#armadillocon

Guest of Honor Rebecca Roanhorse, whose short story “Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™” appears in forthcoming THE NEW VOICES OF SCIENCE FICTION, Rick Klaw, Joe R. Lansdale, and Tachyon publisher Jacob Weisman will be among the many attendees at ArmadiloCon 41 (August 2-4) in Austin, TX.

ArmadilloCon is an annual literary convention sponsored by the Fandom Association of Central Texas, Inc. The primary focus of ArmadilloCon is science fiction and fantasy, but we also pay attention to art, animation, science, media, and gaming. Every year, dozens of professional writers, artists and editors attend the convention. We invite you to attend the convention, especially if you are a fan of reading, writing, gaming, and generally having fun.

Jacob Weisman and Rick Klaw having a good time at the Tachyon table during Armadillocon 36 (photo: Brandy Whitten)

Guest of Honor: Rebecca Roanhorse

Toastmaster: Marshall Ryan Maresca

Fan Guest: Dan Tolliver

Editor Guest: Patrice Caldwell

Science Guest: Moriba K. Jah

Special Guest: Martha Wellls

The mercury is hitting triple digits and we’re just passed the halfway point of the baseball season. It must be time for ArmadilloCon once again!

This year’s con, the 41st such affair, takes place this coming weekend, August 2-4.

Guest of Honor: Rebecca Roanhorse

Toastmaster: Marshall Ryan Maresca

Fan Guest: Dan Tolliver

Editor Guest: Patrice Caldwell

Science Guest: Moriba K. Jah

Special Guest: Martha Wellls

  As I have done for roughly the past 25 years or so, I’ll be in attendance and because apparently the con organizers have learned nothing, I’ll be sitting in on several panels.

Best Comics You’ve Never Read Friday 8PM Rick Klaw (moderator), A. Lee Martinez, Alan J. Porter

What’s new, what’s surprising, and what are upcoming titles that have got you pumped?!

  Godzilla in 2019 Friday 9PM Don Webb (moderator), Aaron de Orive, Mark Finn, Rick Klaw, Lawrence Person

The big guy is back!

  The Best and Brightest of the New Generation of SFF Short Story Writers Saturday 3PM Rick Klaw (moderator), Patrice Caldwell, Suyi Davies Okungbowa, David Afsharirad, Josh Rountree

The best and brightest of the new generation of SFF short story writers

  Editing Anthologies Saturday 8PM Patrice Caldwell (moderator), David R. Stokes, Rick Klaw, Matt Cardin, Adrian Simmons, Paige E. Ewing

What are the goals? How do you put together a cohesive but representative collection? What is the difference between a collection and an anthology anyway?

  Texas in SFF Sunday 11AM Rick Klaw (moderator), Joe R. Lansdale, Kenneth Mark Hoover, Don Webb, Josh Rountree, Juan Perez

What are some of the best, and most fantastical, re-imaginings of Texas in sff? What are the most dystopian places, things and people in Texas (present and past)? what are the most utopian?

  Giants in the Earth Sunday 12PM Mark Finn (moderator). Paul Benjamin, Rick Klaw, Lawrence Person, Howard Waldrop

With the return of Giant Monsters, Kaiju movies, and of course, Godzilla and King Kong, it’s time to unpack what (if any) larger message these Earth-Shakers represent; nature striking back, mankind’s hubris, or simply big,. goofy fun? Our panelists will get to the heart of the matter with the usual amount of gravitas and snarkiness.

  How to Work with Editors Sunday, 1PM Rick Klaw (moderator), David R. Stokes, Patrice Caldwell, Jacob Weisman, Adrian Simmons

What do editors bring to the the table? What should authors expect from editors? How do editors perceive the relationship with authors?

  Hope to visit with you this weekend at one of my talks, at the Tachyon table, or just wandering the halls. Come by and say howdy.

Last year i learn SO VERY MUCH on writing and editing and book covers and everything at ArmadilloCon that there’s no way I’m going to miss it again!

ArmadilloCon is Aug 3-5 in Austin, Texas.

I’m not sure if I will have a panel this year, but stay tune to find out more about it. There are so many wonderful writers at ArmadilloCon. It’s the top Texas Spec Fic writers’ and readers’ convention!

Guest of Honor Deji Bryce Olukotun, whose short story “We Are The Olfanauts” appears in INVADERS: 22 TALES FROM THE OUTER LIMITS OF LITERATURE, Rick Klaw, Joe R. Lansdale, and Tachyon publisher Jacob Weisman will be among the many attendees at Armadillocon 40 (August 3-6) in Austin, TX.

ArmadilloCon is an annual literary convention sponsored by the Fandom Association of Central Texas, Inc. The primary focus of ArmadilloCon is science fiction and fantasy, but we also pay attention to art, animation, science, media, and gaming. Every year, dozens of professional writers, artists and editors attend the convention. We invite you to attend the convention, especially if you are a fan of reading, writing, gaming, and generally having fun.

Jacob Weisman and Rick Klaw having a good time at the Tachyon table during Armadillocon 36 (photo: Brandy Whitten)

This year’s featured guests include:

Guest of Honor: Deji Bryce Olukotun

Editor Guest: David Pomerico

Toastmaster: Aaron de Orive

Artist Guest: Rosemary Valero-O’Connell

Fan Guest: Craig W. Chrissinger

Special Guests: Holly Black & Robert J. Sawyer

Scott Cupp and Joe R. Lansdale working on the mysteries of the universe at Armadillocon 37 (photo: Jayme Lynn Blachke)

Photo: Jill Roberts

On Twitter, ArmadilloCon Chair Person Jennifer Juday explains how they discovered GoH Deji Bryce Olukotun.

Carol Cooper for THE VILLAGE VOICE catches up with the next generation of science fiction writers.

Ever wonder where new science fiction writers come from? Typically, the best ones emerge from its readership. This would include video gamers and other genre media fans whose love for a broad spectrum of imaginative literature is both critical and obsessive. SF fandom (the initials here meaning “speculative fiction” to capture all flavors of fantasy and science fiction in one easy acronym) incubates its own future.

Fandom as a familial collective of readers and writers has existed since at least the 1920s, when lurid pulp fiction magazines encouraged Lovecraft’s quirky circle of acolytes to pen and critique their own tales of cosmic horror, scientific fantasy, or sword-and-sorcery epics. This path of transition from fan to pro is now made explicit for the curious by events like last month’s Nebula Conference, a four-day convention featuring panel discussions and an awards ceremony celebrating the most significant writing released during the previous year. This time held at the Pittsburgh Marriott hotel downtown, the Nebula Awards, given annually since 1965, are the Oscars of genre fiction, voted on by fellow writers, editors, publishers, and book agents.

Photo: Jill Roberts

Once indie fiction magazines were viable again, some magazine editors took the next evolutionary step to become publishers. Jacob Weisman discontinued his magazine in the mid-Nineties to form Tachyon Publications, which now publishes SFWA’s newly anointed “Grand Master” Peter S. Beagle, and released Bruce Sterling’s PIRATE UTOPIA in 2016. This month, Tachyon published THE FREEZE-FRAME REVOLUTION by Peter Watts, a former marine biologist who boldly inserts high-concept speculations about time and the future of humanity into a rigorously scientific space opera. In August, the giddily picaresque THE PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF EVERYTHING is due from Nick Mamatas, or — as China Miéville, himself a New York Times bestselling novelist, prefers to describe him — “The People’s Commissar of Awesome.”

  It hasn’t rained in forever, the mercury is hitting triple digits, and we’re just passed the halfway point of the baseball season. It must be time for ArmadilloCon once again!

This year’s con, the 39th such affair, takes place this coming weekend, August 4-6.

Guest of Honor:  Nisi Shawl

Toastmaster:  Don Webb

Fan Guest:  A.T. Campbell, III

Artist Guest:  Mark A. Nelson

Editor Guest: Trevor Quachri

Special Guest: Tamora Pierce

  As I have for roughly the past 25 years or so, I’ll be in attendance and because apparently the con organizers have learned nothing, I’ll be sitting in on several panels.

  Social Media for Writers Sat 10:00 AM-11:00 AM Ballroom E Rick Klaw, Alan J. Porter

Tips and tricks for social media amplification

  Movies You Should Have Seen Sat 3:00 PM-4:00 PM Ballroom F A.T. Campbell, A. de Orive, D. Johnson, R. Klaw*, G. Oliver, P. Sullivan

  ST/TNG: A Generation Later Sat 4:00 PM-5:00 PM Southpark B R. Eudaly, P.J. Hoover, R. Klaw, D. Liss, A. Porter*, H. Walrath

It’s been 30 years. Seriously? What has aged well, what not? How does it stand up against later SF on TV?

  Western and Noir Themed Speculative Fiction Sun Noon-1:00 PM Southpark A B. Crider, K. Hoover, G. Iglesias, R. Klaw, J. Lansdale*, A. Marmell

  Reading Sun 1:30 PM-2:00 PM Conference Center Rick Klaw

  Hope to see everyone this weekend.