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Saturday, May 23 • 2:30pm - 4:00pm
The Biology of Mythical Creatures

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The storytellers who originally invented the mythical creatures of legend didn't have an understanding of biology, genetics, or evolution. When writing a mythical creature into a new story for a modern audience, how far does a writer have to go in re-imagining the creature's biological backstory? Does providing biological details add to the story, or does it throw off readers because those details clash with their expectations? What are some successful examples of mixing realistic biology with mythic animals?
Moderators
KA

Kevin Andrew Murphy

Kevin Andrew Murphy writes stories, poems, plays, novels, etc. His latest short story is "Warts and All" in the new expanded edition of Aces Abroad, volume 4 of George R.R. Martin's Wild Cards series. He also writes fiction for Pathfinder, Savage Worlds, and worlds of his own devising... Read More →

Guests
avatar for Cassie Alexander

Cassie Alexander

author, Caskara Press
Cassie Alexander is the author of the fantasy romance Bend Her, Break Her, and Make Her: A Dark Beauty and the Beast Fantasy Romance, the Dark Ink Tattoo series, and co-author of Prince of the Other Worlds.
KB
MB

Marie Brennan

Writer
Marie Brennan is a former anthropologist and folklorist who shamelessly pillages her academic fields for inspiration. She recently misapplied her professors' hard work to Turning Darkness Into Light, a sequel to the Hugo Award-nominated series The Memoirs of Lady Trent. As half of... Read More →
EJ

Emily Jiang

Emily Jiang is the author of Summoning the Phoenix: Poems and Prose about Chinese Musical Instruments, which is listed among the Best Children's Books of 2014 for Kirkus Reviews and The Huffington Post. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Saint Mary's College of California and... Read More →
avatar for Seanan McGuire

Seanan McGuire

Seanan McGuire was born in Martinez, California, and raised in a wide variety of locations, most of which boasted some sort of dangerous native wildlife. Despite her almost magnetic attraction to anything venomous, she somehow managed to survive long enough to acquire a typewriter... Read More →
avatar for Tex Thompson

Tex Thompson

Author, The Tex Files
Arianne "Tex" Thompson is home-grown Texas success story. After earning a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s in literature, she channeled her passion for exciting, innovative, and inclusive fiction into the Children of the Drought – an internationally-published epic... Read More →

Saturday May 23, 2015 2:30pm - 4:00pm PDT
San Tomas Top of Escalator, then Left
  Guest of Honor

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