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Author of our city's first national travel publication, Insiders' Guide to Columbus, Shawnie Kelley discusses everything Columbus-from restaurants to beautiful parks and gardens to off-beat, inexpensive day trips. This slide presentation concludes with a Q&A and your suggestions for future editions of ... (more)the guide.

Join award-winning writing professor Mike Arnzen as he leads a 2-hour workshop on writing flash fiction. Flash fiction -- short-short stories no longer than 1500 words -- is a form that is becoming more and more popular in genre publications, especially online, where tight stories that can fit on ... (more)one or two screens are the ones that sell. A good short-short -- like a good hit of espresso -- can be a potent form of storytelling that not only excites a reader, but also helps the writer sharpen and hone his/her skills to a fine point. In "Fiction in a Flash" we will analyze successful flash fiction, discuss the strategies that writers can employ to approach this form like an expert, and critique one another's "sudden storytelling" written live (with help) in this two-hour workshop. Bring a pen and paper. $15 plus convention registration; seating is limited.

Editor Guest of Honor Paula Guran will be offering individual critiques of novel submission packages. Fantasy, horror, cross-genre, and paranormal manuscripts will be accepted. To participate, you will need to submit the first three chapters and a one-to-five page synopsis of your novel between August ... (more)1st and September 5th; submission details will be sent to students after they register. At the convention, Ms. Guran will meet with you individually to discuss your manuscript. In addition to the discussion, she will give you a written critique of your work. Students will be scheduled for their 20-minute sessions during the morning and early evening Saturday based on other workshop scheduling. Seating is limited; advance registration is required. $85 plus convention membership.

Gary A. Braunbeck will read from his recent work at Context; the time is TBA.

Blogging. Everyone is doing it ... should you? And what are some of the best tools, practices, and approaches? Join noted blogger and SF author Tobias Buckell as he shares his blogging tips.

These authors will be attending Context and will read from their work and will participate in other programing; schedules TBA.

Lucy will read from her work at the convention and will participate in other programming; times TBA.

The most important part of any story is its beginning. Without a strong opening, you risk losing your reader's interest. Strong openings become even more important when it comes time to try to sell your story or novel, since many editors won't read past the first page or even the first paragraph if you ... (more)don't enthrall them right away. Tobias Buckell and Paul Melko will give you tips and exercises to help you write prose that grabs your reader from the first sentence and doesn't let go. $20; Seating is limited.

From spooky and disturbing to downright weird, author and paranormal researcher James Willis tells tales from his popular book, Weird Ohio. From haunted sites to buildings covered in gum, you'll learn about bizarre places and wild stories you never knew about the Buckeye State in this fun slide presentation ... (more)and Q&A session.

From Site: The First Annual Ohio Comic Con is scheduled for October 25 & 26, 2008 at the Veterans Memorial in Columbus, Ohio with a special VIP preview on Friday, October 24 from 5-7pm. General Admission: 2 day $25 VIP Admission: $50 General Admission: 2 day $25VIP Admission: $50 General Admission: ... (more)2 day $25VIP Admission: $50 Friday, October 24, 2008 5pm-7pm - VIP Preview Saturday, October 25, 2008 9am - VIP Admission 10am-6pm - General Admission Sunday, October 26, 2008 10am-5pm - General Admission