Upcoming conventions & suchlike

Posted on by K. M. Herkes

I am excited, daunted (okay, terrified) and exhausted in advance looking at this calendar. Doing even one of these was beyond my imagining a few years ago.  I am beyond grateful to all the people who have supported me and given me opportunities.

<deep breath> Here we go…

February 14-17  Capricon 39, Wheeling IL.

Panels about heroes, fantasy physics, the art of violence, and more. I have a reading scheduled, and will have books for purchase in the vendor room.

March 1-3 Cleveland ConCoction, Aurora OH

In Author’s Alley with books, participating on fun panels, doing readings & more.  Hoping to have my badges for sale by then along with the books.

March 22-24  C2E2, Chicago, IL

I’ll be working at the Bard’s Tower pop-up bookstore in the Exhibit Hall.

June 7-9 Indy PopCon, Indianapolis, IN.

Planning to be at Bard’s Tower here, too. This is a new con for me, so…EEP.

August 1-4  Gen Con Indianapolis, IN

I’LL HAVE MY OWN TABLE ON AUTHORS’ AVENUE THIS YEAR. Yes, that news is worthy of shoutycaps. I dance a little Pinocchio dance and sing silly songs about happiness every time I think about this.

Gen Con is now where I’m hoping to debut Sharp Edge of Yesterday, because why not throw my big party at a big con I can reach by driving?

August 29-Sept 4, Labor Day Weekend DragonCon, Atlanta GA.

With Bard’s Tower and beyond! Too soon to know about programming here, but I have emails out to the organizers and fingers crossed.

Two wonderful cons that aren’t on this list: WisCon & Windycon. Here’s why, sorta.

WisCon. I loved it the one time I went, but going back as an author…scares me. I don’t think Im up to the emotional exposure. My voice would never add enough to panels to justify silencing anyone else by taking the spot, and vending? My books are fabulous, but I can easily see no one at WisCon having the slightest interest, and that would just crush me.

All that plus I’m wary of overtaxing brain and pocketbook with the other obligations I’ve made makes it a Bad Idea to take on another con.

But…butbutbutbutbut… But I want to go again so much. Maybe just as an attendee for a day trip? Maybe offering to volunteer? I dunno. I just…at this rate I’ll waffle right up until Memorial Day weekend.

I’m on the fence about  WindyCon this year too. I sense I may be burned out on life by November…but….I know people there now and it’s a fun time, and I love to hang out with Rich and Rich & the Games Plus booth. November is a long way off. I can put off this decision too.  Maybe a very low-key presence, zero money invested and a couple of panels at most?

ANYway. Now you know where I’ll be for quite a few weekends this year, in case you ever want to meet me and talk about writing, or Marvel movies, or fantasy sub-genres, or Night Vale, or discuss what a jerk Carl can be or what Elena’s political ambitions are…

And no need to worry who’ll feed Scooter & take pictures of him while I’m away. Spouseman holds down the fort and keeps the home fires burning. It’s nice to come home to fresh fruit & milk in the fridge, I do confess.

That’s all until later.

Visit me at CapriCon

Posted on by K. M. Herkes

What’s a Capricon? It is a phenomenal long-running science fiction & fantasy fan convention that’s been in Chicagoland since 1981. This year’s theme is Expanding Universes, and it’s happening soon at the Westin Chicago North Shore hotel in snowy Wheeling Illinois.

February 15-18, to be precise. That’s next week! Here’s the official website: About Capricon

I’ll be there. It’s my first convention for 2018, and the second one ever where I’ll be on PANELS!  You should be very proud of me for using only one exclamation point. I am tremendously over-excited about this. You’ll find my panel schedule below.

There’s no autographing session because when I’m not at a panel or reading, I’ll be hanging out in the vendor room at the Games Plus table, same as Windycon. What can I say? Retail is my comfort zone.

Anyway. If you have print copies of my books already and want autographs, I’ll be at the booth on and off all weekend.  And if you don’t have my books yet, I will have plenty of copies there so you can BUY books and THEN get autographs.

I’m on some great panels with amazing people like Eric Flint & Jonathan Brazee and SO MANY MORE cool folk. This will be a good time. If you’re local to Chicagoland and have some free time and spare ducats, you really should come by.

  • Friday 10:00 AM Are Corporate Villains Overdone? (Birch B)
    • Every story needs a villain. And certainly corporate bad actors are not unknown. But it seems like almost every other near/medium-future SF story has a corporation and corporate head as the villain. Is this becoming a cliche? Is it a sign the writer is too lazy to think of alternatives? Why do corporate villains work or not work and what are the alternatives?
  • Friday 1:00 PM Rapid Reading #2 (Willow)
    • 6 authors. 5-7 minute readings.  Come discover someone new! (like ME!) 
  • Friday 4:00 PM Indie Publishing (Birch A) 
    • You’ve finally written your first novel. Now what? An overview to self-publishing options.
  • Saturday 10:00 AM Why We Roleplay (Birch B)
    • Role-playing aficionados talk about why they do what they do, and why you might want to try it too.
  • Saturday 7:00 PM Behind the Scenes (Willow)
    • Recently, an article discussed women who were likely present in Viking settlements. Few stories account for children, background characters, etc., except to provide them as fodder to be killed. How do you tell the stories of the invisible majority, as not everyone can be the ruling elite?
  • Sunday 1:30 PM Expanding Universe of Fandom (Botanic Garden Ballrm B)
    • Dragon*Con pulls in more than 80,000 people every year. New media cons are springing up (and falling down) all over the place. Fandom is expanding – what does it mean?