Ascendio 2012

Since our first event, Nimbus – 2003, HPEF events have included among their attendees fanfic writers who’ve gone on to write novels that have been on the New York Times Best Seller lists, made into films, and resulted in fandoms that have spawned fanfic of their own. We’re also very proud of our history of showcasing YA, fantasy and genre authors, including Naomi Novik, Sarah Rees Brennan, Karen Healey, Tamora Pierce, Holly Black, Charles De Lint and more, at readings, on panels and in signings. We’ve created programming sessions around and for authors who’ve published with smaller houses, those who’ve self-published, and those who choose to write fanfiction (and these days, there’s definitely some overlap between those categories).

As you’ve seen from our recent announcements, we’re already assembling a slate of terrific published authors for Ascendio, including Aimee Carter, Lev Grossman and Beth Revis – and that list will only grow! We’re planning workshops on pitching novels to agents, writing fanfic and original novels, the NaNoWriMo experience, changes to the publishing industry and more. And as we did at Azkatraz, we’re asking self-published authors who’re registered for Ascendio to get in touch with us if they’re interested in doing a reading and a signing; at Dragon*Con, Janine Spendlove signed up for the first slot.

If you’re an author, and you’re interested in doing a reading/signing, or participating in a panel , please contact our Author Coordinator, Ravenna C. Tan, at authors@hp2012.org. We’re hoping to see you – and read your books! – at Ascendio!

TEAM ASCENDIO is enchanted to announce that Aimée Carter, author of The Goddess Test and next January’s Goddess Interrupted (both from Harlequin TEEN), will be attending in July. Aimée has written fanfic and original stories for nearly fifteen years, and has long participated in the Harry Potter fandom; she was on staff for POAIMAXNYC in June of 2004.

Aimée will be doing readings and signings at Ascendio, and participating in panels on writing, including the differences between writing fanfic and writing in a self-created universe. On her website, Aimee wrote that fanfiction is:

“how I learned how to write, and there is nothing like the kind of feedback you get online from total strangers who just want to read a good story. Talk about toughening you up. Most of what I wrote was Harry Potter fan fiction from roughly 2000 and on, but I did dabble in Hanson fan fiction before then.

Yes, I am a geek and totally proud of it.”

You can find Aimée on Twitter, Facebook or her website.

We are thrilled to announce that young adult author and Harry Potter fan Beth Revis will be a special guest at Ascendio 2012! Beth’s debut novel, Across the Universe, is a sci-fi thriller and New York Times Best Seller that has been described as Wall-E meets The Giver. A Million Suns, the second book in the AtU trilogy, comes out in January 2012.

In addition to hosting a reading and signing at Ascendio, Beth will be participating in several panels relating to writing, the publishing industry and themes in Harry Potter.

Beth Revis lives in rural North Carolina with her husband and dog, and believes space is nowhere near the final frontier. A former high-school English teacher, Beth can’t help but blog about writing, grammar, and publishing at Writing it Out. She is the founder of the new popular dystopian blog, the League of Extraordinary Writers and blows off steam by trying to come up with something witty in 140 characters or less, lusting after books on GoodReads, or wasting time on Facebook. Beth is represented by Merrilee Heifetz at Writers House and published by Razorbill, a Penguin imprint.

Lev Grossman, TIME Magazine’s book critic and tech writer, is the newest special guest to join the Ascendio programming roster. Mr. Grossman’s best-selling novels, “The Magicians” (2009) and “The Magician King” (2011) have been called “The Catcher in the Rye for devotees of alternative universes…” (Chicago Tribune) and “Harry Potter for grown-ups” (The Guardian).

Lev has been TIME magazine’s resident writer on books and tech issues since 2002 and posts all over the Internet, including Time.com, his personal blog at levgrossman.com, and @Leverus on Twitter. You may have read his 2010 TIME Person of the Year story on Mark Zuckerberg, or his 2011 piece on fanfiction, which featured Harry Potter fandom. Lev also edits TIME’s annual Best Inventions and 10 Ideas issues and pioneered their coverage of video games, blogs, viral videos, Facebook, and webcomics like Penny Arcade and Achewood.

At Ascendio, he will not only be doing a reading and signing of his books, but will lead Formal Programming sessions on Pottermore from the perspective of a gamer, a parent and a technologist, and give exclusive insights into his 2005 interview with J.K. Rowling and his 2011 article on fanfiction. Lev is no stranger to Harry Potter conventions — in 2009, Lev was a special guest at HPEF’s 6th event, Azkatraz.

Fanfiction is what literature might look like if it were reinvented from scratch after a nuclear apocalypse by a band of brilliant pop-culture junkies trapped in a sealed bunker. They don’t do it for money. That’s not what it’s about. The writers write it and put it up online just for the satisfaction. They’re fans, but they’re not silent, couchbound consumers of media. The culture talks to them, and they talk back to the culture in its own language.
Lev Grossman, TIME, July 18, 2011