SCHEDULE OF EVENTS FOR CAMP NECON 43

C’mon gang, you couldn’t have expected our Programming Schedule THIS soon (and yes, I may be typing this on July 26th, 2024, but this statement is gonna stay true for a while)!

Simply put, we can’t even begin to put together this year’s Programming Schedule until much closer to the convention, when we know for certain who will be attending. We promise we will keep you all posted, and we promise we’ll send out our now-customary Programming Survey and happily receive any feedback and input you feel so inclined to offer. In the meantime, for a sample of what’s typically in store for our Campers, please check out the awesome lineup of panels and programming we rolled out at Camp Necon 42!

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS FOR CAMP NECON 42

Updated 7/16/24

*** NOTE — Subject to change at a moment’s notice due to unforeseen circumstances ***

THURSDAY

2:00 p.m. Registration Opens on the quad
Registration will be set up on the quad outside our apartment suites (weather permitting).

2:00 p.m. Camp Necon Hawaiian Shirt (& Other Garments) Contest Begins!
Secret judges will be watching all weekend, so any Hawaiian shirt, mask, or other garment worn during the convention is eligible to win!

5:00 p.m. Welcome to Camp Necon (Who Cares if the Bar’s Not Open Yet?)
Hosted by Matt Bechtel
Our traditional opening Q&A, usually targeted towards first-timers but we figure a lot of people may have questions about our new venue. Held on the back deck / yard of the on campus bar, which is just beyond the parking lots in front of our dorms (and no, the bar won’t be open until Saturday night).

10:00 p.m. TBD Camp Necon Olympic Events
Cards on the table, gang — we won’t know the what, when, and where of our Olympic Events this year until we get on campus. For instance, we expect some to be held inside the Student Center while others will be outdoors on the Quad. We promise the Camp Necon Olympics will run all weekend and we’ll announce what’s happening where and when as we figure it out.

*** PLEASE NOTE ***
Now that we’re back at a full-fledged campus location, we’re going “old school” and not officially scheduling anything else for Thursday. Everyone feel free to arrive at their leisure and explore the campus and surrounding area; there are tons of good restaurants nearby and we’ll make sure to have recommendations at the ready. The entirety of Thursday evening will be “quad time,” a chance to mill around, chat, meet new people and catch up with old friends.

FRIDAY

8:00 a.m. Breakfast

9:00 a.m Registration, Dealers Room, and Art Show Open in the Student Center
After Thursday, Registration will move to the Student Center (the home of most Camp Necon programming) for the remainder of the convention.

*** PLEASE NOTE — Friday mornings events will overlap, as they are more “free form” than our traditional panels. ***

9:00 a.m. The James A. Moore “ABC” Creative Parlour Inaugural Write-In
Jim Moore was one of the greatest friends and champions our community will ever know, and no one was more encouraging to his fellow writers (a fact immortalized across countless memes and Errick Nunnally-designed tee shirts). It is in his spirt, and to honor him, that Camp Necon will open the James A. Moore “ABC” Creative Parlour, a space for ALL Campers to feed their muses ALL weekend (and kick it off with a dedicated 90-minute write-in). Campers can write, draw, perhaps break into a small group to collaborate or give/receive feedback; in short, anything we can do to encourage one another’s art. We know Jim would approve.

10:00 a.m. Office Hours with Executive Editor Jaime Levine: An Open Seminar with Bracken MacLeod & Personal Reviews

First (starting at 10AM), editor/author duo Jaime Levine and Bracken MacLeod host an open seminar giving some insight into the business of publishing, covering how it works and what the author can expect. (e.g. how many times are you expected to revise your manuscript? How much say do you get in the cover?)

After, Jaime will hold Office Hours and provide personal reviews for up to 10 writers who reach out and send her up to 10 pages for feedback … and share that process with the Camp Necon community! In her words —

I’ll sit with five people to review their 10 pages and/or answer questions.  This can be done publicly, if the people want to sit around and listen to what I tell the individuals who were selected. Sometimes people can derive insight from what was told to someone else. But not always. And this isn’t workshopping the whole manuscript or story, so there’s less a beta reader can do, which is why I’m not structuring it as a full blown workshop. This is more, “Do I have something marketable? Am I marketing myself well? What guidance do you have? What’s your gut reaction to what I’m writing? How do I go about finding an agent” If people would prefer that the 1:1 be private, then we can do that too.

But wait, there’s more! Because Jaime is SO generous, she’s willing to schedule private reviews throughout the weekend (as her and their schedules allow) for writers who were not selected for Friday morning’s open session.

Anyone interested in participating and getting Jaime’s feedback should email her their work at jlevine@campnecon.com; Jaime will build the schedule of personal reviews accordingly.

10:30 a.m. The Year’s Best Horror (Across All Forms of Media) Kaffeeklatsch
Jennifer Anne Gordon, Judith Pancoast, Nick Zaino
We decided to merge the Frank Michaels Errington Five Star Books klatsch, our annual Best Horror Movies klatsch, and our annual Best Horror TV Shows & Other Media klatsh into one 90-minute omnibus kaffeeklatsch on the year’s best horror across all media. This informal discussion, led by the Campers listed, will cover the best in the genre since the last time Camp Necon convened. Basically, if it’s scary, we wanna hear about it!

12:00 p.m. Lunch; Registration, Dealers Room, and Art Show Close

1:00 p.m. Registration, Dealers Room and Art Show Re-open

1:00 p.m. RPG-Palooza!
Games and hosts TBD (beyond John Goodrich, who is a ROCK!).

1:00 p.m. What’s New Pussycat: Has Horror Changed Since the Pandemic?
Michael Arruda (Moderator), Clay McLeod Chapman, S.A. Cosby, Richard Dansky, Shannon Grant, Trish Wilson
The last few years have been like nothing our society has previously lived through. What hits differently now, and what new works (books, movies, TV, etc. that debuted post-pandemic) have really stood out as scary?

2:00 p.m. The “Other” as Villain: Writing Diverse Antagonists
Meghan Arcuri (Moderator), Danny Brzozowski, V. Castro, Zin E. Rocklyn, Michael Rowe, Lee Thomas
Any character can be the “bad guy” in any story. That said, why are so many women villains depicted as the subversion of a trope (i.e. the evil stepmother rather than the nurturing one)? Why are so many LGBTQ villains depicted as untrustworthy secret keepers? How do you write a diverse antagonist without (at best) slipping into tired clichés, or (at worst) perpetuating harmful stereotypes? And what authors across speculative fiction have excelled at creating diverse characters who are just as capable of evil as any other?

3:00 p.m. Genre Blending Forecast: What’s Our Next Monstrous Mash-Up?
Michael Burke, Thomas R. Clark, Kristin Dearborn (Moderator), Heather Graham, Gabino Iglesias, Hildy Silverman
The hard lines between genres continue to fade; we’re holding a panel about crime and horror this year, and we’ve previously held ones about sci-fi, fantasy, and romance. What’s the next genre that will dip its chocolate bar into the peanut butter jar of horror to delight us?

4:00 p.m. From Beyond: Horror Fiction Set Outside the U.S.
P.D. Cacek (Moderator), Jean-Francois Dubeau, Sèphera Girón, Jack Haringa, Wendy Maxon, Francois Vaillancourt
Many elements of horror are universal and transcend all settings, while others are very particular to specific locations and especially powerful when handled correctly. Simply put, how do you properly convey horror born of a place with which your reader may not be familiar?

5:00 p.m. Camp Necon 42 Class Photo (site TBD)

5:30 p.m. Dinner; Registration, Dealers Room, and Art Show Close

7:00 p.m. Dealers Room and Art Show Re-open

7:00 p.m. Official Camp Necon 42 Toast by Toastmaster Trisha J. Wooldridge

7:30 p.m. Camp Necon Update with Matt Bechtel & Mike Myers
Every time we think we’re out, they drag us back in!

8:00 p.m. Meet the Authors Party
A two-hour meet & greet and book signing, with table space available for ALL authors attending Camp Necon. The Dealers Room will remain open and Copper Dog Books is purposefully stocking titles by attending authors, but authors are encouraged to bring their own stock and Campers are encouraged to bring their own copies of books they’d like signed as well.

10:00 p.m. More TBD Camp Necon Olympic Events

10:30 p.m. Horror at the Bar (Who Cares if the Bar’s Still Not Open Yet?)
Hosted by Mike Myers; Featuring Clay McLeod Chapman, Bracken MacLeod, Jennifer McMahon and Millie Price.
Mike Myers rekindles the long-lost tradition of a late-night reading at Camp Necon, as some of our best and brightest share their work with us. Held on the back deck / yard of the on campus bar (i.e. just far enough from the quad to eliminate noise issues).

SATURDAY

8:00 a.m. Breakfast

9:00 a.m. Registration, Dealers Room, and Art Show Open

9:00 a.m. When the Bullet Hits the Bone: Why Crime and Horror Fiction Are Bound in Blood
Dana Cameron, S.A. Cosby, John Goodrich (Moderator), Gabino Iglesias, Michelle Renee Lane, Craig Wolf
Cards on the table here everybody — we conceived this panel in 2023, but then S.A. Cosby and Gabino Iglesias accepted our GOH invitations for this year. So we held it back, ‘cuz how do you not hold this panel when they’re in the room? The movie Angel Heart (one of my and Bob Booth’s all time favorites) was based on the “hardboiled detective novel” Falling Angel. So, clearly, this phenomenon isn’t new. Authors with their fingers on the pulse (and sometimes the trigger) discuss.

10:00 a.m. An Excellent Day for an Exorcism: Why Are Possession Stories Making a Comeback in Fiction and Film?
V. Castro, Christopher Golden (Moderator), Jennifer McMahon, Will Prescott, L.L. Soares, Gaby Triana, Douglas Wynne
Camp Necon’s Co-Founder Bob Booth had a theory why The Exorcist hit so hard when it was published in 1971 — he said truly random horror resonated with the audience at that time (who had just come through the 60’s and were questioning everything), and you don’t get more random than an innocent girl being possessed by the Devil. Fast forward over 40 years to today; does Bob’s theory still apply, and what other factors play into the recent rise of possession stories?

11:00 a.m. Creating Creative Boundaries: Establishing Remote-Work-Life Balance
Russ Colchamiro, Angel Luis Colon, Catherine Grant, Errick Nunnally, Jason Salzarulo (Moderator). Angi Shearstone
It’s a simple truth that many (heck, most) of us still work a day job as we pursue our passions. It’s another simple truth that day jobs have changed greatly over the past few years, as many jobs have shifted to a remote model. But it’s a very complicated truth that shift has opened a blurring of many lines. How do you establish reasonable boundaries and protect what time is yours in an evolving workplace structure?

12:00 p.m. Lunch; Registration, Dealers Room, and Art Show Close

1:00 p.m. Dealers Room and Art Show Re-open

1:00 p.m. Writer Guest of Honor Interviews (Note: extended 90 minute panel)
V. Castro, S.A. Cosby, Gabino Iglesias, Trisha J. Wooldridge (Moderator)
The centerpiece of Camp Necon Programming. Toastmaster Trisha J. Wooldridge honorably interviews this year’s Writer Guests of Honor.

2:30 p.m. The Mad Scientists Club: Using Real Science in Your Horror Fiction
Linda D. Addison, John Buja, Patrick Freivald, Cyrus Green, Nicholas Kaufmann, Rena Mason (Moderator)
Horror and science fiction is one of the greatest and time-tested genre mash-ups. That said, the devil is literally in the details and everyone with access to Google is now both an expert and a critic. How do you address the contradiction within the name of this panel, and keep your “fiction” “real” when incorporating science?

3:30 p.m. The Old Gods Still Reign: Plumbing Mythology for Ideas
David Baillie (Moderator), Gillian Daniels, Lori Perkins, Kyle Rader, Darrell Schweitzer, Dr. Jaime Chris Weida
Some mythologies seem to have been strip-mined for plots and characters in genre work (Greek, Roman, Biblical), while others still seem fresh. Which myth cycles seem ripe for plunder in the world of fiction and which need a break?

4:30 p.m. Richard Dansky’s “Write Club” / “Whose Fright Is It Anyway?”
Hosted by Richard Dansky; STARTING CONTESTANTS: Terry Emery, John Goodrich, Carol Gyzander, Hildy Silverman, Nick Zaino; STARTING JUDGES: Kristin Dearborn, Scott Goudsward, Michelle Renee Lane *** PLEASE NOTE — Anyone who volunteered for this madness is eligible to be yanked out of the audience and thrown into the fray at any time!”

Richard Dansky (who’s beyond reproach around here and an actual professional game designer!) created and pitched this to us; it sounded bat-shit crazy, so in other words right up our alley! In his words (edited for brevity) —

“Whose Line Is It Anyway? for writers. Fast paced humorous improvisational writing competition. The contestants get a humorous prompt and have two minutes to write a response. The contestants read their response and the judges decide who gets eliminated. That’s the base game, but you can pull new contestants out of the audience, replace judges on the fly, the judges could decide to eliminate the MC, you can change the prompt mid-round … anything to add to the general chaos and hilarity!”

5:30 p.m. Dinner; Registration, Dealers Room, and Art Show Close

6:30 p.m. Artists Reception

8:00 p.m. Camp Necon Honors … ???
Hosted by Mike Myers and featuring a panel of dignitaries. An intimate interview and discussion honoring a SURPRISE Camper’s countless contributions to our community. This year, we decided to go “old school,” take a page from our Roast days, and not announce the “Camper of the Hour” until we’re all gathered on Saturday night!

9:30 p.m. Scary-Oke at the Bar (Hosted by Tommy Clark) & the Traditional Camp Necon Saugy Roast
When last year’s planned entertainment for Saturday night fell through, Tommy Clark stepped up and hosted Scary-Oke and it was such a smash the entire convention agreed it needed to become a new Saturday night tradition! On top of that, our partners at St. Anselm have offered to open their on-campus bar (which is shut down for the summer) just for us for Saturday night, and the Traditional Camp Necon Saugy Roast will take place on the bar’s back deck. (Please note: no personal beverages are allowed in the bar or on the deck during this event).

12:00 a.m. (Potentially) More TBD Camp Necon Olympic Events

SUNDAY

8:00 a.m. Breakfast

9:00 a.m. Dealers Room and Art Show Open

9:00 a.m. I Can’t Help But Be Scary!: Horror’s Influence On All forms of Art
Duncan Eagleson (Moderator), Glenn Chadbournne, Mark Eshbaugh, Lynne Hansen, Ogmios, Cat Scully, Francois Vaillancourt
Most of our Camp Necon artists design book covers, but many also create works for a variety of other media, and most at least occasionally do work just for themselves. What inspires them when it’s not an assigned piece, and there’s no book or other source to be illustrated?  What are the challenges involved in working for a medium that isn’t your usual one?  Horror loving artists of all forms share how their love for the genre influences what they create.

10:00 a.m. Don’t Do It Like That: The Importance of Editors
Carol Gyzander (Moderator), John D. Harvey, Lisa Lebel, Jaime Levine, Gordon Linzner, Trisha J. Wooldridge
Editors often get short shrift in the public recognition of the creative arts. Fewer and fewer online venues employ copyeditors or even continuity editors, but both written and spoken works suffer without them. Our panel of experts address how editors help make the magic happen.

11:00 a.m. Camp Necon Town Meeting
Another annual tradition, as awards are bestowed and the Camp Necon Family gives us feedback on what went well and makes suggestions for next year.

12:00 p.m. Dealers Room and Art Show Close

12:00 p.m. Farewell Lunch