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| No Sci-Fi convention is complete without a Tardis |
As
I write this, Horrorhound Cincinnati is going on about 5 miles from
me. While some greats are there, like Sergio Stivaletti, Tom Di Zarn
and Charles Band, I am not. Why, you ask, would a dork of
horror such as yourself miss such an illustrious gathering? Simply
put, I spent all my money at Millenicon and I couldn’t be happier.
If
you don’t already know, Millenicon is a Speculative Fiction
convention run by the Miami Valley Fandom For Literacy(MVFL), a non
profit dedicated to promoting the study of science through writing
and reading. Even if you aren’t a dork, you have to admit that goal
is awesome. Granted, the bulk of the focus in panels and activities
are on Science fiction, but there is enough horror on tap to keep a
bloodhound like me interested. Besides, it’s always good to expand
your horizons.
 |
| Janet Harriet, Senior Editor for Apex Publications |
As
a broad statement, I always enjoy that fact that Millenicon draws
enough people to be interesting, but doesn’t get so crowded as to
be claustrophobic. It’s social and fun, but intimate enough to be
comfortable. That intimacy is always the real draw for me, and what
has spoiled me compared to other, larger Cons. I get incredibly
excited about meeting the creators of the art that shapes my life and
I get to actually meet them here. Mike Resnick and Tim Waggoner don’t
charge $20 for an autograph and they’ll spend time chatting with me
like an actual person. It feels like the gathering of a community
instead of another machine designed to strip you of your cash. It
feels like home. Also, I always appreciate that they have enough
panels on tap to keep me busy, but not so much as to spread the
audience too thin.
 |
| Matt Betts, Sally Ike, Sarah Hans and a guy whose name I don't remember educating me on the vagaries of Steampunk. |
Speaking
of panels, there were some doozies this year. Being a dork, I got
really into the Art and Science of Editing (who doesn’t want to
know how sausage is made, right?). Janet Harriet and Jason Sizemore
(editor and owner of Apex Publishing, respectively), Sarah Hans
(author and editor of Sidekicks!) and Tom Huber (author) discussed
the different types of editorial jobs, what editors expect when
receiving submitted work (hint: read their submission guidelines) and
scams to look out for. There was also a highly interesting round
table discussion about how to address the lack of diversity at Sci-Fi
and fanish cons where some honest to goodness plans took root. I had
a blast talking about the need for horror as a genre, defending gore
and violence like a knight covered in spleen and other fleshy bits
and arguing for being a nit-picking bastard of a reviewer as a
panelist. However, the most bizarre and entertaining portion was a
small gathering of absolutely filthy minded, mostly female,
individuals talking about inserting all manner of limb and implement
into a wide variety of orifices during the Slashfic Madlibs panel.
 |
| filthy, filthy minds on these ladies |
But
everybody knows the real fun comes at night, after the booths and
panels have closed down and all us crazy people retreat to the rooms.
I spent a while hanging out with members of a Sci-Fi society from
Columbus, chatting about everything we could think of, except science
fiction. They were good people. Then I traveled over to the
Sidekicks! release party where Steven Saus (owner of Alliteration Ink)
and Sarah Hans (editor of the anthology) hosted far too many people
crammed into far too small of a room, talking way too loud and
drinking too much beer and liquor. In other words: fun was had into
the wee hours of the night. Also, I had the opportunity to introduce
these ingrates to the wonders of Grippos BBQ chips in the big ass box.
 |
| Steven Saus and I arguing horror the next morning. |
End
quote: Millenicon is about the people and the community and the art
we all love, not the dealer’s floor. Even if I did buy enough books
to keep my ass busy for a good long while.
Favorite
quotes of the weekend:
“The
Victorians were REALLY high.” –Sarah Hans
“Aristotle
was an idiot!” –Jay Thomas, Chemistry and Physics teacher
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