Gen Con 2019 Schedule

August 1 - 4, 2019

Once again I've been caught off-guard by Gen Con - It's only two weeks away!

Once again I will be part of the Writer’s Symposium. They've got me scheduled for a bunch of great panels and such - here's the list:

SEM19160166 - Alternate Reality Fiction:  It's fun to answer the "what ifs" of history. Panelists including Cherie Priest, Daniel Myers, Linda Robertson, and David Mack discuss how changing one detail can change everything. 08/01/2019 (Thursday), 11:00 AM, Marriott : Atlanta 

SEM19160183 - Cook Like a Dwarf, Eat Like a Halfling:  How do you write a cookbook for a culture that never existed but everyone knows? One of the authors (Daniel Myers) of "A Dwarven Cookbook" talks about the origins of the recipes in their cookbooks. 08/01/2018 (Thursday), 7:00 PM, Marriott : Marriott Bllrm 2

SEM19160224 - Medieval Foodways:  Fantasy novels are commonly set in medieval Europe, except the food which is usually wrong. Learn from Daniel Myers how medieval cuisine worked and how to create believable fictional foodways. 08/02/2018 (Friday), 7:00 PM, Marriott : Marriott Blrm 3 

SEM19160172 - Believable Fictional Languages:  Fictional worlds often include their own languages, but creating an entire language can be a daunting task. Daniel Myers discusses word generation, common pitfalls, and stealing from the real world. 08/03/2018 (Saturday), 7:00 PM, Marriott : Marriott Bllrm 3

To my surprise, the first two are listed as being sold out.  That said, if you're interested and have the time free try anyway - there are usually some no-shows. See you there!

Gen Con 2018 Schedule

August 2 - 5, 2018

Ack!  It's only a week until Gen Con and I haven't posted about it yet! Sorry. It's been kind of a busy summer.

I'm part of the Writer’s Symposium this year and they've got all sort of great panels and such scheduled. I'm especially excited that Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck are guests of honor (they write under the pseudonym of James S.A. Corey).

For my contribution to the fun, I'm doing the following:

SEM18142584 - Real Medieval Feasts  Curious what medieval feasts were really like? Come learn about medieval cuisine as well as common myths. 08/02/2018 (Thursday), 8:00 PM, Marriott : Atlanta 

SEM18142520 - Build Your Own Language  Fictional worlds often include languages to make their setting more believable. This seminar will help you create your own language, suitable for adding color to a game or novel. 08/03/2018 (Friday), 8:00 PM, Marriott : Atlanta 

SEM18142744 - From Rations to Feasts  What will people eat in the future? How will it be packaged? What should fantasy adventurers bring on their quest, and what will be served when they feast with the king? Elizabeth Bear, Bruce Cordell, Daniel Myers, and Aaron Rosenberg discuss. 08/04/2018 (Saturday), 1:00 PM, Marriott : Marriott Blrm 1 

The first two are listed as being sold out, but if you're interested and have the time free try anyway - there are usually some open seats. I promise to keep you all entertained!

Gen Con 2017 Schedule

Gen Con Indy 2017,  August 17 - 20

It's just a few weeks until Gen Con and I realized I hadn't posted about it yet. My two regular seminars are part of the Writer’s Symposium this year, which means they'll be in bigger rooms and close to the convention center. It looks like the tickets for them (both free!) are going fast

SEM17121102 – Author Education: Medieval Cooking and Fantasy Foods
Have you designed a richly detailed fantasy setting for your game or story, only to have a gaping hole show up the first time a character needs to eat? What do you serve at a hero's feast? What does it take to cook that? Medieval food historian Daniel Myers compares the reality of cooking in medieval Europe to what is typically presented in fantasy books, movies, and games. Topics include common myths, medieval kitchen technology, realistic feasts, and rampant fruititarianism. 08/17/2017 (Thursday), 8:00 PM, Westin : Capitol I   (94 tickets sold so far) 

SEM17121113 – Author Education: Believable Fictional Languages
Fictional worlds often include their own languages, but creating an entire language can be a daunting task. Learn tips for word generation, common pitfalls, and how to steal from the real world.  08/18/2017 (Friday), 8:00 PM, Westin : Capitol I  (62 tickets sold so far)

I'm also on one of the Symposium panels. I love doing these - the exchange of ideas and viewpoints always charges up my creativity.

SEM17121187 – Worldbuilding: The Impact of Cataclysms, Disasters, and the Apocalypse What happens to a world and its people when cataclysm strikes? Learn how to use disasters to make a more interesting new world. Featuring Lucy A. Snyder, Maxwell Alexander Drake, Daniel "Doc" Myers.  08/17/2017 (Thursday), 5:00 PM, Westin : Caucus   (sold out) 

This year's convention looks like it's going to be really, really big.  I expect it to be really fun as well!

Gen Con 2016 Schedule

Gen Con Indy 2016,  August 4 - 7

I've just heard back from Gen Con that my seminars are now active and viewable by the public, so I thought I should do a quick post about them. I'm not part of the Writer’s Symposium this year but I'll likely be in the audience for several of their panels.

For my own events for Blackspoon Press and Medieval Cookery, I've scaled it back to just two this year.

SEM1686243 – Creating Medieval Fantasy Cuisines  A subterranean culture probably wouldn't eat roast beef and an arboreal one wouldn't eat sushi. A fantasy world should have a cuisine that takes into account the resources and technology of the people that inhabit it. This seminar demonstrates how to make up a consistent, believable cuisine using a simple template.  08/04/2016 (Thursday), 8:00 PM, Crowne Plaza : Grand Central Ballroom A 

 

SEM1686244 – Fictional Languages & the Name of this Seminar  AEver have a story or game ruined simply by the choice of a name? This seminar looks at language creation in general along with the pitfalls inherent in creating names. 08/05/2016 (Friday), 8:00 PM, Crowne Plaza : Grand Central Ballroom A 

For the Fantasy cuisine seminar I'm trying something different in that I intend to create - with the help of the audience - a fully functional cuisine. That seems a bit ambitious for a two hour seminar, but I think it's doable and should at the very least be entertaining.

The Language seminar is an offshoot of the one I've done before. Bad names in fantasy and science-fiction drive me nuts, and most of the time they're pretty easily avoided.

Gen Con 2015 Schedule

Gen Con Indy 2015,  July 30 - August 2

The Gen Con website is now allowing people to sign up for events, so I thought it would be a good idea to post the events I'm running.

This year I'm doing two seminars as part of the Writer’s Symposium as well as my regular events for Blackspoon Press and Medieval Cookery.

SEM1580059 – Author Ed: Medieval Food and Cooking  Learn all about the reality of medieval food and cooking from medieval cooking expert Daniel Myers. Debunk myths about what people ate and discover culinary tidbits you can use in your stories! 07/30/2015 (Thursday), 4:00 PM, ICC : 241

SEM1569116 – Creating Medieval and Fantasy Cuisines  A subterranean culture probably wouldn't eat roast beef and an arboreal one wouldn't eat sushi. A fantasy world should have a cuisine that takes into account the resources and technology of the people that inhabit it. This seminar detail how to make up a consistent, believable cuisine using the workings of medieval European cooking as a template. 07/30/2015 (Thursday), 8:00 PM, Crowne Plaza : Pennsylvania Stn B 

SEM1577142 – Not Your Grandfather's Religion  A fictional religion can add depth to a story or game setting. This seminar presents a framework for creating a consistent and believable religious system. 07/31/2015 (Friday), 8:00 PM, Crowne Plaza : Pennsylvania Stn A

SEM1577142 – Worldbuilding: Crafting Languages  A good fictional language adds depth to your story; a bad one can ruin it. Learn from authors with experience at imaginary languages how to avoid pitfalls & use language to enhance your story. 08/01/2015 (Saturday), 4:00 PM, ICC : 244

The seminar on creating religions is a new one for me, but I think it'll be fun. Hope to see you there!

Gen Con 2012 Schedule

Gen Con is about three months away and I'm trying to get things ready. Unfortunately I'm not part of the Writer's Symposium panels this year, but I'm sure I'll find plenty to keep me busy. As in past years, I'm giving a two hour talk on Thursday evening.

Gen Con Indy 2012 - August 16-19

SEM1229781 - Medieval Travelling Food: The Theory and Practice of Hard Rations
Learn about what medieval soldiers and travelers ate when they were in the wilds, and see what you can do as a game master or writer to make things just that much more believable.
08/16/2012, 8:00 PM, ICC : Rm 243

Additionally, I've scheduled two events for Blackspoon Press.

SEM1229782 - How to Cook Like a Dwarf
How do you write a cookbook for a culture that never existed but everyone knows? The authors of The Dwarven Cookbook talk about the origins of the recipes in their cookbooks.
08/18/2012, 3:00 PM, Crowne Plaza : Victoria Stn A/B

SEM1229783 - Build Your Own Language
This workshop will guide you in creating your own language. With minimal materials and two hours of time, you will have the core a language suitable for adding color to a game or novel background.
08/17/2012, 8:00 PM, ICC : Rm 243

This last one is the most challenging for me to prepare. I want the participants to walk away with something usable and unique, but I don't want to delve too deeply into linguistics (after all, this isn't a college course). What's more, it's a free seminar (as are the others) so any handouts I provide will be paid for out of my own pocket. We'll see how many sign up during early registration.

On the whole, I expect this year to be a lot of fun.

Gen Con 2011 Schedule

It's now less than three weeks (yikes!) before GenCon.  As in past years, I'm on discussion panels as part of the Writer's Symposium and will be giving a two hour talk about medieval cooking.  Below are the descriptions for this year's events.

SEM1118008 - Medieval Feasts and Food: Making the Fantasy Match Reality
Are you curious what medieval cooking was really like? Do you want your fantasy characters' dinner to be plausible? This seminar takes a look at medieval European cuisine as a whole, and discusses the misconceptions and misunderstandings that pervade the popular view. Some of the topics to be covered are food preservation, medieval dining on the road, common medieval food myths, and some of the strange things you can find in medieval books.
08/04/2011, 8:00 PM, ICC : 243

SEM1119600 - Fictional Food
(Daniel Myers, Linda Baker, Steven Saus, Anton Strout)
Real spacemen don't eat grilled cheese! Little details help make your fiction real and add depth to your characters. Fictional food can also reveal important information about the climate and culture you are crafting. Learn how to make up food and diets that are exotic but still believable.
08/05/2011, 12:00 PM, ICC : 245

SEM1119621 - Category 4 Brainstorm
(Kelly Swails, Daniel Myers, Anton Strout, Steven Saus)
Sometimes ideas don't come easy. It may take a lot of work and rumination to cull a workable idea for a story or book. We offer techniques for brainstorming and discuss the resources we turn to when our thoughts go stale.
08/06/2011, 10:00 AM, ICC : 245

SEM1119622 - Worldbuilding: Men, Monsters, and the Creatures Between
(Linda Baker, Sabrina Klein, Daniel Myers, Ramsey Lundock, Bob Farnsworth)
Men, elves, and the like cannot live in isolation, and monsters don't materialize out of nowhere. People and creatures need to fit into the world's ecology and have a life cycle that makes sense, otherwise your readers will see your world as unrealistic and not worth reading about. Find out what makes creatures and races believable.
08/06/2011, 11:00 AM, ICC : 244

SEM1119640 - Pick Our Brains
(Anton Strout, Jason Sizemore, Daniel Myers)
How dare you consider sleeping in on the final day of this year's Gen Con! We bet there're still questions whirling in your brain about worldbuilding, the publishing industry, sprucing up your manuscript, and whatnot. We're here to provide as many answers as possible.
08/07/2011, 8:00 AM, ICC : 244

At this point I'm a bit frantic (as usual) in trying to get everything ready.

When the Party's Over

Once again, Gen Con has come and gone, and It'll probably take over a week for me to fully recover. This year was great. I had fun, I learned lots of stuff, and I talked with lots of cool people. The fact that Jean Rabe organizes the Writers' Symposium events for Gen Con every year shows that she's one of the most awesome people ever.

My two hour talk, titled Real Medieval Feasts seemed to go well. It wasn't as much fun to do as the Principles of Medieval Cooking one I've done a number of times, but people still seemed to enjoy it. Attendance seemed smaller than last year - there were only about 60 or so in the audience, and some empty seats. Still, the crowd was responsive and inquisitive.

I was really nervous for the cooking workshop. I'd never done this kind of thing, and the lack of proper cooking facilities made me worry even more. I was so nervous that I managed to burn my fingertips (slightly) while adjusting the element on the cooktop - I hadn't realized it got turned on while setting things up.

Still, I managed to get the food served and did my best to keep the guests entertained. I'd cooked most of the food ahead of time, and that's about the only way I could have done this at all. No one seemed to mind much, and in fact they said I could have charged significantly more (which I'll likely need to do if I try this again next year). Given the cost of dining anywhere near the convention (where a burger, fries, and drink can cost up to $20) I guess I'm not surprised.

One thing I did get a kick out of was that two of the guests were children. Both boys, one around eight years old and the other I'll guess was maybe six, and they were there with their mothers. The kids were very well behaved, tried everything (that I could see) and seemed to like it. These were my kind of kids! If either of the moms are reading this, thank you for raising such nice children.

For the Writers' Symposium panels I was on, I had a great time. I was a bit concerned about the panel on drinking, but it was really fun - and I got to have a nice chat with Linda Baker before and afterwards (Hi Linda!).

The panel on Dark Women worried me even more - it was mis-scheduled in the Gen Con computer, so very few people were there at the start, and I wasn't sure how much I'd be able to contribute (I'm a guy, after all). I think we managed to do pretty well, and we even extended it an extra hour to accommodate the (large!) crowd who showed up for the scheduled time. Paul Genesse had the brilliant idea to draft one of the audience members from the first hour into the panel for the second hour. Susan Carhart (I hope I remembered her name right) was a really neat person to be on a panel with - smart, charming, and all-around fun.

That's about it for now. There are several potential projects that might develop from the convention, but we'll have to wait and see. I'll post some details on what I served at the cooking workshop a bit later this week.

GenCon 2010 Update

My preparations for the convention are going well. I've got my notes all ready and the menu set for the workshop. I do have one bit of news though: I am now officially a published author!

The group that puts on the Writer's Symposium panels at GenCon have put together a collection of short stories called "Stalking the Wild Hare", and in it is my story "Critical Violation".

It's a nice little story about zombie rats invading the cafeteria at a government laboratory. See? It's even food related!

There are also twenty or so stories by some of the other Writer's Symposium authors - they're a great bunch of people and I'm honored to be included in their midst. The publisher says it'll be available from Amazon.com in a couple of weeks (I'll update this post with a link at that time).

Gen Con 2010 Schedule

It's less than a month before Gen Con, and once again I'll be participating in some of the Writer's Symposium seminars, as well as a couple of events of my own.

On Thursday evening I'll be giving a 2 hour talk about medieval feasts, targeted more towards fantasy authors and role-playing gamers than historians (there does seem to be a surprising amount of overlap though).  I expect this to be a bit rambling, with my usual tendency to sidetrack and distract myself.  Here's the description from the Gen Con catalog:

SEM1008386 - Real Medieval Feasts
Why did they have feasts in medieval Europe? What did they eat? Who paid for it all? This seminar examines real feasts based upon descriptions and menus from medieval sources, and compares the medieval practices with modern misconceptions. Some of the topics to be included are feast foods, entertainment, manners, economics, and the practical challenges of processing two thousand head of poultry. 08/05/2010, 8:00:00 PM, Marriott : Santa Fe

I'm also trying something new this year, a medieval cooking workshop.  It's scheduled for late Saturday afternoon, and essentially is providing an early supper for the participants.  I am understandably a bit nervous about this one, ans there aren't any cooking facilities available.  This means I have to do any cooking using hotplates and the like.  Having worked in equally difficult situations though, I'm sure it'll turn out just fine.

WKS1008387 - Medieval Cooking Workshop
Everything you need to know and not know about the basic techniques and ingredients of medieval European cuisine - complete with roasts, vegetables, pies, sauces, and desserts - complete with a demonstration and full meal. A booklet will be provided to each participant with full recipes for all the dishes made. Due to limited facilities, special dietary requirements cannot be accommodated.
08/07/2010, 4:00:00 PM, Marriott : Santa Fe

Because of the limitations in space and such, I had to limit the number of participants to 15 - and I was surprised at how quickly it sold out.  This is also the first time I've charged anything for a seminar/workshop ($12), but given how much I'll spend on the food it was pretty much unavoidable.  Considering how much the convention center charges for pizza or hot dogs, I suppose it's a good deal.


Here are the Writer's Symposium panels I'll be part of:

SEM1009889 - Bottom's Up!
Is your hero always sober? Does your villain have a drinking problem? When is it appropriate to use alcohol in literature to set a scene, advance the plot, or add some color to your characters? Our panelists look at drinking ... and not just the intoxicating stuff. We’ll delve into medieval drinks and futuristic concoctions and discuss reference material to sate your characters’ thirsts and wet your readers’ whistles.  08/07/2010, 11:00, AM Hyatt : Studio 1

SEM1009908 - Dark Ladies
There is a dark side to the “fairer sex.” In this hour, we’ll focus on female villains, hard-boiled heroines, and tough-as-nails supporting characters. How do you make a female character real without becoming a cliché or done-to-death stereotype?  08/08/2010, 9:00 AM, Hyatt : Studio 1

SEM1009910 - Rounding Your World
If you’re not writing in the “real world,” and you’ve created a land of your own, you have to do more than draw a map, add a river, and sprinkle in some mountains and other geographical features. You have to put a lot of thought into the place. Our panelists will tell you what elements make a fantasy setting believable, including weather, population clusters, animal life, and more. 08/08/2010, 10:00 AM, Hyatt : Studio 1

I'm looking forward to it all, but there's a lot of preparation still to do.

Gen Con and Pennsic

I'm still trying to recover from my week of Pennsic followed by 4 days of Gen Con (talk about culture shock), but I think I'm finally up to writing a bit here about how it all went.

Pennsic
For those who haven't heard of Pennsic, I've been describing it to my co-workers as a cross between Woodstock, A Renaissance faire, and a conference of academic historians.

This year was pretty good. The weather was reasonably cool and dry (soggy start and hot finish notwithstanding), and I didn't get sick at all this year. I spent lots of time taking classes and just hanging around with cool, geeky people.

The big focus for me this year was on book binding. I've been wanting to try making books for years, so I was thrilled to take classes on the subject and to talk with people who do it.

Best of all, I got to bring home some equipment for binding books! I suspect a new project will be coming along shortly.

Gen Con
As I have for the past few years, I sat on some of the Writers' Symposium panels, and I gave a two-hour seminar on medieval European cuisine.

The seminar was to a surprisingly large audience - they moved me from one room because we'd gone over the 100 person capacity. The audience was agreeable, interested, and in a good mood. They seemed to enjoy it, and I received a few compliments here and there, so as far as I can tell it went really well. I'll have to come up with a good topic for next year.

The Writers' Symposium panels were lots of fun, though surprisingly I did feel a bit out of my element on the panel about dragons.

Again, I spent a lot of my time hanging out with geeky people and learning cool (to me) stuff. I didn't buy as much stuff this year as I have in previous years - that's a good thing.

Gen Con Seminar Schedule

In just over two weeks (and three days after I get home from Pennsic), I will be Participating in the Writer's Symposium seminars at Gen Con. I've gone to this convention for several years, and given talks on medieval cooking for the past three or four (I'm losing count).

On Thursday evening at 8:00 p.m. I'll be giving a 2 hour talk about medieval cooking ("Getting Medieval with Food"). This will be a sort of general overview, geared towards fantasy authors and game designers who want to make the food in their work more realistic. Here's the description from the Gen Con events catalog:

SEM0903050 - Getting Medieval with Food
Fantasy games and novels are commonly set in a society based on medieval Europe - except for the food, which is commonly way wrong. Learn how medieval English and French cuisine worked as a system. Topics will include medieval ingredients and preparation methods, the structure of medieval feasts, finding medieval recipes (or making them up), and common myths about medieval foods. 08/13/2009, 8:00 PM - Marriott : Indiana Bllrm D

I'm also very likely to ramble a bit, allow myself to be side-tracked by questions, and maybe even rant.

I'll also be part of the following panel discussions:

SEM0902995 - Food for Thought
A key ingredient to believable characters and stories is food. Heroes, villains, and the supporting cast have to eat from time to time. How can you enrich your writing by adding a dining experience or two? What does food say about the world you've crafted? 08/15/2009, 12:00 PM - Marriott : Lincoln

SEM0903002 - Hunting Dragons
Why has going after dragons been so popular in fiction? Our panelists discuss classic dragon hunters like Beowulf, Saint George, and Bilbo Baggins, in addition to how the hunt has changed over the years. Learn how to shape the classic story into something fresh and exciting. 08/15/2009, 3:00 PM - Marriott : Santa Fe

SEM0903003 - Stealing History
Why recreate the wheel each time you create a story, character, or world? Yes, you can build your knighthood or priesthood or religion or society from scratch, but taking what's historically known and warping it might fit the proverbial bill and depth and believability. Join our panelists for a discussion on how we can mine our own rich history for characters, backgrounds, worlds, cosmology, scenery, and more. 08/15/2009, 4:00 PM - Marriott : Santa Fe

On the whole, I expect it to be lots of fun.

Return to the 21st Century

I've made it back from GenCon and am now trying to come to terms with my current reality. On the whole, it was a great convention. I met a bunch of new people and learned some neat stuff. The seminars went well (the room was full for my talk on medieval food preservation).

While I was in Indianapolis, I also took the opportunity to visit the central branch of the Indianapolis Marion County Public Library. I'd photographed a medieval cookbook there last year but had missed two pages of the introduction. This has now been corrected, and the first thing on my to-do list (adding those pages to the transcription of A Noble Boke off Cookry) has been crossed off. I still need to finish processing the images, but I can do that a bit at a time and get it done eventually.

Most of the rest of GenCon was gaming or writing related, so I won't go into details here. Suffice it to say that I had lots of fun, schmoozed a lot, and talked an awful lot about medieval cooking (hopefully not too much - I do have to keep a lookout for when people's eyes glaze over). So I'll wrap this up with thanks to Lois Laube at the library, Jean Rabe and the other fantastic folks of the Writer's Symposium, and Sue & Art Wachowski and their minions from the Miniatures Hobbies Events (e.g. Paint & Take).

Oh, and I've decided that next year I'm going to actually play a game or two at the convention.

Last Minute Preparations

This week is typically the most hectic of the year for me. Pennsic War (the SCA's huge "medieval" camping event) is next week, and GenCon is the week after. These two events have recently been held at about the same time, and every year I experience a strange kind of culture shock going from one to the other. Anyways, if you've sent me an email recently and it doesn't involve something very time-critical, then I probably won't get back to you until after August 17th.

Pennsic War

Pennsic is an odd combination of people, some with strong interests in accurately re-enacting medieval life, and others just there to have a good time. With over 10,000 people attending and camping for one to two weeks, there's all sorts of stuff going on and plenty to hold the interest of just about anyone. I tend to look at it as sort of a modern version of the medieval market fair. I spend my time shopping for things I can't easily get other places (like re-creations of medieval cooking knives and linens), socializing with people that I otherwise talk to only through email, take classes on extremely geeky subjects (e.g. Saints and Relics), and kick back and relax in general.

the sort of thing I like to see at Pennsic
click on the image to see more of the photographer's work

There are aspects of Pennsic that I could do without (there were infestations of elves and goths in past years, but they've pretty much cleared out), but you take the good with the bad and on the whole it's worthwhile.

GenCon

GenCon is a convention devoted to games of all sorts, and has an annual attendance of over 25,000. For the past few years I've been giving seminars there on medieval cooking (to help provide game designers and writers with some background information for their work), and of recent participating in the Writers Symposium track of seminars (a fun and eclectic bunch). I also spend a lot of time working/hanging out with the folks at the Miniature Hobby Events (which is kind of funny since my miniature painting skills are quite bad).

I'm nowhere near ready for either of these, much less both, but time and tide wait for no one. Excuse me while I panic.

More Medieval Cookery at GenCon

I mentioned in a post back in April that I'll be giving a seminar on medieval food preservation at GenCon this August. As of the close in registration, there are over 30 people who have signed up. In addition to that seminar, I'll be participating in the seminars below:

Food in Fiction 8/14/08 10:00-11:00 AM

Don’t starve your main character. Don’t force your villain to drink the wrong vintage of wine with his macaroni and cheese. Little details like food help make your fiction real and add depth to your characters. In fantasy and science fiction, it can also reveal important information about climate and culture. Panelists: Daniel Myers, Chris Pierson, Elizabeth Vaughan, Brad Beaulieu

Worldbuilding: Class Struggle 8/16/08 9:00-10:00 AM
What makes society divide into caste and class? We’ll take a look at historical and present-day structures and how to use various elements to develop classes in your world. Panelists: Tim Waggoner, Richard Lee Byers, Daniel Myers, Sabrina Klein, Paul Genesse

Worldbuilding: Build From the Ground Up 8/16/08 10:00-11:00 AM
Build from the physical world and not the culture. Learn how geography influences a society’s development. For example, deserts create a reverence for water, and migratory patterns for sustenance. Learn how to let the terrain shape your people. Panelists: Sabrina Klein, Daniel Myers, Tim Waggoner, Steven Schend, Paul Genesse

It's shaping up to be a good convention. If you can make it, stop by one of the seminars and say "Hi".

Medieval Cookery at GenCon

It's official. I will once again be giving a seminar on medieval cooking at the GenCon gaming convention in Indianapolis. This year's topic is Medieval Food Preservation. Here's the seminar description:

SEM00064 - One for the Road: Medieval Food Preservation
D&D characters have their "hard rations" and Tolkein's elves had "lembas", what are your characters going to eat while traveling? Find out about real traveling food in the middle ages: what foods kept well, what foods didn't, and what was the best way to keep meat from spoiling. 8/14/08, 8:00 PM

I gear these seminars towards writers and game designers who want to add more historical accuracy to the worlds they create. The ones I've done in the past have been great fun - I get lots of good questions from the audience. I'm still researching the topic but from what I've learned so far, I think a lot of people will be very surprised.