ConGregate 12: Full Schedule

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1:00pm EDT

Judging a Book By its Cover

Friday July 17, 2026 1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT

Grand Ballroom Salon C (panels)

So they tell us "Don't judge a book by it's cover" but with many mainstream books using the back for "blurbs"; is the cover the newest way to tell a reader what type of book it is?

moderator: Chris Oakley

Speakers

Fraser Sherman

Literary Guest

Born in England, Fraser Sherman wound up spending most of his life in Northwest Florida. He’d be there still if he hadn’t fallen in love and moved to Durham NC to marry his dream woman. They’re still together, with two dogs and two cats added to the family.Fraser has published... Read More →

Larry N. Martin

Literary Guest

Larry N. Martin writes science fiction, steampunk, and urban fantasy. He is the author of the portal gaming fantasy: The Splintered Crown, and Salvage Rat, the first in his space opera series.Together with Gail Z. Martin, Larry co-authors the snarky monster hunter series Spells, Salt, & Steel, the post-apocalyptic series Wasteland Marshals, the Joe Mack Shadow Council Files series, and the steampunk series The Jake Desmet Adventures... Read More →

Chris Oakley

Fan Guest

Chris Oakley owned and operated Oakley’s Gently Used Books, a bricks & mortar used bookshop with a specialty in Sci Fi/Fantasy, for more than 20 years (1995-2016) in Charlottesville, VA. She has been a bookseller at Madicon, MarsCon, MystiCon, RavenCon, Libertycon DSC50, DSC60 and... Read More →

J. Matthew Saunders

Literary Guest

J. Matthew Saunders is the author of the Daughters of Shadow and Blood trilogy inspired by the Brides of Dracula, the Dreadful Penny occult detective series, and numerous fantasy and horror short stories. He is a member of HWA and SFWA.He was born in the small Appalachian town of Clayton, Georgia and grew up in Greenville, South Carolina. He received a B.A. in history from Vanderbilt University and a master’s... Read More →

Friday July 17, 2026 1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT
Grand Ballroom Salon C (panels)

Literary

2:30pm EDT

Folklore and Fantasy

Friday July 17, 2026 2:30pm - 3:30pm EDT

Grand Ballroom Salon D (Main Programming)

Folklore and Storytelling have long been a part of speculative fiction. From retellings of classic fairytales and Arthurian Legends to new versions of old myths, how can authors incorporate the old (and respect the tradition) while still bringing something new to the story.

Moderator: Gail Martin

Speakers

Wayland Smith

Literary Guest

Wayland Smith is the pen name for a native Texan who has lived in Massachusetts, New York, Washington DC, and presently makes his home in Virginia. His rather unlikely list of jobs includes private investigator, comic book shop owner, ring crew for a circus (then he ran away from... Read More →

Tally Johnson

Special Guest

Mr. Johnson is a graduate of Spartanburg Methodist College and Wofford College with degrees in history. He is the author of Ghosts of the South Carolina Upcountry, Ghosts of the South Carolina Midlands, Ghosts of the Pee Dee (all for The History Press) and Civil War Ghosts of Sou... Read More →

Steven S. Long

Literary Guest

Steven S. Long’s been involved in the gaming industry for over thirty years, during which time he’s written, co-written, edited, or developed over 200 books. He got his start as a freelancer for Hero Games, for whom he wrote several books in the mid-Nineties. He soon branched... Read More →

Gail Z. Martin

Literary Guest

Gail Z. Martin writes urban fantasy, epic fantasy, steampunk and more for Solaris Books, Orbit Books, Falstaff Books, SOL Publishing and Darkwind Press. Urban fantasy series include Deadly Curiosities and the Night Vigil (Sons of Darkness). Epic fantasy series include Darkhurst... Read More →

Friday July 17, 2026 2:30pm - 3:30pm EDT
Grand Ballroom Salon D (Main Programming)

Literary

Tech Needs sound system

3:30pm EDT

Workshop: Using Real-World Legends and Lore in Your Writing

Friday July 17, 2026 3:30pm - 5:00pm EDT

Emerald (Workshops/LARP)

Join Gail Z. Martin as she shows you how to mine real-world legends, lore, ghost stories, and locations for story material and how to make it your own.

Speakers

Gail Z. Martin

Literary Guest

Friday July 17, 2026 3:30pm - 5:00pm EDT
Emerald (Workshops/LARP)

Literary, Workshop

4:00pm EDT

Candy Bullets: Humor in Action, Horror, and Dark Fantasy

Friday July 17, 2026 4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT

High Point Room (Panels)

Candy Bullets feels like a funhouse mirror—playful on the surface but bending into darker, unexpected shapes. It pairs sugar-coated slapstick with threads of horror and dark fantasy, sweetening the joke before letting it take surprising, sometimes sharp turns so that lightness and danger bounce off each other. The characters are full of contrasts: a wry demon who quips like a late-night comic, a clownish avenger whose painted smile hides recent wounds, and an apparently innocent soul who treats looming trouble like recess. Our panelists discuss how to blend the "sweet" with the dark in their work.

Moderator: J. Matthew Saunders

Speakers

Richard Kadrey

Guest of Honor

Richard Kadrey is the New York Times bestselling author of the Sandman Slim supernatural noir series. Sandman Slim was included in Amazon’s “100 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books to Read in a Lifetime,” and is in development as a feature film.Some of Kadrey’s other books in... Read More →

Sherrilyn Kenyon

Special Guest

Defying all odds is what #1 New York Times and international bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon does best. Since her first book debuted while she was still in college, she has placed more than 80 novels on the New York Times list in all formats and genres, including manga and graphic novels, and has more than 70 million books in print worldwide.A pioneer in paranormal, fantasy, science fiction and romantasy, she has become one of the most popular and influential authors in the world (in adult, YA and... Read More →

Kevin A. Davis

Literary Guest

Kevin A Davis is a fantasy author with over twenty published novels, including the award-winning DRC Files, a paranormal procedural series where the Atlanta-based team hunts cryptids.He resides in north Florida and attends conventions throughout the year, including as staff as Director... Read More →

Alexandra Christian

Literary Guest

Alexandra Christian is an author of romance and horror (two great tastes that taste great together). She began her career in 2010 writing paranormal romance and has since branched out into contemporary, fantasy, and dark romance with occasional forays into horror. She lives in a creepy... Read More →

J. Matthew Saunders

Literary Guest

Friday July 17, 2026 4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
High Point Room (Panels)

Literary

5:30pm EDT

2026 Survey of North Carolina Science fiction and Fantasy

Friday July 17, 2026 5:30pm - 6:30pm EDT

Grand Ballroom Salon C (panels)

Join Sam and others as they discuss the longlist/shortlist/eligibility list titles for the Manly Wade Wellman Award at length before we announce the 2026 winner during Opening Ceremonies.

Speakers

Sam Montgomery-Blinn

Literary Guest

Samuel Montgomery-Blinn grew up on a family farm in Indiana and now spends his days helping ensure the trustworthiness of artificial intelligences. Once upon a time he published Bull Spec, a print magazine of speculative fiction, and now he administers The Manly Wade Wellman Award for North Carolina Science Fiction and Fantasy, meaning yes, he’s read your book. He lives in Durham with his wife, two too-grown teenagers, two cats who are very good boys, and one dog who... Read More →

Friday July 17, 2026 5:30pm - 6:30pm EDT
Grand Ballroom Salon C (panels)

Literary

9:30pm EDT

Readings Hour Fri

Friday July 17, 2026 9:30pm - 10:30pm EDT

Grand Ballroom Salon C (panels)

A round robin selection of readings from our authors!

EJ Isaacs
Angela Giddings
Nancy Dunne
Eli Rainwater
Alexandra Christian

Speakers

Alexandra Christian

Literary Guest

EJ Isaacs

Literary Guest

EJ Isaacs is at heart, a geek. As a child I grew up with classics in science fiction from Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clark and Robert Heinlein. A late comer to role playing, he enjoyed creating backgrounds to the characters he was playing. For a three-year period, he was involved with... Read More →

Eli Rainwater

Literary Guest

Eli’s love for reading started at an early age. She discovered the fantasy genre and fell hard for it when her brother let her sit in on his D&D sessions and lent her his collections of David Eddings and Dragonlance books while he was away at college. An Atlanta transplant, she... Read More →

Angela Giddings

Film Guest

A.M. Giddings is a writer, scientist, cellist, independent filmmaker and aspiring swamp hag from North Carolina. She has a PhD in Microbiology and has authored multiple scientific articles in virology, cell line design, and gene therapy. She enjoys writing stories that live within... Read More →

Friday July 17, 2026 9:30pm - 10:30pm EDT
Grand Ballroom Salon C (panels)

Literary, Readings

1:00pm EDT

2:30pm EDT

3:30pm EDT

4:00pm EDT

5:30pm EDT

9:30pm EDT

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