Death to keyboards ... for a few days, anyway

This year's Worldcon (aka, Chicon 7) begins Thursday August 30th and runs through Labor Day. I'm delighted to say that I'll be there. So if you, too, will be at the con in Chicago, stop me and say "Hi!"

For an SF author, of course, any Worldcon is a working holiday. Dates, times, and places are subject to change (by the Programming Committee), but here's my tentative schedule (also listing my fellow partners in crime, and with panel moderators on a gray background).

Interstellar Trade in an STL Universe
Assuming Einstein is right, we will still expand into the galaxy. What sort of trade is imaginable between star systems separated by travel times measured in years or decades?
Location	Crystal C : Green West
Start	2012-08-30 15:00:00
End	2012-08-30 16:30:00
Panelists	Edward M. Lerner
	Joseph P. Martino
	Charles Stross
	W A (Bill) Thomasson
	Chuck Walther

Autograph Session 1
Location	Autograph Tables : Purple East
Start	2012-08-30 16:30:00
End	2012-08-30 18:00:00
Panelists	Carol Berg
	Lillian Cauldwell
	Ellen Datlow
	Jean Johnson
	Edward M. Lerner
	Anne Lyle
	Pat Rothfuss
	Lawrence M. Schoen
	Maurine Starkey

Kaffeeklatsch: Walter H. Hunt
Location	Fan Lounge KK#2 : Purple East
Start	2012-08-31 15:00:00
End	2012-08-31 16:30:00
Panelists	Edward M. Lerner

Science in SF
How much science is really needed in a story? How 'real' does the science have to be? How much fudging can you get away with?
Location	Crystal C : Green West
Start	2012-09-01 13:30:00
End	2012-09-01 15:00:00
Panelists	Edward M. Lerner
	Ben Bova
	Howard Davidson
	Joseph P. Martino

Inner Space vs. Outer Space
Are the stars, or even the solar system, in humanity's future? Recent progress in genetics, neuroscience, computing, and nanotechnology has far outstripped progress in space exploration or travel. The problems that press on people and society the most - health care, aging, mental health, energy supplies, a damaged environment - have more to do with managing our planet than venturing into space. Should science fiction spend more time on the topics of inner space than outer space?
Location	Crystal C : Green West
Start	2012-09-02 15:00:00
End	2012-09-02 16:30:00
Panelists	Bill Higgins
	Kathryn Allan
	Tad Daley
	Edward M. Lerner

That I've listed these times and places isn't to say I won't be around elsewhere and -when -- only that at other times I won't (necessarily) have official assignments.

As an unofficial but scheduled event: I'll be taking a turn at the SFWA table in the Dealers Room Friday 8/31, from 11:00 till noon. That's another opportunity to get a book autographed or just to have a chat.

Chicago skyline. Photo by J. Crocker