Genes & temperament; future of twitter etc; & how to sell that book

A few calendar notes: I've got a three-day run starting next Sunday in which I'll be talking to authors and journalists about book proposals; NY science writers about the future of social media; and to genomic geeks about genes and temperament. If you've questions you'd like raised at any of these, please shoot me a note in the comments or privately at david.a.dobbs [at] gmail.com.

This Sunday morning, April 25, I'll be on a panel at the American Society of Journalists and Authors annual conference in New York discussing, along with agents Michelle Brower and Chris Parris-Lamb and GP Putnam editor, Rachel Kahan, what makes for good book proposals. Panel runs from 10:30 to noon in midtown. You must register for the conference to attend.

The next evening, Monday, April 16, I'll be at the meeting of the Science Writers in New York â what seems an eclectic, quite interesting crowd â to join Dave Mosher and Nancy Shute in talking about what the future of social media holds for medical and science writers. I expect that by the end of the evening, someone in the room will have accurately predicted the future -- but we won't know who. Anyone interested can come. A ripe affair for NY area science and medical writers, and should be a lot of fun.

Finally, the very next morning (barring volcanic ash), I'll be in Boston at Genes, Environments, Traits or GET, a conference about personal genomics. The conference, organized by Harvard geneticist George Church and colleagues, will gather 10 people who've had their entire genomes run, along with another 190 or so interested in personal genomics, to discuss the upsides, downsides, and sometimes wiggly implications of our new ability to garner vast genetic information that meaning of which is not always clear or complete. I'll be leading an hour-long discussion on "Predicting Temperament" â that is, what genomics can (and can't) tell us about a person's (or future person's) temperament and behavior.

I'll try to report on some of these later, as time allows. If you've questions you want me to raise in any of these, please shoot me a note in the comments or via email at david.a.dobbs [at] gmail.com.