"To be Continued" Volume #1, No.2 Febuary 1994 "To be Continued" is the newsletter of the Midwest Science Fiction and Fantasy Association. MSFFA, P.O.B. 665, South Bend, IN, 46524. Email: Voyager@irishmvs.cc.nd.edu. Comments submissions and informa IN THIS ISSUE: Twixt & Tween CONVENTION LISTINGS Art Contest! Call For Support Windycon XX CYBERSPACE VANGUARD WORLDCON NEWS Local MSFFA Meeting: Twixt & Tween This is a quickie newsletter to fall between regular sized issues of To Be Continued... We didn't want you to forget about us. We needed to update the conlisting, and to pass along general info that couldn't wait till the next quarterly issue. See you at the Meeting, and see more of you at Capricon! (Details herein..) -Rich Jervis, Emmett Pittman, Co-Directors. CONVENTION LISTING This file is from the SF-Lovers Archives at Rutgers University. It is provided as part of a free service in connection with distribution of SF-Lovers Digest. This file is currently maintained by the moderator of the Digest. It may be freely copied or redistributed in whole or in part as long as this notice remains intact. If you would like to know more about Sf-Lovers Digest, send Email to SF-LOVERS-REQUEST@ RUTGERS.EDU. (This file is comprehensive and had to be edited for space, write us if you want the whole ball of wax.) Feb. 4-6 CONFABULATION 6. Stonehenge Lodge, Bedford IN; rms $50. GoH: Judith Tarr; FGoH: Bill Levy; Filk GoH: Renee Alper. Memb: $22. Info: ConFabulation 6, Box 443, Bloomington IN 47402. Feb. 11-13. CAPRICON XIV. Wyndham Hamilton Hotel, 400 park Boulevard, Itasca IL 60143; (708)773-4000; rms $69. GoH: Connie Willis; FGoH: David Dyer- Bennett; AGoH: Mary Lynn Skirvin. Memb: $40 Info: Capricon, Box 60085, Chicago IL 60660; email: karenb@well.sf.ca.us. Feb. 11-13. SuperCon III Winter relaxacon at the Duluth Radisson. $15 advance/$22 at door to the Minn-STF FFI: Victor Raymond or Erik Baker at 645-6121. Feb. 11-13. Connect-a-con Holiday Inn Southwyck 2429 S. Reynolds Rd. Toledo OH 43614 (419) 381-8765; rms $59 sngl, $63 dbl/tpl/quad. Guests: Geoffrey Landis, Dave Ivey and Jim Overmyer.Panels, workshops, movies, gaming, computers, swim party,Con suite and more. $15 until 1/31/1994, $20 until 2/12/94, $25 after. Info: email: s.shannonm.b@genie.geis.com. Feb. 19-20 Con of the North Gaming. Landmark Center (St Paul). $15 to 17 Con of the North, PO Box 18096, Minneapolis MN 55418. February 25-27 CONCAVE 15/UPPERSOUTHCLAVE XXIV. Park Mammoth Resort, Park City, KY; (502) 749-4101; rms $29/$39/$44/$49. Goh: Ben Jason. Memb: $15 until 2/4/49, $20 after. Info: CONCAVE 15, PO Box 3221, Kingsport, TN 37664; (615) 239-3106. February 25-27 CONFLATION 2 Aviva, Stan Schober Memb: $15 until 1/1/94, $20 after. P.O. Box 19377 St. Louis, MO 63144 314-385-2875 March 4-6 WISCON 18 P.O. Box 1624 Madison, WI 53701-1624 608-233-8850 April 1-3 MINICON 29 : Jack Williamson, Rusty Hevelin, Tom Doherty. Memb: $22 pre- reg until 2/20/94, $55 at door (Children under 12 $10 pre- reg, $15 at door); $10 supporting. P.O. Box 8297 Lake Street Station Minneapolis, MN 55408-8297 May 13-15 MARCON 29: Boris Vallejo, Barbara Hambly, Philip Jose Farmer, Forry Ackerman, Julie Schwartz, Jane Robinson, B. Longyear, Hal Clement, Lois McMaster-Bujold, Mike Resnick, Cynthia McQuillin, Michael Longcor, Juanita Coulson, Animal X, Todd Cameron Hamilton, more. Memb: $26 until 4/1/94, $30 after. P.O. Box 21101 Columbus, OH 43221 614-451-3154 email: 70000.1120@compuserve.com Art Contest! The MSFFA LOGO contest is still on. Deadline for submissions is March 1st. Send us your best b/w rendition, and we'll print the top ones for the membership to vote on. The prize is $25.00 and full membership in the MSFFA. Art Credits: Bill Cavalier: 3 R.allen Jervis: 5 Starla Stocking: Back Cover "To Be Continued..." and the MSFFA actively solicits artwork (read Begs!) for the newsletter, and for Posters, fliers and other nifty stuff. Call For Support Emmett Pittman, Co-Director, MSFFA The MSFFA needs you. Without your help, we can do nothing. The MSFFA was founded by a group of fans dedicated to the enjoyment of every aspect of Science Fiction and Fantasy. We started small, but we've been growing ever since. None of us became involved because we thought that we would profit financially. In fact, just the opposite is true. We knew that it might be a slow hard climb, and we accepted the fact that the organization might run at a slight loss that we would absorb until we generated a self-sustaining support base. With this in mind, we simply cannot continue to mail out our newsletter for free to an ever growing list of people. After our third free newsletter, only paid members will receive more. Our basic membership is only five bucks, and for the moment, that is simply designed to defray the cost of the newsletter throughout the year. If at all possible, send us at least that much support. Rest assured that we plan to use every penny to support MSFFA activities. Thus far, the MSFFA has been funded both by the much appreciated donations of its membership, and by the shallow pockets of its officers. We have bills and families like everyone else, but they are doing this because we believe in what the MSFFA wants to stand for and accomplish. And despite our humble beginnings, we do have ambitious plans for the future. We still want to support SF and F throughout the midwest. This includes conventions, pros, fans, artists-everyone, in any way we can. If you need information or assistance, we'll try to be there for you. We're looking for members to work as convention volunteers, to become involved and offer their assistance in the name of the MSFFA. We want people to form local chapters of the MSFFA in their areas. And last but not least, we're still planning on sponsoring a local convention in the South Bend, Indiana area in 1995. Initial start-up costs are estimated at $5,000, minimum. If we cannot raise sufficient funds in time, we'll delay the Con until 1996 if necessary. The point is, however, that the MSFFA is in this for the long term. We feel confident that as fans and others realize what we are attempting to do, they will join with us and give us their support. What can you do? Send in your basic $5.00 membership today. It isn't a lot to ask, and just a few people doing that from across the midwest can make all the difference in the world. Next, get involved. Start a local MSFFA chapter or club in your area. Write to us for details. Word of mouth is working wonders for us. Tell your friends about the MSFFA. Tell them to sign up. Distribute some of our fliers at local area bookstores. Going to a local or regional convention? Put some of our fliers on the freebie tables for us. Send us a convention review. Want to help out at a Con or two? Sign up to join the MSFFA Con Volunteer Squad. If you have any input or ideas that you think might help us, by all means contact us. MSFFA Promotional Items Like most Not-For-Profit Groups, the MSFFA will have to resort to fund-raising in a variety of forms. While this might mean specially targeted requests for donations, most of us feel that it would be better to offer people something tangible in return. That is why we are developing a line of MSFFA promotional items. These may include: a Fannish calendar, shirts, hats, book bags, mugs, cups, throwing disks, mouse pads, buttons, pens, and more. Specific items will be announced in the newsletter when available. If you have additional ideas, or access to the economical production of such items, we would appreciate your advice and assistance. We hope that these items will offer people a way to support the MSFFA while receiving something of substantial value. Thus in the future, if you order one of our snappy t-shirts or smart looking coffee mugs for example, you'll not only gain something aesthetically pleasing and useful, but you'll also have the pleasure of knowing that your support for the MSFFA is hard at work making Science Fiction and Fantasy in the Midwest bigger and better and more enjoyable for everyone. Whatever you do, get involved, and stay in contact. Start an MSFFA Club in Your Area The MSFFA needs you and your friends. Support SF and F and conventions in your region and in your local area. Join the MSFFA and encourage your friends to join as well. Fifteen or more paid members in the same area can be recognized as a club. Thirty or more members in the same area can be recognized as a local chapter. Contact the MSFFA parent group for advice and access to our support. Find out what you can do to help the MSFFA grow in your area, and carry out its goals. Help cons in your area. Get involved today! Capricon XIV Announcement The featured Convention for this edition of the MSFFA newsletter is Capricon XIV. The convention will be held at the Wyndham Hamilton Hotel, 400 Park Blvd., Itasca IL 60143. Phone 708-773-4000 for room reservations; the convention rate is $69.00 per room per night. GOH: (Guest of Honor) Award-winning author, Connie Willis FGOH: (Fan GOH) David Dyer-Bennett AGOH: (Artist GOH) Mary Lynn Skirvin Many other pro guests, too numerous to mention. Membership is $40.00 at the door. For other information, contact: Capricon, P.O. Box 60085, Chicago IL 60660 email: karenb@well.sf.ca.us Capricon is another Chicago area convention with a lot to offer fans. Personally, I've always especially enjoyed the viewing selections in their Anime Room. Most Cons can always use volunteers. If you attend Capricon, give a few hours of your time to help out. In recent years, however, Capricon has had trouble keeping a hotel due to the behavior of a small minority of fans and some people, mostly under age, who were not even fans, but made everyone else look bad. The MSFFA encourages its membership to support Capricon and other conventions by attending regularly. Remember people, that it only takes a few bad apples to spoil the fun for everyone. If you attend a Capricon or any other Con, by all means have fun, but don't behave in any manner that will threaten the enjoyment of the Con for hundreds of other people who have paid their money as well. Real fans might get a little crazy, but they don't act like idiots. Windycon XX a recollection by -R.allen Jervis We had an excellent review of Windycon XX submitted to us by Bill Thomasson, but I simply don't have room to run it in this 'light' issue of "to be CONtinued". I have plans of running it up against a Capricon review in the next issue, sort of a nose to nose comparion of the two Cons. My apologies to Bill, who rushed a copy on disk to me. I offer instead a lesser review of my own, rather than not mention Windycon at all. The drive up was nice, the predicted bad weather was of short duration, and we arrived intact, and not too badly spaced from the road. There is construction going on all over the highway system that might still affect Capricon next year, but generally the traffic flowed quickly, if not with any perceivable reasoning at the wheel. Windycon as a whole wasn't much of a convention experience for me, at least not what it has been in the past. It was however, still a con and still a weekend away from home.... One of the first things we discovered was a separate elevator away around a corner from the main ones. It only went as far as the third floor, but that was where our room was and this single perk made the entire con flow smoother for us. My wife Anon and I took in the opening ceremony almost immediately, and cheered for our friend Emmett Pittman, who won honorable mention in the writing contest. With all the special guests, the ceremony ran on a bit, but there lotsa highlights like watching Barry B. Longyear don a Bee costume. Hearing some fun comments from Bill Higgins and the Pyrotechnics cheering squad. Author Guest of Honor Joe Haldeman gave insights to the first Windycon, and several others he has been guest at. Artist GOH Kelly Freas told the story of how he met his second wife, Laura. The feel and look of the entire ceremony was upbeat and better attended than I can recall for other opening ceremonies I've seen. The balloons all over the place made Anon nervous, but no major explosions occurred while we were there... Scanning the pocket guide, I found there were relatively few programming items. I feel that the programming people missed out on a chance to create some great panel discussions given the number of talented pros attending as guests. I shouldn't complain, really, as Anon and I got our wires crossed and spent part of Saturday doing the "what do you wanna do dance." Once that was straight, things were cool. Ultimately though, there wasn't a lot I was interested in. About a third of the slots were labeled 'Special interest groups', and I never ran across what those were, or even if there were any meetings. After the con, I heard that another program book had been released on Saturday, but I didn't see it at all. Registration was a bit confusing as it was, and I was pretty much left to fend for myself at figuring out what I was supposed take with me. I liked the listing of movies, they were mostly mainstream movies, which is another good calling card for a con, now that I think about it. maybe more could be done to advertise that...tie in with giveaways from the movie companies.(shrug) Later in the MSFFA room, I caught "Curse of the Demon" which I thoroughly enjoyed... The ConSuite featured a good selection of snacks, and according to all reports great beer. Baderbrau from a local CYBERSPACE VANGUARD News and Views of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Universe is an electronic magazine of science fiction and fantasy news, interviews, and articles. Electronic subscriptions are free, and are available by sending a request to cn577@ cleveland.freenet.edu or Cyberspace Vanguard at 1:157/564 (Fidonet). We are also looking for interested writers, both on and off the net. Those without network access who would like information can write to CV Magazine, PO Box 25704, Garfield Hts., OH 44125, USA. WORLDCON NEWS Bill Thomasson mentions a special rate for a train ride to CONandian, the Worldcon which this year is in Canada.. I asked over the net for details, and got this speedy reply: (note the postscript about Bruce Pelz ) From: j.mansfield4@GENIE.GEIS.COM To: voyager@IRISHMVS.CC.ND.EDU Subject: TRAINS We will be doing an article on Via/AMTRACK rail, dates & times in PR5, to be released RSN!! VIA rail will not provide rates below rack due to SEPT being in their HIGH season. Mind you, if you get 20 together.....Thus our article is basically DATE/TIMES and contact names in Montreal/Vancouver for those who want a central contact point. If there is anything we can do, please contact us directly. - Joyce I presume that you now know that Bruce Pelz lost the walls surrounding their house (NOT the house walls) only. Mind you, the house got shook and LOTS of collectables got destroyed and they lost a cat. Otherwise all is fine. Local MSFFA Meeting: Ice breaking and Con Discussion To all members and interested persons, there will be a local MSFFA meeting of the parent group on Sunday, February 20th out at the Four Season Restaurant, 22858 US 20 W. South Bend, Indiana at 7:30 p.m. near the South Bend Airport . (219) 237- 0691 Directions to the meeting are as follows: West and South: Take the Airport exit from the US 31 bypass to Lincolnway West, and drive 1/2 mile to the first light. The restaurant will be on your right about 3 blocks. North: Take US 33 South to Lincolnway and Turn west. Go 5 miles or so and watch for the Four Seasons sign on the Left. If you come to the Airport, you're too far. Toll Road users should take the Airport exit and follow the above directions for West and South. This meeting will be a relaxing icebreaker and discussion session, mostly about MSFFA goals for the future, and especially about plans for the local convention, 2-B CONtinued. Excellent food and drink can be purchased from the restaurant's menu. For those outside of the local South Bend area and those who are otherwise unable to attend, an account of the salient points discussed at the meeting will be summarized in the next edition of the MSFFA newsletter. Want to help with the Con? Want to get involved with the MSFFA? Bring your ideas and suggestions along and come talk with us at the meeting. "To be Continued" is the newsletter of the Midwest Science Fiction and Fantasy Association. No reproduction of any part is permissible without written permission from the MSFFA. Rates are $2.00 an issue, or free to MSFFA members. Write to: MSFFA, P.O.B. 665, South Bend, IN, 46524. Email: Voyager@irishmvs.cc.nd.edu. Comments submissions and information are welcome! R.allen Jervis P.O.B. 743 Notre Dame, IN 46556 BITNET: voyager@irishmvs.cc.nd.edu "Love is like a snowmobile rushing across the frozen tundra. Suddenly, the snowmobile flips over pinning you underneath. At night, the Ice Weasels come." -Matt Groening, "Love is Hell"