The road to Archon 46 has almost come to an end. As you read this, we’ll be packing up final things or literally be ON the road, driving toward Collinsville, IL. But anytime we come to a science fiction convention we bring artwork, books, free promotional items, plus carefully chosen clothing and accessories and all the other needed “support items” to make the trip a success. When I think about all of those elements, and all the time it took…
By Jan S. Gephardt Weird Sisters and Friends are going on the road again at the end of September. All through this convention season, Weird Sisters Publishing has been experimenting with having a dealers table at the science fiction cons I’ve attended in person. If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time you’ve seen the posts. But we’re still in start-up mode as a micro-press publisher. And we had some production issues during the winter and early spring…
By Jan S. Gephardt Apparently this was the year for horror. At least, when it came to author readings at SoonerCon 31, it certainly seemed to be. I’m not sure why quite such a consistent stream of horror prevailed at the readings I attended. Perhaps living in the twilight of the Pandemic could be some of it. Maybe life at constant risk of mass-shooters the banners of books has done something to our collective psyche? Whatever the reason, SoonerCon 31…
By Jan S. Gephardt I promised a SoonerCon 31 summary, and I mean to deliver in today’s post. But this overview won’t be our last glimpse of SoonerCon. I love this convention, and I’m already looking forward to next year’s event. However – as at every convention – this one provided some “learning takes.” Our dealers table experiment continues, although after SoonerCon 31 the effort is looking ever more dubious as a genuinely money-making proposition. We had another unfortunate entomological…
By Jan S. Gephardt In my last post I painted a rather dreary picture of ConQuesT 54 – but the challenges aren’t the whole story. Far from it. So in this post I’ll borrow a phrase from William Goldman, and label today’s account as the “Good Parts Version” of ConQuesT 54. What was One “Good Part”? The Art Show! One essential element of the ConQuesT 54 Good Parts Version is the Art Show! The amazing Mikah McCullough and his Dream…
By Jan S. Gephardt My ConQuesT 54 challenges provided yet another rough sf con experience. I love ConQuesT. It’s my “home con,” and I’ll go to every one I can. But ConQuesT 54 was kinda hard to love in several ways, and for several reasons. Post-Pandemic, and somewhat like DemiCon, it’s a smaller convention struggling against some bad breaks. Don’t get me wrong: there were a lot of bright spots, from my perspective. I reconnected with old friends, met some…
By Jan S. Gephardt I’ve been going to ConQuesT or about as long as I’ve been going to science fiction conventions. I think of it as my “home con.” It’s sponsored by KaCSFFS (we pronounce it “KAX-fuss”), the Kansas City Science Fiction and Fantasy Society. I was “discovered” by Robin Wayne Bailey and his wife Diana J. Bailey, when I showed my artwork at a relatively short-lived convention at a local community college. That was back in 1982. KaCSFFS friends…
By Jan S. Gephardt DemiCon 34 may have been my last DemiCon. I have a lot of great history with DemiCon as an institution, and as an eagerly-anticipated annual event. I’ve blogged about it in this space for the last several years, as veteran readers of this blog may recall. It was the convention that primarily inspired my 2019 post “Why I go to SF Conventions.” For a profile of DemiCon at its recent best, take a look at my…
By Jan S. Gephardt It’s that time of year again: getting ready for “con” season, and specifically for DemiCon 34. Repeated blizzard events over several recent years have discouraged us from attending Capricon in February. This means DemiCon, an annual, early-May convention in Des Moines, Iowa, has become our “new normal” first science fiction convention of the summer season. But for DemiCon 34, things will be a bit different from our usual. Some of the changes were planned, others not….
By Jan S. Gephardt “Not in my neighborhood!” I’m sure you’ve heard this characteristic cry of property owners almost everywhere. It’s a near-universal protective reflex when anything new or even potentially threatening appears on the horizon. And there are times when it’s thoroughly justifiable. After all, the vast majority of us are persons of limited means. If we don’t protect and steward the value of things we own, who will? If our property value goes down too much, our home…