Why I go to science fiction conventions

I still owe you a DemiCon 30 report, but this week it's time to get ready for ConQuesT 50. In a couple more weeks, it'll be time for SoonerCon 28. Maybe I'll eventually catch up with myself, but one never knows.

There are a great many Indie authors who don't understand why anyone would go to that many science fiction conventions, much less three additional ones (SpikeCon, FenCon, and Archon), over the course of the next few months. "I always lose money," they say, or words to that effect.

I have a working hypothesis about that . . . and you can read about it on my website.

My DemiCon 29 Experience

I had a good time at DemiCon 29 this year. It's an intimate convention, about 500 or so attendees, and as with all science fiction convention experiences, each person's reaction may differ. The things I look for in an sf con tend to be networking opportunities, a good Art Show, and interesting panels (to be on, and to attend).

The Iowa Writers' Panel featured readings by (L-R) Rachel Aukes, Lettie Prell, Adam Whitlatch, and Shannon Ryan.

Networking
Since it was a smaller convention, there weren't as many attending writers and artists as one tends to see at larger cons. This can be both good and bad. It's a chance to get to know a few of one's fellow "pros" better because of frequent interaction--but you make a limited number of contacts. Since I get along well with most people, I generally find at least a few people with whom to have a good conversation.

Smaller conventions also are great if you like more interaction with fans. The panel discussions tend to be more interactive, which offers an opportunity for delving deeper into ideas and information a given audience wants to explore. You never know who you may meet, or what areas of unexplored expertise or new ideas they may have.

Christine Mitzuk, the Artist Guest of Honor at DemiCon 29, gave a painting demonstration, and talked about her career.

Art Show
Smaller conventions often have smaller art shows, but DemiCon had a pretty good representation of "the usual mail-in suspects," including Sarah Clemens, Theresa Mather, and David Lee Pancake, as well as attending artists. Smaller conventions are places where local artists and talented beginners can gain a better showcase. The Artist Guest of Honor was Christine Mitzuk. I enjoyed interacting with her at programming events, and having a chance to see her beautiful work.

Sunday's Creative Process panel at DemiCon 29 featured (L-R) Christina Henry, Author Guest of Honor; Jan S. Gephardt; Christine Mitzuk, Artist Guest of Honor; cartoonist and writer Daniel Mohr; and writer/historian Rob Howell. (Photo by Tyrell Gephardt)

Panels 
I would have liked a somewhat wider range of panels, but as I gathered (after the fact), to get a panel scheduled, one of the would-be panelists had to suggest it beforehand. If I'd figured that out sooner, I'd have suggested several more ideas, myself! I'm used to a different system--but never mind. I enjoyed the panels in which I did participate.

I especially enjoyed the readings, though I unfortunately had to miss the readings by Lettie Prell. I did get a chance to hear Adam Whitlatch, Rachel Aukes, and Shannon Ryan. I also had a chance to do a reading--but unfortunately, they scheduled mine opposite the Masquerade (DemiCon is WAY into costumes and cosplay). I had a small but enthusiastic audience of one (and he wasn't even related to me! My son Ty was scheduled for something else opposite my reading).

One highlight was the chance to work on several panels with Rob Howell. I'd met him earlier, and I've been on panels with him before. He brings a sense of humor and a rich depth of knowledge to every discussion.

The Trans-Iowa Canal Company takes a curtain call at the end of their humorous DemiCon 29 Opening Ceremonies performance.

Other highlights 
DemiCon offered a range of other activities besides panels, readings, and the art show. As noted above, there was a Masquerade, there were room parties every night, and Opening Ceremonies, as usual offered a new performance by the Trans-Iowa Canal Company, or TICC, a group of comedic actors who present skits with an sf or fantasy bent.

Assorted visions from DemiCon 29: (L-R) Susan Leabhart, Fan Guest of Honor, with friend; the laser-light show at the Karaoke party Friday night; Something you just don't see every day, a giant pink inflatable flamingo in the hotel lobby.

IMAGES: All photos except the one with Jan in it (which is by Tyrell Gephardt) are by Jan S. Gephardt, taken with permission where applicable. If you wish to re-post them, please don't alter them, but do please give an attribution, and embed a link back to this post. Thanks!

And also with you

The Artdog Quote of the Week:

I spent this past weekend including Friday, May the Fourth, at DemiCon 29, a science fiction convention. After all the "May the Fourth be with you" greetings, I couldn't resist kicking off a month about being creative in harmony with nature with this one.

IMAGE: Many thanks to Upnorth Kcarisma, for this quote-image from Kimberly Ciesla.

DemiCon 29 has begun!

The Artdog Image of Interest 

It's a little later than the usual Image of Interest posts, but the Art Show setup began at noon on Friday, so I didn't have a chance to post my usual "My Art Show Display" photo earlier. But now I can. So here it is! I hope to get a convention report posted next week, barring random weirdness happening.

IMAGE: This photo of Jan S. Gephardt's art at DemiCon 29 was taken by Jan S. Gephardt, right after she (I) finished hanging the display. I you'd like to re-post it for some reason, please don't alter it, and please post with an attribution and a link back to this post. Thanks!

Meet me in Des Moines?

This weekend is DemiCon 29 Weekend.

What's a DemiCon? It's a literary sf/fantasy convention held each year in Des Moines, IA, most recently at the Holiday Inn Northwest, on Merle Hay Road in Des Moines, IA.

My son Ty and I have gone to DemiCon for several years, now. It's what you might call "intimate," but they have some interesting events and panels, they'll have a nice art show (look for a photo of my display), and they really know how to provision a consuite, as well as throw a good room party.

The rosette came home with me and ended up on my "trophy wall." Many thanks for the nice recognition, DemiCon!

I'm looking forward to that art show. I also am looking forward to doing several panels with Rob Howell, a medieval scholar/author who is both entertaining and thought-provoking, when he's in "panelist mode."

I'm scheduled to do a reading at DemiCon. I also hope to have more information available, about how to stay in contact so you'll know exactly when and how What's Bred in the Bone, my upcoming sf/mystery novel about sapient police dogs, will be available. At this point, I'm still in production.

IMAGES: Many thanks to Demicon for the Header from their website; the artwork and the photo are mine. Of course you may feel free to use them, as long as you include a link back and attribution.

Tales of ConQuesT (48)--The Art Part

My home science fiction group, the Kansas City Science Fiction and Fantasy Society, put on their annual convention this weekend. I always enjoy ConQuesT, held each ear in Kansas City on Memorial Day Weekend--but I must say that this year's ConQuesT 48 was even more fun than usual.

There are many reasons why it all came together so well for me, but here are a few highlights from the "Art Part." Always first and last, for me, there is the ConQuesT Art Show.

Literally first, because I was once again the "shipping address" for the show. A few years ago I was the Art Show Director, and although I've now gratefully handed that job over to a talented and responsible young man named Mikah McCullough, his apartment is a tad on the "small side" for a large pile of incoming boxes of art. Thus, on the first day of the convention I haul not only my own artwork, but also all the mailed-in work from all of the wonderful artists who participate from afar.

My "White Clematis" variations available so far.

I'm showing a collection of new multiple-original artworks at sf conventions this year, the "Guardians" series (four separate designs) and the "Clematis Collection," which so far consists of three Artist's Proofs of White Clematis Panel with Golden Dragons, (honored with a rosette as Art Director's Choice at DemiCon 28 earlier this month), and an edition limited to six smaller pieces titled White Clematis with Dragons. A one-of-a-kind original from this collection, featuring purple clematis flowers and titled Gold and Purple, should be ready to debut at SoonerCon 26 in late June.

I also had a new, one-of-a-kind original to debut at ConQuesT 48, Nose for a Rose. Here's a glimpse, along with a look at my display at the convention. This is all you'll see of it, however--it was purchased by a collector on its "maiden voyage."

It's always fun to show and sell my artwork, and to help put the Art Show up and take it down. But another joy for me is participating in panel discussions at science fiction conventions--and I was part of several at ConQuesT 48. They'll be the subject of my next post, coming soon!

IMAGES: Most of the photos on this post are mine. Since I'm the Communications Officer of KaCSFFS, I'm the one who put together the ConQuesT 48 banner. It features a logo design by Keri O'Brien and a photo of the lobby of our convention hotel, the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center, which provided the photo. All the other photos were taken by me, of my artwork (and other personal effects). The cat is my daughter's. Her name is Sora and she is Queen of the Universe (just ask her). All of the photos are available for re-posting, as long as you attribute them and provide a link back to this post or ConQuesT.

Authors, reading

I attended DemiCon 28 last weekend. It's a science fiction convention in the DesMoines, IA area (technically, Urbandale), where they had an art show, masquerade, panel discussions, parties--the full gamut of things I have learned to anticipate at sf conventions in my decades-long career of attending them.

Mark Van Name does a reading from his novel
No Going Back at Balticon in 2012.

And they had author readings.

In my experience, author readings at large conventions by "big name" authors can be standing-room-only events. Author readings by mid-list or relatively unknown authors tend to be the orphan stepchildren of convention programming. If anyone shows up for one, that counts as "wildly successful."

Some promoting, arm-twisting, and recruitment of friends and family to fill the audience may be required, for newbie writers. We may have loved listening to people read us stories in grade school, or be passionately attached to our audio books and podcasts as adults, but somehow getting people to attend readings at sf conventions continues to be kind of a heavy lift.

As some of my more persistent blog-readers may have noticed, I'm a writer who's poised on the brink of having a novel to release into the wild. It's gone through multiple drafts, been professionally edited, and I've done all I can to make it the best novel it can be. The time has come to start making people aware it's coming.

I asked for a reading at DemiCon. Better yet, I got one--although I wasn't scheduled for many other programming events where I could promote it. I made fliers (with advice from my son about copy writing), and invited everyone I could.

P. C. Haring read several interesting excerpts
from his novel Slipspace: Harbinger. 

I also was able to connect with a couple of other authors, who also had readings. One of them was P.C. Haring, who'd been scheduled for a reading that morning at 9:00 a.m.

Now, in the normal world, 9:00 a.m., even on a Saturday, is a fairly reasonable hour. At a science fiction convention--especially one with as many lively room parties as DemiCon 28 has, a 9:00 a.m. panel on Saturday might count as cruel and unusual punishment.

I'd noticed this scheduling earlier, and commiserated with him. Then, on an impulse, I offered him the second half of my scheduled hour from 4-5:00 p.m. This was not entirely altruistic on my part: my voice tends to give out after half an hour or so of reading. In any case, he accepted the opportunity. We had a nice attendance--the room was about half-full. I read my first chapter, then he read excerpts from his book. Before we knew it, the hour was over and we'd all had a pleasant listen.

Then we gathered up as many of the audience up as possible, and trooped across the hall to listen to Lettie Prell read from two of her short works. The first, "Emergency Protocol," is a flash fiction (very short) piece that will be published by Analog Science Fiction and Fact at a future date. It is wonderful: watch for it.

Prell then read excerpts from The Three Lives of Sonata James, a thought-provoking story that's been reprinted in Some of the Best from Tor.com: 2016, and The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume Two, edited by Neil Clarke. Good stuff.

Did I gain anything by encouraging my audience to also listen to P.C. and Lettie?

Could/should I have filled my entire hour, all by myself? Well, certainly I had enough material to read (assuming my voice held up). And from comments I got later, the audience would have been game for listening to me. So maybe I made the wrong call. If you look at it from the point of view that all authors are in competition with each other, then I definitely did. Nice guys finish last, and all that.

But I don't see the world as a zero-sum game, and I especially don't look at writing that way.  I cannot possibly write fast enough to be the only author someone reads (unless they read ver-r-r-r-r-ry slo-o-o-o-o-o-owly, indeed!). Even much more prolific authors ultimately can't. Everyone's readers are also going to read other authors' work.

Therefore, I'd rather be a resource, a connector, a person who introduces people to others they may also like, in any given network. I fundamentally do not believe that any given group of writers (or artists) are competing, so much as conducting parallel enterprises. If we conduct our careers in friendly, cooperative ways, as far as I'm concerned, we all gain, and actually might expand our own networks a bit in the process.

IMAGES: Many thanks to the Balticon Podcast, for the photo of author Mark Van Name giving a reading from his novel No Going Back. There aren't very many photos of that particular activity (author readings at sf cons), so I was relieved to find a good one! The promo card for my novel, Going to the XK9s, is a combination of my copywriting and design, much improved by comments from my son Tyrell Gephardt, and an illustration I commissioned for promotional purposes, by Jeff Porter. The cover art for P. C. Haring's novel Slipstream: Harbinger is from his website. The illustration for The Three Lives of Sonata James is by Kevin Hong. It is posted here courtesy of Goodreads. Many thanks to all!

May: A Good Month to Re-Home Jan's Art!

Denizen of the Winter Trees, 2009

I love selling art to someone who appreciates it. 

I've been able to do that twice this month--and in each case an original found a new home where I hope it will reward the new owners with enjoyable viewing for a long time.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have scheduled myself for three science fiction conventions in May and June. So far, I've sold an original piece of artwork at each of the conventions I've attended.

Denizen of the Winter Trees
Demicon 25 was held in Des Moines, IA May 2-4, and my 2009 piece, Denizen of the Winter Trees found its new home there.

Treetop Primaries, 2009: more Twig Dragons.

Denizen was an important piece for me, when I made it in 2009. I had not done too many paper sculptures at the time, and I was still experimenting with my materials. I conceived the idea of creating small "fire-lizard size" dragons (Thank you, Anne McCaffrey, for the idea of fire lizards), which could perch on real twigs.  I had a yard full of twigs and sticks, courtesy of the large sliver maple tree in my front yard.

My 7-piece "Dragon Parts" stencil

I created a seven-piece pattern for making the dragon's body, head, and wings, with the idea that I could create a series of "Twig Dragons." I used the pattern like a stencil to transfer a pencil outline from the pattern to acid-free paper, inked and painted in the details, sculpted, and assembled the piece onto a real silver maple twig.  The background trees are painted with Winsor & Newton watercolors on Arches watercolor paper. It was a pretty labor-intensive process.  I only made one other "Twig Dragons" piece, the larger work Treetop Primaries, 2009.

All of my "Snowflake Dragons," as well as the multiple original Common Cliff Dragon-Male, 2012, are descendants of the Twig Dragons, because I adapted that original stencil design to create them.

Horsefeathers

Horsefeathers in 2012: finished, but with no background!

I have an even longer-standing love affair with horses than I do with dragons (in strictest honesty, there's more than a little "horse" in my dragons). Horses were my absolute favorite subject to draw, paint, read about, and write about, all the time I was growing up.  It's no surprise, then, that the fantasy "pegasus" or winged horse is a subject I've returned to many times in my career as a fantasy artist.

Black-Headed Heron,2012

Horsefeathers 2012 was mostly created during March and April of that year, inspired by the design I'd created for the wing of my Black-Headed Heron. I liked the way the wing had turned out, so I adapted the pattern I'd created for it, and made my horse's wing.

You may note, if you know horses, that this horse isn't the usual light, airy little Arabian normally paired with a set of pegasus wings in fantasy art.  No, this guy's a Percheron, with maybe a little Shire or Clydesdale thrown in there. The idea of a "heavy" horse with wings appealed to my sense of irony--and the icing on the cake was the hair on the feet. Those luxuriant, furry feet are called "feathers."

How could I resist?

Horsefeathers has a new home.

I am happy to report that, thanks to Signy Gephardt's helpful eye, I was able to find a framing approach that worked much better for my "heavy pegasus" than anything I'd previously tried: velvety black to set him off.  The proof that I'd found his best presentation approach came when I promptly sold him at ConQuesT 45, which I attended May 22-24, 2014 in Kansas City! He has gone home to live with the obviously-tasteful Terry Matz and Ken Keller.

As the paper sculptures have gotten more elaborate (and I've gotten better at making them), the complexity of the patterns has gone up.  Horsefeathers was created from 15 different pieces, based on tracing paper overlays of an original drawing. The pieces were cut from (acid-free archival) Canson colored paper, and subtle additional color was added using Prismacolor artists' pencils, both before and after cutting. Then they were sculpted and assembled.

Look for me at SoonerCon 23!
My convention-going isn't over yet, and I still have more artwork to sell.  My art and I plan to be in Midwest City, OK (Oklahoma City metro area) June 27-29, 2014 for SoonerCon 23. Perhaps I'll see you there.

IMAGES: All photos are by Jan S. Gephardt, of her artwork (and also her friend, in one case!). If you use or re-post them, please do so with attribution and a link back.  Thanks!

Look for me and my artwork at these three Midwestern SF Conventions in May and June!

Now that I'm home and able to access my finished artwork again, I have accepted guest invitations from some of the science fiction conventions in the region.  Please come to these fine conventions and look me up!

Demicon 25 
Des Moines IA, May 2-4, 2014

Demicon 25 will be held at the Holiday Inn Northwest.

The theme of this year's annual science fiction, fantasy and gaming convention is Hi-Yo, Silver!  Celebrate Away!

Demicon 25 will be held at the Holiday Inn Northwest, 4800 Merle Hay Road, Des Moines, IA.  There will be an Art Show (I'll have work there), Dealers Room, Gaming, music, parties, programming, and much more.

I'm really looking forward to attending this convention, which I haven't had a chance to attend for several years.  I have only good memories of Demicons past.  Watch for me on programming!

ConQuesT 45
Kansas City MO, May 23-25
The theme of ConQuesT 45 is ConQuesT Noir.
The longest-running SF convention in the Midwest is moving to a beautiful new hotel in downtown Kansas City, with more room than ever for its many popular and enjoyable events. I'm not the Art Show Director this year, so I'll have time to be on programming!

KC Downtown Marriott: new home of ConQuesT!

Of course I'll have artwork in the Art Show, and I hope to be on several panels--perhaps also a paper sculpture demonstration, or maybe even a reading from my new SF novel Dogged Pursuit.
 
ConQuesT 45 will be held at the elegant and spacious Kansas City Marriott Downtown. 200 W. 12th Street, Kansas City, MO.

This is my hometown convention, put on by the Kansas City Science Fiction and Fantasy Society (KaCSFFS), of which I am the Communications Officer and a longtime member.

Soonercon 23
Oklahoma City,

OK, June 27-29, 2014
(okay, technically it's in Midwest City, OK).

Reed Convention Center again hosts Soonercon.

Soonercon bills itself as Oklahoma's oldest and longest-running fan-run extravaganza. And it is! My family and I have a long and pleasant association with Soonercon, and we're looking very much forward to attending this convention again.

Housed at the beautiful and convenient Reed Convention Center, 5800 Will Rogers Road, Midwest City, OK, Soonercon always boasts a large number of interesting guests and panelists, and many events and activities. I've signed up for programming, and also plan to be in the Art Show.