LepreCon 36. May 14-16, 2010. Phoenix Mesa Marriott, Mesa, AZ

[Parris]

I'll try to keep my best friend as far away as possible. He's been going on for years about how much he wants to ask George why he keeps doing other projects (wasting time) when aSoIaF is not yet finished.

Since I will be attending this convention, I think keeping your friend from asking really stupid questions would be a good idea.

George is a much much much nicer person than I am.

Oh, and asking what happens to the series if he dies is right out too.

[The_BlauerDragon]

Since I will be attending this convention, I think keeping your friend from asking really stupid questions would be a good idea.

Hence my wanting to try and keep him away ( Plan A ), or at least make sure that he's properly muzzled ( Plan B ). I must admit that I feel partly responsible. Primarily because I'm the one that bugged him for years to read the series, and now that he has, well... He's as addicted as the rest of us here.

[Watcher]

I have a friend like that too. I may have to use a lot of duct tape to keep him from asking any stupid questions.

[kcf]

I'm starting to get a bit excited about this. Maybe I'll contact some of the con organizers and see if they want a decently well-known SFF blogger on a panel or such.

[Lady Celeste]

It just so happens that I moved back to AZ in November and ever so conveniently my favorite author is coming to Mesa! Hurray! I would be honored to join in any festivities planned, count me in. :cheers:

[Starkess]

Sounds interesting. AZ isn't too far for me (6 hours isn't that bad!), and my in-laws live in the area and it would be nice to see them. Not sure if I could convince my hubby that this isn't the weirdest thing ever, though. He still doesn't get why I post on an internet message board at all, and certainly not why I like meeting those other nerds in person! :) Plus, I don't know what my underway schedule will be like, as we'll be gearing up for a 2-month outing...so we'll see.

[Watcher]

Lady C, welcome back to AZ. The weather is nicer here.

Starkess, my ex-Navy buddy is coming. Maybe you can tell the hubby your going on to discuss building up the Arizona Navy with him?

[Eponine]

I'd like to come but can't make a commitment.

It's a 16 hour drive via Moab and Flagstaff, so I would potentially be interested in driving down over a few days.

[The_BlauerDragon]

I'd like to come but can't make a commitment.

It's a 16 hour drive via Moab and Flagstaff, so I would potentially be interested in driving down over a few days.

If you book it this far in advance, you could most likely get plane tickets for dirt cheap. It's not like Arizona is a hot tourist destination in the middle of May.

[Lady Celeste]

Not sure if I could convince my hubby that this isn't the weirdest thing ever, though. He still doesn't get why I post on an internet message board at all, and certainly not why I like meeting those other nerds in person! :)

Ahaha, same problem here. I basically just said "Hey, you know how my fave author is going to the con in Mesa? Well, we might also be going to dinner with him and 15-20 of his fans." He was not very enthused, but I am going to be relating different parts of the story to him to try and bring him up to speed. Last night I started with the Starks and the direwolves - I quickly realized that I'm going need until at least May to do it.

Watcher - Thanks! Other than the past few days of rain it's been beautiful. I'm apparently one of the few who was actually born here, everyone that I've met is a transplant.

I am excited to potentially meet other local(ish) GRRM fans!

[Eponine]

If you book it this far in advance, you could most likely get plane tickets for dirt cheap. It's not like Arizona is a hot tourist destination in the middle of May.

I travel 30-40% of the time for business, with little advance notice, so I can't book anything this far out.

I'd rather drive through those places anyway than take yet another plane flight.

[The_BlauerDragon]

I can understand. It does sound like a beautiful drive. We'll just have to hope to see you here.

[kcf]

There is an AZ author named Sam Sykes who has a fantasy book coming out later this year from Pyr (Gollancz in the UK). It's getting some early buzz.

Anyway, I'm trying to Sam to show up as well - we'll see if it works out.

[WrathOfTinyKittens]

I would really love to attend this, but I suppose I'll have to make sure that it fits. How much does it cost to register?

[kcf]

Here's the website.

It costs $40-45 depending on when you register. Hotel rates are about $99.

[Parris]

There is an AZ author named Sam Sykes who has a fantasy book coming out later this year from Pyr (Gollancz in the UK). It's getting some early buzz.

Anyway, I'm trying to Sam to show up as well - we'll see if it works out.

Sam is a really interesting young writer, we've met him and enjoy his company immensely. I've got an ARC of his first novel THE TOME OF THE UNDERGATES, took a quick peek at the first chapter and liked what I saw but then I got my hands on a copy of Connie Willis' long-awaited new novel BLACKOUT, and I'm sure Sam will understand why his novel will have to wait one more week before I start reading it, I mean, it's Connie freakin' Willis, man.

If you can convince him to come to the convention, that would be excellent! He'd be a good addition to panels on being a new writer, and I suspect he'd be a lot of fun at a BwB party too. Be good to see him.

[kcf]

Ahh...the influence of Parris. It looks like Sam will be there.

[Lee Whiteside]

Hello all,

I've been meaning to get in here and answer some questions about LepreCon 36, for which I'm the chairman, Lee Whiteside.

A couple of notes in regards to LepreCon itself to answer some of the questions raised above.

LepreCon is Arizona's annual science fiction and fantasy convention put on by Leprecon, Inc., an Arizona non-profit corportation. As you might surmise by the number 36, we've been around for a while. In the early years of the convention, the convention was held around St. Patrick's Day, which is why the founders went with the punnish name of LepreCon. However, as the winter tourist season expanded in the Phoenix area, especially the Cactus League, getting decent hotel rates in March was no longer possible and we've moved the convention to early to mid-May for most years. Last year, since we also had the Westercon over July 4th weekend, and the first North American Discworld Convention over Labor Day weekend, we took the sane approach and moved LepreCon 35 to early October and ran it as a fan gathering more as a thank you to the committee and staff of the other two conventions. As chair of LepreCon 36, happening the year after those two conventions, I wanted to make sure that LepreCon 36 had a good guest lineup, since the annual convention was overshadowed by the other events we put on last year. That's why we have Charles Vess and George as our main guests. We're also featuring local artist/author James A. Owen and just added author/musician Emma Bull as our Music Guest. I should also note that LepreCon has more of an art emphasis than most lcoal SF/F cons, which is why the Artist Guest is listed first, with the Author Guest second. What that means is we have a really good art show and usually more art oriented panels, but we still have a lot going on with the literary side of things.

We're looking forward to hosting George and Parris, and we definitely want to get Brotherhood Without Banners involved as well. In fact, over the last couple of years, I have talked to some of the people who have put on the BwB room parties at WorldCon and World Fantasy, but have misplaced any emails for them, and the web sites for the main organization are currently not very helpful. I'd definitely like to start talking with someone who can help with any BwB group activities and especially if you're wanting to throw a room party or doing some discussion panels. You can reach me directly at [email protected] or via the convention contact email [email protected].

The current membership rate is $40, however, we have offered a $5 discount to some other groups if they all get memberships at the same time. We should be able to do something similar with BwB.

We're just now getting programming going, so we don't yet have much specific programming information on the web site, but hope to have a general schedule up soon.

If you have any questions, please post them here or send me an email.

Thanks,

Lee Whiteside

LepreCon 36 Chair

[Lee Whiteside]

Sam is a really interesting young writer, we've met him and enjoy his company immensely. I've got an ARC of his first novel THE TOME OF THE UNDERGATES, took a quick peek at the first chapter and liked what I saw but then I got my hands on a copy of Connie Willis' long-awaited new novel BLACKOUT, and I'm sure Sam will understand why his novel will have to wait one more week before I start reading it, I mean, it's Connie freakin' Willis, man.

If you can convince him to come to the convention, that would be excellent! He'd be a good addition to panels on being a new writer, and I suspect he'd be a lot of fun at a BwB party too. Be good to see him.

I also wanted to follow up on this post from Parris, since I'm also involved with the local independent bookstore, The Poisoned Pen, in helping with the events they have with SF/F authors and they are working on having an event with him with the book is released. We were definitely looking at having him as a participant at LepreCon and will be following up with that.

Lee Whiteside

LepreCon 36 Chair

[Watcher]

Thanks for joining the site and added some more about the con Lee. The past few weeks I've been concentrating on the Estralla War with the SCA. Now that its over and I'm mostly recovered I'm going to be working on giving George and Parris a proper greeting. I'm very excited about meeting them in my home area.