is a regular contributor ences as an expert in character development, cept design and creative writing classes. She to The Long War podcast. He also collects and formatting, world building, and map making. studied directly under Jake Parker on how to makes replica movie props. Part-time ama- She formats for a small press. http://www.vjo​ make comics and writes/draws her own web- teur Egyptologist tabletop general, miniatures gardner.com comic called Fur & Fangs. Creativity is her life painter, antiquarian, and vampire hunter. Jared Garrett is a family man, full-time blood and she works hard to refine her craft. http://www.michaelhaspil.com dad, and the author of the scifi thrillerBeat http://www.dreagryphon.com Chas Hathaway is the author of Life in the series and several other books. He grew up Jessica Guernsey writes urban and contem- Spirit World: What Near-Death Experiences as an unwilling cultist and has worked as a porary fantasy novels and short stories. Her May Teach about Life on the Other Side and five firefighter, BBQ chef, cowboy theater actor, work is published in magazines and antholo- other nonfiction books, composer of twelve corporate trainer and technologist, freelance gies. By day, she crushes dreams as manuscript music albums, podcaster, serial entrepreneur, writer, and a bellman. After designing train- evaluator for two publishers. Frequently, she duck farmer, garden-shop owner, and perma- ing solutions for Amazon, American Express, can be found at writing conferences. While culturist. Always the adventurer, reinventing and other companies, he now does contract she spent her teenage angst in Texas, she now himself constantly, Chas is a happy husband work at home. He writes in the margins of the lives on a mountain in Utah with her husband, and father of six, now dabbling in the art of day and has published seven books since 2015. three kids, and a codependent mini schnauzer. the comic strip. http://chashathaway.com https://www.jaredgarrett.com Connect with her on Twitter @JessGuernsey Keith Haus is an intercultural historian National award-winning storyteller Ste- http://jessicaguernsey.com/ who studies how videogames have created an phen Gashler is an author, playwright, film- Traci Hainsworth has twenty years expe- international culture of their own. He travels maker, composer, songwriter, professional rience in the entertainment industry and has the world to study and find arcades. He also cage fighter, and compulsive liar. His works worked on many multimillion-dollar produc- writes stories about spiders turned to clowns, include the YA novels The Bent Sword, Prisoner tions and green-lighting analysis for the film elves hunting monsters in Victorian England, of the Molepeople, and Gideon versus the Gods of industry. She teaches Film Producing I and II and other such things. His most current book Cool, and the musicals Valhalla | A Nordic Rock (establishing a successful production com- is about an everyday man helping with a Mars Opera, Take My Death Away, and Bums! http:// pany and producing feature films) at UVU. colony. The foremost expert in arcade and stephengashler.com Traci is also a producer and director of dis- videogame culture in the western US—there’s Mickey George is the author of the YA his- tribution at Thunder Media Group. She has no one else—and a leader in intercultural his- torical novel Speak Easy, Speak Love, a retell- an MFA in directing and production manage- tory—he’s the only one. The knowledge of his- ing of Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing, ment for stage and screen, and a BA in Eng- tory, culture, and technology can lead to some from Greenwillow/HarperCollins. Her first lish and theater education from BYU. https:// very interesting results. http://www.twitter​ graphic novel, The Heart Hunter, illustrated thundermedia.us/about-us .com/@alfred909 by V. Gagnon, is out soon from Legendary Brennen Hankins’s first published work Emma Heggem is the managing editor for Comics, and she’s currently working on the featured in Space Force: Building a Legacy Future House Publishing, a family-friendly comic adaptation of the upcoming film Enola in May 2020. He also has experience in speculative fiction publishing house. She

9 specializes in content editing but is involved debut series, The Paper Magician, has been Horizons, and elsewhere. A long-time Idahoan, in every step of the publishing process from optioned by the Walt Disney Company. Her she now lives in Utah with her husband and acquisitions to layout to marketing. When stand-alone novel, Followed by Frost, was four children. https://www.mkhutchins.com she’s not editing, she attends writer’s con- nominated for a 2016 RITA Award for Best Allison K. Hymas received an MFA in ferences to take pitches, give critiques, and Young Adult Romance, her novel The Fifth creative writing from BYU. She is the author talk to aspiring writers about the mysterious Doll won the 2018 Whitney Award for Specu- of the Jeremy Wilderson middle grade crime world of publishing. https://www.editsby​ lative Fiction, and she is the 2020 Writer of series with Aladdin and of the mystery/puz- emma.com the Year for the League of Utah Writers. She zle novel The Explorer’s Code from Imprint/ Cavan Helps is a Utahn and a lifelong is a board member for Deep Magic Ezine. Visit Macmillan. http://www.allisonkhymas.com member of sf/f fandom. He plays Crello on her at www.charlienholmberg.com. http:// James Jakins is the author of seven fan- the D&D gameshow Enter the Hex, has writ- charlienholmberg.com tasy books, five novels and two novellas, and ten a course on game mastering, and is one of G. Scott Huggins is a fantasy and science writes across the subgenre spectrum from the writers of Guardians of Umbra, a Savage fiction author of several dozen short sto- epic to urban to sword and sorcery. He lives Worlds setting.http://dicebuddies.com ries and two novels. He won the Baen Fan- in Utah with his dog and probably too many Benjamin K. Hewett is a NASA man- tasy Adventure Award in 2020 for his story cats. http://jamesjakins.com/ agement analyst who lives in Houston and “Humanslayer” and the runner-up in 2014. Paul A. Jepsen is the lead marketer for the translates English into . . . English in addition He also took second place in Writers of the adventure and scripted drama programming to writing short stories, blog posts, and nov- Future and RevPit. He also has a taste for at BYUtv. He successfully launched four new els. Ben enjoys spending time with his three mashing up Lovecraft with Arthurian myths shows—Holly Hobbie, Malory Towers, Itch, and kids, playing jazz piano, and juggling fire. He and pizza delivery. http://gscotthuggins.com/ Survivalists—in 2020 and directed marketing has a bachelor’s degree in French, a minor in C. H. Hung grew up among the musty book shoots during the thick of the COVID-19 music, and a master’s of public administration. stacks of public libraries, where she found a pandemic on the sets of each. Paul has also https://bkhewett.com/ lifelong love for good stories and lost 20/20 worked as a ghost writer and owns The House Tracy Hickman International and NYT vision for good. She possesses a stubbornly That Lars Built with his wife, Brittany.https:// best-selling author of over seventy books. rational soul intersecting with an irrational thehousethatlarsbuilt.com/ Best known for Dragonlance series with Mar- belief in magic, which means her stories are J. R. Johansson is the author of the Night garet Weis. Director of story for The VOID, often as mixed up as she is melding the plau- Walkers series (Insomnia, Paranoia, and Mania) a location-­based virtual reality company. sible with myth and folklore. Read more at as well as standalone novels Cut Me Free, The https://trhickman.com www.chhung.com. http://www.chhung.com​ Row, and To the Bone. Her books have been Brandon Ho is the creative director at Christopher Husberg is the author of published in over a dozen languages and more Stronger Winds Productions. He has expe- the Chaos Queen quintet (from Titan Books). than twenty countries worldwide. She has a rience in directing award winning feature He spends his time writing, reading, hiking, BS degree in PR and a background in mar- length films and short films and is committed gaming, and mostly hanging out with his wife, keting. She credits her abnormal psychology to building the Utah film scene.http://www ​ Rachel, and daughters, Buffy and Arya. He minor with inspiring many of her characters. .strongerwinds.com/ received an MFA in creative writing from She lives in Utah with two sons, a wonderful Rafael Hohmann is an epic fantasy author BYU, and an honorary PhD in Buffy the husband, three cats, and a hot tub named Val- whose SunRider series has been number one Vampire Slayer from himself. His books have entino. http://www.jrjohansson.com on Amazon. He has helped the fantasy writ- been finalists for and won numerous awards, Allen Johnson is a screenwriter, historic ing community through teaching at conven- including the Utah Arts Contest, the Whit- martial artist, and a fight choreographer/ tions and sharing his knowledge with those ney Award, the David Gemmel Morningstar stunt fighter. Allen has had several screen- who dream of creating their own books. His Award, and the Edward M. Kovel Award. plays and stage plays produced with several works have inspired epic musical composi- http://christopherhusberg.com more in development. He has trained in tions by famous composer Will Musser, and M. K. Hutchins regularly draws on her historic swordplay for almost twenty years his focus on monsters and lore has garnished background in archaeology when writing fic- as well as being a member of the Society of him praise by his peers. https://www.rafael​ tion. She’s the author of the YA fantasy nov- American Fight Directors. He is looking to hohmann.com/ els The Redwood Palace and Drift, which was expand into both nonfiction writing as well Charlie N. Holmberg is a Wall Street Jour- a Junior Library Guild selection. Her short as novel writing in the near future. https:// nal and Amazon best-selling author, whose fiction appears in Analog, Podcastle, Strange reelswords.wixsite.com/allenjohnson

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Consider using a professional for your book design and ebook conversion—less hassle for you and a quality look for your book! Consider using ParkinCat Typography and Book Design to help your book be the best it can be! Typography.ParkinFamily.org L. S. Johnson is the author of the Chase & creating movie magic. Past work includes degree in literature and Harvard Divinity Daniels series of gothic novellas as well as over Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous and Star Trek: School with a graduate degree in theology. He thirty short stories. Her first collection,Vacui Lower Decks. These days she’s storyboarding is currently a Harvard Frank Knox Memorial Magia, won the North Street Book Prize and for Netflix Animation and writing on a secret Traveling fellow, studying twentieth-century was a finalist for the World Fantasy Award. Her series currently on development. http://twit- sexual violence laws and dystopian literature. second collection, Rare Birds, is now available. ter.com/thirdchildart​ Donna Milakovic is a journalist, investiga- Find her online and sign up for her newsletter at Mike Lovins graduated from Utah State tive reporter, and columnist. At Utah Valley www.traversingz.com. https://traversingz.com/ University in 1991 and has been a commercial University (her day job), she oversees profes- Brandon Jones is a lifelong science fiction artist since 1993. He has worked in concept sional writing conferences and workshops and fantasy fan, and the author of The Broken design and storyboards for various compa- and outreach. She is a facilitator and public Man. When he’s not telling his own stories, nies and now spends his focus on his creator- speaker. Previous to joining UVU, she worked he’s on the constant lookout for his next read- owned comic book We Go Anywhere. https:// in commercializing robotics and IoT technol- ing obsession. wix.com/mlovins/mlillustration ogy at Utah Science Technology and Research Christopher J. H. Jones is the author of Tom Lower Amateur cartographer and Agency (USTAR). She has an MBA from ten books (so far), ranging from historical actor; working on building my cartography UVU and a BA in English from BYU. true-crime novels to nonfiction business portfolio on DeviantArt. Mark Minson has published a three-book books on marketing and communications. Barbara Lund won first place in the 2020 series that started as a writing prompt activ- He is also the acquisitions editor at Drabatic Quarter 1 Writers of the Future contest. She ity. An eclectic reader of genres https://novel​ Press. He teaches history, logic, and rhetoric has been a police officer for seventeen years mage.wordpress.com at Mount Liberty College and civics and his- and a martial arts practitioner for twenty-two. James Minz has worked in genre publish- tory at Liahona Preparatory Academy and is She has indie published five novels and more ing for more than twenty-five years, first at Tor the founder of the Education Underground. than twenty short stories and had a short story for more than a decade, then briefly at Del Rey, Chris lives in Lehi with his longsuffering wife, traditionally published in Daily Science Fiction. until finally, on the centennial of Robert A. Jeanette, and whichever of their eight chil- You can find her lurking on various social Heinlein’s birth, landing at Baen Books, where dren are home. https://iamchrisjones.com media sites or more easily at barbaralund.com. he is currently executive editor and subsidiary A lifelong reader and storyteller, Ariadne http://www.barbaralund.com rights director. http://www.baen.com Kane is the author of The Eleventh Finger and Dr. John K. Lundwall holds a doctorate in L. E. Modesitt Jr. is the New York Times the Pirate in the Attic as well as several short comparative myth and religious studies. He is best-selling author of more than seventy stories. She has a passion for learning that led the general editor on an academic journal, a novels, including the Saga of Recluse and The to jobs as an educator and researcher. When founding board member for the Utah Valley Imager Portfolio, and more than fifty stories. she is not writing, she enjoys reading about Astronomy Club, and the project leader of the His first story was published in Analog in US history, Egyptology, and folklore. http:// Archaeoastronomy Project of Fremont Indian 1973, and now his novels have sold millions ariadnekane.weebly.com/ State Park. He is a published author and lec- of copies in the United States and worldwide. Paul Kearney Professional novelist of turer and leads tours to sacred sites around https://www.lemodesittjr.com/ twenty-nine years’ standing. the world. http://www.johnlundwall.com Born in southern Arizona, Jonathan Renae Kingsley is a jill-of-all-trades. Her Alpheus Madsen is a mathematician who LaForce spent his formative years in north- many roles in life have included being a board pretends to be a software developer. He has ern Los Angeles County before moving to member of two nonprofit groups, professional worked on systems for electric vehicle parts, Texas at the age of nineteen. Two years later, magician, international humanitarian, busi- sales lead analysis, customer and technician he enlisted in the USMC and found him- ness owner, artist, home school mother of tracking, and cryptocurrency apps. self stationed in Hawaii. Had it not been so four, creativity coach, body artist, interfaith Erika (Kuta) Marler is innately curious expensive, he’d have stayed in Hawaii at the advocate, character performer, art teacher, and has picked up an assortment of facts and end of his enlistment. He once again lives in and youth mentor. She creates environments anecdotes over the years and researches any- the glorious state of Texas, where he enjoys where creativity flourishes and empowers thing she has an interest in. She has a unique making good barbecue, drinking Dr Pepper others to confidently reach their potential. perspective into the publishing world. As and writing stories. https://www.amazon​ Skye Larsen designs tabletop games and the CEO of Heads and Tails Publishing. She .com/Jonathan-LaForce/e/B08CFY9L8F helps other designers with their craft. He assists authors and other creatives in pro- Heather B. Monson is a technical writer helps produce the popular Game Design Round ducing amazing shared universes. She has for a living and a mom for life. In her not-so- Table podcast, and he also does freelance writ- had extensive experience across the country spare time, she also costumes, edits, carves ing, edits game rulebooks, and helps designers helping readers connect with their favorite stuff, and manages to finish the occasional with game development. https://skyelarsen​ authors and finding new loves. https://www​ story (just don’t look at that pile of unfin- .wordpress.com/ .kutamarler.com/ ished outlines . . .). She used to be an active Jess Lindsay has been attending LTUE Allie May is a dog lover, mom, and Dr Pep- participant in local theatre and LARPs, and since she was in diapers, and is an avid reader. per addict who turns her caffeine-fueled hopes to get back to them someday. http:// She loves writing, theater, and making cos- dreams into believable fiction. She fell in love heatherbmonson.com tumes. She takes turns running D&D cam- with the impossible at a young age and has been Joe Monson edited A Universe of Stories paigns with her regular group, and takes her telling stories (some fiction, some mostly non- and coedited Trace the Stars, A Dragon and husband everywhere. fiction) ever since. She has been published in Her Girl, and Twilight Tales. He has published Megan Lloyd is a story artist and screen- five anthologies.https://alliemay author.com​ short stories in a variety of publications and is writer for animation. This makes her one of Adam McLain graduated from Brigham working on a space opera trilogy set two thou- the first wizards on-call when it comes to Young University with an undergraduate sand years in the future. He lives in the tops

11 of the mountains with his wife, three children, creatives how to lead a complete and suc- loves helping authors tell their stories and pub- and their pet library. http://joemonson.com/ cessful life through his teaching academy and lish their writing. When she’s not reading or Frank Morin is a storyteller, an outdoor podcast The Complete Creative. http://thecom​ editing, she enjoys being a stay-at-home mom enthusiast, and an eager traveler. He is the pletecreative.com/​ to an adorable one-year-old boy. https://brit​ author of fast-paced grab-you-by-the-eye- Rowan North is a freelance mixed media tanympassmore.wixsite.com/passmoreedits balls-and-don’t-let-go adventures, including illustrator who focuses on bringing fantasies Ben Pistorius is a voice actor, writer, and The Petralist, his epic teen fantasy series, full to life and inspiring others to express them- storyteller in the Salt Lake area. While they of explosive magic, huge adventure, and bril- selves. She is outspoken on mental health have worked in many different things from liant humor. Frank also writes The Facetakers, awareness, and is always trying new ways to fast food to residential treatment, they’re fast-action historical fantasy thrillers. Frank show her own creativity. https://www.rowan​ now pursuing their main passion, storytelling. lives in Oregon with his lovely wife and four northillustrations.org/ Ben is Dee-ni’, a member of the Confederated kids, who are all brutal critics but die-hard John M. Olsen has written the Riland Tribes of Siletz, and loves to share their stories fans. http://www.frankmorin.org Throne YA fantasy trilogy and has published in whatever form they can. William L. Munn is a writer, game over twenty-five short stories. He won the Emma Preston is an amateur writer and designer, and lover of fantastical stories. Will DragonComet short story competition in seamstress with a particular interest in his- has written and produced roleplaying games 2018 with “When Words Fail” and has writ- torical clothing styles and old-fashioned sew- for Gallant Knight Games and Adept Icarus, ten stories for and edited award winning ing techniques. Her particular interest is in including Zorro the Roleplaying Game and anthologies. He is the president of the League how historical and social contexts influence Arium. He’s also contributed to the TinyD6 of Utah Writers and loves to encourage writ- the ways people dress, speak, and otherwise and Cold Shadows lines of RPGs. https:// ers (especially local authors) to excel. https:// go about their daily lives—and how to predict liamwrites.com/​ johnmolsen.blogspot.com/ those changes as we move into the future. She Mari Murdock is a tabletop gaming con- Peter Orullian is a published novelist and also has professional credentials as a speech- tent and fiction writer based in Utah. She short story writer as well as a professional language pathology assistant, with college is probably best known for her work on the musician and composer. He has published degrees related to linguistics and communi- game Legend of the Five Rings, having written epic fantasy with Tor and is currently col- cative disorders. the Scorpion Clan novella Whispers of Shadow laborating with Brandon Sanderson on an Charlie Pulsipher is a were-author, card- and Steel and other L5R fiction. She has also urban fantasy series. He also recently wrote board artist, velociraptor impersonator, and had a smattering of fiction and gaming con- a full touring show in the vein of Trans- collector of odd sentences. He plans on sur- tent published by Gallant Knight Games, Siberian Orchestra which combines music viving the apocalypse that will start when dust Green Ronin Publishing, and Heads & Tails and narrative in The Bell Ringer. https://www​ bunnies revolt against their vacuum cleaner Publishing. https://marimurdock.com/ .orullian.com masters. He writes science fiction and fantasy Nic Nelson is the catalyst for Wordsmith James A. Owen is an artist, author, and that make up for any tendencies to nibble on Writing Coaches and a frequent modera- genius from Arizona. http://jamesaowen.com/ people. But his ultimate goal is to flood the tor and speaker for the Greater Los Angeles L. Palmer is the author of The Pippington world with empathy. http://charlie​ pulsipher.​ Writers Society. Nic serves as a poetry and Tales, where motorcars bump down old city com fiction judge for Word Weaver’s Tapestry lanes and fairy godmothers are disguised as Jared Quan is a writer/gamer/Twitch Awards, leads the SLAKE and PRESS writ- high-society gossips. In between exploring streamer. Including nonfiction writing for ers’ groups, and has edited more than a dozen fantasy worlds, L. Palmer works in public ser- Sports Illustrated and Yahoo. Fiction/fantasy successfully published books. Nic enjoys the vice and lives in South Texas. She is an award- works include Changing Wax, Last Outpost on English language in all its idiosyncratic glory winning speaker and has lunch with dragons Zombie Highway, and award-winning Prepped. and loves helping people wield it well. https:// every Tuesday. For more visit: lpalmerchron- In leadership for the League of Utah Writ- wordsmithwritingcoaches.com/our-team-2/ icles.com https://lpalmerchronicles.com ers, Storymakers, CASWJ, EMAA, BWN, Newell Wright is a professor of interna- Dylan Parker is a cohost on PUCL, a Poké- TEDxSaltLakeCity. He has received awards tional business and marketing and longtime mon podcast, as well as a freelance editor for from the president of the United States, Utah reader of SF and fantasy. https://www.face​ both audio and visual mediums. A spin-off State governor and lt. governor. http://www​ book.com/newell.wright show, PUCL PTU, takes a live-play approach .jaredquan.com/ Born and raised in Anchorage, M. A. to the fandom. https://www.facebook.com/ J. D. Raisor is a best-selling author whose Nichols is a lifelong Alaskan, though she did PUCLPodcast/about/ professional writing experience includes fan- take a hiatus for a few years in Utah to get Scott R. Parkin is an award-winning tasy, science fiction, grant writing, and gaming. a fancy university education. She’s an eclec- author with more than fifty short story sales Miranda Renae spent much of her child- tic reader, so she became an eclectic author to a wide variety of markets including fantasy, hood avoiding reading. Letters were nothing of fantasy, sci-fi, and historical romance for sf, slice-of-life, romance, horror, and military more than a jumbled mess. One day her dad young adults and adults. For more informa- sf. He is a recent winner in the Writers of the gave her the novel he had just finished reading. tion, visit her website at www.ma-nichols.com. Future Contest and is working on his second It was full of suspense and horror like she’d https://www.ma-nichols.com/ novel. He is also a cohost on the Stories for only seen in movies—only so much better. Russell Nohelty is a USA Today best-­ Nerds podcast. https://www.amazon.com/ From that day on she devoured the written selling author, speaker, and six-figure creative Scott-R-Parkin/e/B00CPCR8UQ word. No genre was safe. When Miranda isn’t entrepreneur. He’s raised over $180,000 on Brittany Passmore is a freelance editor reading or writing, you can find her taking Kickstarter, built a mailing list of over twenty who specializes in fantasy and science fiction. care of a pack of foster kittens or cuddling her thousand people, and exhibited at more She recently graduated from BYU, where she two cats, Hettie and Courage the cowardly cat. than 150 events since 2016. Now, he teaches earned a BA in editing and publishing. She https://www.miranda​ renae.com/​

12 Kaela Rivera was raised to believe in will- o-the-wisps and el chupacabra, but now she Art Show and Artists Alley writes about them from her home in the Wild West. Her debut novel, Cece Rios and the Des- ert of Souls, comes out from Harper Children’s The LTUE Art Show displays a wide variety of art by artists both familiar to on April 13, 2021. When she’s not crafting sto- our community and taking their first steps in showing their work. Participants ries, she’s using her BA in English from BYU-I as an editor for a marketing company. https:// in this year’s show include a number of LTUE presenters and panelists, as well www.kaelarivera.com/​ as other local artists. To see their work, go through our online portal at ltue.net Analise Rodriguez is currently studying under the Participate menu. Remember to vote for your favorites! anthropology at Utah Valley University and is a budding archaeologist who is training to The Artists Alley will return next year in person! be the next Lara Croft. When she’s not exca- vating ancient ruins, you can find her back- packing abroad. https://www.facebook.com/ productions. She has experience with public will have a fantasy anthology published Col- profile.php?id=1539016309 speaking, video and audio recording, finishing lective Fantasy. Both anthologies are primarily Fascinated by magic since pinecones could and mastering, as well as author branding and local authors. https://www.edit​ing​mee.com/ be fireballs, C. R. Rowenson is a blogger and marketing. https://layavsmith.com/ Eric G. Swedin is a professor of History writing coach who studies magic building like I’m Emily Martha Sorensen, and I write at Weber State University. His doctorate is others study oil painting. His prime directive clean fantasy books that’ll make you grin. My in the history of science and technology. His is to help storytellers of all kinds of craft and characters are quick on their feet, clever, and publications include numerous articles, six repair the magic systems in their stories and you looking for a way to solve the problem before history books, four science fiction novels, and can visit crrowenson.com to witness, fuel, or the villain wins. Sometimes they get a roman- a historical mystery novel. His When Angels join in his obsession. https://crrowen​ son.com/​ tic interest. Sometimes they don’t. Sometimes Wept: A What-If History of the Cuban Missile Art Scheel is a former marine turned they just get to smack stupid people upside the Crisis won the 2010 Sidewise Award for Alter- software engineer with a background in digi- head. I’ve been known to write about snarky nate History. Eric lives with his family in a tal security and a penchant for firearms and heroines, fairy tales, and baby dragons in the house built in 1881. http://swedin.org/ things that explode. When he’s not playing 1920s. http://www.emilymarthaso​ ren​ sen.com​ Scott E. Tarbet’s speculative fiction sto- with his kids, he’s soaking up the latest sf/f. Robert Starling has been working as a ries have garnered multiple awards, critical Sarah E. Seeley is a fantasy, sci-fi, and writer/producer/director in film and televi- acclaim, and entertained a burgeoning fan- horror author and an affiliate member of the sion for almost fifty years. He’s been employed base. He writes in several genres, including Horror Writers Association. She has a MSc in at almost every level of media from a small steampunk, fantasy, paranormal, techno- paleobiology and paleolithic archaeology and market TV station to a regional PBS affiliate thriller, and historical fiction. http://www. loves exploring the science of human origins. to a major national network (NBC) and at scotttarbet.timp.net http://www.slithersofthought.com several film production companies. He also Mike Thayer is a proud father of three, Jess Smart Smiley is an author/illustra- worked for eighteen years in corporate TV lucky husband of one, passionate author, bud- tor, creating family-friendly children’s books, production, including nine years as a writer/ ding podcaster, lifelong gamer, viral blogger, comics, and graphic novels. Jess regularly producer for the LDS Church. Robert pro- degreed engineer, decent impressionist, inept hosts workshops and presentations at schools, duced the first student film for class credit at hunter, erstwhile jock, and nerd. He has cast a libraries, and bookstores, and loves to learn BYU in 1971. ring on the slopes of Mt. Doom, eaten a feast at through pictures and stories. Morgan Steinagel is a digital marketer, the Green Dragon Inn, cemented Excalibur in Brennan “Talonos” Smith, an MS in CS filmmaker, and YouTube producer. Morgan a sandstone block, tasted butter beer in Diagon with an emphasis in game design, helped found has generated millions of views for his cli- Alley, built a secret door to his storage room, the BYU games program with his thesis adviser. ents and produced content for industry lead- and written a few fantasy books. What else is He supported himself through that period ers such as Homie, Operation Underground left really?http://thetechnowizard books.com​ making Minecraft modpacks on commission Railroad, One Voice Children’s Choir, and Brad R. Torgersen recently won the for the Technic team. In the past year, Bren- Lindsey Stirling. https://morgansfilms.com/ Dragon Award presented by the famous nan’s group of friends formed a small game Elizabeth Suggs is the owner of Editing DragonCon convention in Atlanta, Georgia. studio, Space Heater Games, which released its Mee, a business that brings authors to mar- A science fiction writer at night, and Army first game, Final Winter. He also self-published ket. She has also worked in marketing at Hen Reserve chief warrant officer on weekends, an anime-inspired romantic comedy novel House Ventures, SoFi, and the League of Utah Brad is a military veteran who writes science called Catgirl in the Pantry under the pen name Writers. Elizabeth leads two different groups fiction stories for publishers such as Baen Scott Sinclair.http://www.talonos.net (one group in spec fiction and the other in Books and magazines like Analog Science Laya V. Smith is the author of The Lumber- romance) of writers through biweekly work- Fiction & Fact. Married for over twenty-five mill, a dark Noir thriller published by Black shops on feedback and focused writing. She years, Brad lives in the Intermountain West. Rose Writing (September 2020). She has been believes these meetings help writers under- http://www.bradrtorgersen.com/ published academically and is the coauthor of stand themselves in the world and better pre- Christine Tyler is a sf/f author and artist. Discovery English, an internationally utilized, pare them for major publishers. Elizabeth has Her stories have (literally) taken her across multimedia ESL textbook. Laya also works as helped an author publish a children’s book the Sahara on the back of a camel, sky high on an audiobook narrator and producer and has Quincey’s Questions and headed a horror anthol- aerial silks, and aboard an eighteenth-­century been involved with twnety-plus professional ogy Collective Darkness. In summer 2021, she tall ship. Her fiction has been published in

13 Beneath Ceaseless Skies and Podcastle, and she is book, The Warning, was cowritten with James Brian Wiser is a producer of books, films, a graduate of the Odyssey Writing Workshop. Patterson and was a New York Times best seller games, and events. Best known for the Firefly https://www.christinetyler.com/ for five weeks.http://www.robisonwells.com documentary Done the Impossible, he was an Joe Vasicek fell in love with science fiction David J. West writes dark fantasy and extra in Joss Whedon’s Serenity and brought and fantasy when he read The Neverending weird westerns because the voices in his head Firefly cast aboard his Browncoat Cruise con- Story as a child. He is the author of more than won’t quiet until someone else can hear them. vention. Brian is an Apple historian, design- twenty books, including Genesis Earth, Gun- He is a great fan of sword and sorcery, ghosts, ing and editing retro computer/gaming books slinger to the Stars, The Sword Keeper, and the and lost ruins, so of course he lives in Utah at CallAPPLE.org. He has interviewed and Sons of the Starfarers series. As a young man, with his wife and children. http://www.twit​ worked with many luminaries. https://www​ he studied Arabic at Brigham Young Univer- ter.com@David_JWest .callapple.org sity and traveled across the Middle East and Heike Westendorf is a German fantasy Johnny Worthen is an award-winning, the Caucasus Mountains. He lives in Utah writer and professional translator. She’s done best-selling, multiple-genre, tie-dye wearing with his wife, daughter, and two apple trees. translations of fantasy and science fiction sto- author, voyager, and damn fine human being! http://onelowerlight.com/writing ries, worked as a professional translator, and Trained in stand-up comedy, modern liter- Heidi Voss has written award-winning has been traditionally published in the Ger- ary criticism, and cultural studies, he writes short stories and her debut novel, Frogman’s man short story market. One of her short upmarket fiction long and short and men- Response, will be released later this year. In the story translations won the German Marburg tors where he can. He is a Utah Writer of the fantasy world, Heidi portrays a bard in the Award in 2019. Heike holds communications Year and sitting president of the League of Dungeons and Dragons podcast Epic Com- degrees from universities in the US and Spain. Utah Writers. When not writing or haunting moner. In the real world, Heidi is currently Fac- She lives in Germany. conferences and conventions, he is a writing tum MMA’s undefeated female Brazilian Jiu Mason Wheeler discovered computer instructor at the University of Utah. http:// Jitsu champion. She has a bachelor’s degree in programming in the third grade and imme- johnnyworthen.com/index.html English and has developed writing workshops diately thought, “with this I could build my Daniel R. Yocom does geeky things at based on her honors thesis about keeping read- own video games!” Thus began a lifelong quest night because his day job won’t let him. This ers riveted in fiction. Follow her on Twitter @ for knowledge and skill that led him all over dates back to the 1960s through games, books, rarevoss. https://www.authorheidivoss.com/​ the programming industry. Today he runs his movies, and stranger things better shared Bobbie Berendson W. is a student of art, own game publisher, Stormhunter Studios, in small groups. He’s written hundreds of culture, and history and is a life-long observer building indie games that he hopes people will articles about these topics for his own blog, of the world. She strives to bring a sense of fun enjoy. http://stormhunterstudios.com other websites, and magazines after extensive to everything she does, especially illustration Stanley Wheeler writes across several research along with short stories. His research and custom jewelry making. She specializes in genres, including flintlock fantasy, noir detec- includes attending conventions, sharing on pen and ink in the fantasy, horror, and Victo- tive, and western. He has written seven books, panels and presentations, and road-tripping rian steampunk genres with a lot of love put three of which are part of a flintlock fantasy with his wife. Join him at guildmastergaming​ into illustrating bones, costumes, and dresses. series. He has developed several unpublished .blogspot.com. https://guildmastergaming​ She lives in Utah with a house full of family, fantasy and historical games. He frequently .blogspot.com/ friends, felines, and one very crowded studio. interviews other fantasy authors on his blog. Bryan Young is an award-winning novel- https://www.metallicvisions.com Amy White is an ardent student of the ist, screenwriter, filmmaker, comics writer, and Devri Walls is a US and international best- Farmer System of Story Analysis; aka Crack- journalist and has written for starwars.com, selling author. Having released seven novels to ing the Story Code. Amy is one the few Star Wars Insider, Syfy/Film, Huffington Post, date, she specializes in all things fantasy and instructors that teach Cracking the Story and many others. His most recent works take paranormal. She is an in-demand speaker and Code. A retired librarian, Amy puts her place in the universes of Robotech and Battle­ panelist, having appeared as a panelist at San knowledge in children’s literature and script Tech. He teaches writing at conferences across Diego Comic Con and the keynote speaker for analysis to good use as an impassioned Story the country and at the University of Utah’s Boise Book Fest. Devri is so grateful for oppor- Code instructor. Amy is the author of the Continuing Education program. http://www​ tunities that allow her to help her fellow writ- hilarious and informative Amazon #1 new .swankmotron.com ers along the path. Book three in her extremely release Dressing the Naked Hand. Contact Though Michael D. Young grew up traveling popular Venators series released September Amy via Second-Sight-Studio.com https:// the world with his military father, he now 2020. https://www.devriwalls.com www.second-sight-studio.com/ lives in Utah with his wife, Jen, and his two Bruce F. Webster Specialist in large-scale IT Award winning author of urban fantasy sons. He played for several years with the projects (http://bfwa.com). Adjunct profes- and paranormal romance. Vampires, Greek handbell choir Bells on Temple Square and sor (CS) at BYU. Author/editor of published gods, and a bit of freak-show fun for everyone. is now a member of the Tabernacle Choir fiction. Trying to make IT work since 1974. Jenn Windrow loves characters who have a at Temple Square. He is the author of the http://brucefwebster.com pinch of spunk, a dash of attitude, and a large ­novels in The Canticle Kingdom series, The Robison Wells is the author of Variant, dollop of sex appeal. Top it all off with a huge Last Archangel series, the Chess Quest series Feedback, Blackout, Deadzone, Dark Energy, heaping helping of snark, and you’ve got the and the Penultimate Dawn cycle (The Hun- and Airships of Camelot. Variant was a Publish- ingredients for the kind of fast-paced stories ger) as well as the nonfiction workThe Song ers Weekly Best Book, a YALSA Quick Pick for she loves to read and write. http://jennwind​ ​ of the Righteous. https://www.amazon.com/ Reluctant Readers, and a best seller. His latest row.com Michael-Young/e/B003HCB8AE

14 Listing of Events with Participants

See the web site for any last-minute changes. Want a mobile-friendly, up-to-date, customizable version of the schedule? Find the LTUE app in an app store near you! Mark your favorities and build your own schedule.

Thursday, February 11, 2021 How to Fake Reality for the flourishing of the body and mind. Even Costume and Cosplay: differences and simi- in normal times, it can be hard to find rest or relaxation, and the last year has been every- 3:00 PM (Thurs.) larities. How to convincingly fake reality and make it work for your real audience. (Art, thing but normal. Learn from creators how Cinematography and Lighting Basics: J Christensen room) they fight to find rest, relaxation, and refuge Lighting, Blocking and Filming Key Scenes and avoid the pitfalls of burnout. (Profes- V. J. O. Gardner (M); Analise Rodriguez Make your films more startling and dramatic sional Development, O Butler room) by using best practices and getting the right Illustrations: Just for Kids’ Books? Allison K. Hymas; Allie May; Brad R. Torg- balance between these three elements of film Children’s literature is rife with illustrations, ersen (M); Nicholas P. Adams; Ann Gimpel making. (Theatre & Media Arts, M Shelley from the cartoonish and surreal to whimsi- room) cal and charming. Deluxe editions of many Making Your Notebook/Sketchbook Work for You! Ann Chamberlin (M); Laya V. Smith; Mor- works include art, from maps to illustrations Getting the most out of a notebook or sketch- gan Steinagel; Brandon Ho; Robert Starling to in-world sketches. Even Brandon Sander- son’s Stormlight Archive series has included book to generate, cultivate, and understand Creator Chat with Tom Durham in-world art from one of the main charac- your ideas for stories, worlds, characters, and An informal chat with one of our Special ters. Come for a discussion on the use of art more. (Art, J Christensen room) Guests. A small group of people will have beyond the book cover! (Professional Devel- Jess Smart Smiley an intimate discussion about whatever top- opment, O Butler room) Pandemic! (or How Diseases Spread) ics you want to discuss. All sessions will be Emily Martha Sorensen; Joe Monson (M); This is a rebroadcast of a panel from LTUE held in a private chat room this year. Sign ups Rowan North will be posted the morning of the chat. Space 2017. Panelists included: Daniel Friend, Erin is limited to twelve; first come, first served. Plot-Structure Overview Kearsley, Derick William Dalton, and Carrie (Special event, J Verne room) Three-act, seven-act, hero’s journey, etc. Harris. (Worldbuilding, JRR Tolkien room) Which of the many plot structures does your Tom Durham Playtesting Board Games story fit into? (Writing, CS Lewis room) Economic Systems in Game Design Playtesting board games is a very important Mark Minson (M); Justin T. Call; Brandon step in the development process. Getting good When designing a game, figuring out the eco- Jones; Amy White; Christopher Husberg nomics in the game system is an important feedback is vital to ensure the playtest is effec- step. Deciding what the important resources 4:00 PM (Thurs.) tive in improving your game. What is the best are in the game system determines many of the The Adult Books of Roald Dahl way to ensure that the communications with your play testers are worthwhile? (Gaming, important decisions made while playing. What Roald Dahl is well known for his children’s G Gygax room) are the tips when designing this portion of your books, but his many adult books are less widely M game system? (Gaming, G Gygax room) known. Come explore his works and what Justin T. Call; Skye Larsen; L. Palmer ( ); John M. Olsen (M); Brennan “Talonos” Smith; makes them great. (Books, U LeGuin room) Daniel R. Yocom Skye Larsen; Bruce F. Webster Richie Franklin (M); Jessica Day George; Nat- Sn*pe Kills D******** (To Kill or not to Kill Finding and Working with Alpha/Beta alie Brianne a Main Character) Readers Coffee, Tea, Me: The Culture of Drink- When is killing a main character good/bad? Alpha and beta readers put new eyes on a story ing Coffee and Tea (Writing, CS Lewis room) for a fresh perspective. Learn about what it’s Coffee and tea are common drinks through- V. J. O. Gardner; Rafael Hohmann; Devri M like to work with them from those who have out the world. Many places have ceremo- Walls; Robert J Defendi; Drea Gryphon ( ); done so. (Editing, A McCaffrey room) nies, rituals, and traditions, both formal and Amy White Charlie N. Holmberg; Max Florschutz; Els informal, that revolve around these drinks. Who Does What: Agents, Editors, Copy- M Curtis; Elizabeth Suggs ( ); Julie Wright What are these traditions, and how do they editors, Proofreaders vary from time to place around the world? The Future of Fantasy When you publish a book, you’ll find lots of (Worldbuilding, D Adams room) What trends do we see now in fantasy that people dipping their hands into it. Come lis- Kristy S. Gilbert; Christine Tyler; Newell ten to professionals unravel the roles of all the tell us where the genre is going? What trends M in the past may affect where fantasy is going? Wright ( ); Alaya Dawn Johnson different people who help put your book into (Books, U LeGuin room) Making Time: Finding Refuge and Rest the hands of readers. (Editing, A McCaffrey room) Rafael Hohmann; Joe Vasicek (M); Robert J From the most ancient days of mankind, we Defendi; Alex Harrow; Jessica Day George; Alaya have recognized the necessity of rest, of peace, Troy Lambert; Emma Heggem; Kenny Bald- M Dawn Johnson win ( ); Jim Minz; Julie Wright; Holli Anderson

15 5:00 PM (Thurs.) that irritating inner critic and push through Copyediting for Immersive Worldbuilding the frustration to find success in your writing You’ve built a world for your story, but have A Coronavirus Debriefing: Evaluating career. (Writing, CS Lewis room) you thought about how to present that Responses to COVID-19 M. A. Nichols world’s elements on the page? Not all dragons After more than a year of dealing withCOVID - must be Dragons, and imaginary worlds feel Optimizing for Google SEO 19, we can look back and see what went wrong, more real with internal consistency. Learn what went right, and what we still don’t know The first step to building an audience is get- how to use capitalization, italics, and linguis- about what we should do. How can we use ting your work in front of prospective fans. tic consistency to help immerse readers in these different responses in fiction? (World- With a smartphone in almost every hand and your world the way your characters experi- building, JRR Tolkien room) electronic storefronts available in an instant, ence it. Then learn how to communicate your Eric Swedin; Keith Haus (M); Donna Mila- connecting with that audience is theoretically choices to any editors you work with on your kovic; J. Anne Campanile easier than ever . . . if you can find a way to book, whether you’re self-publishing or using get in the top search results for those would- The Dark Night of the Soul a traditional publisher. (Editing, A McCaf- be fans! While theoretical rivals such as Bing frey room) Not the story beat, but your personal struggle or Duck Duck Go exist in the search-engine Kristy S. Gilbert of writing a movie script or a novel, and how space, Google remains the undisputed king. to overcome self-doubt. (Theatre & Media Come learn about optimizing your web pres- A Critical Introduction to Latter-day Saint Arts, M Shelley room) ence for searchability! (Professional Develop- Speculative Fiction Michaelbrent Collings; Lani Forbes; Brandon ment, O Butler room) A survey of criticism and central texts to the M Ho ( ) Troy Lambert literary history of Latter-day Saint science fic- tion and fantasy literature. This presentation Edgar Rice Burroughs: Early American Roll for Game Design: Making Your Own serves as an introduction to the call for sub- Pulp Fiction TTRPG missions to an edited collection of essays on Burroughs is said to have inspired the likes of Designing and testing TTRPG systems. (Gam- Mormonism and SF for (https:// Jack Vance, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, SFRA Review ing, G Gygax room) sfrareview.org/2020/08/11/51-3-cfp/). (Aca- Robert A. Heinlein, and Carl Sagan. Come Ravyn Evermore demics, D Adams room) explore how his works have inspired many of the authors we love. (Books, U LeGuin room) A Theater of the Mind: Minifigs in Gaming Adam McLain Mari Murdock; Richie Franklin; Beth Buck Enhancing gameplay and finding the right Dragons, Dragons, Dragons!!! (M); Jared Garrett ogre for your team. How to collect and cre- What about dragons? How effectively are they ate minifigures that aren’t just your favorite, used to embody greed? How are they used to How Do You Know a Manuscript Is Ready but broaden your game board. (Art, J Chris- for Editing? embody forces of nature? What other ways tensen room) have dragons been used, either effectively or For authors, how to know when to find a sub- Tom Lower; James Eck; D. J. Butler not? (Art, J Christensen room) stantive editor and/or copyeditor. For editors, M how to know when a manuscript is ready for 6:00 PM (Thurs.) V. J. O. Gardner ( ); Charlie Pulsipher; Kai- tlund Zupanic; James A. Owen you versus when it needs to go back to the Alaya Dawn Johnson Keynote author for another draft. (Editing, A McCaf- Come hear from our guest of honor! (Special Games with Historical Settings frey room) event, D Adams room) Historical games can be especially tricky to C. M. Adler; C. H. Hung; Julie Wright; Brit- Alaya Dawn Johnson design because accuracy to real-world situa- tany Passmore (M); Nic Nelson tions is a concern. Concentrating too much 7:00 PM (Thurs.) Loving the Bad Boy/Girl: Villain on historical accuracy can also be a mistake, Romances A Beginner’s Guide to Social-Media as it can create game-play situations that are too realistic for most players to enjoy. How Healthy versus unhealthy relationships, the Marketing do you balance historical accuracy with brutal hero and villain relationship, and relation- An overview on the basics of leveraging social- realism? (Gaming, G Gygax room) ships other than the hero and villain. (Writ- media marketing. (Professional Development, ing, D Adams room) O Butler room) Cavan Helps; Ravyn Evermore; Keith Haus; Stanley Wheeler; Daniel R. Yocom (M) Stan Crowe; Elizabeth Suggs; Jenn Windrow; Alex Harrow M Jessica Day George; Laya V. Smith ( ); Mongo CIA Street Smarts for Women: Helping The Plowshare and the Sword: Finding Balance between Soldiers and Farmers Never, Never, Never Give Up Women Avoid Abuse Using CIA Skills and It’s difficult to win a war when you don’t have Everyone struggles with self-doubt in their Techniques enough soldiers on the battle field. However, writing career. Sometimes it’s just small Join Brent Foley as he shares tips from his it’s difficult to supply those soldiers if you don’t moments while you’re writing, like when book “CIA Street Smarts for Women”. Learn have enough farmers in THEIR fields, because you’re struggling to put words on the page about recognizing a predator’s ploys, knowing they are off fighting wars! How does a ruler because you’re worrying that it’s no good. when women are vulnerable, using elicitation find the right balance between soldiers and Sometimes it’s much bigger, like being crip- techniques to uncover a man’s intentions, farmers? (Worldbuilding, JRR Tolkien room) pled with a fear of failure or feeling like it’s breaking up with someone in a safe manner, time to give up because you can’t get your and more. (Writing, CS Lewis room) Shannon Babb; Brandon Jones; Gordon E. M writing career off the ground no matter what Brent Foley Frye; Mongo ( ); L. E. Modesitt Jr. you do. Come learn about how to overcome

16 Screenwriting—Write What You Know: Unicorns and Dragons What’s a Creator Chat? This panel covers a tongue-in-cheek approach to screenwriting about what we don’t know. “Write what you know” is a phrase often used, and mis- A creator chat (previously known as a kaffeeklatsch) is an informal chat, gen- used. If we only write what we know, we would erally around coffee or (in our case) cocoa (bring your own this year!). Sign up never write or have movies about unicorns and to have a conversation with some of our special guests. Space is limited; first dragons. How to extrapolate what you know so you can apply it to what you don’t know in a way come, first served. Sign up in the Jules Verne room on Discord. that will make sense and be believable. (Theatre & Media Arts, M Shelley room) Thursday Saturday Allen Johnson; Blake Casselman; Brandon Ho 9:00 aM Troy Lambert M 3:00 PM Tom Durham ( ); Tom Durham; Melinda M. Snodgrass noon Kevin J. Anderson Friday 8:00 PM (Thurs.) 3:00 PM Jessica Day George All the Voices in Your Head: One Plot 10:00 aM Ravyn Evermore 5:00 PM Julie Wright from Different Points of View 11:00 aM Kaitlund Zupanic 6:00 PM Melinda M. Snodgrass Different people can see very different things, 5:00 PM Kristy S. Gilbert even when they are looking at the exact same 7:00 PM Alaya Dawn Johnson scene. Add insight to character and plot with another point of view. (Writing, CS Lewis room) V. J. O. Gardner; Emma Heggem (M); Charlie Creator Chats and Game Demos Pulsipher; Devri Walls; J. Anne Campanile Dungeon-Crawler Nostalgia How did old games like Wizardry, The Bard’s All of the LTUE events in the Jules Verne room will be held in this section of Tale, Gauntlet, and Dungeon Master influ- the LTUE Discord server rather than in a livestream. These are informal sit- ence later dungeon crawls? Join us as we remember some of the classics of PC and con- down chats in which you can talk directly with creators, and as such, admit- sole gaming. (Gaming, G Gygax room) tance is limited. James Eck; Robert J Defendi (M); Brennan To sign up for a slot in one of these exclusive events, please react to the fol- “Talonos” Smith; Brian Wiser lowing messages with the appropriate emoji for the event you’re interested in. Film Festival (2 hours) If any slots remain for that event, reacting will grant you access to the voice (Theatre & Media Arts, D Adams room) channel in which that event will occur, and it will appear within the Jules Verne Garbage Collection: Cleaning Up Gram- Room category in the channels list. If an event is full, you will still be able to mar and Punctuation react, but the voice channel will not become available to you. The maximum Cleaning up your manuscript involves a lot capacity of each event is listed alongside their entries below. of picky details. When should grammar and punctuation be the focus? (Editing, A McCaf- Please note that which emojis are associated with each event may not dis- frey room) play properly on the Mac version of Discord. If this is the case, and you would Kaela Rivera; Beth Buck; Chris Jones; Brittany like to sign up for an event, please post in the #q-and-a channel to have a vol- Passmore (M) unteer help you. How to Use Layers in Digital Art The ups and downs of tastefully layering your digital art. (Art, J Christensen room) Dan Haring listen to experts discuss what sets these dif- not harder, when submitting, to save yourself ferent depictions apart and what brings them time and a flood of unnecessary rejection letters. The Making of a Musical together. (Books, U LeGuin room) (Professional Development, O Butler room) Join Musician and Author Stephen Gashler as Michaelbrent Collings; Ann Gimpel M( ); Jim Minz he shows you how to successfully create and Christopher Husberg produce a live musical. (Theatre & Media Wizard for Hire: Employment for Magical Arts, M Shelley room) What Publishers Want People Stephen Gashler When you’re eager to get your work published, Wizards, witches, and other magic users almost you may be tempted to send your manuscript certainly have useful abilities that can be of ser- Vampires across Fiction to any and all publishers. But the reality is vice to others. How do magic users make a liv- From sparkly and romantic, to mysterious, that publishers aren’t interested in everything, ing? (Worldbuilding, JRR Tolkien room) seductive, and deadly. Vampires have had a regardless of the quality of the work that lands Emily Martha Sorensen; Frank Morin (M); wide array of depictions across fiction. Come in front of them. Learn how to work smarter, Quiana Chase; D. J. Butler

17 9:00 PM (Thurs.) creative version of yourself. (Professional What Lies in the Darkness? Development, D Adams room) What secrets await you in the night? What Filking Jonathan Bowen lies beyond the curtain? A discussion on Folk singing with a science fiction/fantasy how to convey fear with shadows in art. (Art, 10:00 AM (Fri.) slant. Bring your guitar, lute, lyrics, or sim- J Christensen room) ply your voice and join your fellow bards in College Gaming and Clubs making musical magic in this jolly sing-along. Michaelbrent Collings; Mike Lovins; Rowan Come learn what is unique about the college (Special event, J Verne room) North; Dan Haring gaming experience, how to run a club, and what resources are available for students who WWII Aircraft and Dogfighting Friday, February 12, 2021 are interested in gaming on their own cam- While aircraft made their first debut in WWI, puses. (Gaming, G Gygax room) the conditions for “dog fighting” on a massive scale seemed to peak in WWII. How were 9:00 AM (Fri.) Mari Murdock aircraft used in WWII, and what made their The Briefs on Knickers: Underwear Creator Chat with Ravyn Evermore use different from most other wars? (World- through the Ages An informal chat with one of our Special building, JRR Tolkien room) Underwear through the ages. Foundations Guests. A small group of people will have J. L. Curtis; Brad R. Torgersen; Laya V. Smith; matter. (Worldbuilding, JRR Tolkien room) an intimate discussion about whatever top- Mongo (M); L. E. Modesitt Jr. Nancy Frye ics you want to discuss. All sessions will be held in a private chat room this year. Sign ups 11:00 AM (Fri.) Creativity in Copy Work will be posted the morning of the chat. Space Creating Characters/NPCs Where does real creativity come from, what is is limited to twelve; first come, first served. Nonplayer characters are often the highlights it, what is it not, and how do I get some? (Art, (Special event, J Verne room) of many games. They can also be examples J Christensen room) Ravyn Evermore of static and boring characters. How do you Rowan North create memorable NPCs without having Mashing Ideas Together How to Be Part of a Writing Group to painstakingly design each one? (Gaming, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Wagon- G Gygax room) You’ve found some writing buddies. Now train to the Stars. Mashups are everything. Quiana Chase; Brennan “Talonos” Smith (M); what? Discover how to be a good reviewer (Writing, CS Lewis room) Tracy Hickman; Dylan Parker; Ben Pistorius and how to take feedback. Learn what your Max Florschutz; Charlie Pulsipher; Donna writing group should be doing for you and Milakovic (M); L. Palmer; Russell Nohelty; Creator Chat with Kaitlund Zupanic what you can do for it. (Editing, A McCaf- C. Rae D’Arc An informal chat with one of our Guests of frey room) Honor. A small group of people will have Maskmaker, Maskmaker, Make Me a Michael F. Haspil; Allie May M( ); Heike Wes- an intimate discussion about whatever top- Mask (and a Costume) tendorf; L.S. Johnson ics you want to discuss. All sessions will be For stage plays, musicals, movies, D&D cam- Lovecraftian Horror held in a private chat room this year. Sign ups paigns, or Halloween, your selection of colors, will be posted the morning of the chat. Space Horror is not always about gore and shock. designs and fabrics tell a story. Learn how to is limited to twelve; first come, first served. Some horror focuses on cosmic, unknow- design and make masks and awesome cos- (Special event, J Verne room) able forces that are too large to combat. Let’s tumes (even if you don’t sew). (Theatre & Kaitlund Zupanic explore the horror subgenre created, refined, Media Arts, M Shelley room) and made famous by HP Lovecraft. (Books, Bobbie Berendson W.; Heather B. Monson Digital Art with Dennis Dorrity (2 hours) U LeGuin room) (Art workshop, J Christensen) M Subverting Romance Tropes Ryan Decaria ( ); Eric Swedin; Sarah E. See- Dennis Dorrity ley; Stephen Gashler Love triangles, off-again on-again relation- ships, and many other tropes are a mainstay Get to the Good Stuff: How to Edit the Query Workshop (2 hours) of romance. What books and stories have Beginning Come and learn all about querying, from subverted these tropes in a satisfying way Let’s face it: the beginning can determine writing your letter to selecting which agents and what made these stories possible? (Books, whether your book gets accepted for publica- to query. (Professional Development work- U LeGuin room) tion or whether a reader finishes your book. shop, O Butler room) Charlie N. Holmberg; Allie May; M. A. Nich- Learn from professionals what it takes to D. J. Butler ols (M); Alex Harrow; Julie Wright make your beginning the best it can be. (Edit- ing, A McCaffrey room) We Are All Creative What Different Revision Drafts Are Troy Lambert (M); Emma Heggem; Jessica Many feel that they are either dominantly left Supposed to Do Guernsey; Kris Atkins or right brained and hardwired for either logic Developmental, character, line, and copy OR emotion. For some reason, our society edits? What are they and what do they mean Japanese Mythologies often links creativity to those who are domi- to the manuscript? (Editing, A McCaffrey An introduction to Japanese mythologies, nantly the latter. It’s a lie. Come learn what room) their influence on culture, and how they can it means to be creative and how to embrace Kristy S. Gilbert; Kaela Rivera; Emma Heg- be used as inspiration for stories. (World- your best talents and abilities to be the most gem; Jessica Guernsey (M); Suzy Bills building, JRR Tolkien room)

18 Joe Monson (M); Jess Lindsay; Keith Haus Love Languages as Part of Character Design How to use love languages as a shortcut. How Filking Creator Chat with J Verne Tom Durham Tom to portray the love language of your charac- (Discord) ters and how they might hide it from other characters. (Writing, CS Lewis room) Kenny Baldwin; C. Rae D’Arc; J. Anne Cam- panile (M); Julie Wright Making the Most of Motiff: A Study in D Adams to Latter-day Saint to Latter-day Keynote Loving the Bad Boy/ Loving Film Festival Girl: Romances Villain Speculative Fiction Coffee, Tea, Me: The Coffee, Tea, Culture of Drinking Coffee and Tea Alaya Dawn Johnson Dawn Johnson Alaya A Critical Introduction hours)(2–3 Hamilton The Hamilton Broadway musical is a master- class in writing. Focusing solely on Miranda’s use of symbols, motifs and themes can help us tremendously in our own writing. Hamil- Women Avoid Abuse Avoid Abuse Women for Women: Helping Women: for Using CIA Skills and or not to Kill a Main D******** (To Kill D******** (To Plot-Structure Never, Never, Never Never, Never, CS Lewis Sn*pe Kills Different of Points Head: One Plot from Give Up Overview Character) CIA Street Smarts All the Voices in Your in Your All the Voices View ton’s rise up, not throwing away his shot, his- Techniques tory’s eyes, and running out of time are motifs used throughout. The symbols of Hamilton’s changing coat, the bullet/death, and the gun- shot each tells a story. (Books, U LeGuin room) Wizard for Hire: for Wizard the Sword: Finding Diseases Spread) Balance between Debriefing: Pandemic! (or How Pandemic! Evaluating Soldiers and Farmers Responses to Responses for Employment Magical People COVID-19 JRR Tolkien A Coronavirus Ryan Decaria The Plowshare and Surprising, Creative, Moneymaking Careers in Film, TV, and Radio (2 hours) Can you actually make money with your cre- ative talents? Yes! Join Emmy-winning TV book Work for You! book Work for How to Fake Reality How to Fake Notebook/Sketch- Dragons, Dragons, Dragons!!! Digital Art Making Your Making Your Mind: Minifigs in How to Use Layers in Gaming J Christensen producer Tom Durham as he tells specific A Theater of the career path stories with practical value and answers your questions. He’ll be joined by filmmaker Jeff Parkin and professional story­ teller and radio personality Sam Payne. We’ll discuss inroads to writing, producing, and Economic Systems in Playtesting Board Playtesting Dungeon-Crawler G Gygax Settings Roll for Game Design: for Roll own Making your Nostalgia Game Design Games Games with Historical directing in many fields of media production. TTRPG (Theatre & Media Arts, D Adams room) Tom Durham Through a Lens, Darkly How do we see what we see on film? While most U LeGuin Burroughs: Early Fantasy Edgar Rice Roald Dahl Roald Fiction American Pulp Fiction Vampires across Vampires The Future of people discuss resolutions and cameras, the The Adult Books of lens is the silent hero that often goes unnoticed. (Theatre & Media Arts, M Shelley room) Brandon Ho You Are a Business Who Does What: Worldbuilding for Editing? for for Immersivefor with Alpha/Beta Finding and Working Finding and Working Proofreaders How Do You Know a How Do You Readers Manuscript Is Ready Manuscript Is Ready Copyeditors, Garbage Collection: Copyediting Copyediting and Punctuation Cleaning Up Grammar Agents, Editors,Agents, In choosing to sell your art, you have become A McCaffrey an entrepreneur. You need to consider how you are handling taxes, whether or not to become an LLC, and what your marketing strategy is. Learn some of the things you need to consider as you navigate this vital step What Publishers Want to Social-Media O Butler Kids’ Books? SEO Illustrations: for Just Making Time: Finding and Rest Refuge Marketing Optimizing for Google Optimizing for toward being able to live off your art. (Profes- A Beginner’s Guide sional Development, O Butler room) Michaelbrent Collings Noon (Fri.) A Beginner’s Guide to Streaming What You Know: What You M Shelley Unicorns and the Soul Dragons Scenes Screenwriting—Write Screenwriting—Write Lighting, Blocking Lighting, and Lighting Basics: and Filming Key Musical Cinematography The Dark Night of Twitch has become the premier stream- The Making of a ing platform; not just for gamers but artists, 9 pm 5 pm 8 pm 6 pm 3 pm 7 pm Thurs 4 pm

19 Fri M Shelley O Butler A McCaffrey U LeGuin G Gygax J Christensen JRR Tolkien CS Lewis D Adams J Verne (Discord) 9 am Query Workshop How to Be Part of a Lovecraftian Horror Creativity in Copy Work The Briefs on Knickers: We Are All Creative (2 hours) Writing Group Underwear through the Ages 10 am Maskmaker, Mask- What Different Subverting Romance College Gaming and What Lies in the WWII Aircraft and Mashing Ideas Creator Chat with maker, Make Me a Revision Drafts Are Tropes Clubs Darkness? Dogfighting Together Ravyn Evermore Mask (and a Costume) Supposed to Do 11 am Through a Lens, You Are a Business Get to the Good Making the Most of Creating Characters/ Digital Art with Dennis Japanese Mythologies Love Languages as Surprising, Creative, Creator Chat with Darkly Stuff: How to Edit the Motiff: A Study in NPCs Dorrity (2 hours) Part of Character Moneymaking Careers Kaitlund Zupanic Beginning Hamilton Design in Film, TV, and Radio noon The Power of Sight A Beginner’s Guide to Modifying Behaviors: Manga and Comics: Tips and Tricks for Living Where the Sun Using the Protago- (2 hours) and Sound Streaming Realistic, Respectful, Plunging into the Dungeon Masters Don’t Shine: Life in nist’s Parents as Real Plot-Essential, Neu- Depths Caves, Spaceships, or Characters That Matter rodiverse Character Pluto Behaviors 1 pm Walden Media (On a Round Table: Writing and Editing Horror: The Great More Immersive Guerrillas in the Midst: Disability—Physical vs. Twilight Tales Anthol- Film and a Prayer): Streaming Software: Scrivener vs. Morality Tales Storytelling in RPGs Fighting Urban Wars Mental vs. Emotional ogy Release Lessons from the Ulysses vs. Microsoft Founders Word vs. Google Docs and More 2 pm Kaitlund Zupanic Keynote 3 pm I Love to Hate You! Mental Health and So You Want to Be an Science Fiction: Choose Your Audience: Body Language 101 So Let it Be Written: Character Studies: Welcome to the Creativity Editor? The Lines between How to Build a Game Contract Law and Rogues, Smugglers, Crucible Hard and Soft for a Specific Age Society and Other Morally Group Grey Characters 4 pm Foreseeing the An Advanced Guide to Hard Pass: Making Building a World with Stealing from Many: When the Sugar Hits I Never Saw It Coming: Guest of Honor Success (or Failure) Streaming Passes for Sensory, the Arium RPG System How to Find Art and the Fan: Meet the The Plot Twist Interview: of Amazon’s Lord of Emotional, and Rela- (2 hours) Create a Library of Preppers! Alaya Dawn Johnson the Rings (A-LOTR) tionship Dynamics Inspiration Series 5 pm Don’t Give Up: Yep: Tips for Revising Tolkien and Beowulf Build Yourself Up with Losing My Religion: Writing a Role-Playing Creator Chat with The “Story” That Only Dialogue to Sound Discussion Your Artwork Realistic Portrayals of Game Kristy S. Gilbert You Can Tell Natural Crises of Faith 6 pm Toiling in Obscurity How to Write Sales What Blade Runner Your Favorite Author Creating Game The Field of Life and Perfect Series Plotting Baen Roadshow (The Ten-Year Over- Copy 2049 Can Teach Us Recommends Settings Death to Prevent Stalls and (2 hours) night Success) about Christ Burnout (2 hours) 7 pm Movies from Herbert The Editing Poetry Reading for Your Miner Concerns: to Heinlein (and More) Author-Entrepeneur Health The Art of Extracting Resources from Rock 8 pm Writing and Performing Cracking the Amazon Worldweaving: Inte- Macrame Me to Quicksand Writing Game Demo: Filk and Fun Music Algorithm grating Worldbuilding Heaven Tattered Tales with Dave Butler in Your Story 9 pm Filking Sat M Shelley O Butler A McCaffrey U LeGuin G Gygax J Christensen JRR Tolkien CS Lewis D Adams J Verne (Discord) 9 am Conflict, Tension, and An Advanced Guide Switching Hats: Watching Movies To Kickstarting Your Hairspray: History of Knight and Day: Intercultural Literacy Creator Chat with Opposition: The String to Self-Publishing Techniques for Moving Make You a Better Game Hair in Art, Film, and Examining Myths, Troy Lambert That Keeps the Kite (2 hours) between Creator Mode Writer Literature Misconceptions, and Flying and Editor Mode Mistakes of Medieval and Renaissance Weapons and Armor 10 am Beyond Podcasting: How to Be an Alpha or Religion in Brandon Why People Play Dressed to Kill: Not Your Sassy Gay VidCasting for Cre- Beta Reader and Not Sanderson’s Works Games: The Psychol- Women’s Clothing in Friend: How to Write ators and Creating Alienate Friends ogy of Fun and Play. Combat Scenarios Queer Characters Your Own Channel beyond Stereotypes 11 am Dangerous “Child’s On-screen: Finding Developmental Editors The Evolution of What The Ice Wizard Guest of Honor The Paradox of Water Building Multidimen- Play” in Successful Community Online Science Fiction Taught Me Interview: and Diamonds: Why sional Characters Movies Kaitlund Zupanic Rare Things are Using Talents/ Valuable Strengths (2 hours) noon Storytelling of the Networking in the Editing vs. Rewriting Interesting Magic Gaming Remotely: You Can Judge a Book Mother Knows Best: Writers and Illustrators Fourth Kind: Movie Time of COVID Systems Roll20, Video Confer- by Its Cover Structures of Matriar- of the Future Scores and Sound encing, and More chal Societies Effects 1 pm Performing Is Healthy: Literary Translations: The Freelance Editor Horror for the Sensi- The Three Little Clothing Makes the Exploring The Unseen Domesticity in Fantas- The Physiological and Working with a and You: About the tive Soul Secrets That Make Character World of Ideas: The tic Settings Mental Benefits of Translator Freelancer-Author Plotting So Much Philosophies and His- Getting in Front of an Relationship Easier tory of Mathematics Audience 2 pm Melinda M. Snodgrass Keynote 3 pm Creating a Profit with A Beginner’s Guide to Mechanics of Strong Women as Creating Religions How You Can Protect Chinese Mythologies Sometimes the Future Creator Chat with Greenlighting Analysis Self-Publishing Micro-revision Protagonists Your Art on the Web Isn’t All That Great, Jessica Day George for Your Movie but It’s Not a Dystopia Either 4 pm Producing and Distrib- Paid Advertisements: I Sense Something: Romance and Horror: Story vs. Gameplay Forgiveness Is Divine, Writing to Audience Guest of Honor uting Your Movie Book Booster or Adding the Senses Two Sides of the Same but Trust Is Earned: vs. Writing to Market Interview: Melinda M. Budget Buster? Coin Regaining Trust after Snodgrass Betrayal 5 pm Filmmaking 101—For Round Table: The Eve in a Cape: The Jane Austen’s RPGs: How System Ergonomics for the Merging Technology Disability Literacy Creator Chat with Newbies Good, the Bad, Evolution of Female Romance Archetypes Affects Table Dynamics Creator and Magic Julie Wright and the Ugly of Characters in Modern Self-Publishing Superhero Movies 6 pm Mormons, Movies, and Finding and Keeping The Unexpected that Humor in the Fantastic What Platform Should Myth to Reality Let No Man Despise Writing Life Efficiency Creator Chat With Mormon Movies— an Audience Comes Unseen, Com- I Build My Game For? Thy Youth: Realistic Tips & Tools Melinda M. Snodgrass Take 3 paring Bilbo Baggins PC, Console, VR, etc. Social Dynamics When to the Celestial Mariner Teenagers are in Earendel Charge 7 pm Understanding and Indie Publishing 101 Finding Authenticity Intro to Tabletop RPGs Art Therapy—Can Horses in War Am I Doing Something Creator Chat with Appreciating Anime and Sensitivity Anyone Can Be an Stupid? Alaya Dawn Johnson from Around the World Readers Artist? 8 pm Closing Ceremony authors, and roleplaying professionals. Come Using the Protagonist’s Parents as Real Twilight Tales Anthology Release learn the basics of the platform, what you Characters That Matter Come join us for the launch party of the need to get started, and how you can leverage Having dead parents does things to a charac- LTUE 2021 benefit anthology, Twilight Tales. a streaming platform to reach your audience, ter, but it is an old trope. Mix it up with alive, Meet the authors, editors, and cover artist. build a community of fans, and even network active parents. (Writing, CS Lewis room) Proceeds go to support student memberships professionally. (Professional Development, Kaylee Casutt; V. J. O. Gardner (M); Alli- at LTUE. (Special event, D Adams room) O Butler room) son K. Hymas; Charlie Pulsipher; Ariadne Kane; Emily Martha Sorensen; Joe Monson (M); Ravyn Evermore J. Abram Barneck Joe Vasicek; Scott R. Parkin; D. J. Butler; Bobbie Living Where the Sun Don’t Shine: Life in 1:00 PM (Fri.) Berendson W.; David J. West Caves, Spaceships, or Pluto Disability—Physical vs. Mental vs. Walden Media (On a Film and a Prayer): Caves, spaceships, undersea domes, and plan- Emotional Lessons from the Founders ets far from stars all have the same problem: Characters don’t have to be blind or in a wheel- Michael Flaherty says Hollywood is no longer they have no natural light source. How do set- chair to be disabled. (Writing, CS Lewis room) the center of the entertainment industry. The tlers live in such dreary places? (Worldbuild- exclusive production and marketing of great ing, JRR Tolkien room) Robin Glassey; Rafael Hohmann; Robison films in Hollywood has ended. Some of them Wells (M); Devri Walls; J. Abram Barneck; Shan- J. L. Curtis; Sarah E. Seeley; Shannon Babb will be produced and marketed from Provo! non Babb (M); Nicholas P. Adams Come learn how you can participate. (The- Guerrillas in the Midst: Fighting Urban atre & Media Arts, M Shelley room) Manga and Comics: Plunging into the Wars M Depths Richie Franklin; Robert Starling ( ); Traci One modern technique for fighting a war is Hainsworth; Stephen Gashler There’s such a plethora of graphic novels, to blend in with civilians and fight from city comics, manga, and more that it’s hard to Writing and Editing Software: Scrivener buildings. How are these wars conducted? know where to start. Get insights from the vs. Ulysses vs. Microsoft Word vs. Google What are the greatest challenges of fight- pros about which are the most compelling, Docs and More ing such wars, and how are these challenges experimental, and addicting graphic novels addressed? (Worldbuilding, JRR Tolkien A review of the latest writing tools, apps, and to plunge into. (Books, U LeGuin room) room) websites. (Editing, A McCaffrey room) Els Curtis; Mike Lovins; Mickey George (M); M Eric Swedin; Keith Haus; Ann Chamberlin John M. Olsen; L. Palmer ( ); Chris Jones; Dan Haring (M); Gordon E. Frye; Mongo Christopher Husberg Modifying Behaviors: Realistic, Respectful, Horror: The Great Morality Tales 2:00 PM (Fri.) Plot-Essential, Neurodiverse Character Kaitlund Zupanic Keynote Behaviors From its beginning, the horror genre has often been used as a guide for morality, indicating Come hear from our guest of honor! (Special Do you find your characters falling into ste- dire consequences for some actions. Yet some event, D Adams room) reotypes or feeling two-dimensional? Do you argue that this is an outdated form of horror. want to write “the other” but don’t want to Kaitlund Zupanic A discussion about the good, the bad, and the offend anyone? Come learn how to make real- ugly, concerning the use of horror as morality 3:00 PM (Fri.) istic characters, while respecting others’ dif- tale. (Books, U LeGuin room) ferences. (Editing, A McCaffrey room) Body Language 101 Kristy S. Gilbert; Michaelbrent Collings; Peter How to tell a graphical story with nonverbal Allie May (M); Alex Harrow; Rebecca Orullian; Courtney Alameda; Laya V. Smith M( ) cues—using effective facial expressions, pos- Bischoff; J. Anne Campanile; Kris Atkins ture, and gesturing for your character growth More Immersive Storytelling in RPGs The Power of Sight and Sound and dialogue. (Art, J Christensen room) RPGs are ultimately a story-based genre; Film is a unique medium that utilizes images however, they can easily fall into clichés Megan Lloyd; Shannon Babb; Mickey George and sound to tell a story. Learn about the M and tropes with shallow characters. How do ( ); Dan Haring power of sight and sound as a film creator, film you make a story that, while familiar, is new lover, or a novelist wanting to adapt your story Character Studies: Rogues, Smugglers, enough to keep the players interested? (Gam- to a different medium. (Theatre & Media Arts, and Other Morally Grey Characters. ing, G Gygax room) M Shelley room) Why Are They So Attractive? Kaylee Casutt (M); Quiana Chase; Bethany Morally grey characters are often very attrac- Megan Lloyd; Ann Chamberlin; Laya V. Krupiarz; Tracy Hickman; Dylan Parker tive. Why and how to use them best. (Writing, Smith (M); Melinda M. Snodgrass CS Lewis room) Round Table: Streaming Tips and Tricks for Dungeon Masters Streaming veterans from diverse backgrounds Troy Lambert; Johnny Worthen; Ariadne Dungeon Mastering is a daunting task that M come together to discuss the medium, their Kane; Robert J Defendi ( ); Drea Gryphon; can be made a lot more manageable with experiences—good and bad—and give advice Brandon Jones good advice from experts. Come learn tips to would-be streamers. (Professional Devel- and tricks to help both new and old dungeon Choose Your Audience: How to Build a opment, O Butler room) masters. (Gaming, G Gygax room) Game for a Specific Age Group Ravyn Evermore; Kuta Marler; Rowan Choosing an audience can greatly affect Jess Lindsay; James Eck; Robert J Defendi; J. M. North (M) many different game-design choices. One of Anjewierden; Daniel R. Yocom (M) the major audience considerations is the age

22 group targeted by your game. What consid- and manage your editing business. (Editing, techniques on how to save, photograph, and erations should be taken into account when A McCaffrey room) catalog inspirational art forms using a variety designing a game for a specific age group? C. M. Adler; Suzy Bills (M); Brittany Pass- of digital tools. (Art, J Christensen room) (Gaming, G Gygax room) more; Nic Nelson; Daniel Cureton Bethany Krupiarz; Bobbie Berendson W. (M) Mari Murdock; James Eck; Brennan “Talonos” 4:00 PM (Fri.) When the Sugar Hits the Fan: Meet the Smith (M); J. D. Raisor An Advanced Guide to Streaming Preppers! I Love to Hate You! Welcome to the For you, begun the Streaming Wars, have. But While it’s easy to take a functioning society Crucible victory is not yet within your grasp, as setting for granted, there are those among us who In movies, stage plays, books, and even songs, up a Twitch channel and streaming do not prepare for disaster when things are going one of the strongest ways of hooking your automatically garner an audience or sponsors well. Who are these people, and why are audience is through tension and conflict, but or publicity. Come and learn, you must, in this they so fearful of disasters? (Worldbuilding, it cannot be over the top or feel contrived. deep dive into streaming. (Professional Devel- JRR Tolkien room) Join us to learn how to right-size your cruci- opment, O Butler room) Emily Martha Sorensen; Nancy Frye; Beth ble. (Theatre & Media Arts, M Shelley room) Buck (M); Jared Garrett M Ravyn Evermore Scott E. Tarbet; Quiana Chase ( ); Ann 5:00 PM (Fri.) Chamberlin Building a World With the Arium RPG System Build Yourself Up with Your Artwork Mental Health and Creativity (2 hours) Come build a world with the developers of the Learn from a professional artist how to gain The tortured or mad artist is an enduring ste- new Arium RPG system. (Gaming workshop, confidence in your skill sets and unique capa- reotype and stock character in popular media G Gygax room) bilities. (Art, J Christensen room) and the public consciousness. This all-too- familiar trope can normalize or obscure the William L. Munn; Natasha Ence; Andrew Kaitlund Zupanic Gerken; JJ Safley (M) fact that creators of all stripes often grapple Creator Chat with Kristy S. Gilbert with real mental-health issues. This roundta- Foreseeing the Success (or Failure) of Ama- An informal chat with one of our Special ble will be a candid discussion about the very- zon’s Lord of the Rings (A-LOTR) Series Guests. A small group of people will have an real yet often-ignored struggles that creators Professional screenwriters and filmmakers intimate discussion about whatever topics experience, how mental health can affect discuss what could make A-LOTR a great hit, you want to discuss. All sessions will be held in creative work, and ways in which artists and or what could cause it to be DOA. Some of a private chat room this year. Sign ups will be those close to them can work toward better the panelists have worked directly with show- posted the morning of the chat. Space is lim- mental health overall. (Professional Develop- runner J. D. Payne. Others have been on pan- ited to twelve; first come, first served. (Special ment, O Butler room) els with him. Come as questions! (Theatre & event, J Verne room) Robin Glassey; Lani Forbes; Robison Wells; Media Arts, M Shelley room) Kristy S. Gilbert C. R. Rowenson Paul Kearney; Blake Casselman (M); Cindy Don’t Give Up: The “Story” That Only You Smith; Dan Haring; Traci Hainsworth Science Fiction: The Lines between Hard Can Tell and Soft Guest of Honor Interview: Making it as a screenwriter, novelist, song- Science fiction seems to have its own split Alaya Dawn Johnson writer, or artist is not the easiest path in life; between hard and soft. We discuss the pos- (Special event, D Adams room) but you have stories, art, and music that only sible lines between these and how they differ. Renae Kingsley (M); Alaya Dawn Johnson you can create. Don’t give up too soon. Often Is one better than the other? Come find out. we quit, just before we make the breakthrough. (Books, U LeGuin room) Hard Pass: Making Passes for Sensory, Our panelists will talk about their roadblocks Emily Martha Sorensen; J. L. Curtis; Jason Emotional, and Relationship Dynamics and how they broke through. (Theatre & Fuesting; Charlie Pulsipher (M); Sarah E. Seeley; Explore methods of editing your story, focus- Media Arts, M Shelley room) Melinda M. Snodgrass ing on specific dynamics to add depth and Jared Quan; Mark Minson; Allie May (M); realism. (Editing, A McCaffrey room) Lani Forbes; Troy Lambert; Charlie Pulsipher; So Let It Be Written: Contract Law and M Society Allie May; Lani Forbes; Emma Heggem ( ); Rowan North Peter Orullian; J. Abram Barneck Since Babylonian times, contracts have been Losing My Religion: Realistic Portrayals an important tool for enforcing agreements I Never Saw It Coming: The Plot Twist of Crises of Faith between parties; a tool so powerful, that it’s even A twist shouldn’t come completely out of Every person has fundamental beliefs about used as the basis for magic systems and com- nowhere. You are not competing with your read- the world, and sometimes those beliefs are puter languages. How did contract law come to ers; the proper setup means they figure it out just challenged. What makes facing these chal- be, and how does it continue to influence societ- before you reveal it. (Writing, CS Lewis room) lenges so difficult? How does facing such ies? (Worldbuilding, JRR Tolkien room) Allison K. Hymas; Frank Morin; Donna Mila- challenges change a person? (Worldbuilding, Kristy S. Gilbert; L. Palmer; Kenny Baldwin kovic (M); Kenny Baldwin; Stanley Wheeler JRR Tolkien room) M ( ); Stanley Wheeler; J. Anne Campanile Dr. John K. Lundwall (M); Michaelbrent Stealing from Many: How to Find Art and M So You Want to Be an Editor? Create a Library of Inspiration Collings; Sarah E. Seeley; J. . Anjewierden; Ben Pistorius What does it takes to make a living as an edi- Art is everywhere and it should be a positive tor? Learn how to find work, create a brand, influence and reference for your work. Hear

23 Tolkien and Beowulf Discussion Perfect Series Plotting to Prevent Stalls build cities and equip armies. When did min- and Burnout ing start, and how have mines evolved over How did Beowulf influence Lord of the Rings? (2 hours) the centuries with the discovery of new mate- What is Tolkien’s relationship with Beowulf? Plotting a Series from start to finish: Plotting How has this story impacted his work? (Books, a series can be tricky, from tracking characters rials? (Worldbuilding, JRR Tolkien room) U LeGuin room) to an ongoing “B” story, to keeping things fresh. Scott E. Tarbet (M); Sarah E. Seeley; Shannon Cindy Smith; Micheal Boudreaux We’ll actually use various tools like mind map- Babb ping, Plottr or Excel, and other outlining ideas Movies from Herbert to Heinlein (and More) Writing a Role-Playing Game to talk about the big picture. Authors would Games need instructions, lore/backstory, and be encouraged to bring series ideas, and work Come join a discussion about the many great examples so people can get started quickly and through them in the class, to leave with a fleshed- movies (and some not so great) made from play effectively. (Writing, CS Lewis room) out series plot. (Writing, CS Lewis room) best-selling books. Discuss the various spin- offs, from (and the 2020 reboot) Mari Murdock; Ravyn Evermore (M); Mason Troy Lambert Dune Dune to and to Wheeler; Tracy Hickman; J. D. Raisor Starship Troopers, A Quiet Place Zero Toiling in Obscurity (The Ten-Year Over- Dark Thirty. (Theatre & Media Arts, M Shel- Yep: Tips for Revising Dialogue to Sound night Success) ley room) Natural Having talent isn’t enough. As an emerg- Eric Swedin (M); Jessica Day George; Robert Creating it is a challenge, and editing can ing creator, you must learn how to develop Starling make it better. Come discover what makes a “marketable” portfolio, make professional Reading for Your Health good dialogue and how to improve yours. contacts, and market your work to make it (Editing, A McCaffrey room) pay. (Theatre & Media Arts, M Shelley room) Reading fiction can be a rewarding and fulfill- ing experience. It can help us come to terms Emma Heggem; Kenny Baldwin; J. Anne Emily Martha Sorensen; Megan Lloyd; Peter with things in our life as we go through the Campanile (M); Julie Wright; Stephen Gashler Orullian; L. Palmer; Amy Michelle Carpenter world. What books can most help with this? (M); Jared Garrett; Stephen Gashler 6:00 PM (Fri.) What strategies can we use when we are read- What Can Teach Us ing for our health? (Books, U LeGuin room) Baen Roadshow (2 hours) Blade Runner 2049 (Special event, D Adams room) about Christ Jared Garrett This paper examines K and Dr. Ana Stelline as Jim Minz 8:00 PM (Fri.) Christ figures as well as the symbolic nature Creating Game Settings of other relevant characters. It also shows how Cracking the Amazon Algorithm Settings are a highly important part of any sf and religious studies can be intertwined. Amazon’s Kindle platform is the dominant game; however, it is easy to get too invested in (Academics, A McCaffrey room) ebook store in the United States. Leverag- developing these settings and creating unnec- Kassandra Schreiber ing features such as keywords and the proper essary details. How do you know when you cover for your work can help ensure that the have developed enough details for your world, Your Favorite Author Recommends arcane Amazon Algorithm puts your book in and how much of this detail do players need Have you ever wondered what books your the recommendations for folk likely to buy to know? (Gaming, G Gygax room) favorite authors are reading? Come find out it. Come learn what tools you have at your their recommendations and learn what inspires C. R. Rowenson (M); Daniel R. Yocom; Dylan disposal to successfully publish on the Kindle the works you love. (Books, U LeGuin room) Parker; Rowan North platform. (Professional Development, O But- Charlie N. Holmberg; Sarah E. Seeley; M. Todd ler room) The Field of Life and Death Gallowglas; Jessica Day George; Holli Anderson David J. West Writing about nuclear weapons, strategy, and (M); Alaya Dawn Johnson effects. (Worldbuilding, JRR Tolkien room) Game Demo: Tattered Tales 7:00 PM (Fri.) Bruce F. Webster Tattered Tales is a game that requires players The Author-Entrepeneur to compete as teams to create stories using a How to Write Sales Copy Come learn about the business side of being a collection of random items to solve a problem. Whether they are perusing in a book store creator! (Professional Development, O Butler Join to play with the designers on Tabletopia. or browsing online, you have two main ways room) There will be three concurrent sessions, limited to connect with your audience: a striking to eight players each. (Gaming, J Verne room) Mariah K. Porter cover and the short text that describes what Kyle Pierson, Bryce Pierson, Darin Pierson lies within your work. Some publishers allow Editing Poetry authors to write the back copy, while others Poetry, like all writing, can benefit from feed- Macrame Me to Heaven have their own internal team member pro- back, but would you edit it like you would a Artistic hobbies that can bring you back to duce it—someone who often hasn’t read half, novel? Come learn and practice the basics of earth when your muse needs to rest. (Art, much less all, of the work! Come learn from a editing poetry. (Editing, A McCaffrey room) J Christensen room) M publishing insider what makes good copy, so Michael D. Young; M. Todd Gallowglas; L. Robison Wells; Ariadne Kane ( ); Jessica Day you can use your own copy as a self-published Palmer (M); Daniel Cureton George; Beth Buck author or offer a well-written version to your publisher. (Professional Development, O But- Miner Concerns: The Art of Extracting Quicksand Writing ler room) Resources from Rock Life has a way of coming at us hard and with the most unexpected things. It creates David Afsharirad Mining has been fundamental for centuries for getting the fuel and materials needed to a quicksand sensation—can’t seem to move,

24 In Memoriam

To the patron saints who touched our lives before bravely going into that great beyond. Marion K. “Doc” Smith—BYU professor of English and the force behind the symposium. Betty Pope—a librarian at BYU and the main reason BYU has a science fiction and fantasy collection. We miss her sweet smile and gracious support. Sue Ream—a BYU professor of English who generously opened her home to guests and committee members alike. Linda Hunter Adams—director of the BYU Humanities Publication Center, who gave us the tools, a space, and encouragement to pursue our dreams. Jonathan Langford—second chair of LTUE, who had immense intellect, good humor, and boundless enthusiasm and support for the sf/f community.

overwhelmed by everything going on, even a Saturday, February 13, 2021 Intercultural Literacy sense of panic over what needs to happen in All cultures and civilizations exist to solve the our lives, not to mention our writing careers. 9:00 AM (Sat.) problems of Maslow’s Hierarchy, but they Learn the things I have used to create clarity approach those problems in different ways. in the midst of emergency surgery of children, An Advanced Guide to Self-Publishing (Writing, CS Lewis room) cancer in a parent, waiting for a child to get a (2 hours) Max Florschutz; C. H. Hung; Amanda G.; heart transplant, having a school call the police Geared toward those who have already Analise Rodriguez; Alaya Dawn Johnson on your 2nd grade son for tipping over a desk begun their self-publishing journey and want and more. (Writing, CS Lewis room) to progress to the next level. (Professional Knight and Day: Examining Myths, Mis- Jared Quan Development, O Butler room) conceptions, and Mistakes of Medieval and Renaissance Weapons and Armor Michaelbrent Collings Worldweaving: Integrating Worldbuilding A revealing look at some of the more common in Your Story Conflict, Tension, and Opposition: myths, mistakes and misconceptions regard- Have your passages ever been dubbed “info The String That Keeps the Kite Flying ing weapons and armor in the Medieval and dumps”? Learn what makes an info dump Every hero needs strong opponents (whether Renaissance time period. (Worldbuilding, and explore strategies for avoiding or fixing human, natural, or mechanical) as a source of JRR Tolkien room) them. Discover how to introduce your world challenge and testing. Discuss how opposition Allen Johnson smoothly and naturally. (Editing, A McCaf- differs in written and visual fiction. (Theatre frey room) & Media Arts, M Shelley room) Switching Hats: Techniques for Moving between Creator Mode and Editor Mode Max Florschutz; M. K. Hutchins; Devri Walls; Lani Forbes; L. Palmer (M); Amy White Laya V. Smith (M) Tips and tricks for editing your own work. Creator Chat with Troy Lambert (Editing, A McCaffrey room) Writing and Performing Filk and Fun An informal chat with one of our Special Music with Dave Butler C. M. Adler; M. A. Nichols; Els Curtis; Rosa- Guests. A small group of people will have lyn Eves; Kris Atkins (M) Join us for some fun music and filking with an intimate discussion about whatever top- D. J. Butler. (Theatre & Media Arts, M Shel- ics you want to discuss. All sessions will be Watching Movies To Make You a Better ley room) held in a private chat room this year. Sign ups Writer D. J. Butler will be posted the morning of the chat. Space How to watch movies in order to become a is limited to twelve; first come, first served. better writer. (Books, U LeGuin room) 9:00 PM (Fri.) (Special event, J Verne room) Bryan Young Filking Troy Lambert 10:00 AM (Sat.) Folk singing with a science fiction/fantasy slant. Bring your guitar, lute, lyrics, or sim- Hairspray: Hair in Art, Film & Literature Beyond Podcasting: VidCasting for Cre- ply your voice and join your fellow bards in Hair through the ages. How and why we wore ators and Creating Your Own Channel making musical magic in this jolly sing-along. it the way we did, and what hair can say about Why do a vidcast instead of a podcast? What (Special event, J Verne room) a character. (Art, J Christensen room) are the benefits? What are the challenges? Nancy Frye

25 How will it help you grow your audience Why People Play Games: The Psychology The Paradox of Water and Diamonds: and publicize your “product”? Why not have of Fun and Play. Why Rare Things are Valuable your own channel? (Theatre & Media Arts, Whether rough-and-tumble play-fighting Ah, the classic economics paradox: water M Shelley room) or playing house, or tossing dice and playing is necessary for survival, and diamonds are Jared Quan; Ravyn Evermore; Stephen cards, or simulating combat on boards and merely pretty, yet water is cheap and dia- Gashler (M) in computers, people like to play games. But monds are expensive. The idea of “marginal why? How do games develop our minds and utility” has been developed to explain this dis- Dressed to Kill: Women’s Clothing in refine our thoughts? (Gaming, G Gygax room) parity. What is marginal utility, and how does Combat Scenarios J.R. Johansson; Stanley Wheeler; Scarlett Doc; understanding it help to create better worlds? Women’s clothing in combat scenarios—how Heather B. Monson (M) (Worldbuilding, JRR Tolkien room) to use it in a story, how to dress your female Jason Fuesting; Art Scheel; Scott R. Parkin; characters who are involved in combat, how 11:00 AM (Sat.) Analise Rodriguez; L. E. Modesitt Jr. M( ) practical considerations affect costume design, Building Multidimensional Characters and historical/real-world examples of women Using Talents/Strengths (2 hours) What the Ice Wizard Taught Me in combat. (Worldbuilding, JRR Tolkien room) Building characters with dimensions based on What I learned about storytelling when an Emma Preston understanding natural talents and strengths. unknown person hacked into a normal Mine- craft server and threw us into the middle of an The Evolution of Science Fiction Looking at thirty-four different categories of viewpoints and how they manifest in different epic narrative of gods, power, and loss. (Gam- Where did science fiction begin and how has ing, G Gygax room) it evolved to get to this point? Science fiction personalities, we will build character sheets Quiana Chase has a great past and a wonderful future. Come and find resources for how these Talents can explore what it is and what it will become. be researched at any time in the future if you Noon (Sat.) are needing inspiration for a new character. (Books, U LeGuin room) Editing vs. Rewriting M Taught by a certified Strengths Coach. (Writ- Johnny Worthen ( ); Eric Swedin; Brad R. ing workshop, CS Lewis room) Do you paint over your problems or start Torgersen; Sarah E. Seeley; Beth Buck Donna Milakovic over? What options do you have for editing? How to Be an Alpha or Beta Reader and Discover the differences between editing and Not Alienate Friends Dangerous “Child’s Play” in Successful rewriting and why you might do either. (Edit- Movies In this panel, learn how to become a helpful ing, A McCaffrey room) alpha or beta reader and avoid reader pitfalls Why do the war games in Maze Runner, Hun- C. H. Hung; Scott R. Parkin; Rosalyn Eves and no-nos. (Editing, A McCaffrey room) ger Games, Ender’s Game, and such have so (M); Julie Wright; Nic Nelson; David Afsharirad M much appeal? How can putting your charac- M. A. Nichols; C. H. Hung ( ); Kenny Bald- ters in great peril benefit your script or story? Gaming Remotely: Roll20, Video Confer- win; Benjamin K. Hewett; Laya V. Smith (Theatre & Media Arts, M Shelley room) encing, and More Not Your Sassy Gay Friend: How to Write Allie May; L. Palmer (M); Blake Casselman; Playing RPGs using virtual tabletops is an effec- Queer Characters beyond Stereotypes Jared Garrett; Morgan Steinagel tive way of playing with your group or finding a Representation matters. More importantly new group to play with. However, the process Developmental Editors can have a steep learning curve. Learn tips to good representation matters, while bad rep- resentation can be incredibly harmful and What they do, how to find them, and when to help accelerate the learning curve and get to damaging to an already marginalized audi- use them. (Editing, A McCaffrey room) better gaming faster. (Gaming, G Gygax room) ence. From the “sassy gay friend” to “the tragic Kristy S. Gilbert; Emma Heggem; Amy Michelle Mari Murdock; Ravyn Evermore; James Eck; gay doomed to forever be alone,” the media Carpenter; Brittany Passmore M( ); Nic Nelson Ben Pistorius (M) has been full of harmful LGBTQ+ stereo- Guest of Honor Interview: Interesting Magic Systems types that are incredibly harmful to queer and Kaitlund Zupanic Some magic systems are straightforward and straight audiences alike. This presentation (Special event, J Christensen room) simple. Others have a complex system that will un-box the do’s and don’ts when it comes M runs on music or metal. Join us as we discuss to queer representation (including whether Kaitlund Zupanic; Renae Kingsley ( ) the magic systems that have made the largest you should use the word “queer” when you On-screen: Finding Community Online impact on fantasy. (Books, U LeGuin room) yourself aren’t) and point to ways of better, The world has become increasingly connected M more nuanced LGBTQ+ representation in Quiana Chase; . K. Hutchins; Peter Orul- via the internet. This last year saw the tools lian; Brennan “Talonos” Smith (M) fiction and media. (Writing, CS Lewis room) we use to connect proliferate and improve, Alex Harrow out of necessity. While face-to-face collabo- Mother Knows Best: Structures of Matri- archal Societies Religion in Brandon Sanderson’s Works ration is still the preference for many, tools such as Discord, Zoom, and Hangouts have While many societies are organized around Religion often plays a major role in the Cos- allowed creators to come together from across fathers, a few have rallied behind mothers. mere books and motivates how characters live. countries and continents. Learn about how What are differences between matriarchies Join us for a discussion about how Brandon creators have leveraged these tools to find and patriarchies, besides who leads them? treats religion and how it affects his stories. community and collaboration online. (Profes- What are examples of historical and modern (Books, U LeGuin room) sional Development, O Butler room) matriarchal societies? How would having Stan Crowe; Michael D. Young; Christine Brennen Hankins; Shannon Babb; Heike Wes- a matriarchy affect gender stereotypes and Tyler; Brittany Passmore; Dylan Parker M( ) tendorf; David Afsharirad (M) roles? (Worldbuilding, JRR Tolkien room)

26 Acknowledgments

As always, we would like to especially thank all those who have helped to make this symposium possible: Kaitlund Zupanic (cover art) Jeremiah Clark and the rest of the Marriott Hotel staff John Harris (app development) The spouses, roommates, etc., of the symposium committee Calvin Bishop (scheduling database) Our guests, panelists, and volunteers Diana Parkin (Discord and OBS management)

And especially all of you who come! See you next year!

Ariadne Kane; Keith Haus; L. Palmer (M) Domesticity in Fantastic Settings and how to translate humor across linguistic Establishing “normal” in an unreal setting. and cultural lines! (Professional Development, Networking in the Time of COVID (Writing, CS Lewis room) O Butler room) In a time where we need to keep our distance C. R. Rowenson; Sarah E. Seeley; Keith Haus; Heike Westendorf to keep each other safe, how do we make the Emma Preston; Drea Gryphon (M); James Jakins vital connections needed to survive as cre- Performing Is Healthy: The Physiological atives and to build our businesses? Join our Exploring the Unseen World of Ideas: The and Mental Benefits of Getting in Front of panelists as they discuss what they have found Philosophies and History of Mathematics an Audience that works in this strange new world. (Profes- A discussion of the history and philosophy of Overcoming stage fright can provide health sional Development, O Butler room) math, and how it “colors” our understanding benefits. Dancing, singing, any physical action Jared Quan; Troy Lambert (M); Kuta Marler; of the universe (particularly through physics on stage or for film can also give a healthy rush Russell Nohelty and what it means to be “logical”). (World- of endorphins. Join us for ideas to overcome building, JRR Tolkien room) your stage fright and learn about other health Writers and Illustrators of the Future: benefits of performing. (Theatre & Media Alpheus Madsen Short Fiction and Winning the Contests Arts, M Shelley room) How do you become one of the 12 writer/illus- The Freelance Editor and You: About the Kaylee Casutt; Ann Gimpel; Scarlett Doc; trator winners to be published in the annual Freelancer-Author Relationship Jared Garrett (M); Ben Pistorius anthology? Writers & Illustrators of the Find out what it’s like to hire an editor your- Future judges discuss the contests, tips on writ- self. What is the relationship like, what are The Three Little Secrets That Make -Plot ing short fiction, and illustration. Then enjoy things to know, and what are things to watch ting So Much Easier Q&A with the contest director, Joni Labaqui, out for? (Editing, A McCaffrey room) No, the secrets don’t have anything to do with and judges. Attend this panel and learn how it the hero’s journey; 3, 7, 8, or 9 acts; Lester Dent Kristy S. Gilbert (M); Christine Nielson can help you. (Writing, D Adams room) miracle plots; or cat-saving beats. An average (CMAdler); Barbara Lund; M. A. Nichols; Nic M novel has around 40 to 70 scenes. If you’re Joni Labaqui ( ); Kevin J. Anderson; Echo Nelson Chernik; David Farland; Todd McCaffrey; Larry like me, those abstract plot structures spark Niven Horror for the Sensitive Soul an idea or three, then dump you in front of Many associate horror with hard-hitting a blank wall. So where in the heck do all the You Can Judge a Book by Its Cover scares, gore, and other things. However, there other scenes come from? Well, a whole heap of Why do some books look more appealing are plenty of horror stories that can still be them stand up and present themselves when than others and how can I change mine? The read by those with a sensitive soul. (Books, you use these 3 little secrets. If you struggle unconventional art of using your book cover U LeGuin room) with plotting, this is your chance to put that to enthrall potential readers and make more C. Rae D’Arc (M); L.S. Johnson; Miranda behind you for good and start generating fun money. (Art, J Christensen room) Renae; Stephen Gashler and exciting plots with ease. Come learn the 3 Joe Monson (M); Scott E. Tarbet; Kristy S. little secrets that make plotting so much easier. Gilbert; Dan Haring Literary Translations: Working with a (Writing, G Gygax room) Translator John D. Brown 1:00 PM (Sat.) Heike Westendorf has worked on professional Clothing Makes the Character German translations for both SF and fantasy, 2:00 PM (Sat.) Using fashion in storytelling: the ins and outs in addition to corporate translation work and “Words That Weep and Tears That Speak” of using clothing to successfully convey age, publishing short stories in the German mar- (The Prophet Abraham Cowley) race, genre, and alignment in your art. (Art, ket. Come learn how to successfully collabo- Come hear from our guest of honor! (Special J Christensen room) rate with your translator, how to ensure that event, D Adams room) the translation is the best version of your story, Nancy Frye; Shannon Babb (M) Melinda M. Snodgrass

27 Early 2022 Membership Special

Get ready for next year! Purchase your membership for 2022 now for the best price!

Early Bird Registration (ends April 30, 2021): $50 Student Online Preregistration (ends January 31, 2022): $5 Online Preregistration (ends January 31, 2022): $75 Student At-the-Door Registration: $15 At-the-Door Registration: $90

3:00 PM (Sat.) is limited to twelve; first come, first served. Quiana Chase; Peter Orullian (M); Julie (Special event, J Verne room) A Beginner’s Guide to Self-Publishing Wright; Mongo Jessica Day George A primer on how to enter the self-publishing Guest of Honor Interview: space, including an overview of platforms and How You Can Protect Your Art on the Web Melinda M. Snodgrass tools you need know before you hit “publish.” Learn from a professional artist what any (Special event, D Adams room) (Professional Development, O Butler room) individual should do to protect their art on Tom Durham (M); Melinda M. Snodgrass David J. West the web. (Art, J Christensen room) I Sense Something: Adding the Senses Bobbie Berendson W. Chinese Mythologies An editing pass may include focusing on add- An introduction to Chinese mythologies, Mechanics of Micro-revision ing descriptions of sight, sound, taste, smell, their influence on culture, and how they can Revision is the key to writing an engaging and more. Learn how to incorporate those be used for story inspiration. (Worldbuilding, story. Come learn how to spot filter words, descriptions to create vivid experiences in JRR Tolkien room) passive sentences, and repetitive structures, your writing. (Editing, A McCaffrey room) Emily Martha Sorensen; Dr. John K. Lund- and how to use small changes within your Kristy S. Gilbert; Michaelbrent Collings; wall; Keith Haus; Stephen Gashler M( ) sentences to make a big difference in your Charlie Pulsipher; Jessica Guernsey; Stephen story. (Editing, A McCaffrey room) M Creating a Profit with Greenlighting Anal- Gashler ( ) KayLynn Flanders ysis for Your Movie Paid Advertisements: Book Booster or Industry experts Traci Hainsworth and John Sometimes the Future Isn’t All That Great, Budget Buster? Lee teach you how to analyze your movie for but It’s Not a Dystopia Either We will examine the efficacy of paid advertise- the highest possible Return on your investment. The future doesn’t have to be either a dysto- ments in publishing, from algorithms to tar- (Theatre & Media Arts, M Shelley room) pia or a utopia. But it does need to feel real. geting to ad spent. (Professional Development, Traci Hainsworth; John Lee (Writing, CS Lewis room) O Butler room) M Creating Religions Michaelbrent Collings; Scott R. Parkin ( ); Troy Lambert Natalie Brianne; Chris Jones; J. Anne Campanile Religion is important to many real-life cul- Producing and Distributing Your Movie tures and regions in the world and can greatly Strong Women as Protagonists John Lee and Traci Hainsworth teach indus- increase the believability of a world. When More and more, we are seeing diverse pro- try tried and true methods professionally pro- creating a religion for your game world, it tagonists. Come celebrate the strong women duce and distribute your movie. (Theatre & is often easier to base your religion on real- who have led our stories, as we talk about Media Arts, M Shelley room) world examples. But if done poorly, this can what makes them great characters. (Books, Traci Hainsworth; John Lee create many difficulties, including offensive U LeGuin room) Romance and Horror: Two Sides of the stereotypes. How do you create a religion Kaela Rivera; Quiana Chase; C. H. Hung; Same Coin while avoiding these possible pitfalls? (Gam- Ariadne Kane (M); Rosalyn Eves ing, G Gygax room) Romance and horror seem to manipulate a lot 4:00 PM (Sat.) G. Scott Huggins; Ben Pistorius (M); Alaya of the same emotions and depend on many Dawn Johnson Forgiveness Is Divine, but Trust Is Earned: of the same stakes. Some books exemplify Regaining Trust after Betrayal this connection better than others. Join us as Creator Chat with Jessica Day George In too many stories, forgiveness is quickly we discuss the themes, emotions, and stakes An informal chat with one of our Special granted by deeply offended parties. How do that link these two amazing genres. (Books, Guests. A small group of people will have you realistically rebuild trust after a romantic U LeGuin room) an intimate discussion about whatever top- relationship, a business deal, or a military alli- Sarah E. Seeley; Courtney Alameda; Elizabeth ics you want to discuss. All sessions will be ance goes sour? Under what conditions will Suggs (M); Laya V. Smith; Miranda Renae held in a private chat room this year. Sign ups trust never be earned again? (Worldbuilding, will be posted the morning of the chat. Space JRR Tolkien room)

28 Story vs. Gameplay Filmmaking 101—For Newbies Finding and Keeping an Audience Story and gameplay can each independently Learn the basics for taking your stories from In an age where things have become increas- make a game great; however, the truly great “script to screen” from a Hollywood veteran ingly digital, how do we find those that con- games have both halves of the equation. What film and TV Producer. (Theatre & Media nect with our art? How do we keep them are the the things to look at when designing a Arts, M Shelley room) around once we have found them? Our pan- game to ensure the story and game play match Robert Starling elists discuss what has and has not worked for and are equally engaging? (Gaming, G Gygax them in the digital world. (Professional Devel- room) Jane Austen’s Romance Archetypes opment, O Butler room) Cavan Helps (M); Keith Haus; Tracy Hick- Though she published over two hundred years Brad R. Torgersen man; Heather B. Monson; Dan Haring ago, Jane Austen’s work continues to influence romance writers and readers and provides Humor in the Fantastic Writing to Audience vs. Writing to Market the basic building blocks for swoon-worthy Fantasy sometimes has unexpected magic and What’s the difference and why does it matter? stories. In this class, we’ll examine Austen’s consequences that can lead to humor. Many (Writing, CS Lewis room) archetypal plots and how they can be used to books have used this to great advantage. Let’s Emily Martha Sorensen; Allison K. Hymas; enhance your plots, increase the tension, and discuss how authors have found humor in the Johnny Worthen (M); M. Todd Gallowglas; Jared engage your readers. (Books, U LeGuin room) fantastic. (Books, U LeGuin room) Garrett M. A. Nichols Michael D. Young (M); Allison K. Hymas; Heidi Voss; G. Scott Huggins; Benjamin K. 5:00 PM (Sat.) Merging Technology and Magic Hewett; Natalie Brianne Creator Chat with Julie Wright Too often, magic and machinery are treated Let No Man Despise Thy Youth: Realistic An informal chat with one of our Special like oil and water: societies strong in magic Social Dynamics When Teenagers are in Guests. A small group of people will have aren’t expected to have a strong industry. Charge an intimate discussion about whatever top- What considerations should be made when ics you want to discuss. All sessions will be creating a world that has both a strong magi- Whether your teenagers are stuck ruling the held in a private chat room this year. Sign ups cal tradition and advanced technological kingdom or rallying their district to revolt, will be posted the morning of the chat. Space innovation? (Worldbuilding, JRR Tolkien they’re going to be in intense leadership posi- is limited to twelve; first come, first served. room) tions. Only one problem: What does that (Special event, J Verne room) Mike Thayer; Michaelbrent Collings (M); actually look like? How do adults respond Drea Gryphon; Natalie Brianne when teens are in charge? What are common Julie Wright problems that teens encounter while leading? Disability Literacy Round Table: The Good, the Bad, and the (Worldbuilding, JRR Tolkien room) Ugly of Self-Publishing Daily life for the physically disabled and neu- Quiana Chase rodivergent is different. They have to be aware A discussion on the ups and downs of self- Mormons, Movies, and Mormon Movies— of things that some people take for granted or publishing. (Professional Development, Take 3 ignore completely. (Writing, CS Lewis room) O Butler room) M M A 2020 update on “Mormons” in the movie Robin Glassey; Robison Wells M( ); Jay Boyce; Barbara Lund; Brad R. Torgersen ( ); . Todd Gallowglas; Kate Baray; Chris Jones industry, what they have created in cinema, G. Scott Huggins; Shannon Babb and how they’ve been portrayed on the silver Ergonomics for the Creator RPGs: How System Affects Table screen for a hundred years. (Theatre & Media Dynamics How to take care of the one tool you can’t Arts, M Shelley room) replace: you! Learn ergonomics and exercises Different RPG systems create different player Robert Starling to increase the longevity of your work day and cultures through the mechanisms in the game. Myth to Reality strengthen your eyes, hands, and back. (Art, This is an often-overlooked yet important J Christensen room) part of RPG system design. Learn how to Create fantastical art in this demo and work create the table culture you desire within the along! (Art workshop, J Christensen room) Emily Martha Sorensen; Allie May; Troy system. (Gaming, G Gygax room) Lambert; Mike Lovins (M) Kaitlund Zupanic Cavan Helps; Ravyn Evermore; James Eck; The Unexpected That Comes Unseen: Eve in a Cape: The Evolution of Female Daniel R. Yocom (M) Characters in Modern Superhero Movies Comparing Bilbo Baggins to the Celestial 6:00 PM (Sat.) Mariner Earendel The superhero genre has long been criticized for its underrepresentation of female char- Creator Chat with Melinda M. Snodgrass Academic paper. (Academics, A McCaffrey acters. This work examines the difference An informal chat with one of our Guests of room) in portrayals of various female superheroes, Honor. A small group of people will have Cindy Smith comparing and contrasting them with the an intimate discussion about whatever top- What Platform Should I Build My Game treatment of their male counterparts, and ics you want to discuss. All sessions will be For? PC, Console, VR, etc. views them critically through multiple lenses. held in a private chat room this year. Sign ups Different video-game platforms have different (Academics, A McCaffrey room) will be posted the morning of the chat. Space strengths and weaknesses. You should con- is limited to twelve; first come, first served. Lisa Christensen sider these when developing your video game. (Special event, J Verne room) What is the most efficient way to research Melinda M. Snodgrass

29 which platform is right for your game? (Gam- Finding Authenticity and Sensitivity Understanding and Appreciating Anime ing, G Gygax room) Readers from Around the World Art Scheel; Keith Haus; Brennan “Talonos” Learn about authenticity and sensitivity read- Where did anime originate? Why has it Smith; L. Palmer (M) ers: what they are, how to find them, and how become so popular? What do you need to they’ll help you. (Editing, A McCaffrey room) understand to “be in the know,” which are Writing Life Efficiency Tips & Tools Allie May; Ravyn Evermore; Alex Harrow; the best series to watch, and where can you Since few of us are able to write full time, we Rosalyn Eves (M) find them? (Theatre & Media Arts, M Shel- need to be as efficient as possible with our ley room) time. We will review helpful tips and tools to Horses in War Emily Martha Sorensen do that. (Writing, CS Lewis room) How horses have been used in war. (World- Henry Herz building, JRR Tolkien room) 8:00 PM (Sat.) 7:00 PM (Sat.) Gordon E. Frye Closing Ceremony Thank you for another wonderful year at Life, Am I Doing Something Stupid? Indie Publishing 101 the Universe, and Everything! Come help us The indie authors who are succeeding and Questions to ask when rereading your story. wrap up LTUE 39 as the co-chairs pass the selling their books to thousands of readers (Writing, CS Lewis room) gavel to our new chair for LTUE 40. You can know five things, and they’re not what you Mike Thayer; M. A. Nichols; Els Curtis; Jessica use the stream chat to say your farewells for expect. Learn what those things are and what Guernsey (M) the week. See you next year (hopefully in per- you need to focus on to increase your odds son)! (Special event, D Adams room) Art Therapy—Can Anyone Can Be an of success. You can delight thousands of read- Artist? ers with your tales, you just need to focus on 9:00 PM (Sat.) Art therapy: a calming form of self-expres- what matters and get to work. If you’re think- Filking sion manifested through the creation of art in ing about indie publishing, now’s your chance films, books, paintings, etc. Come learn how to get the inside scoop. Don’t miss this class. Folk singing with a science fiction/fantasy to use art therapy in your craft and in your (Professional Development, O Butler room) slant. Bring your guitar, lute, lyrics, or sim- ply your voice and join your fellow bards in daily life to improve your self-esteem, reduce John D. Brown anxiety, and manage emotional conflicts. (Art, making musical magic in this jolly sing-along. J Christensen room) Intro to Tabletop RPGs (Special event, J Verne room) Playing tabletop RPGs can be a rewarding Michaelbrent Collings; L. Palmer; Beth Buck and fun experience. They can, however, be (M); Rowan North a daunting genre to begin. This is due to the Creator Chat with Alaya Dawn Johnson abundance of game choices, the complexity An informal chat with one of our Guests of of the rules systems, and the amount of time Honor. A small group of people will have required to play them. Come learn tips on an intimate discussion about whatever top- how to learn the complex rulesets, as well as ics you want to discuss. All sessions will be how to decide which game system is right for held in a private chat room this year. Sign ups you. (Gaming, G Gygax room) will be posted the morning of the chat. Space C. R. Rowenson (M); James Eck; Daniel R. is limited to twelve; first come, first served. Yocom; Dylan Parker (Special event, J Verne room) Alaya Dawn Johnson

It’s only one year away! Life, the Universe, & Everything 40!

Come join in the fun! Anyone can be part of the committee. Watch the Discord server for the meeting on February 24, 10 am.

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