Demicon 34

 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. Here’s hoping I’m in much better health and voice than I was last year! I’m also hoping that we have our typically pleasant DemiCon experience on the whole.

Courtesy of the DemiCon Facebook Page.

 

A Couple of DemiCon 34 Disappointments

Let’s get these out of the way, so I can go on to the much-more-fun stuff. Due to a snafu in communications, I won’t be doing a reading at DemiCon 34. Readings are one of my favorite forms of “giving out free samples,” so I’ll miss it! To partially compensate for that, you might enjoy My First Original Video, which was filmed for 2020’s Virtual DemiCon (DemiCon 31, “Contaminated”).

In that video my son Tyrell Gephardt filmed me reading the first chapter of The Other Side of Fear aloud. That’s the prequel novella to my XK9 “Bones” Trilogy, which was released that year. It was as close as we could get to a live reading during the early months of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Perhaps you’d also like to read the “free sample” first chapter from one of my novels, What’s Bred in the Bone (XK9 “Bones” Trilogy  Book One) or A Bone to Pick (Book Two). Just follow the links to their Weird Sisters pages, where you’ll find them offered.

My other DemiCon 34 disappointment? There doesn’t seem to be an Art Show. I have a long history of bringing my paper sculpture to sf cons, and I’ve enjoyed showing (and selling) my artwork at DemiCon for many years. I also love hanging out with the artists who gather in greater numbers at conventions where they can show and sell their work!

Here’s some of the paper sculpture I would like to have shown at DemiCon this year. All artwork is © by Jan S. Gephardt.

 

Panels Planned!

But another one of the things I love to do at sf cons will definitely be happening at DemiCon 34: panels! I have started pulling together notes for the five panels on which I’m scheduled! The first, AI Meets SF, is scheduled for Friday, May 5 at 6:00 p.m. I’ve been on a number of panels that discussed science fictional stories about artificial intelligence. But this will be my first discussion primarily about the potential for AI to write science fiction.

On Saturday I’m set for two more, a back-to-back pair. Thank goodness, they’re in the same room! Starting at 2 p.m., the first addresses a topic very near to my heart, The Role of Science Fiction and Fantasy in Predicting and Shaping the Future. That one’s pretty self-explanatory, I think. The other also promises to be a meaty topic: Pandemics Through History and Their Effects on Literature.

Sunday wraps up with two more. And again, they’re scheduled back-to-back. The first starts at noon, which will be a stretch for me, especially on Sunday of the convention! The rooms are next door to each other, so that should help me make it to the second one on time. At noon we’ll discuss Gadgets in SF. This is where we’ll talk about ways writers can incorporate speculative tech into their stories without grinding the story to a halt while they deliver a data-dump to explain how it works. Then, at 1:00 p.m., we’ll discuss life forms we might encounter on the Final Frontier in Who Will We Meet in Space? Should be fun!

Here’s a walk through the decades that Jan’s been going to sf cons. (See credits and panelist identifications below).

 

Our Biggest News for DemiCon 34

For the Gephardt household, the most important change at DemiCon 34will be our official presence in the Dealers Room. Not only will we have a Weird Sisters Publishing dealers table with all four of our books. We’ll also have a new member of the Gephardt clan at the con: my husband Pascal. My son Ty and I have traveled to sf cons for many years, while Pascal has always had obligations elsewhere.

But here’s the thing. Pascal is the lark among us night owls – the family’s Designated Morning Person. A lot of the Dealers Room schedule happens before 1:00 p.m., which means that someone has to be awake then to run it! Add to that the fact that he’s got years of experience traveling to art shows and Renaissance festivals with our friend Randal Spangler, and he was doomed to be drafted for this role!

Of course we’ll bring our own books: Mine are, as noted above, The Other Side of Fear, What’s Bred in the Bone, and A Bone to Pick. We’ll also have copies of my sister G. S. Norwood’s book Deep Ellum Duet, which includes both of her “Deep Ellum” novelettes, Deep Ellum Pawn and Deep Ellum Blues. But wait! There’s more! Speaking of Randy, he’s among the “Kansas City Writer Friends” whose books we’ll be offering at our table. It’s a way to expand our range of offerings and give our friends access to a new market (not to mention we earn a commission while we’re at it).

All cover images are courtesy of the authors, their publishers, or Amazon.

 

Our Kansas City Writer Friends

The covers of books by our “Kansas City Writer Friends” in the illustration above represent books that we’ll offer at our table. By Lynette M. Burrows, we’ll bring dystopian alternate history sf novels from the Fellowship Dystopian Series. They are Fellowship, My Soul to Keep, and If I Should Die. By M. C. Chambers, we’ll have fantasy books Midsummer Storm (romance novelette) and Shapers’ Veil (novel). By Dora Furlong, a science fiction novella titled One of Our Own.

In addition we’ll have the Silver Web Trilogy fantasy novels by Karin Rita Gastreich. They are Eolyn, Sword of Shadows, and Daughter of Aithne. And, as noted above, from Randal Spangler we’ll have hardcover, full-color children’s books D is for Draglings written with Lauren K. Duncan, and The Draglings Bedtime Story. Not shown in the illustration (because I couldn’t make it fit), we’ll also offer The Draglings Coloring Book.

All in all, things definitely will be different at DemiCon 34. But then, change is the most constant thing about our lives. I’d love to see you at the convention. If you can’t make it, I plan to publish a follow-up after we get back so you’ll know how it went. And here’s hoping one thing that doesn’t change is having a fun and creative weekend at another year’s DemiCon!

IMAGE CREDITS

Many thanks to the DemiCon Facebook Page for a good pic of their header. All of the artwork in the paper sculpture sampler is mine, shown in a montage I made, from photos I took. All of it is © by Jan S. Gephardt. If you should choose to repost it, please do so with a link back and attribution, if possible.

As for the photos of me at conventions through the decades: I don’t think I was ever sure who took the “historical documents” that show me at ConQuesT in 1985 and 2012, but I can identify my fellow panelists. In the 1985 photo they are L-R: Dell Harris, Ken Keller, me, and the late Roland Schmidt, my former co-teacher and a fantasy watercolorist. Might note that’s my calligraphy on the name cards, in an era before desktop printing made them easy to print.

In the 2012 photo that’s me on the left. Tracy S. Morris sits in the middle with her book Bride of Tranquility. At the right is fellow Kansas City writer, artist, and longtime sf fan Sherri Dean. I owe Tyrell Gephardt thanks for photo of me, masked up behind my then-current collection of signs, books, and S.W.A.G. at Archon 43 (2019).

For the fourth illustration, I am indebted to the authors, their publishers, or Amazon, for the cover images of our Kansas City Writer Friends's books (see their embedded links in the text of this post). The design is mine.

My first original video

What more auspicious day to post my first original video on my own YouTube channel, than on Star Wars Day?

What's my first original video about?

It's a reading, of the kind I love to do--and attend--at science fiction conventions (Ah! Remember back when it was safe to hold science fiction conventions in person?). The video is about 27 minutes long. It features me, reading Chapter One of The Other Side of Fear.

Here's the information that accompanies my video reading.

I owe Virtual DemiCon, and the amazing Joe Struss, a lot of thanks. They premiered this video during their event. 

They also got me off my butt! I've known I probably should do a video reading for a long time, but it's hard to get off "square one." Especially when it's your first foray into a new medium. They provided the needed motivation. Thanks very much! You guys are awesome.

While Virtual DemiCon is still available, please do yourself a favor! Check in, then take in as many of the events as still remain online!

Thank you to DemiCon for this image.

What makes Star Wars Day appropriate?

By Source, Fair Use

The original Star Wars movie made a huge impression on me when it came out in theaters in 1977. I may have lived in Kansas City for more than 40 years, but I didn't move here till my marriage in 1978. So I managed to miss MidAmeriCon I in 1976, where there was a big display and all the stars came to talk about this movie they were making.

In 1977 I lived and taught in tiny Lockwood, MO. I'd watched and enjoyed Star Trek reruns on TV by then. My soon-to-be husband had turned me on to Frank Herbert's Dune, and the librarians at the Ash Grove Library had by then gotten me intrigued in science fiction stories from Poul Anderson and Isaac Asimov. 

But I had never seen anything like like that movie before. 

I paid the at-the-time-exorbitant price of $3.00 for a ticket multiple times to see it over and over again (No VHS, no Betamax--not on my horizon till years later! No Blockbuster Video, and certainly no Netflix, Hulu, or Disney Plus, back in those ancient days!). 

I didn't go back again and again for the plot. I didn't go to critique the space physics. No, I went to bask in the spectacle (Artist. Visual creature. I drank it in.)

And not long after that, I started writing my first science fiction novel. I still have the typescript somewhere--typed on a manual Underwood in the evenings, after I finished my lesson plans for the day. It's horrifying dreck, but it's the first novel-length fiction I ever actually finished.

A 1952 Underwood "Rhythm Touch," like the one I used. Many thanks to Machines of Loving Grace for this photo.

Does that make me a "Warrior," not a "Trekkie"?

Well, no. As time went on, I came to enjoy lots of different science fiction stories, shows, and films. I love Star Trek, too. And--sorry, diehard "Warriors"--a lot of the Star Wars movies make little to no "real-world" sense (don't get me started on things I find cringeworthy). 

But the visuals, the droids, other-world creatures, the exotic vistas, the sheer spectacle of the Star Wars movies--those, I still enjoy. They attracted me in formative ways, during my early days of writing sf. And they bring a nostalgic smile to my lips to this day (well, some of them. Give me Darth Vader in a TIE fighter, but leave Jar-Jar in the closet where he belongs).

So my first original video--my own "mini movie"--that opens a glimpse of my science fictional world, is an appropriate thing to release on Star Wars Day. It's not too long on spectacle. But I hope you enjoy it, nonetheless.

Give me that quintessential villain Darth Vader in his TIE fighter! Many thanks ImgFlip.

IMAGE CREDITS

My video may be found on my YouTube channel.  I created the information card with the Cover for The Other Side of Fear,  plus copyright information, etc. Many thanks to Virtual DemiCon for the "CONTAMINATED" design, to Wikipedia, for the original 1977 Star Wars movie poster image, and to Machines of Loving Grace for the photo of the 1952 Underwood "Rhythm Touch" manual typewriter.  Many thanks also to ImgFlip, for the photo of Darth Vader in his TIE fighter.

Authors everywhere

There seemed to be authors everywhere at Capricon 40. I've already introduced several of them in the "Capricon Project" posts "Detectives in the Wild" and "Indie Author Speed-Dating." But there were yet more!

(image courtesy of Capricon 40 website)

Personal experiences

These Capricon Project posts focus only on authors I met and interacted with personally at the con. My apologies to all the other authors who were there. If I didn't encounter you in a meaningful way at the con, I didn't include you.

I did also video-record a series of short interviews with Indie authors with tables in the Capricon 40 Dealers' Room. I'm still working on those. I need to learn how to use Premiere Pro to edit them. I hope to produce them for posting during the spring months.

Yes, there were authors everywhere at Capricon 40. Let me mention a few more here.

Jonathan P. Brazee

Jonathan P. Brazee at the Indie Author Speed-Dating event at Capricon 40 (Photo by Jan S. Gephardt)

I've had the pleasure of being friends with Jonathan Brazee since we met in Puerto Rico in 2017. He is a prolific, successful Nebula Award-nominated, Dragon Award-winning author who mostly writes military science fiction. I included a short profile of him in one of my post-Capricon articles last year, but he's expanded several of his series since then.

He wrote his 2020 novel Gemini Twins in honor of his own twin daughters. Other recently-completed series include Ghost Marines and The Navy of Humankind-Wasp Squadron.

Books by Jonathan P. Brazee from right to left: the Navy of Humankind-Wasp Squadron series, Gemini Twins, and the Ghost Marines series. (Book cover images courtesy of Amazon).

Dorothy Winsor

I shared a reading time-slot with Dorothy Winsor at Capricon 40. She read a wonderful short story. I believe she said it's unpublished to date, but it deserves to be seen and read! She writes mostly middle-grade and Young Adult fantasy.

The book she promoted most at Capricon was The Wind Reader. It's a story about a young boy who tells fortunes on the street to earn a living. Then he tells a fortune for prince that later actually comes true(!) Next he's compelled to come to the castle to be the royal fortune teller--a role for which he's not prepared.

At right is Dorothy Winsor, just before her reading at Capricon 40. At left, her current novel, The Wind Reader. (photo by Jan S. Gephardt. Book covers are courtesy of Amazon).

Lance Erlick

I stayed for the readings that followed mine and Dorothy's. This gave me the opportunity to hear an excerpt from Lance Erlick's book Reborn. It's the first of his Android Chronicles books. Interesting and well written, it probably ought to come with trigger warnings.

Erlick's android protagonist "Synthia Cross is a state-of-the-art masterwork of synthetic human design—and a fantasy come true for her creator." She shows enough alarming signs of emergent behavior, however, that her creator wipes her memory each day to keep her in control. He has his nefarious reasons, but she's already learning how to leave herself clues so she can reconstruct her past--and reveal her creator's true intentions.

Lance Erlick listens to Kristine Smith's reading at Capricon 40, before it's his turn. At right are three books of the Android Chronicles. (photo by Jan S. Gephardt. Book covers are courtesy of Amazon).

Kristine Smith

Kristine shared the reading time-slot with Lance. A winner of the John W. Campbell Award, she's been writing the Jani Kilian Chronicles for several years. Its multiple volumes tell the story of a struggle for understanding and peace between humans and an exo-terrestraial species called the idomeni.

The title character is a former captain with powerful enemies and a body that's been expensively repaired after traumatic injuries that allowed her death to be faked. Kilian subsequently forms a friendship with the idomeni ambassador. Smith's reading selection this time was an excerpt from the most recent Jani Kilian book. She also writes the Lauren Reardon series, under the name of Alex Gordon.

Kristine Smith reads from part of the Jani Kilian series at Capricon 40. (photo by Jan S. Gephardt. Book covers courtesy of Amazon).

Donna J. W. Munro

I shared an autographing table with Donna J. W. Munro, who primarily writes dark fantasy horror, YA fiction, and science fiction. She is a prolific writer of short fiction, including two stories, "Death's Day Off," and "My Forever Love," in the anthology Beautiful Lies, Painful Truths, Vol. II.

According to her blog, the first of a series about zombies, called the Poppet Series ("about tamed zombies and the girl who wants to save them"), will be available in May 2020.

Donna J. W. Munro and one of the anthologies in which her short fiction is published. (photo by Tyrell E. Gephardt; book cover image courtesy of Amazon.)

W. A. Thomasson

W. A. (Bill) Thomasson
(photo: Tyrell E. Gephardt)

Like Jonathan Brazee, I met Bill Thomasson in Puerto Rico in 2017, and we've bumped into each other at conventions ever since. Bill has been working on a sword and sorcery novel for some time. He'd hoped that The Whip of Abadur would be available in time for Capricon 40, but it's still in production (indeed, there's no cover yet!).

He describes the story this way: "In an ancient Fertile Land that is not quite the one we know, the cat burglar Teema is hired to retrieve a demon-god’s stolen symbol of power and return it to its proper temple. But she quickly learns that meddling in the affairs of gods and demons is more dangerous than she had thought."

As you can see, Capricon 40 featured authors everywhere! I hope you've enjoyed one more small tour through some of the exotic and interesting worlds they've created, in this final episode of the Capricon Project.

IMAGE CREDITS:

The photos of Jonathan Brazee, Dorothy Winsor, Lance Erlick, and Kristine Smith all were taken at Capricon 40 by Jan S. Gephardt with the subjects' knowledge and consent. If you wish to re-use or reblog any of these photos, please credit Jan as the photographer and if possible include a link back to this post. 

The photos of Donna J. W. Munro and W. A. (Bill) Thomasson were taken by Tyrell E. Gephardt, also at Capricon 40, and also with the subjects' knowledge and consent. Please observe the same courtesy of including an attribution and link back, if you use these photos.

The Capricon 40 header is courtesy of Capricon 40's website. All of the book cover images are courtesy of Amazon (see captions for individual links).

The Capricon Project

Let me tell you about The Capricon Project. As I noted on this blog Feb. 1, I'm planning to attend Capricon 40 this week (God and the weather willing).  While I'm there, my publishing company and I hope to join forces (and blogs) to cover the event.

As you may know, I'm the Weirdness Manager for Weird Sisters Publishing LLC (I'm half of the partnership. The other half is my sister, G. S. Norwood).  As Weirdness Manager, I also write most of our posts for The Weird Blog, and I'm in charge of preparing and posting all of them. But I can only split "me" into so many fragments.

Image courtesy of Capricon 40.

What is The Capricon Project?

Artdog Adventures and The Weird Blog will join forces for The Capricon Project. I propose to take lots of photos and do a lot of things at the convention (followers of Artdog Adventures are familiar with my process).

I like to highlight things I've seen, people I've met, and panels I've attended or helped present. We plan to cross-post the short profiles, photos, and other items I generate, to both blogs and some of our social media.

What's the plan?

I have a pretty ambitious schedule for Capricon 40. I'm scheduled for eight programming events, including five panel discussions (three of which I moderate), an autograph session, a reading, and the Indie Author Speed-Dating event.

Photo by Jan S. Gephardt. This is my Art Show display at Archon in Collinsville, IL as it looked October 6, 2019.

I also have two display panels reserved at the Art Show. I'll have a few copies of What's Bred in the Bone with me, available for sale at the con (reduced at-con price is $13, or almost $2 off the regular trade paperback price).

I also plan to attend other panels and readings, and tour the Dealers' Room. If they agree, I'll take pictures or short videos of dealers whose work I can recommend, and post them on my social media (Artdog Studio is on Facebook and Pinterest. Jan S. Gephardt-Author is on Facebook and Twitter, and Weird Sisters Publishing is on Facebook), as well as collect them for possible blog posts.

I hope you'll follow my posts, and see how well The Capricon Project turns out!

IMAGE CREDITS:

The half-header for Capricon 40 is courtesy of the Capricon Website. 

The photo of my book display at the May 24, 2019 "Mad Authors' Salon" at ConQuesT 50 is by Ty Gephardt, and used with his permission. 

Friday Readings at FenCon XVI

I really love going to readings at science fiction conventions. There's always a new story, something interesting, and a chance to talk with the authors one-on-one. As I did at SoonerCon in June, I went to lots of readings at FenCon XVI, and I discovered some real delights.

I caught four Friday readings at FenCon XVI. All were delightful, but I was having a terrible time with my access to Facebook and Twitter, and in the process I lost some of the specifics about the selections being read. I was able to recover most of it, however. Enough to share with you here.

Rhonda Eudaly
You probably won't be surprised, after recent posts, that I made a point of being there to hear Rhonda Eudaly's reading. As I'd hoped, she read her short story "Peri Potter and the Sorcerer's Bowl," which is quite entertaining (did you read it from its link in Monday's post? If not, here it is again.) The story hasn't been published elsewhere, as far as I know.

Rhonda Eudaly reads "Peri Potter and the Sorcerer's Bowl" on Friday at FenCon XVI. I regret that I lost my note on which photo Rhonda preferred, but this is the one I thought most aptly captured her dramatic reading of the story. 

Monalisa Foster
After Rhonda's reading, I stayed. I didn't know who Monalisa Foster was, but I was primed to hear another story, and I'm glad I stayed.

Monalisa Foster reads from her story "Catching the Dark" on Friday at FenCon XVI. It's a gripping alternate history about the intrepid Russian "Night Witches" of World War II.

She read "Catching the Dark," a fascinating alternate history that involved the amazing Russian "Night Witches," a daring group of women so feared by the Nazis that anyone who downed one of their biplanes was automatically awarded an Iron Cross. The story has been anthologized in Slip the Surly Bonds, edited by Chris Kennedy and James Young, and released earlier this month.

If the rest of the anthology is as interesting as Monalisa's story, it belongs in the library of anyone who loves alternate history. For a fairly comprehensive list of this interesting author's work, visit her website and her Amazon page.

Kimm Antell
The next author to arrive, Kimm Antell, discovered long ago that "Brownies are my thing," that is, her favorite "monster" to write about. They weren't really all that monstrous in her story "Brownout," but they were true-to-form in many ways. These particular brownies inhabit the cubicles of computer programmers. Assorted hilarity and life-change events ensue, after Cedric, the kind-hearted but shy protagonist discovers them.

Kim Antell read "Brownout," a really delightful, funny-but-affirming story about brownies who inhabit an office where programmers sit in their cubicles and write code all day.

I try to remember to ask permission to photograph, write about her, tweet, and utilize Facebook, and I was particularly glad I asked before I started taking photos of Kimm. She told me she didn't normally allow anyone to photograph her, but she felt comfortable enough, because I asked, to allow me the liberty. I deeply appreciate her permission, because it allows me to share my discovery of another wonderful talent.

Julie Czerneda
Turns out  Julie Czerneda, one of FenCon XVI's headliner guests, is an accomplished dramatic reader. She's as fun to watch as she is to listen to, and no one photo of her in action will suffice, so I offer a "gallery" of them.

The peripatetic Julie Czerneda reads excerpts from several projects during her Friday reading at FenCon XVI.

You'll note she's not reading only from one book in these photos, either. She offered up intriguing glimpses from several different projects. As you'd expect, she did read from her latest release, The Gossamer Mage. But she also shared excerpts of other projects, including A Thousand Words for Stranger.

All in all the Friday readings at FenCon XVI were funny, gripping, dramatic, and altogether a delightful way to spend a large part of my afternoon.

IMAGE CREDITS: All photos are by me, Jan S. Gephardt, taken 9/20/2019 in Irving, TX. Please feel free to reblog or share them, but please always with an attribution and a link back to this page, their original source.

Going to FenCon

I'm going to FenCon XVI near the Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport this weekend (we're driving). This is my second year to attend, because I really had a great convention last year.

Typically, getting ready for a convention means I've been running around like a madwoman, trying to get everything ready to go. And . . . yeah, this week has been pretty typical so far. For me, going to FenCon--or, really, any con--is no simple affair.

Getting the word out

I try to keep an Events Calendar current on my website, but I also have created a "Jan goes to FenCon" Event of Facebook that my Author Page, my Artdog Studio Page and my publisher, Weird Sisters Publishing LLC have co-sponsored.

Once I'm at the convention, the efforts to spread the word don't stop. There'll be bookmarks and postcards to put on the "freebie tables" promoting my science fiction mystery novel What's Bred in the Bone, and at every panel where an opportunity is given for panelists to talk about our work, I'll happily display my little stand-up sign with the Jody A. Lee cover art on it, and pass out bookmarks or badge ribbons after the panel ends.

At left is a glimpse of my promo materials (along with a couple of my books), as seen at the Mad Authors' Salon last May at ConQuesT 50. At right, my current collection of badge ribbons that I hand out at conventions.

If you're going to FenCon . . .

If you'll be one of my fellow attendees at FenCon XVI, there'll be a lot of cool things to do. Don't miss the Dealers' Room, especially since Adventures in Crime & Space has just agreed to carry my books on their table!

Pay attention to the special events (these vary day to day). There will be a lot of interesting panels and readings all weekend, as well as Gaming, a Maker track, Video Room, Music, and Children's programming.

ART SHOW
Especially don't miss the Art Show, where I'll have a display of my paper sculpture. I'll also be acting as an agent for my friend Lucy A. Synk, who has been using the "dirty pour" painting technique as a starting point upon which to build a series of really beautiful space art originals.

And since you're going to FenCon, check out some of my events, if so inclined:

SATURDAY
12:30 - Autographs in the Grand Atrium.
2:00 - The City as a Character, panel discussion in Southlake, on the Mezzanine Level.
3:00 - Nurturing Your Writing Habit, panel discussion, also in Southlake, on the Mezzanine Level.
5:00 - Not Just Another Panel on the Kickass Heroine, panel discussion in Grapevine 2, on the Mezzanine Level.

SUNDAY
12:00 - Reading (I have half an hour, and I'll offer options: Chapter One of What's Bred in the Bone, or Chapter One of the manuscript I just finished, A Bone to Pick), in Grapevine 2, on the Mezzanine Level.

Here's a photo of a general display area outside the Art Show and Dealers Room at FenCon in 2018. 

Whether or not you're going to FenCon this year, it's a fun, growing convention. I hope you'll have a chance to try it sometime soon!

IMAGE CREDITS: Many thanks to FenConXVI's website for their web banner, which I used in the promotional montage at the top of this post. Also featured, L-R, are a detail from Lucy A. Synk's Art Show panel at Spikecon (some of that artwork will also be on display at FenCon, along with eight new pieces); the cover of my novel What's Bred in the Bone, with cover art © 2019 by Jody A. Lee; and part of my own Spikecon Art Show display. 
All of the other photos also are by me. They portray some of my promotional materials and a public area at FenCon in 2018. Feel free to re-post any of my images, but kindly include an attribution and a link back to this page. Thanks!

Panels and readings at SpikeCon

Panels and readings are among my favorite things to do at science fiction conventions.

Yes, I know this makes me "sercon" (oldstyle fan-speak for "too serious to be any fun"). But I've decided I'm just gonna have to "own it." Diss me if you must, but I like going to panels and readings where I can get new ideas and listen to interesting stories more than I like going to parties where I can't hear what anyone is saying and most of the people are drunk.

I'm happy to report that there were some excellent panels and readings at SpikeCon this year. As I sometimes do, I discovered that I kept bumping into some of the same interesting people over and over at this convention. Of course, that's partially because many of us have similar interests, and partially because, although some 1,100 memberships were sold to SpikeCon, for a variety of reasons only about 850 people showed up.

This is the "Editing vs. Beta Reading" panel at SpikeCon. Yes, there is a massive difference, and it was well explored by the panelists. They are, L-R: Multimedia author Dan Wells, Headliner Editor Susan Chang, freelance editor Melissa Meibos, author C.H. Hung, and author/freelance editor Joe Monson.

This explains why several of the people in some these pictures are the same people as the ones in other pictures! In fact, the identical same group was scheduled together for two different panels I attended. Lucky for their growing group of devoted followers, they had a range of different things to say each time.

The "Privilege and Passing in Genre Fiction" panel at SpikeCon provided a lively and informative discussion of the ways in which characters in our genres reflect (or sometimes misrepresent) issues faced by many people in real life. The knowledgeable and wise panelists are, L-R: Inez Aguilar R., Aften Brook Szymanski, Jayrod P. Garrett, C.H. Hung, and B. Daniel Blatt.

Here's the "Write What You Don't Know" panel at SpikeCon, and no, your eyes do not deceive you. This is the exact same group of panelists from the picture above. Some of them traded seats just to mess with us. But they were every bit as wise and interesting when they talked about doing your research and seeking new understandings as they were on the previous panel. For the record, they are, L-R: Aften Brook Szymanski, C.H. Hung, Jayrod P. Garrett, Inez Aguilar R., and B. Daniel Blatt. 

This was possibly the most valuable panel I attended at SpikeCon."After the Action" discussed the trauma writers inflict on their characters in terms of realism in fiction and the effects of trauma on real people. The discussion also quickly ranged into the effect of our fiction on real people--our readers, who may themselves be trauma survivors or have loved ones or associates who are. The uniquely qualified panelists are: L-R: Amy White, an author, librarian, and puppeteer with a trauma survivor in her family; Retired Marine Col. Jonathan P. Brazee, prolific author of military sf; psychologists and social workers Cerin Takeuchi and Anna Marasco; and author and sworn law enforcement officer Griffin Barber.

I was on several panels, myself, but you'll notice they aren't featured here. I don't have pictures of panels I was on, or of my reading at SpikeCon (though it was gratifyingly well-attended! Thank you!!). 

I may not have a picture from my own reading at SpikeCon, but I did get photos of the authors who read before and after me. Mike Substelny, L, read his as-yet-unpublished but wildly funny and satisfying time travel story, "Plan Madison."
At R, Erika Kuta Marler read a story from an anthology in the Eden's Outcast universe.

This is largely because it's hard to photograph oneself in such situations. Tyrell Gephardt, my son and regular convention partner who usually photographs my events when possible, was almost invariably scheduled on his own panels at the same times. 

But trust me. They were brilliant. And there's always a chance the topics of some of those panels and readings will turn up someday as the subjects of blog posts in the future.

IMAGE CREDITS: Many thanks to SpikeCon's homepage for the graphic gestalt of when, where, and who were headliner guests. All other photos in this post were taken by me, Jan S. Gephardt, with the permission of their subjects. If you wish to re-post or use them, please include an attribution to me as the photographer, and if possible include a link back to this page. Thanks!