I ended up getting a third panel at Worldcon. The first two are on ebooks (one on digital publishing as a career choice for writers, the other on how well eReaders work). The third one is on a topic I am less well grounded in: Cross-Genre Hard SF. The premise is that hard science fiction is not usually mixed with any other genre and discussion will center around why.

I can certainly talk about the reasons, but I also wanted to come up with a list of cross-genre works that do include "hard SF." So far I have gotten Catherine Asaro's books (lusty romances cloaked in solid physics) and Asimov's Caves of Steel mystery/science fiction novel. Anyone out there have some other suggestions? I am all ears, metaphorically speaking.

Updated Worldcon Schedule
Title: Ebooks from the Reader’s and Writer’s Perspective
Description: Are ebooks the future of publishing or just a niche market on the way to print? Can a writer have a career in ebooks?
Location: P-522B
When: Thu 2:00 PM - 3:30 pm
Participants: Cecilia Tan (m), Karen Wester Newton, Stephanie Bedwell-Grime, Traci N. Castleberry

Title: Faking Paper: ebooks
Description: Are eBooks the future of reading? Is paper dead? What are the problems and pitfalls of the Kindle? What does it feel like to read on electronic "paper"? Is the market ready?
Location: P-516D
When: Fri 7:00 PM - 8:00 pm
Participants: Alon Ziv, James Bryant (G4CLF), Karen Wester Newton (m), Kathryn Sullivan, Katherine (Katya) Pendill


Title: Cross-Genre Hard SF
Description: While there are many instances of cross genre SF - horror/fantasy, romance/fantasy - hard SF usually isn't involved. Why is this?
Location: P-511D
When: Sat 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Participants: Karen Wester Newton, Karl Schroeder, Peter Watts (m), Jo Beverley