I haven’t said a lot about Chicon–probably because, well, 5 days in Chicago, not quite 3 days home, then 2 days judging a cat show in White Rock, British Columbia. I’m still catching up. There were quite a few high points: going to the bar for a nibble that first night and meeting George R.R. Martin, meeting Jim C. Hines just moments after purchasing Libriomancer and getting it signed, meeting Ferrett Steinmetz and having dinner with him, his lovely wife Gini Judd, and Amy Sundberg (and my dh Mike). I did my first ever worldcon panels, and committed to Lonestarcon (Worldcon 2013) next year and supported the Phoenix in 2014 bid for NasFic (and got an awesome Magnus and Loki t-shirt).
And, best of all, thanks to Larry Smith, Bookseller, my latest publishing effort, Galactic Creatures, was on sale in the Worldcon hucksters’ room. I have proof.
Confluence is just around the corner, 22 – 24 July 2011 in Pittsburgh. Confluence is near and dear to my heart–it’s the convention put on by Parsec, the Pittsburgh area Science Fiction Club.
Mike and I joined Parsec in September 2004, when we attended a pre-Worldcon BBQ hosted by Wen Spencer. Wen is a former-Pittsburghian–we met the members of the club there and had a great time. We’ve been members ever since.
We/I have attended several Confluences since then (we missed a couple that conflicted with cat show commitments). But this is the first Confluence I’m attending as a panelist/guest.
Without further ado, here is my weekend schedule for Confluence:
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Saturday, 23 July 2011
2pm Sizzlin’ Steampunk – Cogs, Clicks and venting vapors
Elektra Hammond (m), Alan Katerinsky, Michelle Sagara, Kevin Geiselman
8pm Small Press Publishing – A New Respectability
Eric Beebe (m), Elektra Hammond, Chris Pisano, Brian Koscienski
10pm Erotic Readings/discussion
KT Pinto, Elektra Hammond
Sunday, 24 July 2011
12pm Reading
Elektra Hammond
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I’m really looking forward to these panels–I love steampunk in any format, and I’d love to hear what everyone has to say on the panel. It will be my first try at moderating, so we’ll see whether the lesson I took at the feet of the master works out. I’m also looking forward to talking about small press with the fun guys from Fortress Press, and looking forward to meeting lots of new friends.
The reading on Sunday will be from my story in the just published In an Iron Cage: The Magic of Steampunk, Saturday’s late night reading will be a selection concerning very, very naughty weresnakes, courtesy of my friend Stella Price.
See you there!
ETA: I have been in contact with Geis, and he will be at the Steampunk panel. W00t!
As many of you know, I’ve been copyediting for Dark Quest Books for some months now.
I’ve now agreed to take on some additional responsibilities. Dark Quest has split into several sub-imprints: Ambrotos Press (specializing in Horror, run by Ty Schwamberger), Starsong Press (unmanned as yet) and Sparkito Press (specializing in Steampunk and anything that catches my eye, run by yours truly). I’m really excited about this, and I hope all my friends with help with this new venture!!
