MarsCon 2021: Forces of Darkness is virtual, free, and it starts today, March 12. Programming will run on Zoom, YouTube, and Discord.
When I’m not on or attending programming, you’ll probably find me in Krushenko’s Lounge on Discord running and participating in writing sprints.
Scheduled Events
Times are Central Time, USA, so convert appropriately!
Friday, March 12
8:30 pm – Apocalypse Crafting
Saturday, March 13
10 am – Writers and Their Pets 11:15 am – Assistive Technology in Science Fiction 1:30 pm – Reading (chapters 5-7 of Something Familiar) 10:00 pm – Writing Craft: World Building – Hard vs Soft
Sunday, March 14
11:30 am – Cut the Boring Parts
I’ll be wrapping up my MarsCon attendance at about 2:30 on Sunday so I can run a 3:00 Girl Scout meeting
Capricon is coming up in a few hours, and I can attend since it’s gone virtual this year. Getting to check out some cons that I normally can’t afford to attend has been an unexpected positive in the pandemic.
Here’s my schedule, I hope to see some friendly faces (or names if your cameras are off) in the audience.
The Young Shall Inherit the Earth:Wondrous Worlds of YA – Panel – Moderator Thursday, February 4; 5-6pm (central time) Other panelists include Kathryn Sullivan, Donna J.W. Munro, and Cindy Matthews
Something Familiar – Reading Saturday, February 6; 11:30am-12:00 noon (central time) I will read the first few chapters of Something Familiar, which will also be available on the virtual freebie table.
Future of Accessibility – Panel – Panelist Sunday, February 7; 12-1pm (central time) Our moderator will be W A (Bill) Thomasson and Miss Chief will be our other panelist.
It’s not too late to register to attend Capricon. The rate is a very affordable $10, and if that would be a hardship, you can actually register for $0, because organizers know times are tough
Had another lovely MarsCon this past weekend. I got to do a little bit of everything I wanted, including talking writing with some excellent people (on panels and more casually out and about) and finding a few more anime shows to watch with the kids. We also got to see some of our friends who we don’t get together with nearly often enough.
Programming
I was on seven panels this year, five of which I moderated and two that were moderated by Kathryn Sullivan. We are frequently on panels together as she also swims in the young adult (YA) speculative fiction pool. My favorite thing about her is that she doesn’t beat around the bush on the tough issues, and she stays so positive while doing so.
I was able to coax Ozgur K. Sahin onto three of my panels. I’m always happy to have him at the table, because even if something goes horribly awry, no one will get bored with him there. Where I have home-field advantage on character building, Ozgur is by far better at plot, and he had a lot to add on both these topics. He creates historical fiction (and his book table display is an inspiration for the rapidly approaching point when I will need to manage a table at events). As he came to the indie writing path by a different route, it was great having him on my Saturday morning indie writing panel.
I was fortunate to run into T. Aaron Cisco, a Minneapolis author of Afrofuturism and hard science fiction on Friday night. I met him on a diversity panel at last year’s MarsCon, and we both read at Word Brew in October. In addition to being a genuinely nice person and an early Doctor Who fan (Whovians unite!), T. Aaron Cisco a really funny and engaging speaker. With a bit of help from social media, I was able to draft him onto my indie writer panel as well. This resulted in three completely different perspectives, which was what I was hoping for. It was probably my favorite panel of the weekend.
Kathryn Sullivan, T. Aaron Cisco, and S.N.Arly standing in the hotel hallway between panels.
My last panel of the con, wasn’t really a panel since it was just me at the table. I’ll be honest, I was not expecting much of an audience at 1 pm on Sunday to hear about Midwestern mythological monsters. However, the room was packed! And the audience became excellent participants as we discussed the reasons why so many writers go back to European monsters and what cool critters we could be using here. I’m super excited to explore ways to add these creatures into my own work.
Girl Scout Cookies and Kids at the Con
MarsCon has a long history of supporting Girl Scout cookie sales. We’ve had one-hour cookie booths the last few years. This year, the con was a little short on participating Girl Scouts, so we had three two-hour cookie booths. While it was kind of a lot, it ended up not being too much for 然然 (Ran Ran). We shared our cookie memes, got to see lots of people on their way to different events, and sold a bunch of cookies (victory thy name is Peanut Butter Patties). We sold 101 packages at the booth and 36 to people who contacted us ahead of the convention with pre-orders.
This year we gave the spawn a bit more free rein, and they handled it very well. They had a great time, stayed up waaaay too late, and managed to not get into any trouble, so it was a win for everyone. It felt like the tween/teen population was smaller than usual, and I’m hoping that’s just a blip that will resolve next year. Nerdy kids need nerdy social activities, and it helps if the nerdy kids are actually there.
Anime
Since my son 百仁 (Bai Ren) didn’t really have any con friends to hang out with this year (and herding the little sister is only fun for so long), we spent some time together primarily checking out anime in either the YA/Anime programming room or the Anime Fusion party room.
S.N.Arly as Elizabeth Lioness.
Now on our list to check out, having sat through a few episodes, are:
Full Metal Panic
Blue Exorcist
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Last Exile
Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
All in all, a great convention. We’re already registered for next year.
Saturday 10:00 am – A Peek Into the Indie Writer World – Krushenko’s (Room 1117) 12:00-2:00 pm – Girl Scout Cookie Booth 4:00 pm – Psi Powers: Science Fiction or Fantasy or What? Krushenko’s (Room 1117) 5:00-6:00 pm Girl Scout Cookie Booth 7:00 pm – Through the Magic Door: The Appeal of Portal Fantasy – Re(a)d Mars (III – Eagle’s Nest) 8:00 pm – Dealing With Rejection – Re(a)d Mars (III – Eagle’s Nest)
Sunday 11:00 am – 12:00 pm – Girl Scout Cookie Booth 12:00 pm – Writing Craft: Character Development – Krushenko’s (Room 1117) 1:00 pm Midwest Mythologic Creatures – Re(a)d Mars (III – Eagle’s Nest)
MarsCon is one of my favorite conventions because it has a bit of everything, making it a full geek experience, without the overwhelming crowds like ConVergence, DragonCon, and ComicCon. The programming is diverse, and I can actually get to the things I want to attend (unless there’s two things I want to see at the same time, or I’m scheduled on a panel across from something else). The costumes are top notch, and the people are very nice.
I started this year’s MarsCon by dashing up ten flights of stairs to get to my 4 pm panel Artistic Inspiration. I take my moderator duties seriously, but the hotel was down an elevator and the snow made our drive extra slow. I didn’t die, but I did need my inhaler, and it turned out we had to wait for someone to open the room anyway.
Artistic Inspiration
Our Artistic Inspiration panelists were A. Merc Rustad (writer guest of honor), Ruth Berman (speculative fiction and poetry writer, and Rhysling Award winner), Kathryn Sullivan (YA writer), and myself as moderator. I’ve been on many panels with Ruth and Kathryn. Ruth has a nearly uncanny knowledge of quotes, golden age speculative fiction, and L. Frank Baum. Kathryn brings an energy that can help perk up those dozy panels in hot crowded rooms. I’d not had the pleasure of being on a panel with Merc, and they were an excellent participant, providing a little different perspective and experience than the other panelists, which ensured we had lots to discuss and share.
We talked a bit about how inspiration can be the spark that triggers a story, or it can be a the energy that helps us continue through the longer pieces or rough patches of finishing a story.
Recommendations for sparking your inspiration or refueling your creative energy:
Some libraries have streaming audio books through Hoopla
Writing or using your creativity, as use seems to beget ideas
S.N.Arly of Gryffindor
Remainder of Friday
MarsCon was held at the Hilton Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport/Mall of America, where it’s been the last few years. It’s a good size and has some nice features – it’s generally accessible (when all three elevators function) the stairs aren’t locked, and they don’t use hyper-scented cleaners, soaps, or deoderizers that trigger my asthma, unlike some hotels. It also has a few downsides in that the parking situation is not ideal and while the restaurant does a great job with breakfast, it’s over-priced and under-whelming for lunch or dinner.
I moderated an 8 pm Writing Diversity Right, but it’s getting it’s own blog post because I have resources to share. The parties were good, with the IKV Rakehell and Nokomis groups always do a nice job. It was nice to see Babylon 5 recognized this year, but I missed the Harry Potter and Royal Manticoran Navy, both of which have been fantastic in the past.
At Marscon 2018, I moderated a panel discussion on resources for speculative fiction writers. I’ll share a bit of our discussion here to tide you over as I prepare several posts (which will all be tagged and available under the resources link in the main menu) with links to tools and essays that may be of use to writers (especially those who write fantasy, science fiction, and horror).
The questions below are some I asked my panelists. The answers are a summary of the collective discussion. Huge thanks to Kathryn Sullivan, Naomi Kritzer, and Ozgur K. Sahin, who are always excellent to talk shop with.
S.N.Arly 