Weekly Plugs for 5/25/07

Big anniversary today. Thirty years ago today was the release of Star Wars, certainly a great milestone in the history of fandom/geekdom. This weekend is Memorial Day, the official start of the summer season here on the Cape. From here on we will be in "summer traffic mode" for the next three months.

I'll be spending the weekend visiting family, but around the country there are a bunch of major conventions that various geeky friends and acquaintances are attending. For San Francisco area fans, this weekend is Baycon. In the midwest, there is Marcon in Columbus OH and the feminist SF convention, Wiscon in Madison WI. On the East Coast, the big event in Balticon in Baltimore MD. Safe travels to friends of mine attending all of these events!

This Week's Plugs

The final issue of Kinships, a magazine that I co-founded a little over six years ago, is now available. Although I haven't been involved in the publication of Kinships for the last few years, my co-editor Katrina Joyner has done a great job with it. She is now moving on to concentrate on some filmmaking projects. I'd encourage everyone to go check out the final installment.

Author Jennifer Brozek is now listed on Amazon.com. Her book is a roleplaying game supplement, A Players Guide to Castlemourn is co-written with Forgotten Realms creator Ed Greenwood.

thedarktower.com: New fansite dedicated to the works of Stephen King, particularly his Dark Tower series.

Minus - Webcomic about a girl with mysterious magical powers by Ryan Armand. Quirky and surreal with beautiful artwork.

Glenn Walker has a new comic review online at Avengers Forever.

Onyxhawke Agency - Literary agency for SF/Fantasy authors. I am not a client (I'm not currently submitting my writing to any agencies; not ready for that yet), but worth a visit by any aspiring writer just to read the FAQ and submission guidelines.

Good Causes

The Richard Hugo House will be holding their Write-O-Rama, a full day of writing workshops that raises money to support their ongoing efforts to encourage writing and the arts on June 17, 2007.

Last reminder on this one: Author Elizabeth Donald is donating all of her profits for the month of May 2007 from her online shop to the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. She has a pdf short story available on the shop called "Rabbit Hole Day" that she wrote to benefit this cause. "Rabbit Hole Day" available for a $2 donation. You can also donate to Ms. Donald's Relay For Life team.

Finis - A Book of Endings to Give People New Beginnings. This anthology of short fiction done in the style of "Choose Your Own Adventure" endings is scheduled for publication this summer. Proceeds will benefit ongoing Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Three of my stories are among the over forty unhappy endings featured in this collection. The book is edited by Ryan Macklin of Tomorrow the World! Games.

Upcoming Events

We'll be heading back out to Columbus for Origins in July, where we will be volunteering for the convention. We will have a table at Pi-Con in West Springfield MA in August, where I will be a panelist. Next year's SPACE is tentatively scheduled to return to the Aladdin Shrine Center in Columbus OH on March 1-2, 2008.

Plugs For My Stuff

I write comics. My latest is Zephyr & Reginald: Minions for Hire #2, illustrated by my wife, Gynn Stella.

I also write an ongoing fiction serial at The Edge of Propinquity, which appears each month along with four other stories by very talented writers.

I have three stories appearing in the upcoming Finis collection.

My personal zine is Caravan, which appears in the Phoenix APA. I'm currently working on a new issue.

I write two columns for Comic Widows, a comic fan website. One is "Panel Discussion" which features short reviews of individual comic books. The other is my travel column, "On the Road".

You can also check out my Comicspace page, my Deviantart page, and my Livejournal. I have three groups here on Gather: Geek Travel, Magic the Gathering Players, and Panel Discussion (Comic Book Reviews).

For the gamers out there, I sell Magic: The Gathering cards on Cardshark. My seller ID is rsilva. You can find my inventory here.