Southern Fandom Confederation Update Volume 1, Issue 29 August 2012 2 Editorial: Well, I know this is a bit late, but I had a great time at DSC 50, and promptly got back to letting Real Life get in the way of fanac. For those who couldn’t make it, the Rebel Award went to Shelby Vick, as well as to Robert, Becky, Bill, and Linda Zilke, the Phoenix Award went to John Ringo, and the Rubble went to Bob Jennings, the SFPA OE. Bruce Butler was this year’s Hearts Champion of the Known Universe, repeating a feat he’d performed at DSC 25 in Huntsville. DSC 52 was awarded to the Contrails bid for Bristol, Virginia – I’ll be passing along more details on that soon. The SFC got those nifty t-shirts made, and they look great. We’ll sell you one for$15, plus $5 for shipping (we won’t ask for shipping if you can get it from us at a con). Also, this is a big month for conventions, as it ends with both Worldcon and Dragon*Con – I hope most of y’all are going to one or the other (and I know at least a few people will be going to both). This year, we’ll have some cross-programming between the two, so keep an eye out for that, and catch a little bit of the con you didn’t make it to at the one you did! This issue has the usual stuff – convention calendar, letters of comment – and a con report from Joy Smith. The cover illustration is from Alan F. Beck. I depart from my usual colorful, whimsical title in deference to its subject. 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, 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! 3 Calendar of Events: August 16-19: Game Fest South (Chattanooga, TN. www.gamefestsouth.com) August 17-19: MizuCon (Miami, FL. www.mizucon.com) Konsplosion (Ft. Smith, AR. www.konsplosion.com) August 23-26: Star Wars Celebration VI (Orlando, FL. www.starwarscelebration.com) August 30th-September 3rd, 2012: Chicon 7, the 70th World Science Fiction Convention (Chicago, Illinois – Hyatt Regency Chicago. That’s right, it’s a single-facility Worldcon. Guests of Honor will be author Mike Resnick, fan Peggy Rae Sapienza, astronaut Story Musgrave, artist Rowena Morrill, agent Jane Frank, and toastmaster John Scalzi. All my usual bits about why you should go to Worldcon apply. This one is also on the edge of driving distance for much of the South, which should make it pretty appealing. After a string of Worldcons in smaller or more remote cities, it’ll be good to be back in a big city that Southerners can get to easily. Memberships are $230. A young adult rate of $100 is available. www.chicon.org) August 31-September 3: Dragon*Con (Atlanta, GA – Atlanta Marriott Marquis, Hyatt Regency Atlanta, Atlanta Hilton and Towers, Sheraton Atlanta Hotel, Westin Peachtree Plaza. I couldn’t find the Guests of Honor on the website yet, but they’ve got a few hundred guests listed, and even more attending pros. You’re just going to have to look it up for yourself. What I am going to talk about, because I happen to think it’s cool enough to spend my time working on, is that we’re going to have cross- programming between Dragon*Con and Chicon this year, meaning that whether you’re in Atlanta or Chicago, you’ll be able to get a little taste of the other. We’re working on some very cool panels with some very cool people, as well as showing the D*C parade in Chicago and the Hugo Awards Ceremony in Atlanta. Expect more news on this in the coming weeks as we work out the details. Memberships are $120 through August 17th, then $140 until the convention. A limited number of Saturday only memberships are available until the 17th for $50.) August 31-September 2: Mephit Fur Meet (Memphis, TN. www.mephitfurmeet.org) September 7-9: MechaCon (New Orleans, LA. www.mechacon.com) UmiCon (Daytona, FL. www.umicondaytona.com) September 14-16: Aoi Uma Con (Louisville, KY. wwww.aoiumacon.com) September 21-23: Intervention (Rockville, MD. www.intervention.com) 4 FenCon 9 (Addison, TX – Crowne Plaza North Dallas/Galleria. FenCon hosted a fine DSC last year, and this looks to be yet another good year for them. Guests of Honor will be John Aneallo, Teresa Patterson, Donato Giancola, Dr. David Hanson, Toastmaster Peter A. David, and Special Guest Karl Schroeder. Memberships are $40 before September 1st and $45 at the door.) September 27-30: Hurricon (Orlando, FL. www.hmgs-south.com/hmgs/) September 28-30: Anime Weekend Atlanta (Atlanta, GA. www.awa-con.com) Klingon Feast (Daytona Beach, FL. www.klingonfeast.com/Klingon_Feast_Florida.html) GameCon Memphis VI (Memphis, TN. www.gameconmemphis.com) Shocka-Con (Charleston, WV. www.shockacon.com) April 19-21: DeepSouthCon 51/JordanCon V (Roswell, GA. It’s good to see DSC getting around to different states on a regular basis again – we’ve held the last three in Tennesse, North Carolina, and Texas, and are about to go to Alabama and Georgia, with bids for the next couple of years featuring Virginia and Louisiana. Supposing those bids work out (and keeping in mind that other bidders could emerge), we’ll see seven states in seven years, which would be the most diverse run of DSC in our history. It’s a good time to be in Southern Fandom, so come enjoy it with us! Guests of Honor will be Seanan McGuire and Michael Whelan. Memberships are currently $45. www.jordancon.org) August 29th-September 2nd, 2013: LoneStarCon 3, the 71st World Science Fiction Convention (San Antonio, Texas – Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, Marriott River Walk, Marriott Rivercenter. Guests of Honor will be Ellen Datlow, James Gunn, Willie Siros, Norman Spinrad, and Darrell K. Sweet, with Toastmaster Paul Cornell and Special Guests Leslie Fish and Joe R. Lansdale. All my usual bits about why you should go to Worldcon still apply. But even more importantly, it’s the first Southern Worldcon since 1997 (LoneStarCon 2). Let’s descend on this en masse and show our support for Texas. Memberships are $160 through June 30th. www.lonestarcon3.org) Rebel Yells: News and Notes From All Over Ed Dravecky clarifies a few points from DSC 49: FenCon's own Ruth Cruise won the Hearts tournament at FenCon VII / DSC 49. All three issues of the FenCon ION are available at http://www.fencon.org/history-2011.html 5 The one with the results (on the bottom right of page 2) is http://www.fencon.org/docs/FenConION_v8-3_Sunday.pdf Joy Smith checks in – check out her con report after the locs: Warren, In case you're interested, my reviews of Man-Kzin Wars XIII and Time Machine Troopers are on Amazon and my media blog (see sig); and my Man-Kzin Wars XIII review will be posted on The New Book Review June 21: www.TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com Man-Kzin Wars in one of my favorite shared world anthologies and Time Machine Troopers is an outstanding sequel to H. G. Wells' The Time Machine. Joy Another wonderful Lloyd Penney LoC: 1706-24 Eva Rd. Etobicoke, ON CANADA M9C 2B2 June 22, 2012 Dear Warren: I’ve got the newest SFC Update, Vol. 1, No. 28 with me here, and now I can finally get some writing done. It’s been a crazy time. Sounds like you’ve had your own crazy time, too. Comments to follow, right after I admire that art on the front. Wonder what was in the bag you found at Balticon? Hope everyone enjoyed DSC 50, and hope it was the kind of major regional convention everyone wanted to see. Of course, life gets so busy, and money is so short, but we hope it was a heckuva good time. Rich Dengrove is so right, the older generations of fans have to embrace the newer generations. For me, a number of local older fans have passed away, or moved on, and newer groups are here with their own clubs and activities. Fortunately for me, almost all of those groups are on Facebook, and can be easily found. I am not able to meet and know them all, but we have gotten involved with them to some extent, and now we have newer generations of friends. Of course, we are starting to feel our ages, and we have retired from more strenuous forms of fanac, but the new activities keep those feelings away for a while. 6 Hmmm, Yvonne needed a heavier coat in October…that’s around the time at our latitude when the fall arrives, and the temperatures start to drop a little. Yvonne loves the heat, and is a little sensitive to the cold. A DC summer being blistering? Not at all. As summer started a few days ago, we had a heat wave here, with temperatures hitting the mid-90s Fahrenheit here, and high humidity.