* MEDIAWEST*CON REPORT
* WESTERCON IS NOW FIESTACON
* JACQUELINE'S WESTERCON SCHEDULE
* JEAN PUBLISHES INDIA/NEPAL JOURNAL
* REREADABLE BOOKS UPDATE
* SIME~GEN 10TH ANNIVERSARY
* Check our our new Amazon "Stores"
* COAL FOR CHRISTMAS
* BOOK REVIEWS
* PATRIC MICHAEL'S FIRST PUBLICATION
* JOIN THE REVIEWERS
* NEW ITEMS FROM ARTISTS AND AUTHORS AT CAFE PRESS
* HELP WANTED
* PUBLICATION SCHEDULE
* AVAILABLE RELEASES
* SITES TO REMEMBER
* SUBSCRIPTION AND CONTACT INFORMATION
**COPYRIGHT NOTICE**
******MEDIAWEST*CON REPORT******
From Jean
Over the Memorial Day Weekend I attended MediaWest*Con 29 in Lansing, Michigan. Oh, my--is it almost thirty years we've been doing this? Longer, actually, for before MediaWest there was SequesterCon for three or four years!
I've been to all the SequesterCons and most of the MediaWest*Cons through the years, madefriends, sold fanzines and books, appeared on panels. Like all the old fannish cons, it now has a preponderance of members over fifty years old. There are young people coming in, but not nearly enough to replace the people who are now too old to travel ... or who have died. Still, MediaWest*Con is fun. People rave and write about their latest fandoms. The door decorating contest goes on, with more innovative ideas every year. There are room parties every night. And people still bring their pets.
There were fewer pets this year because the hotel has changed hands and now charges a pet fee. Still, there were several dogs, a parrot, some cats that stayed in people's rooms, and Dudley. My con cat, Dudley, was there for his fourth or fifth time, and was completely at home and in his element. He loves being the center of attention, and is happy to give anyone who wants one a "cat fix." He has long since gotten over anxiety that I will leave him, so he happily stays with anyone I leave him with if I need to go elsewhere, and is just glad to see me when I return. He has no problems with dogs, as he has his own dog and works with many different dogs in pet therapy. Also, I'm pretty sure he is the reincarnation of Cuddles, the little dog who went to
cons with me for so many years, whom I'm sure some of you remember. Dudley goes with me to panels, and of course sometimes he steals the show. He also loves to go partying at night--cats instinctively understand that an open door is an invitation to enter. He loves to poke around people's luggage and boxes, and of course he is always available to be worshipped.
Something interesting happened this year: the new Star Trek movie brought back an interest in original Trek. I did a little bit of sorting and shelf clearing, and took along about 25 used Trek fanzines from the 1970's, fully expecting to cart them all back home again. Boy, was I wrong! In the first two hours of the con they were GONE, snapped up by just two people! Strangely, for bad economic times, I sold more of my books than I usually do--used paperbacks, and new discounted copies of UNITY, SAVAGE EMPIRE, and BLOOD WILL TELL. As usual, there were many people wanting to know if and when there will be new Sime~Gen books. *sigh*
I was on several panels, most of them "the usual." However, this time there was a panel on surviving a disaster--for which I was eligible because I survived the Great Ice Storm last February. The storm pretty much closed down the entire MidWest for a week, and it took over a month to get power restored to many outlying areas. My preparations were really simple, yet I was comfortable and able to help friends out. It amazes me how many people didn't have so much as a battery-powered radio and a lantern, when we had more than a week's warning that the storm was on its way.
Anyway, Dudley and I had a good time at the con. A big thank you to Kaires for running my table while I was on panels. If all goes well, we'll be back again next year!
******
******WESTERCON IS NOW FIESTACON******
WESTERCON is now FIESTACON this year.
FiestaCon is scheduled for July 2-5, 2009 and will be held at the Tempe Mission Palms hotel in Tempe, Arizona. Westercon is a science fiction / fantasy convention held annually in the western half of North America or in Hawaii. Our panels cover a broad array of topics, both traditional and contemporary, with special emphasis on Literature, Science and Art. Please visit our website for more info: www.fiestacon.org
Jacqueline Lichtenberg has accepted an invitation to be a speaker.
Note that the Artist Guest of Honor at FiestaCon is Todd Lockwood, who created the amazing cover art for The Unity Trilogy. By tradition, and honoring the presence of JL and Todd, there will be a Sime~Gen party at FiestaCon.
Jacqueline's Westercon schedule.
(http://www.westercon.org fiestacon this year in Tempe, AZ.)
LIT/MED-What Universe Are You In?
Fri 10a-11a, Palm E room
w/ Jacqueline Litchtenberg (moderator), Dani Kollin, Etyan Kollin, Janice Tuerff
LIT-How Are Small Presses
Fri 11a-noon, Palm E room
w/ Jacqueline Litchtenberg (moderator), Adam Niswander, Michael D'Ambrosio
MED-Star Trek Movie Review
Fri 2p-3p, Palm F room
w/David A. Williams (moderator), Alan Dean Foster
LIT-It Was A Dark & Stormy Night
Fri 4p-5p, Abbey South
w/ Jacqueline Litchtenberg (moderator), Kevin Andrew Murphy, Moira Greyland,
Shirley Runyon
AUTOGRAPHING Fri 5p-6p, Dealers Room
LIT-Writer's Support Groups
Sun 11a-noon, Boardroom
w/ Jacqueline Litchtenberg (moderator), Rick Novy, Dennis McKiernan
FAN-Effect of Web on Fanzines
Sun noon-1p, Jokake room
w/John Hertz (moderator)
FAN-SF/F Websites
Sun 2p-3p, Augustine
w/ Jacqueline Litchtenberg (moderator), Lee Gilliland, Lee Whiteside
******
******JEAN PUBLISHES INDIA/NEPAL JOURNAL******
Jean took a tour of India and Nepal over the Christmas/New Year's 2008-2009 break. While there, she kept a daily journal of her experiences.
Now she has begun to publish that journal on her blog, http://houseofkeon.blogspot.com/
Stop by to read her experiences, and if you would like to be notified each time she posts a new entry, scroll down to the bottom of her blog page and subscribe to receive notices.
******
******Advertisment******
TENTH ANNIVERSARY SALE! During 2009 we are offering any of the advertising packages at http://www.simegen.com/agreements/pricing.html for four months for the price of three, or eight months for the price of six. Ad packages must be reserved by December 15, 2009, for ads to begin any time up to June, 30, 2010. Lock in this low price by contacting advertising@simegen.com and putting down a 25% deposit, remainder due at the time the ad is posted. Limit of two ad packages per advertiser.Use code SGNL to claim your bargain ad package.
******Please Support Those Who Support Us******
******SIME~GEN 10TH ANNIVERSARY
It's the tenth anniversary of Sime~Gen Inc. and simegen.com. We will be celebrating all year long--and we need your contributions to the festivities.
Please send your ideas for ways to celebrate to simegen@simegen.com. But please remember that our small staff is already overburdened, so we need easy to implement ideas, not projects for our staff to put in even more hours of work than they already do. If you would like to implement your idea for us--YAY!
******
******Advertisment*****
When you enter the imagination of L. H. Young, you begin a fascinating ride, whether you are traveling the time stream with witches, finding love the stuff of legends with her wonderful vampires, traipsing across the universe with her Sci-fi, or going to school with four unusual teenagers born with the ability to heal by touch. Don’t forget that she even writes for the imagination of the very young as seen in The Christmas Kitten.
www.authorlhyoung.com
*****Please Support Those Who Support Us*****
****** Check our our new Amazon "Stores"
Blatant commercial to keep simegen.com on the air.
If you buy from Amazon using one of our search boxes at the bottoms of manyof our pages, or find what you're looking for in our a-stores, we get a few cents to pay the bandwidth bills.
Our Amazon stores (we recommend buying directly from Amazon itself, not one of their onboard retailers unless you know the retailer very well -- we get paid the same, but have found better customer service with amazon.com shipments).
http://www.simegen.com/marketplace/keybooks/
http://www.simegen.com/marketplace/keygifts/ -- NEW STORE created to hold gift items specially useful to writers, both in writing and in just finding the TIME to write.
Also we now have Google ads on our main entry pages -- and they pay nicely when someone finds what they want via one of those ads. But don't click just to click -- click something that looks like what you really want.
******
******COAL FOR CHRISTMAS**********
COAL FOR CHRISTMAS by Lois Wickstrom and Jean Lorrah finished in the top ten family screenplays in the 2008 TheMovieDeal contest. http://www.themoviedeal.com/#/finalists/4532422034 Find the SCROLL icon at the lower left, and scroll down to see the top ten in each category.
******
******BOOK REVIEWS******
2009 Books to be Reviewed
http://www.simegen.com/reviews/ is our review department. It's now recruiting staff. To apply, email simegen @ simegen.com http://www.simegen.com/reviews/rereadablebooks/ is an SF/Fantasy Review Column.
Books to be reviewed through December 2009 in the column ReReadable books are now listed here http://www.simegen.com/reviews/rereadablebooks/2009/
The columns will be linked to this index page after they are published on paper in The Monthly Aspectarian which buys first serial rights.
Book Review columns for March & April Posted
The March and April 2009 review columns in ReReadable Books are now posted.
http://www.simegen.com/reviews/rereadablebooks/2009/
You may navigate to previous columns back to 1993 using the COLUMNS BY YEAR feature on the left of the page or search for a particular author or title using the domain wide Google search.
******
****** Patric Michael (our Webmaster) is pleased to announce his first publications!******
Out since he was a freshman in high school, Nate meets Andy, who is gorgeous, and unfortunately, straight. They're best friends through thick and thin until a practical joke leads Nate to a surprise revelation: ...If I had known just how thoroughly it would turn my world upside down, I would never have kissed Andy in that damned banquet room. I would have kissed him a hell of a lot sooner...
"Timeless" from Dreamspinner Press (https://dreamspinnerpress.3dcartstores.com/search.asp?keyword=dd115&search=GO)
Now Available Patric Michael writes Romance, Guy to Guy
Coming July 13: "Night Moves," in the Sindustry Vol. 2 anthology
http://dreamspinnerpress.com/currenttitles/Sindustry/sindustry2info.htm
Check out http://www.patricmichael.com for the Start of Something Great.
*******
******JOIN THE REVIEWERS
As Coordinator of our Reviews Department, I ask for your help. With the current upsurge in e-book publishing that is sweeping the Internet, we daily receive an increasing number of books to review. Yet, in counterpoint, we have a shortage of reviewers, and many of our reviews staff are several books behind.We are eagerly and actively seeking new people to review for us. As with all of Sime~Gen, our reviewers are volunteers. When they write a review, it is posted
with their byline, and they get to keep the review copy of the books they have read and reviewed.
For more information on our Reviewers Agreement, visit: http://www.simegen.com/agreements/revagr.html
Please help us by passing this information along to anyone you know who might want to join our happy band. If interested, they can send a note expressing their interest to Jean at simegen@simegen.com
******
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Anyone shopping Amazon who wants to contribute to simegen.com without it costing them a cent, please start by using any of the Amazon Search boxes on our pages. Our top page has three really handy ones near the bottom. http://www.simegen.com
******Please Support Those Advertisers Who Support Us *****
******NEW ITEMS FROM ARTISTS AND AUTHORS AT CAFE PRESS
A SIME~GEN postage stamp is now available to order on cafe press. It can be used just as you would use a regular postage stamp. Be the first on YOUR block to have them!
We've got a new page for Cafe Press items from our artists and authors. Now you can get t-shirts, greeting cards, clocks, mugs, and other great stuff with work from your favorite artists. You can even buy books about Nessie, the Orange Forest Rabbit and The Reluctant Spy that aren't available anywhere else.
http://simegen.com/marketplace/cafepress/ is a direct link to all our items and merchandise stores. Use of this page will give the domain extra income. If there is an item that you wish to see that isn't offered, just write Lois at lois@lochness-monster.com and she'll get it ready for you to order.
******
******HELP WANTED*****
The spotlights section of Simegen.com currently needs interviewers, spotlight posting personnel, an assistant spotlights gatemaster, and a keygifts store manager. We are also requesting an Assistant Reviews Co-coordinator - duties include covering when other staff are unable to perform tasks. We are almost finished revamping our reviews section and expect activity to be at a constant high level. We're looking for a versatile quick learner able to put in some time
daily. Pluses are: A good command of the English language (syntax, grammar, punctuation, in that order), some computer experience or ability to learn, and an interest in books. Direct all inquiries to simegen@simegen.com.
Individuals to take over, or assist with the SIMECENTER Site -- It isn't at all hard, but a bit time-consuming...and very rewarding ("meeting" these marvelous authors and artists, if only via E-Mail and their websites.) Please write me, Kaires Tevesu,
****** Please Support Those Advertisers Who Support Us *****
******PUBLICATION SCHEDULE********
We have had to withdraw the entire Sime~Gen project from Meisha Merlin for a wide range of reasons. They missed several deadlines for publication of TO KISS OR TO KILL and showed no signs of intention to get it out any time in the foreseeable future. That stalled everything else. It was very disappointing. So we are now actively in search of another publisher.
THE UNITY TRILOGY should continue to be available for some time -- they have the right to dispose of all stock in the Meisha Merlin warehouse.
******
******AVAILABLE RELEASES***********
~ the Omnibus reprint of Jean Lorrah's SAVAGE EMPIRE: DARK MOON RISING --
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/193210013X/rereadablebooksr/ is #1 in the reprint program.
~ Trade Paperback edition of DREAMSPY from BenBella Books and you can order on Amazon and some other places
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1932100253/rereadablebooksr/
Read the comments here:
http://www.simegen.com/writers/luren/dreamspy/dreamspyreviews.html
~ SAVAGE EMPIRE: PROPHECIES
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/193210030X/rereadablebooksr/ is #2 in Jean Lorrah's and Winston Howlett's omnibus reprint of the Savage Empire
series.
Still Available in Trade Paperback, SIME~GEN: THE UNITY TRILOGY
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1592220037/rereadablebooksr/
******
***** Sites to Remember *****
Author spotlights: http://www.simegen.com/writers/spotlights/
Chats: http://www.simegen.com/writers/spotlights/chat.html
Romance articles: http://www.simegen.com/romance/articles.html
Reviews of books by Jacqueline Lichtenberg:
http://www.simegen.com/reviews/rereadablebooks/
Reviews: http://www.simegen.com/reviews/
Shopping: http://www.simegen.com/marketplace/
Sound files of Jacqueline Lichtenberg pronouncing Sime~Gen vocabulary words can be found at http://www.simegen.com/jl/nivetsoundfiles/index.html
To sign up for classes, go to http://www.simegen.com/school/SchoolForms.html
To volunteer, go to http://www.simegen.com/agreements/helpwanted.html
for the latest openings.
******
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To contact editor for any reason, please e-mail Lisa Saunders at simegen@simegen.com
*Please Note all material posted on Official Virtual Tecton is copyright © by Sime~Gen Inc. and all rights are reserved. To get your Sime~Gen(tm) material sanctioned for web posting or to get permission to repost from official materials, e-mail ambrovzeor@aol.com, contact simegen@simegen.com.
Sime~Gen (tm) is the trademark of a fictional universe copyright © by Jacqueline Lichtenberg, 1969, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1986 and Sime~Gen Inc. 1999-2009.
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