Led this panel at Recon–the Renton Comicon–this weekend, along with Erik Scott DeBies. A lot of fun. There were poop demons.

Okay, maybe the poop demon part wasn’t the high point of the session.

Saturday

Time: 3:30pm-4:30pm

Title: Feeding & Training Your World Building Muse (Tricks Of The Trade)

Presenters: Stephen Merlino

Description: Want to create a strange world for your novel or comic? Hoping to set your next game in an unfamiliar society or ecology that will put your players off balance from the beginning? Inspiration for unfamiliar worlds can come from anywhere in this world, but professional writers and artists of fantasy and science fiction find theirs in a number of reliable places. In this session, we’ll look at a half-dozen tricks and habits of mind that artists employ to stimulate their worldbuilding imaginations and create memorable—even startling—new worlds. Attendees will leave with a list of real-world habits, prompts, honeypots, and idea-lenses for use in their own creative efforts.