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Home , Animazement, ApolloCon, Atlanta Fantasy Fair, Chris Roberson (author), Comicpalooza, Comix Fair

Volume 1, Issue 20 April 2011 2

Editorial: I’m going to change the listing of my address, since I plan to move out of my apartment at the end of May, and don’t know exactly where I’ll wind up. The address given is one I will definitely be able to get mail at, and might wind up being where I live. I’m bringing back some con reports for this one, since they’re something I’ve missed. The ones I’m including are by Allegra, who y’all can find on Facebook as “The Chainmail Chick” – http://www.facebook.com/update_security_info.php?wizard=1#!/pages/The- Chainmail-Chick/264533176445 . She’s an NC fan who gets out and about to plenty of cons (and who hits all sorts – trad SF, gaming, comics, …), so she’s got some basis for comparison. If anyone else wants to send in conreports (or just make me aware of your blog where you post them), I’ll run them (so long as there’s nothing outright libelous in them). I hope to get back to reading current enough fiction to be reviewing soon, as well – maybe I’ll make a go at reading all of the Hugo nominees when we hear what they are. Right now, I’ve got something like four books in progress on my bedside table, two of them classics ( Ringworld and Dangerous Visions ), two semi-recent (though still a few years old). This issue’s cover is by Brad Foster, and it’s the piece I mentioned in last month’s issue. I think he’s right about it working well with my cover layout. I don’t feel like putting together a Table of Contents for this issue, so here’s the order of things: first the Calendar, then the Rebel Yells, then the Con Reports. Enjoy, y’all!

Colophon: Editor & SFC President: Warren Buff [email protected] (919) 633-4993 8712 Wellsley Way Raleigh, NC 27613 USA All contents copyright their creators. This zine is free, either by direct email or www.efanzines.com . A letter of comment or other contribution will get you on my mailing list, as long as I remember to put you there. If I forget, bother me a second time, or however long it takes to add you. I haven’t been printing this one, 3

which leaves me free to use as many pages as I wish, and do things like color. It also lets me use all the contributions I can muster, so fire away! 4

Calendar of Events:

April 8-10: RavenCon (Richmond, Virginia – Holiday Inn Koger Center. Fun, fairly big- tent convention, with John Ringo and Kurt Miller as its Guests of Honor. Expect a good deal of filk concerts and more programming than you can shake a stick at. Memberships are $40 at the door. www.ravencon.com ) JohnCon (Baltimore, – on the campus of Johns Hopkins University. There will be gaming, B movies, and anime. It will last all weekend. It will probably cost money to get in. Beyond that, the website doesn’t give much in the way of specifics. http://www.jhu.edu/johncon/index.html ) April 8-9: STEAM Fest (, GA – Unfortunately, I can’t figure out just where in Atlanta this is. The website says to contact Lainey Welsch at [email protected] for information. www.atlsteamfest.com ) FreeCon 7 (Tallahassee, – second floor of the Student Services building at FSU. Looks like a fan-oriented . The convention is completely free. www.tallahasseeanime.com/freecon )

April 15-17: KampingKon (Cochran, Georgia – Hillside Bluegrass RV Park. Outdoor fun. Their website includes a picture of two guys battling with plastic Bat’leths. Membership is $30 at the “door”. Camping fees extra. www.kampingkon.org ) JordanCon (Atlanta, Georgia – Crowne Plaza Ravinia. A Wheel of Time oriented convention featuring Brandon Sanderson as Guest of Honor. They also bring in Atlanta area authors for their program, which means they have a broader focus than just one series – it’s just their favorite. $65 at the door. www.ageoflegends.net ) T-mode (Rockville, Maryland – Hilton Washington DC/Rockville. Fusion of anime, gaming, and “all things ”. Pre-reg memberships $40, $50 at the door. http://tmode.org ) Creation Twilight (Arlington, Virginia – Sheraton National Hotel. I don’t really know the actors from this one, so you’ll just have to check it out yourself if you want to know. There seem to be several of them, doing one-day appearances. The ticket structure is complicated, and seems to involve paying a lot to get in and then paying more to do things like get autographs or go to events. I leave it to the dedicated to figure it out.) April 16-17 : CyPhaCon (Lake Charles, Louisiana – Lake Charles Civic Center. They describe themselves as anime, gaming, and sci-fi. The only guests they have listed are the Bedlam Bards, who I think I saw perform once and liked. Tickets are $15. www.cyphacon.com )

April 22-24: MTAC Odyssey (Nashville, Tennessee – Sheraton Music City, overflow at Embassy Suites Airport. Guests include Robert Axelrod, Yuri Lowenthal, Vic 5

Mignogna, Tara Platt, and . They’ll also have a performance by The Protomen (and several other bands). Memberships $40. www.mtac.net ) Conglomeration (Louisville, Kentucky – Louisville Crowne Plaza Hotel and Conference Center. A science fiction convention whose website is both hard to navigate and hard to read. Their Gaming Guest of Honor is Andy Chambers. Membership is $40 at the door. www.conglomeration.info ) LouisiAnime (Baton Rouge, Louisiana – Crowne Plaza Baton Rouge. Anime convention featuring Todd Haberkorn, Alexis Tipton, and Airship Isabella. Registration is $42 at the door. www.louisianime.com )

April 28-May 1: ReCon (Cocoa Beach, Florida – International Palms Resort. , theme of Air Through The Ages. Special Guest Stanly F. Kubiak. Presented by the HMGS-South. $25 pre-reg, $35 at the door -- $10 less for HMGS members. http://www.hmgs- south.com/hmgs/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=45&Itemid =27 ) World (Austin, – Doubletree Hotel. Guests of Honor: Steve Niles , Vincent Chong , Brett Savory , , , , Joe R. Lansdale , Del Howison and Brian Keene. Unfortunately, the website is as hard to navigate here as most comic conventions. Lots of noise and flashy stuff. Memberships are $150. http://whc2011.org/ ) April 29-May 1: Columbia Anime Con (Columbia, South Carolina – Jamil Shrine Center. Anime, , and comics convention featuring Richard Horvitz, Rosearik Rikki Simons, Addy Miller, and Drew Geraci. Low contrast on their website. Admission is $5 per day. www.columbiaanimecon.com ) BayouCon (Lake Charles, Louisiana – Lake Charles Civic Center. Self-described as a and pop culture convention. Guests of Honor: Vaughan Armstrong, Dino Andrade, Max Grodenchik. Ticket prices are $25. www.bayoucon.net )

May 13-15: Gaylaxicon (Atlanta, Georgia – Holiday Inn Perimeter. Outlantacon is hosting this year’s edition of Gaylaxicon, the premier SF con for the queer audience. Expect to find their take on Family Feud, Project , a chocolate symposium, Gaylactic Jeopardy!, and the Gaylactic Spectrum Awards. Guest of Honor: Amber Bensen, Melissa Carter, Steve Scott, Don Schermerhorn & Wayne Hergenroder. Memberships are $50 through April 30 th (the website says 31 st , but I’ll cut them some slack here). www.outlantacon.org ) Full Moon Tattoo and Horror Fest (Chattanooga, Tennessee – Chattanooga Downtown Marriott Hotel. Around 30 tattoo booths, plus horror celebrities like Michael Berryman, Richard Brooker, Andrew Bryniarski, Brad Loree, Tiffany Shepis, and Stacey Dixon. $35 for the weekend, ten bucks less for each day you don’t care to go. www.fullmooninc.net/fr_nashvillefest.cfm ) 6

Tiger Con (Memphis, Tennessee – University of Memphis campus. Student-run anime convention. Featuring Johnny Yong Bosch, ?Confusion?, and Per(sonic)fied. Free, but they request that you RSVP.) Starfleet Region 1 Summit (Pigeon Forge, TN – Mainstay Suites. Annual meeting of the Starfleet organization for Region 1. They’ll be having a duck race in the lazy river for charity. Adult registrations are $30. Banquet tickets are still available. http://sites.beyondweb.com/r1-summit/ ) Pulp Ark (Batesville, AR – Main Street. This is one of those events where the town is basically taken over for the weekend by pulp fans. Hard to explain much more than that. www.proseproductions.com/Press/pulpark.html ) May 14-15: NOLA Comic-Con (New Orleans, Louisiana –- Westin New Orleans Canal Place. . www.nolacomic.com ) WonderFest (Louisville, Kentucky – Crowne Plaza Hotel. Toy and model collecting convention with a focus on SF and a good selection of artists. Tickets are $30. www.wonderfest.com )

May 19-22: Nebula Awards Weekend (Washington, D.C. – Washington Hilton. Annual presentation of SFWA’s top awards, with workshops, panels, and great networking opportunities for SF professionals. The weekend alone is $50, the banquet dinner alone is $125, or the whole shebang for $150. www.sfwa.org/nebula-weekend ) May 20-22: Dice Head Siege (Chattanooga, Tennessee -- Chattanooga Choo Choo. Gaming with lots of tournaments and prizes. $25 membership, some tournaments extra. The extra, in such cases, is usually to cover the costs of material and/or prizes. www.diceheadseige.com ) Mobicon XIV (Mobile, Alabama – Ashbury Hotel & Suites. Science fiction convention with all the trimmings. Guests of Honor include Ethan Phillips and Weatherly B. Hardy. Pre-reg through May 1 st is $35, thereafter $40. www..org ) Texicon (Fort Worth, Texas – Sheraton Hotel. Gaming convention that seems to have somehow snagged a name that’s so obvious it astounds me no one was using it yet. Registration is $40, with discounts available to gamemasters. http://texicon.net )

May 26-29: (Houston, Texas – Hilton Americas . Great big guest list of film actors, artists, game designers, voice actors, etc. Looks like a pretty good assortment, too. Tickets are $35. www.comicpalooza.com ) May 27-30: Balticon 45 (Baltimore, Maryland – Marriott Hunt Valley. One of the South’s oldest conventions (I count Baltimore). Guests of Honor: Dr. Benjamin Bova, Vincent Di Fate, Bill & Brenda Sutton, Philippa Ballantine, Steve Geppi, Paolo Bacigalupi. Pre-reg $55 through April 30 th , $62 at the door. www.balticon.org )

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May 27-29: 14 (Raleigh, North Carolina – Raleigh Convention Center. Long-running anime convention in downtown Raleigh. Guests of Honor: Hiroaki Hirata, Todd Haberkorn, Cherami Leigh. Pre-reg $50 through May 8 th , $55 at the door. www.animazement.org ) Rocket City FurMeet 9 (Huntsville, Alabama – Embassy Suites Huntsville. Three days of furry fun in beautiful Huntsville. Guests of Honor: Kyoht, Scape the Goat, and a mystery GOH drawn from the paying members at opening ceremonies. $35 pre-registration, $40 at the door. www.rcfm.net ) Oasis 24 (Orlando, Florida – Sheraton Downtown Orlando. Guests of Honor: David Drake, Tommy Castillo, and Carla Ulbrich. Membership $35 until 5/26, $40 at the door. http://oasfis.org/oasis/index.php ) TimeGate (Atlanta, Georgia – Holiday Inn Select Atlanta Perimeter. Stargate and convention. Featuring Mike Dopud and . Membership $40 through May 6 th , then $50 at the door. www.timegatecon.org ) NashCon (Franklin, Tennessee – Cool Springs Marriott. Historical miniatures wargamming. Their website bears a design I find strikingly familiar, though I think they haven’t made any modifications to the layout. Membership in the convention is $25. http://hmgs-midsouth.org/nashcon/ ) Florida Anime Experience (Kissimmee, Florida – Ramada Orlando Celebration. New anime convention in Florida. Also, it appears that Orlando is following the SF Bay Area’s three-cons-this-weekend trend. Guest of Honor: Steve Blum, who voiced Spike in . Tickets are $26 until April 30 th . www.floridaanime.com )

June 3-5: ConCarolinas (Charlotte, North Carolina – Charlotte Hilton University Place. One of the fastest growing cons in the region, and hosts of last year’s DSC. Guests of Honor include: Harry Turtledove, John Billingsley, Bonita Frierdericy, Keela & Katkith, Jamie Chambers, Carla Ulbrich, and Justin Chung. Pre- registration is $35 through May 16 th , then $40 at the door. www..org ) HeroesCon (Charlotte, North Carolina – Charlotte Convention Center. Fan- friendly comics convention. I went once, early in my con-going days, though I haven’t been back since they’ve moved onto ConCarolinas’s traditional weekend. It also tells me I’ve been out of reading comics for a long time that I hardly recognize the names on their guest list anymore. The biggest names I recognize are and , but the art for the others they’re highlighting looks fantastic, too. Yes, I need to hand in some geek street cred for that remark. $30 for the weekend, $15 for one day. www.heroesonline.com/heroescon/ ) Seishun-Con (Atlanta, Georgia – Doubletree Hotel Atlanta NW/Marietta. This appears to be a fan-based anime convention. I don’t see any guests listed, though I do see a call for panelists. Pre-registration is $25, while registration will be $30 at the door, or $20 for a day pass. http://seishun-con.com ) HamaCon 2 (Huntsville, Alabama – Holiday Inn Downtown. These guys list a handful of guests, such as Brina Palencia and Chris Cason. They’re another 8 anime convention, and look to have been founded about the same time as Seishun-Con. Hopefully, they’ll find a way to stagger their weekends, since they’re only two hours away from each other. Pre-registration is $25, with extra food events available. www.hama-con.com ) OMGcon (Paducah, Kentucky – Julian Carroll Convention Center and Expo Center. Anime convention with guests including Robert & Emily DeJesus, Greg Ayres, Christopher Ayres, Tavisha, and Eric Stuart. Pre-registration $35 through May 20 th , less for groups. www.omgcon.com )

June 10-12: Sci Fi Summer Con (Atlanta, Georgia – Crowne Plaza Atlanta NW Perimeter. This looks like it’s either on the relaxacon end of things or really behind schedule. They’ve got some guests listed on their flier, but I don’t recognize any names, and without bios, it’s hard to tell who’d actually get your attention. The website is a disaster. Memberships $20 through May 20 th , $35 at the door. http://sfscon.tripod.com ) Rapier (Jacksonville, Florida – Jacksonville Clarion Hotel. Gaming convention that aims to provide a friendly atmosphere. Unfortunately, their website appears giant-sized, but I gather that they’ve got a dual theme of Napoleonics and . Pre-registration is $20 through May 11 th , $25 at the door. www.rapiercon.com ) A-Kon 22 (Dallas, Texas – Sheraton . Established anime convention. Plenty of voice actors, artists, comics folks, musicians, and writers on the guest list. Actually, the writers list would make for a pretty good SF con all by itself – Elizabeth Moon, Esther Friesner, Phil and Kaja Foglio, Lee Martindale, and then some. Pre-registration is $50 until May 1 st . http://a-kon.com ) June 10-11: PariahCon (Lakeland, Florida – Imperial Swan Hotel & Suites. Small anime con, with some decent attention to computer gaming. Weekend passes $25. http://pariahcon.com ) Robert E. Howard Days (Cross Plains, Texas – several locations. There’s only one motel in town, the 36 West, and it’s likely to fill up. See the website, which lists the location for each event on the schedule, and gives recommendations for nearby motels. Most are at the library or the museum. Saturday includes a large outdoor Barbarian Festival. Guests of Honor: Dennis McHaney and Damon Sasser. Pre-registration $15. http://www.rehupa.com/?p=2398 )

June 17-19: Anime Mid-Atlantic 11 (Chesapeake, Virginia – Norfolk Marriott Chesapeake. Established anime convention serving the Tidewater. Guests include Todd Haberkorn, Chris Cason, Charles Dunbar, DJ Asu Rock, and Amy Howard Wilson. Pre-registration is $40 through May 28 th . www.animemidatlantic.com ) 9 (Tampa, Florida – Tampa Convention Center. Florida’s largest anime con will this year be themed around monsters vs. hunters. Guests include author Max Brooks, voice actors Crispin Freeman and Katie Gray, and a decent slate of artists, cosplayers, and musicians. Weekend passes are $50 through April 30 th , then $55 thereafter. www.metroconventions.com ) 9

Comic & Anime Con (Knoxville, Tennessee – Holiday Inn Cedar Bluff. Guests include Rosearik Rikki Simons, Mellissa Cowen, Jason Craig, and Dan Jolley. $5 per day. www.knoxvillecomicanimecon.com ) Hypericon (Nashville, Tennessee – Holiday Inn Express Airport. Not much other detail on the website. www.hypericononline.com ) June 18: ConFederation Celebration (Atlanta, Georgia – See last ish for details.)

June 24-26: Apollocon (Houston, Texas – DoubleTree Hotel Houston International Airport. Houston’s own SF convention takes advantage of the obvious space connection in its name. Guests of Honor: , Ann VanderMeer, B.E. Johnson, Jeanne Gomoll. Memberships are $30 until May 1 st , then $35 for pre-reg thereafter, and $40 at the door. www..org ) Contamination (St. Louis, Missouri – Holiday Inn Viking. Horror, sci-fi, music, and pop culture. Eric Roberts, Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, and David Dela Rocco will headline. Weekend passes $30. www.con- tamination.com ) Texas Comicon (San Antonio, Texas – Event Center. I like that they make a distinction between creators and celebrities in their guest list. The creators include the likes of Allen Bellman (Guest of Honor – he worked on the original Captain America run in the 40s), Steve Engelhart, Dave Hooper, and Chris Roberson. In addition to folks like , their celebrities list includes Herbie the Love Bug and the General Lee. Weekend tickets $30. www.texascomicon.com ) Fal-con (El Paso, Texas – 2501 Mesa Ave (Google Maps thinks that’s Mesa St, and shows it as an address at UTEP). No details about guests, so this may be fan programming. Anime and gaming (Fal stands for “fellow anime lovers”). Pre- registration is $30 (they put “tickets” in quotes – I think they find the concept of tickets to a con alien). www.fal-convention.com )

July 1-4: (Miami, Florida – www.floridasupercon.com ) July 1-3: Delta H Con (Houston, Texas – http://detlahcon.com )

July 8-10: Shore Leave 33 (Baltimore, Maryland – www.shore-leave.com ) Anime Blues (Memphis, Tennessee – www.animeblues.com ) July 8-9: Omnicon (McAllen, Texas – www.omnicononline.com ) July 9-10: Ancient City Con 5 (Jacksonville, Florida – www.ancientcitycon.com )

July 13-17: LeakyCon (Orlando, Florida – www.leakycon.com )

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July 14-17: Slapsticon (Arlington, Virginia – www.slapsticon.org ) July 15-16: 24 Hours of Potter (St. Louis, Missouri – www.24hoursofpotter.com ) July 15-17: LibertyCon 24 (Chattanooga, Tennessee – www.libertycon.org ) PersaCon (Huntsville, Alabama – www.persacon.com )

July 17-30: Shared Worlds (Spartanburg, South Carolina – www.wofford.edu/sharedworlds/ )

July 22-24: FandomFest (Louisville, Kentucky – www.fandomfest.com )

July 29-31: (Baltimore, Maryland – www.otakon.com ) Megaplex (Kissimmee, Florida – www.megaplexcon.org ) July 29-August 1: Play On Con (Birmingham, Alabama – www.playoncon.com )

August 5-7: Anime Festival Orlando 12 (Orlando, Florida – www.animefestivalorlando.com ) (San Antonio, Texas – www.san-japan.org ) Whedon Fest (Scottsville, Kentucky – www.whedonitesunited.com )

August 12-14: Guns of August (Williamsburg, Virginia – www.odms-club.com/convention ) Sukoshicon (Birmingham, Alabama – www.sukoshicon.com )

August 17-21: Renovation, the 69 th (Reno, Nevada – Reno-Sparks Convention Center, Atlantis Hotel, Peppermill Hotel, Courtyard by Marriott. Hotel booking will open 8 AM PST, January 17 th . Guests of Honor: Ellen Asher, Charles N. Brown (in memoriam), , . If you’ve never been to a Worldcon, you should try one. This one has the added bonus of not conflicting with the major Labor Day events so many of us go to, reducing your excuses. This is five days of science fiction, but more importantly, it’s a chance to meet fans from all over the world. It’s not uncommon for a group of friends at one of these to span three continents (or more – I’ve met fans from five at – South America and Antarctica, I’m looking at you). It’s also where presents its annual Hugo Awards – members can nominate and vote, though you’d better hurry if you want to nominate. This will be my third Worldcon, and I’m already getting a bit excited about it. I hope to see all y’all there. Membership is $195 through July 17 th , though there is a discounted rate of $100 available for fans 17-21. www.renovationsf.org ) 11

August 18-21: Game Fest South (Chattanooga, Tennessee – www.gamefestsouth.com ) August 19-21: Mizu Con (Miami, Florida – www.mizucon.com ) Motaku (Kansas City, Missouri – www.motaku.org ) August 19-20: Onyx Con III (Atlanta, Georgia – www.onyxcon.com )

August 26-28: Armadillo Con (Austin, Texas – www.fact.org/dillo ) MechaCon (New Orleans, Louisiana – www.mechacon.com )

September 2-5: Dragon*Con (Atlanta, Georgia – several hotels in downtown, though most have already sold out. The guest list is huge, and I’ll have to wait until later to figure out who they’ve named Guests of Honor. The attendance at this will be in the tens of thousands. You will be surrounded everywhere you look by folks who share some interest in fandom. It’s a great four-day weekend, and always vibrant. Membership is $90 through May 13 th . www.dragoncon.com )

September 23-25: FenCon VIII/DeepSouthCon 49 (Addison, Texas – Crowne Plaza North Dallas. Guests of Honor: Gail Carriger, Joe Bethancourt, , Vincent Di Fate, Les Johnson, Bradley Denton, and . DeepSouthCon finally comes to Texas! I’m thrilled to be returning to FenCon, as well, which I found to have the friendly atmosphere appropriate to a good Southern con. I also found that the panels tended to have actively interested audiences, the game room stayed busy, folks attended the filk concerts and circles, the art show had a great mix of stuff (including some Tolkien-inspired quilts!), the video room was actually attended, the consuite well-stocked, and the dealers room balanced. The hotel bar also carried a few local Texas beers, which I appreciated. For DSC, I’ll be in charge of the lounge, which seems like an entirely appropriate place for the SFC to set up shop. FenCon will be taking advantage of Gail Carriger’s attendance to have some fun with steampunk as well. All in all, I’m looking forward to this year’s DSC, and I hope to see many of you there. Membership is $30 through June 1st , with a special $45 rate which gets you a t-shirt or tote bag and first crack at the autograph line with the GoHs. A $15 rate is also available for fans 21 and under. www..org )

June 15-17, 2012: DeepSouthCon 50 – Lunar Party (Huntsville, Alabama – venue TBA. This will be the first independent DSC in about a decade, and the Moon Princesses have put together quite a crew to run it. Guests of Honor will include Lois McMaster Bujold, Howard Tayler, Travis “Doc” Taylor, Larry Montgomer, David Hulan, and Dr. Demento. Larry and David ran the very first two DSCs back in the 60s, and this will be a rare opportunity to get to meet them. I’ll have more information on this con in coming issues. Attending Memberships are currently 12

$40, or $15 for pre-supporters. Supporting Memberships are $20. www.dsc50huntsville.com )

Rebel Yells: News and note from all over

This was a short month, since I pubbed my ish substantially late last month. Consequently, fewer letters came in. The first of those was from Henry “Knarley” Welch:

Warren:

Thanks for the continued updates. It is a shame that I am not in a position to attend many of the fine events you list. I grew up in fandom at Scicon, but have not been back to a southern convention in something like 20 years. There are many people I miss.

Thanks for reading, Knarley. It’d be good to see you at a Southern con one of these days – your last one having come and gone well before my time.

Jeff Thompson checked in via Facebook:

Thank you, Warren, for UPDATE #19! Thanks for another excellent, informative issue. I'm glad to see Hypericon (Nashville) listed among the conventions. Don't forget the annual Nashville Comic-Con where I am a guest every year. Last year, I sold and signed my two Dan Curtis books and moderated a panel with Kathryn Leigh Scott (DARK SHADOWS, : THE NEXT GENERATION, DYNASTY, THE INCREDIBLE HULK, 21 JUMP STREET, JAKE AND THE FAT MAN, et al.). Go to http://www.facebook.com/l/8f1d1nrFDaVStBw6i4EXapekZjQ/www.comiccitytn. com for information about Marc Ballard's annual Nashville Comic-Con--because Fandom Is A Way Of Life! Have a good weekend, my friend!

We then received a long loc from Rich Dengrove:

Dear Warren,

I was about to complain that you didn’t publish my letter of comment on SFCU- 18. However, I found I never wrote it. Egg on face.

SFCU-18

EDITORIAL. I’ve noticed that Southern Fans have no idea about what goes on in Westercon. And when they go there, they are strangers. Come to think of it, neither do Eastern fans in general. The problem is I met a lot of Western fans for 13 the first time at ReConStruction. And I really liked them. And, yes, we should know them. So I would favor sending someone there. If nothing else, so one of ours will know several of theirs.

REBEL YELLS. ct. Jeff Thompson. I would like to thank Jeff for his compliments on my movie review of Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y,P.D. ct. Joy V. Smith. Joy opines that Sgt. Kabukiman is over the top. Is she ever right!! And ain’t it great?? ...Well, not for everyone. ct. Lloyd Penney. Lloyd Penney was worried that you would burn out like Joel Nydahl, in the ‘50s. Having accomplished one humongous thing, you would vanish without a trace. However, you follow one of the adages of Bakunin, the anarchist: to know what is possible, you have to reach for the impossible. Of course, you have to stop far short of the impossible or you will burn out. I think you managed to do that.

SFCU-19

CALENDAR OF EVENTS April 15-17 Creation Twilight. I went to a Creation Con in DC 30 years ago. It was a rip-off then and I bet it’s a ripoff now. I hope I’m wrong, though. The emphasis was on making money as opposed to keeping the fans happy. And, yes, in the minds of the organizers, the two were opposed. May 13-15. A town taken over by pulp fans. I guess it shows that everyone, or at least every older person, in his heart of hearts, loves pulps.

REBEL YELLS. ct. Mike Kennedy. Warren, you’re not the only one who has learned from hard experience that links can disappear in PDF. We found that out at work. ct. Tim Bolgeo. Leave the print version behind, Warren? Not by a long shot. I convert SFCU to a print version for easier reading. I have to admit that having a color laser that prints on both sides helps. ct. Tim Miller. A DeepSouthCon with traditions!! Thanks Tim, even though I have never gotten around to playing Hearts. ct. Lloyd Penney. So, Warren, your local Animé group decided that everyone else can get out of their convention. Glad to see that it’s not only us old farts who are provincial.

CONFEDERATION 25th ANNIVERSARY What kind of celestial prune juice are they drinking? A great line Mike.

That’s it.

Yours, Rich Dengrove

14

Good to hear from you, Rich, and also glad you caught that you hadn’t sent that loc before complaining! That would have likely left us both a little annoyed and confused. I find it interesting that you mention Bakunin – I actually learned about him through gaming. Steve Jackson put out a game called “Burn In Hell”, in which all of the cards are historical figures and have short bios on the back. I was most amused by Bakunin and Antonin Carême – Bakunin’s because it noted that he was infamous for bombing things, including anarchist meetings on the principle that anarchists shouldn’t have meetings, and Carême as the bio found a humorous and indirect way to accuse him of turning baking into a sub-field of architecture. I do find it unfortunate that the provincial attitude extends into so many corners of fandom, and hope that there are ways to make the things we do more inclusive as a means of countering that trend.

And of course, we heard from Lloyd Penney, who gets high marks not just for his frequency of loccing, but also for doing so in a consistently thorough manner:

1706-24 Eva Rd. Etobicoke, ON CANADA M9C 2B2

March 30, 2011

Dear Warren:

Bad faned! Bad! (Don’t make me come down there with a newspaper.) Don’t beat yourself up about it, that’s what we’re here for! We don’t have a club as such in the area, but we do put out a regular twice-a-month reminder to about a hundred-odd (some, very odd) fans in the area to tell them about local events and conventions, so we know what you’re going through. Comments on Vol. 1, No. 19 of the SFC Update to follow.

A great convention list. Ad Astra 2011 is coming up the weekend of April 8-10, and it’s the 30th Ad Astra. That should be an excellent party. It will also mark for Yvonne and myself 30 years of working conventions in Toronto and area, and we do plan to retire from conrunning. The World Horror Convention is in Austin…GoHs Brett Savory and Sandra Kasturi are from Toronto. Their Chizine Press is rapidly becoming one of the best imprints for modern horror fiction, and SF as well.

Chris Garcia says he’s got lots of work to do, and I wouldn’t want that workload myself. Yet, he’s producing some of the most interesting these days. Guess I’d take his workload if I could get paid for it. I’d like to come back to a Texas con, too. The only one I’ve been to? The ISDC in North Dallas some years back. My own loc…as I wrote, we didn’t go to Wizard World. Local fans who did go had a good time, and that’s all that really counts. No stories of amazing events, though… 15

Yvonne and I were in Atlanta for ConFederation way back in 1986, and we had a fine time. I can imagine that Atlanta fandom would like to have a chance to run a Worldcon again. If only Dragoncon hadn’t dropped itself on the usual Worldcon weekend, and then moved to another weekend when the promised…we need an article on that, and the facts behind their move. There’s no chance we can be there, but we wish the ConFederation survivors a great time in June.

Getting close it is to our steampunk convention at the end of April, so we are getting equipment and non-perishables ready for the green room there, and we should be having a fine time. There will be lots to do, but with some luck, we can find more volunteers to help us out, and make sure the green room is always manned.

All done, take it easy, see you the next time!

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

Thirty years is a long time to work on cons! I hope you get to enjoy retiring from it by attending a few and just using them to get to meet and talk to people. Hey, DeepSouthCon this year would be a great opportunity to both see Chris Garcia and return to a Texas con! The FenCon guys know what they’re doing, and I look forward to it tremendously. I really don’t know about the desire of Atlanta fandom to run a Worldcon these days – they made a few bids after ConFederation, but haven’t in over a decade. My understanding of the situation with DragonCon is that they’re on Labor Day weekend for the same reason as Worldcons so often are – it’s the easiest time to get multiple facilities, and they definitely need multiple facilities. I hope the steampunk convention is a blast! I’ve yet to make it to one, myself, but someday…

And, finally, we got a promotional note from author Marc R. Nadeau:

Dear Mr. Rogers,

I have recently e-published my first novel, The Fire Erzu of Qi’ Lam. The book is a work of adventure, science fiction. The story is not a space odyssey but is a very down-to-earth tale of a young traveler who uses his skills and intelligence to manage and rise above an impossible set of circumstances. The book holds appeal for many readers and includes travel, invention, sport, romance, fighting for freedom, the love of family and friends, and a whole lot of flying.

I am writing to the Southern Fandom Confederation because readers like you are my inspiration for writing. My incentive is to create my stories for your enjoyment. Science fiction is a unique genre in that it has an active global following. Those of us who are involved love nothing more than to share our passions with others of like mind.

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I am an American living as an ex-patriot in Dubai, U.A.E. I am a naval architect who works as the engineering manager for an Arab company that manufactures interiors for superyachts and luxury hotels. I am also a private pilot of gliders and powered aircraft. The ideas for this book were spawned while soaring on thermals back in the States above the pastures of Central Florida. I began the manuscript while living in Saint Petersburg, Florida and completed the work here in Arabia. In all phases of the project, I turned to the skies for inspiration; however, in the Emirates, I have traded a glider over flat farmland for a microlight between the Hajar Mountains and the Gulf.

My novel has been distributed to on-line retailers, including Apple, Barnes and Noble, Sony, and Diesel. It will soon be available at Kobo and . It is immediately available for download at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/44005 . It will only be released as a digital edition for PC or Mac and for tablet readers and mobile devices, such as iPad, Kindle, Kobo, Sony Reader, iPhone, and Android. It is priced at less than a gallon of fuel in most parts of the world.

I shall greatly appreciate your help in spreading the news of my book to your members, who I hope will share my novel with others via Facebook, Twitter, and blog sites. E-publishing is a grass-roots effort that focuses directly on the reader. It is a positive development of technology and the Web. Please help me to keep it going.

If you or your members are interested in learning more about my life in Arabia, I post a blog at http://windvoyager.blogspot.com/ This is free and largely non- fiction. Many savor traveling vicariously through the experiences of others.

Thanks for your consideration. I encourage your goodself to download and enjoy the adventure. Spread the word and keep me writing.

Best regards, Marc R. Nadeau

Virginia Freedman wrote in to let us know about a writers’ conference:

Dear Warren,

Please tell your writers about speculative fiction writing courses offered at the Spring Conference. Hopefully, a lot of people sign up so we can keep offering speculative fiction courses. And please let me know if you have any questions. The link to the website is:

More information is below: http://www.ncwriters.org/programs-and- services/conferences/782-spring-conference-2011 17

The upcoming NC Writers' Network Spring Conference offers great opportunities for seasoned speculative writers and for those who would like to try their hand at the genre.

Edmund Schubert's class, “Writing and Selling Science Fiction and Fantasy,” gets to the bare bones of speculative fiction: what certain elements define the genre and how to work your Big Concept into a readable story. A veteran editor and author, Schubert serves as the editor of Orson Scott Card's online magazine, Intergalactic Medicine Show, and has recently edited How to Write Magical Words: A Writer's Companion, a collection of essays about the craft and business of writing, written by members of the writing blog, MagicalWords.net. For more information on Intergalactic Medicine Show, go here.

Author David Halperin will lead an all-day fiction workshop, “Writing What You've Lived," on how to mold powerful, personal experiences into transformative fiction using any genre. A former religion professor at UNC-CH, David Halperin's new book, Journal of a UFO Investigator, has received rave reviews for weaving history, science fiction, mystery into an original coming-of- age story. -- Virginia

WAHF: Tom Feller and Mike Rogers (who noted that the SFC website has been updated).

StellarCon 35 Allegra (The Chainmail Chick)

Sometime last year, my convention mentor Space Jesus popped the question to me:

“Would you be a guest at StellarCon 35?”

Of course I said yes, and then I promptly put it out of my mind until about a week ago when my vendor friends started getting ready for Stellar. Then suddenly I remembered I needed business cards! I needed prints! I needed to prepare for my panels!

Well, I got two out of the three done and hoped that whoever showed up to my panels really liked improvisation.

I had a few main goals at this con: 1) Do a decent job of being a guest 2) Properly deflower the convention virgins (we brought some friends who were new to the con scene) 3) Make sure my vendor friends sleep less than I do 18

4) Sell at least…ONE PRINT. (hey, you set the bar low…)

Our group consists of myself, Tanner, my younger sister and her roommate and one of their friends, our resident Pretty Asian Boy, and our friend MadScientist, who left us for grad school in Atlanta, where he is no doubt learning how to violate natural laws in pursuit of things no man was meant to create. (He was drinking whiskey out of test tubes all weekend, if that tells you anything…)

I camp out at Space Jesus’ table. He’s not making use of it because he’s busy organizing things (and doing a terrific job of it) so I annex half for my prints. We’re set up across the way from Kass and Trouble, who have a bunch of neat jewelry and shinies (some of which jingle most delightfully and Kass employs them to attract the fangirls)

10pm Friday - Nearly Naked Costuming. I was filling out my guest form at 3am and thought it would be funny to propose a silly panel…which Space Jesus then made into a real panel. I did my part by showing up in the bare minimum of chainmail bikini (and chainmail stockings, which Space Jesus had banned me from wearing until after hours), but it actually ended up being somewhat educational, part costuming and makeup/bodyart tips and part costuming stories.

Having survived my first panel…booze time!

Now, I have drinking abilities on par with say, a baby bird, so my idea of boozin’ it up is really more like nursing one drink for a very long time. But that did not stop me from staying up till 4am, no sirreee. Because my first panel wasn’t until 12pm, so I could sleep in, suckahs! I’m pretty sure Matt of Ribbons and Rivets got about 3 hours of sleep….Goal 3 accomplished.

11am Saturday [not 12pm, I had the wrong time on my form and found out at 10:31 that I was supposed to be at the panel at 11….ever seen someone speed walking in a chainmail bikini? It is not dignified] - How to Win a Costume Contest. Hey, pro tip – if you’ve got your heart set on winning a costume contest, and two out of the four judges are doing a panel called HOW TO WIN A COSTUME CONTEST , you might want to show up, instead of complaining after you don’t place that the contest wasn’t fair. Hey, the waaaaaaahmbulance just pulled up outside …

4pm Saturday Artist Round Table – published and award winning artist Alan Welch, world famous fantasy painter LARRY FREAKIN ELMORE, and…myself… sat down and discussed our artwork, our inspiration… ahhh mostly we sat around and listened to Larry talk because he’s super entertaining.

On the difference between digital art and traditional painting : (after he had spent a long time laboring over an extremely difficult and detailed composition for a major game company) 19

Larry: So I sent the painting in and thank god, they loved it. Me: See, that’s the nice thing about photoshop – they don’t like the color of magical city, click click click, totally different color! Larry: I think if they’d asked me to change something, I would’ve shot myself.

One thing that was a bit weird was selling my own prints – I’m used to booth girl- ing for artists and costumers, but it’s completely different to have a table full of my own face staring back up at me. I really want to start doing prints of other people, I think that will cut down on the weirdness. I’ll admit, my inner artist was pleased when prints that I had spent quite a few hours laboring over proved to be popular. ^_^ I’ve already got three new ones underway.

7pm Costume Contest – some really cool entries this year! I was judging, along with Larry Elmore, Todd McCaffrey, and Space Jesus. I’m not sure if I like judging or entering more…the feeling of power was intoxicating. And, I got to hang out with Larry and Todd, two of the Guests of Honor, and pretend like I was also an important person. They are both very easy going and down to earth, and by far way more fun than most celebrity media guests I have met. We ended up having a long and rambling conversation about everything from motorcyles to child beauty pageants.

9pm The Delphic Oracle – Best. Panel. EVER. The way the Oracle works is that there’s five people on the panel. The audience poses questions to the oracle, and the panelists answer, each person contributing one word at a time in order. The results are convoluted…but awesome. Kind of like how the real Delphic Oracle gave answers that weren’t actually helpful because they could be interpreted either way. I pull the MadScientist onto the panel, because he’s also a theater nerd and excels at this kind of thing.

Question: Why did Davey try to end our panel earlier by telling us the wrong time? Answer: Because Pikachu makes Davey horny.

Question: Do real vampires sparkle? Answer: NOOO-OOOO-OOOO-OOOO-OOOO.

Question: My liege king wishes to make war on Darius of Persia. How can he ensure victory? Answer: Victory will surely be his because he has Pikachu’s love, unless he fails to bring the stolen Encyclopedia Brown wrapped in glistening silken echidna balls.

Then we composed a “Dear John” letter… that began: “Salutations Juan Alberto Enrique Rodriguez…”

And because the panel was moderated by Todd McCaffrey – someone had to go there and ask a question about Pern: 20

Question: Are the humans on Pern part of a large scale social experiment that is being observed by outsider forces? Answer: Surely you don’t think there are humans on Pern?

Yeah make sense of that! THE DELPHIC ORACLE HAS SPOKEN!

10 pm Wild Con Stories – really more like “Tales of Drunk! Space Jesus.” Val the Epic Bartender and I sandwiched Space Jesus and shared some delicious pineapple rum fruit juice COFFEE. Anyway, to know Space Jesus is inevitably to have a ridiculous story about his antics (ask me how I met him sometime), so we keep the panel going strong for the full time.

PANELS ARE OVER, BACK TO PARTIES. (Goal 1 accomplished!)

In honor of our panel together, Val invents a drink called “Wild Con Story.” Val is the kind of bartender that if she hands you something, you drink it, no questions asked. Although, I’m not clear on whether it was “Wild Con Story” or “Wild Consort”, because the drink tastes like delicious soda but it is SUPER ALCOHOLIC. I had one and suddenly everyone was my good friend that I wanted to give hugs to.

RECIPE FOR TROUBLE: Equal parts: Tuaca, Chocolate Raspberry Liquor, Chambord. Add a splash of Amaretto. ...Finish with Club Soda [Feed to Allegra]

Sunday morning, everyone claws their way out of bed (Goal 2 accomplished! If you have any energy left at the end of the con, then you didn’t have as much fun as you could have, hahaha!), I sell a bunch of prints (Goal 4 super accomplished!), and somehow resist sleeping on my own table.

I never mean for these blog posts to get so long, dangit! So to wrap up –

StellarCon 35, in review, was awesome. Definitely would recommend! It was extremely well run, the guests (besides that one scantily clad chainmail ho) were fun, the attendees were great... I was sad to see that attendance had dropped since last year, but wasn’t too surprised, since Shevacon is now apparently on the same weekend. (What the crap, Shevacon, not kosher)

Here’s to StellarCon 36! *toasts with Wild Con Story*

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MEGACON Allegra (The Chainmail Chick)

Megacon was the convention I returned to my “con roots” and started working for artists again. In this case, it was my good friend James Christopher Hill, who is an unfairly talented artist. He does oil paintings, he does digital paintings, he does computer animation and rendering… so basically he does everything I have ever dabbled in but WAY BETTER. In this case, James did a rather gorgeous painting of me based off this picture, and Megacon was our big show debut. Neato!

So it's me, him, his wife Kathy (who is, hands down, one of the best sales people I've met, and super nice to boot) and our friends Don and Doireann. Doireann (pronounced Door-in) had just sprained her ankle in Krav Maga class (we told her to tell people she was fighting MANY NINJAS) so she had to limp around all weekend, poor thing!

Thursday

We load up the van and drive on down to Orlando – it’s about six hours from Charleston, SC, where I met up with James and Kathy. I nap on and off and organize my music and hey! We’re in Orlando.

Unloading the car takes a surprisingly short amount of time, and we get the booth mostly set up by the time the con closes down for the night. And man oh man, is there a huge difference between “setting up an artist’s prints at a booth in a con” and “setting up a costumer anywhere”. It’s so eeeeeasy!

Don, who is a giant scary man, decides to give me an impromptu Krav Maga lesson that night. Doireann helps him demonstrate, proving that she doesn't need two working feet to kick someone's ass. I manage to achieve a very basic level of competency at escaping a grip, though I must confess I was privately hoping to learn how to jump and kick someone's head off.

Friday

The con opens at noon. It’s pretty slow – at least, it’s pretty slow compared to the absolute MADHOUSE that we know Saturday will be. Organic Armor set me up with a really gorgeous steampunk ensemble for the show, so I was trying that out…with a full length belly dancer skirt for a base! Gasp! Shock! Actual clothing!

I have to admit, I felt awwwfullly pretty and swishy in that skirt. Belly dancers always have the coolest stuff.

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On the flip side of that, every third person I ran into that I knew that day was all, “Hey CHAINMAIL CHICK, where’s your CHAINMAIL?”

All right bitches, I get the hint. You best believe I’m bringing my shiny metallic costuming A-game on Saturday. But Friday I get to be swishy like a pretty princess dammit! >:-O

Also, I was freaking out a bit when I found out J. Scott Campbell was going to be at Megacon – guess who inadvertently ended up chatting with him? Oh yeah, this chick. Then guess who was a total wuss and did not hand him a business card on the because she was too intimidated. Then, guess who spent the rest of the weekend trying to get back over to his booth and make up for that grievous lapse in spinal column but his booth was super packed all the time and she missed her chance?

I AM KICKING MYSELF AS I WRITE THIS. Not that Mr. Campbell lacks for models, but dangit, I wanted to throw my hat in the ring.

So after that stupidity, I threw my card at any artist who so much as made eye contact.

It was great seeing con friends again. Fanservice Anakin showed up rockin his new Mandalorian suit (which, sadly, was not shirtless), I saw Conan Dave and his girl (Dave was actually not doing Conan because “he wasn’t in shape enough”, keep in mind he looks like he could rip most people in half with his pinky. pinky toe, not the finger pinky.), my drow homies (whom I can barely recognize out of body paint), a couple photographer buddies, webcomic artist Jennie Breeden and her awesome SO Oby, Steve Scott, artist Echo Chernik and her mother… no doubt I’m forgetting some people.

After the J. Scott Campbell failure, I decided I wasn’t going to let opportunity slip away from me again – our booth was actually an aisle over from Yaya Han, the renowned cosplay model, and I plucked up my courage and make a pilgrimage to her booth to seek convention wisdom. She’s about my height, which made her mildly less intimidating to approach, but she’s still dauntingly gorgeous and I stammered probably more than was dignified. But she was very sweet despite my apparent retardation and talked to me for a bit, and made some excellent points about working the con scene as a career.

1) “Do it with integrity. Don’t step on people trying to claw your way to the top. The convention scene is close knit and people talk, and you never want to have a negative reputation.” 2) “Find what you’re passionate about, find your niche, what sets you apart from everyone else. There’s a ton of cosplay models nowadays, but you have to find your own angle.”

I’m on it, Yaya! Thanks for the advice :D 23

Saturday

Yes indeed, Saturday was an absolute madhouse. James and Kathy went over in the morning and I slept in a bit, then wrangled myself into my chainmail and set out walking down to the convention center (we were staying a little ways down the street). Now, in true pride-goes-before-the-fall fashion, I had a pair of heels that I’ve owned for… longer than I care to admit, and I was debating wearing them because a) they have a history of breaking at cons b) they’re held together by glue and willpower and c) oh yeah, they’re actually broken AGAIN.

Nevertheless! I wanted to feel slinky and sexy and the easiest way to do that is to saunter around in chainmail fishnets and some strappy heels.

So, I hiked all the way down to the convention center – stubbornly turned down a very nice man who kept trying to offer me a ride, possibly because I looked like a barbarian hooker – and sure enough, by the time I got to the con, my feet were blistered and raw. Herrrp a derp. Went barefoot the rest of the day and tried to slink regardless, but goddamn, did my feet hate me.

Kathy and I also worked out a tip system – take a picture, leave some monies – because as much as I do not mind posing for random shots, when I’m trying to sell my own pictures at a booth, it’s a little frustrating to have people snapping camera phone pics and then walking off without so much as glancing at my work. People ended up being really nice about it, though! I think it’s just a matter of doing it right and not being demanding or petulant or entitled.

Saturday Night

The infamous Wolf Pack Elite throws their big party, which had some kind of demented circus theme. It was a pretty cool event, but jesus, we had to wait in line for like, an hour. My legs were tired before I even hit the dance floor.

Also, I finally got my “clubbing chainmail” together – hehehe.

Side note, if we go out to a club, be advised that my style of dancing is best described as “spastic”. I prefer “electrified octopus”, but the point is there is a lot of flailing involved. It’s better for everyone’s health and safety that you do not get too close. I have included a helpful PSA:

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Sunday

In summary…

Pics I Posed For: 695879834652

Pics I Probably Ruined by Blinking: 57989986221

Pics Taken of Me While I Was Eating a Sandwich: more than zero, what is wrong with you people

People Who Started a Conversation by Asking if I Was Single: 3

How Often I Petted Fanservice Anakin’s Abs While We Were Taking Pictures: 45 pets/minute

Hours Slept: 20-25?

Number of People with Free Hugs Signs That I Hugged: 0

Time I Was Mistaken for a Slave Leia Costume: 28738634 – WTF PEOPLE, HAVE YOU SEEN BEFORE. I AM APPALLED

Times I Got to Use My New Found Krav Maga Skills: 0

Times I considered It: Only a couple! Hehehehe.