Thinking about the Landmine Panel at Renovation

Hello all of you headed for Renovation.  Please note my schedule:

Wed 17:00 – 18:00, Are You as Smart as a Rat? (Panel), A09 (RSCC)
One small idea could potentially prompt one large step for mankind.   For example, wars end but buried land mines become the surprise gifts that keep on giving. Angola alone has six million hidden, unexploded ordnance. It costs $3 to plant a land mine and $300-$1,000 to get rid of it. Rats have been trained to sniff out land mines but additional  low-tech detection solutions are needed. Put on your current and futuristic thinking caps please.  Laurel Anne Hill  (M), Howard Davidson, Dave O’Neill

 Thu 11:00 – 12:00, When Faith and Science Meet (Panel), A09 (RSCC)
 Many SF tales, from Arthur C. Clarke’s “The Star” to Walter Miller’s A Canticle for Leibowitz to Mary Doria Russell’s The Sparrow, deal with the intersection of unexpected discoveries on the faith of the characters.  Cultural discourse often presents religious faith and science as polar opposites, and certainly there’s a long history of conflict between them.    But many people of many faiths have happily and successfully reconciled their beliefs with a scientific worldview, and SF/F is no stranger to spirituality, either.  Both Joanna Russ and David Hartwell have described SF/F as essentially religious.  This panel will present a civil conversation — between people who respect both faith and science — about how the two inform each other, both in SF/F and in the rest of the world.  Susan Palwick (M), Eric James Stone, Laurel Anne Hill, Moshe Feder, Norman Cates

    Thu 14:30 – 15:00, Reading: Laurel Anne Hill (Reading), A15 (RSCC) Laurel Anne Hill

   Thu 18:00 – 19:00, Who Was the Most Influential Doctor? A05 (RSCC) Laurel Anne Hill and others

   Fri 13:00 – 15:00, Writers Workshop, Section N
       All workshop sessions required advanced sign-up and are filled.  Laurel Anne Hill, Susan Forest

Sat 12:00 – 13:00, Appreciating Nature in Fiction and Non-fiction (Panel), D04 (RSCC)
       Science fiction can often treat nature, even an intriguing alien environment, in a very sterile manner.  By contrast,
       both fantasy and nature writing often celebrate nature and make the reader want to run outside and explore.  How can
       writers use the language of nature writing to help bring alien countrysides to life? What are some of the good and
       bad examples of writing about the great outdoors in science  fiction, fantasy and nature narratives?
           Kim Stanley Robinson (M), Laurel Anne Hill, Scott Slovic, Takayuki Tatsumi, Ty Franck   

 Sat 14:00 – 15:00, Autographing, Hall 2 (RSCC)

Hope to see some of you.

Warm wishes,

Laurel Anne Hill  (Author of “Heroes Arise”)
http://www.laurelannehill.com