WonderCon Anaheim 2019

Celebrate a vast array of sentient beings, some of whom may occasionally be more sympathetic than human characters, with creators Dana Simpson (Phoebe and her Unicorn), Leah Thomas (When Light Left Us), Jim Pascoe (Cottons: The Secret of the Wind), Nicole Conway (Dragonrider Legacy series), and Cecil Castellucci (Shade: The Changing Girl), moderated by Maryelizabeth Yturralde (Mysterious Galaxy).

Spooks and specters, ghastlies and ghoulies, monsters and mayhem are all part of daily life for the characters in these authors' novels. Nadine Armstrong (occasional bookseller, always reader) leads the discussion of the dark fantastic with Stephen Blackmoore (Eric Carter series), Jessica Cluess (Kingdom on Fire series), Kristi Charish (Kincaid Strange series), Tania del Rio (Warren the 13th series), and Sam Hooker (Terribly Serious Darkness series).

Successful novelists, screenwriters, and actors each bring a different perspective to a discussion on how to create a utopian society for storytelling. Panelists include David Brin (The Uplift War, Existence), Gigi Edgley (Farscape, Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge), Robert Meyer Burnett (Free Enterprise), David Alexander English (Rainbow Gathering organizer, author of 28 books), Jimmy Diggs (Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: DS9), Marc Scott Zicree (Space Command, Star Trek: TNG). Moderated by Mark O'Bannon (The Dream Crystal, Aia the Barbarian).

TheOneRing.net (TORn) staffers and special panelists Clifford Broadway (host of TORn Tuesday), Kristi Fojtik (founder of Tolkien Forever), Abie Ekenezar (host of Black and Blue: The Series), Justin Sewell (producer of TORn Tuesday), Nicole Roberts (outreach coordinator), and Nancy Steinman (art director and writer) will celebrate their 20th year of reporting on all things J.R.R. Tolkien. The wait to see Professor Tolkien's early life on the big screen is over as Fox Searchlight announced May 10, 2019, as the release date for Tolkien. Panelists also have lots to talk about regarding the Amazon Studios Lord of the Rings project, now in very active pre-production. They'll round things out with some plans for their 20th anniversary celebration events this year, and maybe a Mathom or two. Panelist discussion and Q&A moderated by Cathy Udovch (special events coordinator). We are planning a post panel event, you may want to clear a few hours from your schedule on Saturday evening.

UPDATED: Mon, Mar 18, 11:59AM