Westercon/Malcon Amalgam Revue 2018

As Promised, A MALcon/Westercon Revue!

Over the 4th of July weekend, I attended MALcon 6, which partnered with Westercon 70 this year. Let's just say it was interesting.

 There are few venues with better staff. The Shiny Garden folks went to bat for us at every turn. Whether they were haggling with the hotel. walking the vendor floor to see who needed food ordered or water brought, or checking in with panellists, they did an amazing job on everything.Welllll...almost everything. They could have done a better job getting the word on the con's new date out. The attendance was underwhelming in the extreme. There were a number of musing conversations on the topic, and here were the general thoughts on the cause:
*MAL is usually in August, and a number of usual attendees may be blinking in bewildered dismay come next month.
*The college crowd is out of town, and they make up much of the usual attendance.

*Westercon isn't everyone's cup of tea

*People don't go to cons on the 4th of July, they go camping

*It was a weird start time in the middle of a weird week

Whatever the cause, if you went there for the crowds you were disappointed. But if you were there for the networking, it was a lovely event. Authors and artists, game creators and geeks of all stripes attended and enjoyed. Whether you wanted high tea on the 12th floor Steampunk Dirigible or a good game session in the games room, there was something for everyone.

 
One of Shiny Garden Events' greatest strengths is in their balancing of fun and responsible fiction, and this year was no exception. With panels like So Charming, Not Creepy and Artists & Moral Responsibility, the panels kept us on our toes in the ethical department, while panels like Weird Astronomy kept us laughing and building Blanket Forts was pure delight. The con is particularly marketed as a literary one, so panels like The Second Digital Age, Understanding Amazon, Marketing 101 and Characters are a Who, Not A What were fascinating and useful for indie authors. I myself was on a few panels: Overcoming Creative Fears (you never really leave them behind, you just tame them, and that's okay) and Religion in Fiction Outside the Western World were my particular favorites. I was able to sit with the lovely Stant Litore, writer of powerful Islamic spacefaring tales, and Amalie Howard , young adult and historical romance author, to discuss tales with our audience. In said panel, we did put together a Reading Outside the Western World list of books and comics. Need something to read? Click here for some ideas!
I did a little more vending this year...and maaaybe spent a little too much cash on lovely stuff...maaaybe... here's a sample of the lovelies on offer.

My non-comic work on the right and Nonir with their work through Wandering Jotun on the left.
Wandering Jotun is a place for all geeky pagans, go check it out! 

The fun and fast-paced work of Travis Heermann

The rocking Veronica Callisto selling her books, Starfish And Coffee and Diary of A Mad Black Witch

A sample of Ian Healy's wonderful writing. 

The lovely offerings of Revive Gifts

The Kimberlys, also known as Kimberly Kennedy and Kimberly Keane. Get ready for fun with these literate ladies, their books rock.

Dylan Edwards with some of his kickass queer-positive comics.

More queer friendly stuff with Out In Colorado

The con may have been smaller than expected, but it was well worth the time. Here's to even more fun and more conversations next year!

Special Report: WhimsyCon 2018

Some of you may have noticed that there were no posts over the weekend, dear readers. That was on account of WhimsyCon 2018! A full account:

Denver’s WhimsyCon kicked off its first convention celebrating Steampunk and Victorian culture this past weekend It did not disappoint. I arrived scared to death. I had 4 talks to give, an advance run of my newly published book and the oracle cards that go with it to sell, and had spent about $400 printing merchandise for the weekend. Being in business has gotten me over panicking when I see big numbers like $400, but still. GULP.

Added to that, the uncomfortable last years and death of the former steampunk event known as AnomalyCon had left a bad taste in my mouth. Nasty fights and scoldings I and friends had gotten courtesy of a couple over zealous folk and the general air of mutual distrust in the last years had tarnished the experience, and I was carrying a charm against discord just in case that mess had carried over.
My hands were shaking when I was setting up, let's just leave it at that. But then my art was beside the work of Pinku of Root and Branch comic fame and Wandering Jotun Crafts' wonderful spell books and their rocking pronoun pins for fluid folks (seriously, go take a look, you need these spells and pins. ), my booth was set, a cadre of my oldest and dearest friends started arriving and all the panic started to ease. What the hell, I'd budgeted for what I could lose. At worst, I'd go home with stuff and good memories.

We started hitting panels, because that's the kind of geeks we are. Sorry, no pictures of panels because I'm too well mannered. The programming was packed full of joy such as Friday night electric teapot races, Sunday tea dueling, special guests author Milton Davis, costume queen Kitty Krell, and illustrator Tawny Fritz. Fans enjoyed musical performances, workshops, and even a Victorian style pie eating contest.


I had some wonderful (and some very bad) whiskey. I sang wonderful (and VERY VERY BAD) Victorian songs. I gave my talks on writing in the Victorian era, Victorian etymology, the Language of Flowers and bawdy music of the Victorian Era. Much to my surprise, they were (gasp) fun!
Attendees soaked up the information shared in all of the fabulous panels. People had their schedules circled and highlighted to ensure that no events were missed. There were panels with titles like “Putting the Punk in Steampunk”, “Feminism and Inclusiveness in Science Fiction fandom,” and more. There was a “Refinery of Victorian Tea” where panelists walked the audience through the process of properly serving and drinking tea. There was a self-defense panel, tarot readings, and- thankfully for some guests- some instruction on meditation and mental health. The roster was particularly fine for writers, including 'Self Publishing 101', 'Ow, My Spleen!' 'We Don't Need No Stinkin' Mentors!' and 'Fighting The Day Job'.

Best of all, the vigor and the sheer joy of the early Anomaly years were back in this phoenix of an event. The talks were clever. The time with old and new friends was soul food. The events were good. The turnout was great. It just the thing for a new panelist and vendor.

Oh, and about the new vendor? I sold everything I brought. Not only did I cover my print costs. I covered my room. And my table. And when a con goer posted about all the books he'd bought and loved so far, my book was in that pile with authors I admire.

This is the start of a very, very good thing.

Better pictures in this article: http://www.westword.com/…/whimsycon-2018-is-denvers-new-ste…

Wandering Jotun, who I shared a table with, has works that can be ordered here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/598555621/preorder-dry-erase-name-or-pronoun-pin?ref=shop_home_active_1 and the lovely Root And Branch can be found here http://rootandbranchcomic.com/comic/root-branch-page-1/

PrideCon Weekend! Lessons Learned

Pride And Con In One Denver Weekend
What Is This Madness?!
Whatever It Is, We Like It!

So, some thoughts:
Denver ComicCon was, as always, a wonderful event. This year I had so many friends running tables and was elated to see them doing well. I saw so many people enjoying themselves!
My favorite nerdy podcast, Beyond The Trope, is strutting their stuff at the Podcast Corner. Emily, part of the group, poses here as the grown up Hazel (of Saga, a must read comic) with her wanted poster.

The wonderful Sarah Menzel is there at Booth 400, rocking it.

 The beautiful Moko Press table of Robin Childs looked lovely as ever at booth C042.

 My friend Karen Lechenberg is selling her geektastic prints for her company, The Mona Chewy,  at booth H309.
 Native Realities Press  is there and keeping it real at booth AA23. Karl Christian Krumpholz is an oasis of snarky calm at booth AV066. Sherry D. Ficklin, J. James McFarland, Dylan Edwards and Vivian Caethe are all there, and She Paints With Blood is beautiful at Booth 204.

 I could go on, but I'm starting to sound like an advertisement. So, moving along! 

Myself, I took it easy this year. In years past I've powered through all three days of events and spent the following week EXHAUSTED. This year, I did a one day event, and at times even that felt overwhelming. In fact, when I first hit the merchant's floor, I almost turned around and walked back out.

SO MANY PEOPLE.
Instead of running as my anxiety suggested, I went to a panel. I sat and listened to a wonderful discussion on self publishing, and I remembered that I like people! Especially the off beat ones. And I remembered that it's okay to have moments of fear. What's not permitted is surrendering to them.


I also remembered, in this time when the world seems so dark, that connecting with others helps us cope with our problems. I suffer from two issues that cause social problems; anxiety and hyperinsulinemia, which is an insulin issue that can result in me acting quite odd as my body runs out of glucose.

I cope with these issues by finding a quiet corner or space until the problem passes. It's amazing who you'll meet in the quiet corners. While my blood sugar straightened out, I sat and chatted with a couple of ladies who've been together thirty years and just got married. They gave me chocolate covered peanuts, which I accepted with grateful, shaking hands.  I commiserated with a mother and daughter who both suffer petit mal seizures that leave them in the same kind of situations I end up in when our bodies act up on us. I talked with an exchange student who was feeling overwhelmed by having so much going on around him, just like me. We talked, we joked about our issues and we laughed, and we realized that we weren't all that strange, and not nearly as alone as we had thought. Later, a sweet man walked me up from Pride to my apartment. We talked about Con, Pride and his wonderful costume; a rainbow American Flag with 49 holes in it covered by crochet mandalas. Each mandala had the number of strings denoting the age of someone who died in Orlando. He told me 'I went and gave my parents a hug before I came to Pride tonight, you know? Just in case.' The words nearly made me cry.

Some years I take copious notes in panel about a wide variety of comic craft subjects: social media, dialogue, pacing, layout and style.But this year, I was learning other lessons.

• Our differences do not divide us. Our egos do.

• Having a weakness does not make you weak person. It makes you a person who is resourceful in your way of living; you are faced with challenges and you learn to overcome them. You are a resource. Not a liability.
• Treating your own needs as less important is really, really not helping. If you're feeling overwhelmed, it's okay to sit down. If you're feeling run down, getting guilty about skipping a day of Con is dumb. Pay attention to your body, and you'll have a lot more fun.
  (this includes your stomach. Pack water and a decent lunch. Con food is expensive and, often, it's crap)
• We must take care of one another. We do better together. All of us.

• People need stories. We need to tell our stories, and we need to listen to the stories of others. We are made more human by sharing our stories. If you have a story that will help someone else in this world, that will uplift or affirm someone else, then you have a sacred duty to tell it.

So here's my takeaway from the weekend: hold your head up, take the hand of your friend, your neighbor, your cousin in this great family of humanity, and keep walking. It's a long road, but I think we're going somewhere good.