For some reason I was thinking the Poisoned Pen was Friday night. I have other obligations Thursday. Oh well. I'm planning attend several of Jim's panels and the Spotlight on Jim Butcher event.

You seem to be arguing why you think short stories are better than novels. That's not what you asked. You asked what the difference was. Novels by their very definition are not going to be as "tightly woven" as a good short story any more than a short story is going to be as "tightly woven" as a good poem. It seems that the heart of your problem is that you don't like novels because they aren't short stories. You don't like extra plot lines. You feel that the main plot is the only important plot and everything else is only meaningful as far as it serves the main plot. In other words you prefer short stories. That's fine. That's your personal preference but don't attack people who are trying to help you write a novel by telling them you don't like novels. Your reasoning is circular and serves no purpose.

I'm sure volumes could be written about this subject but I'll attempt to at least get the ball rolling. There can be many different things that will lead to the difference in length between a novel and a short story. These are not necessarily absolutes but hopefully they will give you some ideas.

A novel allows for more characterization. One of the biggest faults of many novel writers (IMHO) is creating caracitures with no depth, villains that are completely evil with no redeeming features and no reason for their evil, heroes that are noble and good just because. In a short story where one doesn't have the time or space to develop characters completely, it can be acceptable to focus on one or two characteristics that are important to the story. In a novel one can take the time to let readers get to know characters. There is more time to show rather than tell what makes a character tick. It is also possible to develop secondary characters to a far greater degree than can usually be done in a short story.

Probably the biggest difference is found in the plots. One of my professors used to say that a long story with a single plot was just a short story that needed to be edited. A true novel will have several intertwining plots. To give some examples that are cliched but still affective in the right hands, the main plot of a murder mystery might be finding who the killer is. In addition to this however there may be a plot line about the main character's struggle with addicition. There may be a romance, there could be struggles with bills or dealing with the death of a loved one. In fantasy stories it is common for the characters to find it necessary to adjust to a gift in their life or a curse. They may have been transported to a new world or have just become aware of the magical world that secretly exists in the shadows. These secondary plots can be as long as the main plot or "short stories" imbedded in the novel that play out over a few chapters. In the case of series, some of the plots may actually be longer than the individual novel.

Novels also give you more space to engage in "world building". If you are setting your story in a fantasy world and are following the adage to show rather than tell, then the longer length of the novel gives you more time and space to show the reader the world you have created and the rules that govern it by actually putting your characters into situations that demonstrate whatever you think is important for them to know.

The difference is not so much that the idea is "big" enough for a  novel. Although they overlap, they are very different art forms. Some would say the short story is more difficult because you have to condense everything down. Probably the best way for you to see the difference would be to search out some authors that have taken their short stories and rewritten them into novels. It is fairly common in genre fiction. Normally I could think of a dozen but right now I am blank as to examples. I am sure someone here will be able to come up with examples for you to examine.

I wanted to go to Coppercon as well but I was broke at the time.

Names are an opportunity; they allow you to imply things about background and social context.

I think this is one of the reasons that I struggle. I want the names to say something and sometimes I feel like they are not saying what I want them to.

I bought my event pass tonight before the price went up so I guess I'm in for sure. The Sheraton ballroom sounds like a great idea. Now people can just line up to get good seats rather than waiting to get any seat at all. Now I have to figure whether to spend the money to park downtown or ride the lightrail in.

The Barrio Cafe has a few dishes that I really love. The poblano pepper stuffed with chicken, spices, nuts and fruit (garlic, onions, pecans, apricots. I think there are a few more) is really good. I think it would be fun to meet other forum members. I often see them talking about it at other conventions. I assume we will be seeing most if not all of Jim's panels so maybe we could arrange to meet before or after one of them.