[Spotlight Post] Helio-Con 1 Januray 26th
Happy First Friday of 2014…and we’re off and running. I just got a note that says my first show of the season is just two weeks away. YIKES. So come see me at Helio-Con in Lewisville, TX on Sunday (yes, SUNDAY, January 26th at the MCL Grand Theater.
Helio-Con is a brand new science fiction show. They’re trying something and bless them for it. It seems to be run by a local Jewish community called “Legion of Extraordinary Jews” – at least they’re a major sponsor, along with Tiffany and her crew at Roll2Play and some corporations.
This is somewhere between your typical fan-run convention and a Comic Book Show. It’s reminding me of the book festival I did a couple of years ago in East Texas. There’s a Vendor Room and a handful of “Special Guests” speaking, but not a lot of “panels”. The Special Guests do a 45 minute talk on something and the rest is hanging out at the tables.
I’m a VENDOR at this – they have bigger names than me speaking – like Rachel Caine and Michael Jan Friedman along with comic creators and actors. I’m looking forward to meeting Felix Silla who was both Cousin Itt on the Adams Family and Twiki on Buck Rogers – two of my most favorite characters EVER. But I will be there selling books and representing the Four Redheads of the Apocalypse/
So why am I doing this? Because it’s a new venue. It’s a new crew of people trying to raise Science Fiction awareness. We need more of these types of people and shows. We need anyone and everyone who’s willing to help promote the arts and reading – especially in the genres and in communities you might not expect. What we consider the traditional science fiction fan run convention is aging out. Younger people are into different things. If we as writers, artists, and fans are going to survive, we have to embrace and adapt and support shows that might be different than what we’ve done before.
FenCon, my home convention, is a “friend of the event”, which is as it should be. We want to encourage more community involvement and excitement. I know it’s a busy weekend. On Friday night, head out to Café Bohemia in Plano to see Kasey Lansdale sing at 7pm and then rest up on Saturday to come hang with us in Lewisville at Helio-Con. It’s going to be fun.