The SHUTTLE August 2003 The Next NASFA Meeting will be 16 August 2003 at the Regular Time and Location The Next Con Stellation XXII ConCom Meeting is Sunday 17 August 2003 at Mike KennedyÕs House Future ConComs 7 & 21 September and 5 October; plus 9 October at the Hotel { Oyez, Oyez { ConCom Meetings The next NASFA meeting will be 16 August 2003 at the The next Con Stellation XXII con committee meeting regular time (6P) and the regular location. Call BookMark at will be held 2P Sunday 17 August at Mike KennedyÕs house Ñ 256-881-3910 if you need directions. 7907 Charlotte Drive SW, Huntsville AL. An email with The August program is to be determined at press time. additional information will be sent out closer to the day. The August after-the-meeting meeting will be a pool Future concom meetings are scheduled for 7 September, party at Russell McNuttÕs house. 21 September, and 5 October at MikeÕs house. There will also We need volunteers for future After-The-Meeting Meet- be the usual last-minute concom meeting on Thursday 9 ings October at the hotel. Inside this issueÉ NASFA Calendar............................................................2 Other Awards News .......................................................4 Minutes of the July Meeting ...........................................2 No Need for a Dragon with a Migraine Chapter 7 .........5 Review of DeepSouthCon 41/LibertyCon 16 .................3 No Need for a Dragon with a Migraine Chapter 8 .........6 World Fantasy Awards Nominations..............................4 Letters of Comment ........................................................6 Deadline for the September 2003 issue of The NASFA Shuttle is Friday, 5 Septembr 2003. 1 NASFA Calendar 30 BD: Richard Gilliam. OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO AUGUST The North Alabama Science Fiction Association meets on 03 Con Stellation Con Committee Meeting Ñ Mike the third Saturday of each month. (Unless there is a large KennedyÕs house. nearby convention being held that weekend Ñ in which case 08 BD: Jim Woosley. we usually hold the meeting on the second or fourth weekend.) 08Ð10 Conglomeration Ñ Louisville KY. The regular meeting location is the upstairs meeting room at 14 BD: Edward Kenny. BookMark on South Memorial Parkway. The Executive 16* NASFA Meeting Ñ 6P Business, 7P Program, at Committee meeting (if scheduled) is at 5P. The business BookMark. ATMM at Russell McNuttÕs house. meeting is at 6P. The program is at 7P. Anyone is welcome to 17 Con Stellation Con Committee Meeting Ñ Mike attend any of the meetings. There is usually an after-the- KennedyÕs house. meeting meeting with directions available at the program. 21 BD: Deborah Denton. 28Ð01 Torcon 3/Worldcon 61 Ñ Toronto ONT Canada. 29Ð01 DragonCon Ñ Atlanta GA. July Minutes SEPTEMBER by Samuel A. Smith, I Was Wrong 01 Labor Day. 07 Con Stellation Con Committee Meeting Ñ Mike The July meeting of the North Alabama Science Fiction KennedyÕs house. Association was called to order on Saturday, July 19, 2003 in 07 GrandparentÕs Day. the upstairs meeting room at BookMark at 6:13:56P by Presi- 09 BD: Mike Cothran. dent Mary Ortwerth (and Crickets). 11 BD: Ray Pietruszka. Karen is polluted. And Tracey Kennedy is pregnant. 17 Citizenship Day. OLD BUSINESS 20* NASFA Meeting Ñ 6P Business, 7P Program, at Con chair elections for the 2004 Con Stellation: BookMark. ATMM TBD. Mary Ortwerth withdrew her name from consideration. 21 Con Stellation Con Committee Meeting Ñ Mike Nominations were reopened and subsequently closed with KennedyÕs house. no new names being put forth. 23 Autumn begins. There were speeches. 26 BD: Jenna Victoria Stone. Mike Kennedy was elected the 2004 Con Stellation con 27 Rosh Hashanah. chair over Doug Lampert by a vote of Òpretty manyÓ to 2. Mary Ortwerth gave a report on the status of the Von OCTOBER Braun Astronomical Society/Mitzi Adams proposed talk by 02Ð05 Archon 27 Ñ Collinsville IN. Larry Nemecek and Dr. Chip Meegan: Things are proceeding. 05 Con Stellation Con Committee Meeting Ñ Mike The Chan Auditorium (in the Administrative Science Build- KennedyÕs house. ing) costs $75. We will need to make and provide convention 09 Con Stellation Con Committee Meeting Ñ at the and club flyers to hand out. Mitzi is putting up announcement hotel. flyers and also trying to get announcements on the radio. 10Ð12 Con Stellation XXII Ñ Huntsville AL. NEW BUSINESS 12 Columbus Day (Traditional). Jim Woosley: Huntsville has a new local S.F. writer: 13 Columbus Day (Observed). Travis Taylor, who has sold a book to Baen. [Dr. Taylor is 15 BD: Robert Buelow. planning to be at Con Stellation. -ED] 18* NASFA Meeting Ñ 6P Business, 7P Program, at We have received an e-mail from a fellow named Al BookMark. ATMM TBD. Hoffman who is seeking help to locate a Space: 1999 fan 24 United Nations Day. named Chuck Raue. None of us had any clues, but if anybody 24Ð26 Hallowcon Õ03 Ñ Chattanooga TN. out there does, let us know and weÕll pass the word along to Al. 24Ð26 Necronomicon Ñ Tampa FL. CONVENTION BUSINESS 25 BD: Marie McCormack. Mike Kennedy: There is nothing particular to report right 30Ð02 World Fantasy Convention 2003 Ñ Washington DC. now. Con committee meetings move to two a month starting 31 Halloween. next month (August). Sam Smith reported that the Con Stellation web site NOVEMBER received 657 visitors in June, and the NASFA web site re- 04 Election Day. ceived 90 visitors in the same time period. 11 VeteransÕ Day. Mike Cothran noted that he needs the stuff for this yearÕs 11 Remembrance Day (Canada). Mass Mailing now! (And by the time you read this, it will be 15* NASFA Meeting Ñ 6P Business Meeting at Book- too late.) [It hit the mail Mark. ATMM TBD. 4 August. -ED] 20 BD: Geoffrey Hintze. The meeting was 22 BD: Nancy Renee Peters. adjourned at 6:47:46P. 23 BD: Mike Kennedy. The program and 23 BD: Wilson ÒBobÓ Tucker. After-The-Meeting 27 Thanksgiving Day. Meeting were a 29 BD: Howard Camp. Huntsville Stars baseball 30 BD: Joshua Kennedy. game. art by Sheryl Birkhead 2 manage to go to a few pro- DSC 41/LibertyCon 16 grams here and there and rviewed by Mike Kennedy participate in the killer-cut- throat spades tournament. As has been true about half the time in recent memory, this In that latter I did fairly yearÕs DeepSouthCon was combined with an existing conven- miserably, failing to ad- tion. DSC 41/LibertyCon 16 <www.libertycon.org> was held vance to the second round. 25Ð27 June 2003 at the Best Value Inn in East Ridge (Chat- (While he didnÕt make the tanooga) TN. Invited guests included Literary Guest of Honor finals, David Weber was S. M. Stirling, Artist GoH Darrell K. Sweet, Very Special really on his game most of Guest John Ringo, and MC Darryl Elliot. A large number of the weekend and pretty other professionals were expected to attend Ñ far too many to much blew me out of the list here. water in the first round.) When DSC changed to a two-year-in-advance selection WellÉ I almost made it schedule the better part of two decades ago, the events leading into the very last second up to this yearÕs con were hardly anticipated, but it turned out round game as a substitute, to be fortuitous in an odd way. Shortly before the originally- but gave up my seat at the scheduled date of LibertyCon 16, their hotel was partially last moment when another destroyed in a major fire. Of course, that was last year, when player showed up. In fact, I LC was not scheduled to host DSC. The fire occurred too close donÕt think I won a single to the conÕs dates to allow for an alternate location to be found, spades game that weekend, so LibertyCon 16 slipped a full year. I wonÕt even try to go into tournament or not. the various issues they ran into with guests being forced by The major programming item that I wanted to get to but various unforeseen circumstances to drop out, or the details of didnÕt was the masquerade. The main programming room at the hotel changing hands twice in the last year. Through it all, that hotel is really too small for that event. The con did show the committee persevered and in the end put on a very good it on the hotel TV system, but I chose not to go find a place to con. watch (the TV in my room only got one channel, ESPN). If Which is not to say there were no problems. When the someone has a video tape or even good stills IÕd love to have hotel was rebuilt they didnÕt include as many sleeping rooms. a look sometime. Besides, the con was going to give out Between that and the extra attendance because it was a Deep- various awards during the judging interval and I always like to SouthCon, LC needed to use several overflow hotels, some of be around for the DSC Awards. As it turned out I had good which were across a very busy multilane highway. (One reason to do so this year, even though it meant standing through Huntsvillian staying in one of those remote hotels made a the presentations. number of trips across the road by foot. I donÕt think I would DSC itself gives out two awards (though often to multiple have had the nerve.) For myself, the biggest problem with the people) every year and provides a venue for one other annual hotel was the lack of an elevator and the fact that the party tradition, the Rubble. The Rebel and Phoenix Awards are for rooms (including mine) were on the second floor Ñ up a service to Southern Fandom by fans and sf professionals curving staircase of about 20 steps.