I’ll be at Capclave this weekend! Here’s my schedule. Full schedule here.

The Future of YA
Saturday, 12:00 pm, Rockville/Potomac
Warren Buff, Victoria Janssen, Sherin Nicole, Diana Peterfreund
What is the next big trend in YA now that Vampires and Dystopias have had their big hits? Will the audience for YA continue to build or has it overexpanded? As YA books get longer and more sophisticated, is there really a need for a separate YA label?

Romancing the Paranormal
Saturday, 3:00 pm, Salons A & B
Victoria Janssen (M), Sherin Nicole, Jean Marie Ward
Witches and werewolves and vampires in love. Why has paranormal romance become so popular? Is this a fad or a lasting subgenre? Have publishers started cutting back? How much romance needs to be in the book for it to be paranormal as opposed to urban/modern fantasy?

Young, Adult, or Both?
Saturday, 4:00 pm, Salons A & B
Andrew Fox, Ron Garner, Victoria Janssen (M), Morgan Keyes, Diana Peterfreund
How does YA differ from a children’s book or an adult book? How are the pacing, characterization, and language different, or the same? Are there things you can do with one age level and not the other? Are these distinctions needed? And what about series like Harry Potter in which the children grow up?

Dressed for Success
Saturday, 6:00 pm, Bethesda
Ron Garner, Laura Anne Gilman (M), Victoria Janssen, Diana Peterfreund
How detailed should your clothing descriptions be in your story? Does the clothing have anything to do with the character? Does it describe them, or allow them to do certain things? Do the readers care?

WWI Comeback
Sunday, 11:00 am, Bethesda
Andrew Fox, John G. Hemry, Victoria Janssen (M), Jean Marie Ward
It has been nearly a hundred years since the War to end all wars. Is this a setting that still has potential? Will the movie “War Horse” and the tv show “Downton Abbey” spark a new interest in fiction set during World War One?