On July 23rd and 24th, I visited the beautiful city of Kingston, Ontario for Limestone Genre Expo. (@limestonegenre on Twitter)
The first iteration happened last year, as a one-day event. This year, the organizers doubled down, making it a two-day event.
I hunkered down in the Dealers’ Room for most of the event, so I can’t say that I caught all the panel action, but here’s what the schedule had to offer:
Packed rooms of enthusiastic attendees listened and participated in topics from “Queering the Fantastic” to the Evolution of the Young Adult Market to “The Feminist Journey in Genre Fiction”.
Robert Runte from Five Rivers Publishing generously offered an hour for authors to pitch their works — a highlight of the event for many.
Readings were scheduled on both days, featuring Guests of Honour David Nickle and Vicki Delany, as well as authors Nancy Baker, Rob Brunet, Alyssa Cooper, Kit Daven, Janet Kellough, Tara Wyatt, and Marie Bilodeau.
The following workshops offered varied seminars on the craft of writing:
Guest of Honour Nina Munteanu taught The Ecology of World Building
Derek Newman-Stille taught Writing the Senses
Rob Brunet taught Setting as Character
Mary Sullivan and Ann Lethbridge taught How to Write Romance Novels and Find Your Market
I intend to keep this convention on my radar from now on, especially considering my newly-formed Kingston connection.
