Glimpses of Archon 42

Halloween? No, just an active costuming contingent!

I enjoyed my return to Archon, a St. Louis-area convention I'd often attended when it was scheduled in the summer (I know: back in ancient days!). In more recent decades, this convention has become a major event for restaurants and hotels near the Gateway Center in Collinsville, IL. The one I'm writing about here was held October 12-14, 2018.

I enjoyed the costumes--but what I managed to catch in photos are a far cry from their full extent. For a better glimpse of what tends to wander the halls of Archon, there's a great photo lineup from #41, by Thomas Crone in St. Louis Magazine online, and the Masquerade has a Facebook page you also may enjoy. Here's another rather comprehensive look at the convention you also may enjoy.

One thing about Archon at the Gateway Center: you walk a lot. Even the main convention hotel, the Doubletree, isn't attached to the Gateway Center, so you're walking wherever you stay (we stayed at the just-as-nearby Fairfield Inn, which was sung and well-kept). The other thing about the Doubletree is that it books up each year in a flash. It wasn't the best of weather for trekking though the landscape, this year. I was glad I'd brought my trench coat.

Of course, I always want to display my artwork at conventions I attend. Here's my Archon 42 Art Show display.

I also love to be on, and also attend, panels. I have photos from several enjoyable ones, below. This year, I also have put a particular emphasis on my readings, as a way to both learn what other authors are writing, and to give people an advance glimpse of my to-be-released-this-winter science fiction novel What's Bred in the Bone.

The programming staff mostly put me on Art Track panels, rather than the writing ones I've become used to lately, so I had a chance to do things such as dust off my art teacher skills for Basic Drawing and geek out with Rachael Mayo about art supplies, quality, and when/how you can afford to go with a cheaper option.

Rachael Mayo (seated at left) brought samples of different kinds of both paper and colored pencils (some cheap, some top-grade professional, some in between), for the audience to test at the end of the Saturday panel titled "Crayola is Fine, Right?: Art on a Budget."

One of the first programming items I attended on Friday of the convention was one of their three-person Author Readings, this one featuring, L-R: Donna J.W. Munro, Marella Sands, and Christine Nobbe, who read a science fiction story she often shares with her gifted classes.

The "Diversity in Speculative Fiction" panel on Friday night of the con explored long-overdue changes developing as sf becomes more inclusive. L-R Participants: Jennifer Stolzer, Kathleen Kayembe, Camille Faye, and Debbie Manber Kupfer, who moderated.

The Sunday afternoon "Alternate Paths to Publishing" panel had such an engaged audience that we overshot our scheduled stop-time, and missed Closing Ceremonies. L-R, George Sirois ("SEAR-oy") moderated; Brad R. Cook, Camille Faye, and Debbie Manber Kupfer added a variety of thoughts and reflections on their experiences.

Archon 43 will be held in Collinsville again next year, Oct. 4-6, 2019. But don't expect to book a room in the Doubletree. It's already full up.

IMAGES: All of the photos in this post were taken by me, Jan S. Gephardt, at Archon 42, between October 12-14, 2018. You may freely re-post or reblog them, but in all fairness please include an attribution to me, and a link back to this post. The cover art for What's Bred in the Bone is a color comp by Jody A. Lee; she promises the finished art is coming soon.

Mirror moment: What are we doing?

The Artdog Quote of the Week 

What we sow, we reap. What goes around comes around. It's an ageless lesson too many of us never truly seem to learn or take to heart.

How do you answer the question: What are you doing for yourself and others . . . and the world?

IMAGE: Many thanks to the Amazon Aid Foundation's "9 Inspiring Quotes about Forests" for this quote-image, featuring a quote from Mahatma Gandhi.

1957's Monsanto House of the Future at Disneyland

The Artdog Image of Interest

Today's opening video offers a short (approximately 1-minute) glimpse of what was once a famous part of Disney's "Tomorrowland" at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, CA.



The video clip offers a sampling from a much longer video, for viewers in a hurry. Below I've embedded what seems like a much more complete version, which is not quite 13 minutes long, for those who have time to view it.



Created by Monsanto, largely as a way of showcasing innovations made possible by synthetic materials used in home construction, the longer video goes into considerable detail about using man-made materials all over the house.

Although the "House of the Future" has since been demolished and the original Tomorrowland looks like a campy, mid-century "retro" future today, many of its predictions have indeed become true. We do cook with microwaves now, and our homes are filled with synthetics. Of course, in 1957 no one was thinking or talking about potential risks, especially to firefighters.

My Images of Interest in October have all been videos drawn from a panel discussion, "Yesterday's Tomorrow," moderated by Kathryn Sullivan, in which I participated at FenCon XV. I shared these videos with the audience, and they generated enough interest that I thought my blog-readers might like them too!

VIDEOS: many thanks to YouTube and The Associated Press for the shorter video, as well as YouTube again and David Oneal's Extinct Attractions for the longer one.

Perfectly set up for Na-No-Wri-Mo

It occurred to me the other day that I've got not one, but two projects ideally set up for a Na-No-Wri-Mo style writing blitz.

On the eve of the event itself, no less! If ever there were a year when I was perfectly set to participate, this is it.

What is "Na-No-Wri-Mo"? you may ask. That is short for "National Novel-Writing Month." It's an annual event, held November 1-30 of each year. Participants attempt to write 50,000 words or more in a month (50,000 words is the minimum length for a novel, according to some definitions and in some genres).

Many participants look upon it as a competition (for well or ill) and for many it provides motivation. I think whatever helps a writer make progress on his or her work of passion is a positive thing.

It's true that a rare few people actually can write a real novel in a month. For most of us, 50,000 even-semi-coherent words in a month is a stretch, and that's the point. Na-No-Wri-Mo is designed to push writers beyond their comfort zones and help them achieve more than they thought they could. It's a creative challenge that is a high bar, but not unreachable.

That's extremely beneficial for a writer, whether you end up with a novel at the end of the month, or (more likely) with a steaming pile of first draft.

I know I've posted this quote from Shannon Hale before, but I thought it was appropriate here.

I have never personally participated in Na-No-Wri-Mo, although I've been "Na-No adjacent" for years because I hang out with other writers. Why don't I participate? 

Mostly it's because I'm a competition-averse person, and I write slowly. I'm persistent, but not fast. Also, I know myself. Trying to write 50,000 words straight through with no stopping or second thoughts . . . not gonna happen. It would make me nuts.

Also, it's in November. That might be a time of miserable weather in San Francisco (the original reason for timing it then), but November is the month before Christmas, contains no fewer than three family birthdays for my clan, and it has Thanksgiving in it. NO WAY am I going through November with the minimum of distractions needed to produce 50,000 words!

In November, San Francisco looks like this a lot. No wonder the Na-No-Wri-Mo founders wanted to stay inside!

So, no. I'll flirt with the idea, but I won't sign up for Na-No-Wri-Mo this year, either. But I'll think of the participants often, as I regularly take chunks of time to work on my projects throughout the month, and I'll be wishing them well!

IMAGES: Many thanks to Wikipedia for the Na-No-Wri-Mo logo file, to Ali Stegert's "Spilling Ink" blog, for the quote from Shannon Hale, and to Free Tours by Foot, for the photo of San Francisco in November.

Profit and loss in the biosphere

The Artdog Quote of the Week

In the great balancing act of life, greater biodiversity is our friend. Any monoculture--no matter how well protected from the dangers and variables of life--is vulnerable. Each species fills its niche to the benefit of the entire biome, when all are in balance.

Yet some seem to think we can ignore natural laws and discard "useless" species at will, or as necessary. How can we find a way to counter and diminish the prevalence of such thinking? We must find a way, or our whole planet (the only one we've got!) remains in peril.

IMAGE: Many thanks to Golfian for this image and quote from E. O. Wilson.

What GM predicted in 1956 for futuristic cars of 1976

The Artdog Image of Interest 

In my research of videos about past views of the future, I wasn't surprised to find that futuristic cars formed a favorite category. The one I'll share today doesn't feature any flying cars, but I still think you may enjoy seeing what General Motors did (and did not) predict. It also represents a category of "musical production long-form commercial videos" from the period, of a sort we don't see much, today.



As ever, the assumptions about gender roles, and the extreme "whiteness" of all people in the video, speak volumes about the culture of the time.

My Images of Interest in October are videos, all of them drawn from a panel discussion, "Yesterday's Tomorrow," moderated by Kathryn Sullivan, in which I participated at FenCon XV. I shared these videos with the audience, and they generated enough interest that I thought my blog-readers might like them too!

VIDEO: many thanks to YouTube and CBS Sunday Morning for this video.

Seven great ways to support small artists

I've been looking forward to sharing this post for a longer time than I expected (because of my crazy life--it's not Lara's fault!). I went to her presentation at MALCon/Westercon in Denver last July and immediately knew I wanted to share it on this blog.

She's created an 11-minute video that covers most of this information, so if you prefer to get your information that way, check it out here:




In her presentation, as in the video, she outlined seven excellent ways to help small artists thrive. Her advice goes for all sorts of creative types. She herself is a musician, but her advice applies for artists in many fields, including musicians, actors, dancers, crafters, visual artists, comics-creators, and writers.

How to Support Small Artists!
by Losing Lara

In this day and age with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and so much more it is incredibly easy to create art and put it up online. Whether you are a musician, writer, or traditional artist the world is your oyster as long as you have a stable internet connection. What seems to be increasingly difficult is being a consumer of said art.

Day after day we are inundated with some new piece of entertainment and it can be hard to know what's the best way to really support the people and art that we love. As a YouTuber, writer, and musician, I have found that my friends and family are surprised when I tell them even the simplest (and free) ways that they can support me.

Because of this I have made a YouTube video, a convention panel that I have presented multiple times, and now a blog post. With the help of artists in several different mediums we have seven tips that you can help support the small artist in your life.

This is the easiest step of them all, even better, it’s free!  If you see a post online that is some sort of interest to you, whether you know the artist or like the subject, then click on it!

Whether it’s a YouTube video, a Soundcloud link, or takes you to a personal website, that is one more number added to an artist’s closely-studied metrics. The higher the numbers are, the more successful an artist. It starts with you!

You might think that your one view doesn’t matter, but in the grand scheme, every little bit counts!

This feeds into participation because without an audience, it wouldn’t be much of a show.  A lot of times, this can be free too!

If your writer friend has a book reading at a local bookstore? Your friend is performing in an open mic?  Free art gallery exhibit? Check them all out!

Even if you can’t buy anything from the artist/bookstore/gallery, just seeing your face in the crowd is a show of support that means the world to artists! Also if your friend is in theater, ask when the show’s industry night will be. You can usually get discounted tickets!

This is one of the most important ways to support! Small artists don’t have a huge marketing team working behind the scenes getting their art in front of as many people as possible. We have you and your pointer finger.

When you see them post about their new book, their new album, video, show, artwork whatever it might be, hit that share button! Memes are great, and if you are like me, you share them about 200 in one day. Sharing work from a small artist is just as easy, not to mention, more important.

Now it’s time to add your voice into the mix! The comment section is a magical (though sometimes scary) place that can be almost more important than views alone.

All these social media sites run on algorithms and if a post has a lot of views, but no interaction it won’t be promoted by its respective website. Especially if your friend is selling a book on Amazon, the more reviews, the more Amazon will showcase the book on the site (even bad reviews, but of course, good ones are always better). This is also very important on Etsy.

The majority of these tips are things you can do for free, but we live in a capitalist society and unfortunately, being alive is expensive. An artist creates for the love of creation, but at some point we need to eat, and that’s where buying our art goes a long way!

Spotify is great, but it takes 1000 streams of just one album for the artist to make the equivalent of ONE sale.

Most importantly, exposure does not buy food! Exposure is great for an artist, but art takes a lot of time and work and should be valued in the same way as spending time working inside of an office building.

If you can’t afford to buy a item, then a lot of artists have a tipping and reward site! On sites like Patreon and Ko-Fi, you don’t necessarily buy a thing, but pay for a monthly subscription or one-time donation.  YouTubers who don’t necessarily create a tangible product go this route.  

There are also sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo where someone can propose a project and you can invest in it.  On these sites and Patreon you can either donate or you can get something from the artist in return, while Ko-Fi is only donations.

Whatever your feelings about large corporations, that does not apply to small artists. As I mentioned before, there is no giant team behind these people, they are usually doing everything themselves. 

Yes, we are happy when people like our art, but not enough to completely give up credit. Please don’t repost art without an artist’s name. That is literally taking money away from them.  If you see art without credit you can report it and do a Google Image Search (Jan's addition: or use TinEye) to find the original post.

One of Losing Lara's songs could be an anthem for
the #MeToo movement.

As you can see, supporting small artists can be so easy! I know every time one of my videos or songs gets a like or a share it feels so wonderful and encouraging. 

We make art to share with people and even just a like lets us know that there is someone out there. There is someone who sees us and sees our work and takes even just a second to say, “Hey, I see you and I like it.” And really, isn’t that what everyone wants in life?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Losing Lara makes videos for the internet, performs nerdy music, and occasionally writes a bit. You can find her on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Bandcamp.

IMAGES: The video and all the illustrated headers, as well as the text for today's post, are all courtesy of Losing Lara. I found the cover image for her song I Said No on her Bandcamp site. Please share this post, and give her full credit!

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Biodiversity and companion animals' love

The Artdog Quote of the Week

Of what value is biodiversity? Here's an apt approach, for those whose households, like mine, are multi-species establishments. There does exist a parallel between the richness brought to us by our relationships with companion animals, and the value of biodiversity in the wider world.

IMAGE: Many thanks to Top Famous Quotes, via Quotemaster and Pinterest, for this excellent thought from April Gornik.

A 1940s-50s vision of a future kitchen

The Artdog Image of Interest 

When I was researching videos of ways the past viewed the possibilities of the future, I found that most seemed to fall into repeated categories. Futuristic kitchens (especially as envisioned by contemporary makers of kitchen appliances, imagine that!) formed a major subcategory.

Oddly enough, the makers of these videos rarely envisioned men as the ones who'd be cooking. Here's a classic "future kitchen" from sometime in the 1940s-50s:



My Images of Interest in October are videos, all of them drawn from a panel discussion, "Yesterday's Tomorrow," moderated by Kathryn Sullivan, in which I participated at FenCon XV. I shared these videos with the audience, and they generated enough interest that I thought my blog-readers might like them too!

VIDEO: many thanks to YouTube and Susan Pine for this video! 

Aiming for Archon 42

Ty and I are about to go on the road again. This time we're headed across Missouri to our final sf convention of 2018, Archon 42 in Collinsville, IL. After this the holidays start, and so does the "iffy" weather.

It's been a long time since we've been to Archon. For many years there were scheduling conflicts, but those problems are behind us now. I'm looking forward to heading back.

I'll be busy, that's for sure. I'm on four panels (moderating three), plus I have a reading, and that's not counting the artwork I'll have on display. Here's my schedule:

Friday October 12
4:00-5:00 p.m. (Gateway-Cahokian) – Paying your Bills with Exposure 
Everyone knows you can't pay for groceries or gas with exposure - but why do so many people think it's acceptable to ask artists to work for free?  What's the best way to respond to such requests?
7:30-approx. 9:30 p.m. (Art Show) – Art Reception
I have a full panel of paper sculpture to display.

The display has changed a little since Westercon 71/MALCon 6 in July, but most of the work shown here will be on display at Archon 42.

Saturday October 13
1:00-2:00 p.m. (Gateway-Cahokian) – Crayola is Fine, Right?: Art on a Budget
How can you create your art without breaking the bank?  What's okay to skimp on? What’s worth paying more?
3:00-4:00 p.m. (Gateway-Cahokian) – Sharpen Your Skills: Basic Drawing
Designed for new artists looking to improve their drawing skills. Pick up my annotated list of resources, or email me for a copy!

Sunday October 14
11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. (Gateway-Illini A) – What is Your Preferred Type of Con?
Cons come in all types and sizes: huge & media-driven? Small and intimate? Focused on one subject or many?
12:00-1:00 p.m. (Gateway-Illini A) – Author Reading with Meg Elison, Jan Gephardt, and Lettie Prell.
Enjoy a sampler of short readings by three contemporary sf writers. I bet you can guess what book I'm reading from!

Here's my postcard for Archon 42, promoting the reading on Sunday and urging people to.sign up for my newsletter, for updates on the publication schedule.

IMAGES: Many thanks to the Collinsville, IL Chamber of Commerce, for the "white" Archon 42 logo. The other two images are by me, and may be used for reblogging or reposting, as long as you include an attribution for the work and a link back to this post. Thanks!c

It's Columbus Day. Whoopee.

Anyone who follows this blog or even stops in occasionally could probably guess that I'm not a real big fan of Christopher Columbus or his "discovery" of an already-inhabited part of the world. I'm one of those who look into history and are grimly unsurprised that a European invader thought it was okay to kill and enslave the friendly folks who came down to the beach to welcome him ashore.

Yeah, that's more the way I look at it.

The Great Columbian Exchange mostly helped Europe, as far as I can tell. What the Americans got in return for tobacco, corn, squash, tomatoes, gold and so much more was disease, enslavement, and mass death (and that was just the people). Other invasive species arrived with the invasive Europeans, and no ecosystem in North or South America has been the same since.

Yes, I "get" that many Italian-Americans cherish Columbus Day as a celebration of their heritage, just as many Latin American countries also celebrate the arrival of Columbus.

I hate to rain on their parades, I truly do. Italian-Americans have been a mostly much more positive influence on American culture than Columbus himself, however. It'd be nice if they'd picked a better guy to be their emblem. If you're a Federal employee or a banker, have a nice day off.

But we also should never forget the Arawaks.

IMAGE: Many thanks to Supreme Design Online, via Mormon Discussions, for today's non-quote image.

How did the future look in the 1920s?

The Artdog Image of Interest 

My Images of Interest in October are videos, all of them drawn from a panel discussion, "Yesterday's Tomorrow," moderated by Kathryn Sullivan, in which I participated at FenCon XV. I shared these videos with the audience, and they generated enough interest that I thought my blog-readers might like them too!

I'll start with one from the 1920s.



VIDEO: Many thanks to YouTube and Aaron1912 for this video!

Fondly remembering FenCon XV

It's hard to believe it's been almost two weeks since Ty and I left for FenCon XV at the Westin DFW in Irving, TX. It was our first FenCon, but we certainly don't want it to be our last! Those Texans really know how to put on a great science fiction convention!

The Royal Manticoran Navy made a strong showing at FenCon XV, both with its information booth and at parties and other events. I deeply regret that I had a brain glitch and didn't remember to get the names of these folks!

Writers in the Field has an interesting concept: they provide opportunities for writers to learn what it really feels like to . . . experience a whole bunch of things they're likely to need to know if they write sf, fantasy, westerns, historicals, or other stories. How does it feel to saddle up and ride across country? Wear armor? Shoot with a bow and arrow? and much more. Instructor Jana Stout and co-founder William "Bud" Humble were holding down the table when I took this photo.

Like any well-run convention, FenCon XV had an Art Show Reception with excellent goodies to nibble, on Friday night.

Here's how my Art Show display looked before the show opened on Friday. I sold several pieces, including the one-of-a-kind original mixed media paper sculpture Aka-Bekko Dragon.

I created a postcard to publicize my Friday reading of material from What's Bred in the Bone, my sf novel due to be published this winter. I was gratified to have a nice group of people show up for the reading. Better yet, all weekend people responded favorably to my cover by the accomplished illustrator Jody A. Lee, even though it's still in the color comp stage. I should have finished artwork soon!

FenConXV parties rocked! I haven't enjoyed circulating at fan parties this much in ages. People were actually friendly to strangers (hard to over-emphasize how important that is!!). I could mostly hear what people were saying to me, and the conversations were substantive and interesting.
Clockwise from upper left: Ken Ruffin of the local National Space Society chapter and me; Ed and Brandy portray Frankenstein and his Bride-to-be; the Space Party (sponsored Saturday night by the National Space Society); and new friend Marah, rocking a T-shirt she scored on a trip with friends to Arkansas. Gotta add a special shout-out to the Blue Coconut Bar Party, too. They were very welcoming (and knowledgeable mixologists), both nights.

Unfortunately, it was really rainy Friday night around DFW Airport. They had flash floods all over the place, and a great many locals crashed with friends at the hotel because they couldn't get home. Ty and I were on the 14th floor, literally "above it all," but that doesn't mean we didn't think it sucked when friends such as Brad Foster had floods in their studios!

I attended quite a few readings at FenCon XV, but the three I enjoyed most were by (L-R) Ethan Nahté, whose upcoming Wings of Mercury is an homage to the 1950s, sf-style; Gloria Oliver, whose latest book is set in the Victorian Era and is a work of exquisite horror, firmly grounded in historical accuracy; and Martha Wells, who read the delicious first chapter of her new Murderbot novel-to-come. I was an instant convert.

It was good to be back on panels other than a reading (much though I love doing readings). Here I'm participating on the "The Sexes . . . in Space!" panel with Marianne Dyson at left (also William Ledbetter and John DeLaughter, not shown) on Friday of the convention. (Photo by Tyrell Gephardt)

It was a smaller Dealers' Room than I'd expected for a convention of nearly 1,000 people, but what do aI know? 

At the "Space Habitats and Mega-Structures" panel we had an interesting and informative session. Panelists, L-R are: Ken Ruffin, Larry Niven, William Ledbetter, C. Stuart Hardwick, and Martin L. Shoemaker.

IMAGES: All photos were taken my me, Jan S. Gephardt, with one (noted) exception that was taken by Tyrell Gephardt. If you'd like to use one on a blog or other place, please include an attribution to the photographer and a link back to this page. Thanks!

Preserving every scrap

The Artdog Quote of the Week 

Biodiversity is how an ecology stays resilient. That extends to the social realm, but let's just focus for a moment to the environment. See, it's not all about us. Who'd have thought?

IMAGE: Many thanks to AZ Quotes, for this wisdom from biologist, theorist, naturalist and author E. O. Wilson.