Join us at the Holiday Meeting and Book-Signing 12/19/15

What: KaCSFFS Holiday Meeting and Book-Signing

Jim Murray, David Means, and Tracy Majkol
enjoy holiday treats at last year's Meeting.

Where: The WritersPlace

3607 Pennsylvania Ave., Kansas City, MO 64111

When: Saturday, December 19, 2015
Update: NO BoD meeting.

6:00 Doors open for setup and pre-meeting socializing.
7:00 Let the Party begin!

Join us for the Holiday Meeting!
Our holiday gatherings are a great place to relax with friends, share holiday treats, and warm up in the glow of the holiday season.

The food theme is HOLIDAY TREATS! If you have a favorite, please bring it to share. Some KaXFEN also bring small gifts or cards to exchange.

Book-Signing Attracts Six Local Authors!
Bring your own books, or buy from the authors at the meeting! 

L-R: Holly Messinger, Bryan Thomas Schmidt, and Robin W. Bailey

Robin W. Bailey is a bestselling author and editor of several dozen fantasy novels, short stories, and collections, and former president of SFWA, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Many of his recent collaborations have been with Bryan Thomas Schmidt. 

Holly Messinger's debut novel, The Curse of Jacob Tracy, was published December 1. The advance reviews, in publications such as Publishers Weekly, have been very positive. Meet this rising star of our region! UNFORTUNATE UPDATE: due to unexpected circumstances, Holly will not be able to attend, after all.

Bryan Thomas Schmidt is an author and Hugo-nominated editor of adult and children's speculative fiction. His most recent published project is Mission: Tomorrow. His debut novel, The Worker Prince, received an Honorable Mention on the Barnes & Noble Book Club's Year's Best Science Fiction Releases. 

L-R: Susan Satterfield, Mary Chambers, and Dora Furlong

MC Chambers most recently has had a short story published in a Hadley Rille Books anthology, Ruins Excavation. She also is the author of the novels Shaper's Veil and Silk and Velvet.

Susan Satterfield is a Professor in the English Department at the Metropolitan Community Colleges-Longview, in Lee's Summit. She is the author of Mirror Images, a fantasy novel, and has written short stories for Yard Dog Press collections, including I Should Have Stayed in Oz.UNFORTUNATE UPDATE: due to unexpected circumstances, Susan will not be able to attend, after all.

Dora Furlong's debut novel One of Our Own debuted last summer, and has been selling well on Amazon ever since. She is a frequent Savvy Authors teacher, with a background in the military and emergency services.

IMAGES: The photo of Jim, David and Tracy at the 2014 food table is by Jan S. Gephardt. The photos of Holly Messinger and Dora Furlong are from their Amazon Author Pages. The photos of Bryan Thomas Schmidt, Robin W. Bailey, and MC Chambers are from their author websites. The photo of Susan Satterfield is courtesy of the Lee's Summit Tribune. Many thanks to all!

Creative Corner--Extra Edition!

We have updates and more news about KaCSFFS' creative friends, that just couldn't wait for the regular December edition!

Messinger Book Debut today! 

The Curse of Jacob Tracy, the debut novel of Lawrence-based Holly Messinger that has been getting very positive advance reviews, becomes available for sale December 1, in bookstores and online. 

Signings scheduled!

Several of KaCSFFS' creative friends will be signing books at the December KaCSFFS meeting and Holiday Party, to be held at The Writers Place, 3607 Pennsylvania Ave., Kansas City, MO, onDec. 19, 2015. Currently confirmed authors include Holly Messinger, Bryan Thomas Schmidt, MC Chambers, Susan Satterfield, Robin W. Bailey, and Dora Furlong.

Holly Messinger also will be signing copies of her new book, The Curse of Jacob Tracy at two regional Barnes & Noble Bookstores: 

December 13, 2015 from 2-4 p.m. at the Topeka, KS Barnes & Noble, 6130 SW 17th St., Topeka, KS

January 16, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. at the Oak Park Barnes & Noble, 11323 W 95th Street, Overland Park, KS 66214.

Hollingsworth

Smashwords Premium Status for Hollingsworth

Aaron Hollingsworth has announced that all of his books are now available in Premium Status on Smashwords, and they are all set up so that buyers set the price. 

Hollingsworth currently has four titles available through Smashwords: The Apothecary of Manuta, The Broken Bards of Paris, The Geohex of Wraith County, and The Bone Brick City.

Area Artists Hold Holiday Open Houses!
Randal Spangler Fantasy Art: Dec. 5-6 and 12-13

New print: "Tree of Enchantment"

Kansas City fantasy artist Randal Spangler will host his Annual Holiday Open House at his home on the first two weekends of December, on Dec. 5-6, 2015, and then again on Dec. 12-13. 

Hours for each of the Saturdays are 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and on each of the Sundays from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Come enjoy the season with cookies, coffee, Christmas music, and a beautiful Christmas tree. 

There will be new artwork, older pieces, and some originals. You also might score some bargains among Randal's marked-down "travel worn" pieces that have been to several art fairs or Renaissance Festival booths en route to their new homes. For more information, please see his website.

New Print: "Adventures in Reading"

Ladyelf Home Studio: Dec. 13
Digital artist and jewelry designer Deb Pellicano has announced she will hold a Studio Open House and Art Sale December 13, at 201 SE Topaz Dr., Lee's Summit, MO. 

Her invitation says, "Wonderful art by Ladyelf (Debbi Pellicano), great food and drink, mingling, Holiday Cheer, and just a generally good time for everyone. Artwork will be for viewing and for sale. Hey, you know, art makes a wonderful gift!"

There also will be food: "We'll have munchies, home made turkey chili, beef veggie soup, drinks of all kinds, and hot cinnamon-spiced apple cider. The party is family-friendly and always well-attended."

Two new elf-girl prints from Deb Pellicano

IMAGES: Many thanks to the following image sources: 
The cover art for The Curse of Jacob Tracy was provided by Holly Messinger.

The photo of Aaron Hollingsworth is from his LinkedIn profile.

The header, "Tree of Enchantment," and "Adventures in Reading" images all are used with permission from Randal Spangler Fantasy Art.

The two elf-girl print images were provided by Deb Pellicano.

Many thanks to all!

Creative Corner

Here's what Creative Friends of KaCSFFS are doing!

Rachael Mayo, our local dragon-drawing phenomenon, is delighted to finally be able to announce that her new coloring book Dragon Adventure is now available from Kaliedoscopia, via Amazon. 

"We'd been waiting on the 'look inside' feature to become available so people could see the drawings," she explained. "It's fully functional now!"

Adult coloring books are the new stress-management trend. What better book to choose, for the lover of SF and fantasy, than Rachael's intricate and gorgeous drawings? See lots more of Rachael's artwork on DeviantArt. 

Lawrence-based Holly Messinger's soon-to-be published novel The Curse of Jacob Tracy just received an outstanding advance review in Publisher's Weekly. This is a highly promising local writer whose novel will be published in December by Thomas Dunne Books (NOTE: before the end of 2015. Thus it is Hugo-eligible and Campbell-eligible for MidAmericon II!). 

Read the review (and pre-order) with this convenient link! Or better yet, pre-order through your favorite local bookstore!

James K. Burk just signed a contract with WolfSinger Publications for his action-adventure novel The Long Way Home, first in the new Recon 9 Series. It will be published in 2016. Check Creative Corner for further updates!

Author James K. Burk

Susan Satterfield would like to remind everyone that the MCC-Longview Literary Festival is this coming Friday at the Longview Campus of the Metropolitan Community College in Lee's Summit, MO. 

Three KaCSFFS members will be among the writers at the Literary Festival. Bryan Thomas Schmidt will be a Featured Speaker; M.C. Chambers will be a Featured Author, and Aaron Hollingsworth will be featured as a panelist for several discussions throughout the day.

Bryan Thomas Schmidt invites everyone to a reading and book launch for Mission: Tomorrow, inside the KU Student Union at Jayhawk Ink, 2nd Floor, 1301 Jayhawk Blvd., Lawrence, KS. 

Hugo-nominated Editor Schmidt, and authors James Gunn, Robin Wayne Bailey and Chris McKitterick will be reading selections from the new Baen hard sf anthology, and signing copies.

The event is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 16, from 5:30-7:45 p.m. Refreshments will be served. 

IMAGES: The cover for Dragon Adventure is courtesy of Amazon. The cover for The Curse of Jacob Tracy is from Publishers Weekly. The image of James K. Burk is courtesy of the author himself. The cover for Mission: Tomorrow is courtesy of Bryan Thomas Schmidt. Thanks to all!

Creative Corner

Here's what Creative Friends of KaCSFFS are Doing!

Bryan Thomas Schmidt

Bryan Thomas Schmidt's debut novel, The Worker Prince, which made Barnes and Noble's “Year's Best SF of 2011,” is being released in a newly-revised and expanded Author's Definitive Version from Kevin J. Anderson's WordFire Press, in November.

Two sequels, to complete The Saga of Davi Rhii space opera trilogy, will be released next year, with both out by MidAmericon II. The Returning was released earlier; it will be re-released in a revised edition, along with the brand new conclusion to the series, The Exodus.

MISSION: TOMORROW, Bryan's next anthology for Baen and his first as a solo editor, is out November 3rd.

Bryan will be appearing at Archon, and as being a Featured Speaker at Susan Satterfield's MCC Longview Literary Festival in October, and appearing at Stan Lee's Comikaze Comic Con in Los Angeles Oct. 30-Nov. 1.

Mitch Bentley
Mitch Bentley will be the Artist Guest of Honor at Fencon, September 25-27, at the Westin Dallas Ft. Worth Airport. He also will appear at Archon the following weekend, October 2-4, at the Gateway Convention Center and Doubletree Hotel in Collinsville, MO (near St. Louis).

Mitch will debut a new cover for Rhonda Eudaly's Tarbox Station, published by Yard Dog Press, at Fencon. Also for Yard Dog, he will debut a new cover for Lee Killough's Ancient Enemy, later this year.

In addition, Mitch just completed the cover for Virtue Inverted, for Piers Anthony and co-writer Kenneth Kelly, who also served as art director on the project. The book is still in the initial stages of layout and design, but it should be released very soon as an eBook. The trade paperback will be released a little later.

William F. Wu
William F. Wu's most recent work is a short story called "China City Flame" in an anthology called Asian Pulp. It's a crime story set in 1939, and is his second published crime story, though the first was also a ghost story.This is his first published story without any science fiction or fantasy elements.

Wu also had a new story, titled "Yellowsea Yank," in the original ebook anthology, Defiant, She Advanced: Legends of Future Resistance, edited by George Donnelly. The story is steampunk, set in the 1890s, and he hopes it'll be the first of a series. He also has another steampunk short story in the pipeline, for another original anthology, the game-related Steamscapes: Asia. This story is titled "Clockwork Glide."

In addition, Wu has an ongoing series of stories in the War World anthology series, edited by John F. Carr, and he has begun releasing some of his short fiction in e-book form, on all the major retail websites.

Mark Esping

Mark Esping has reprinted NEQUA, or The Problem of the Ages, a "feminist, hollow-earth, utopian science fiction novel" originally published in 1900 in Topeka, KS. It includes 40 pages of new material, giving background information on some of the people originally responsible for publishing it. Available via Amazon, ABE, and biblio.com (KAXFEN interested in purchasing a copy should bring $20 cash to a meeting, and he'll hand-deliver your copy).

If you are interested in learning more about this piece of sf history with a local angle, you may find the small item Mark wrote for Fantasy and Science Fiction interesting. The novel also is the subject of a Wikipedia page. There are only 11 or 12 copies of the original edition still in existence.

Susan Satterfield 

Susan Satterfield reminds local and regional writers that the 2015 MCC-Longview Literary Festival will be held Friday, October 23 on the Longview campus of the Metropolitan Community College, in Lee's Summit, MO. (Please note the link currently leads you to information on last year's festival, but 2015 should be similar). For more information or if you'd like to participate in panels, readings, and/or a table to sell your work, contact Susan Satterfield.

IMAGES: Many thanks to Bryan Thomas Schmidt for his cover art, Mitch Bentley for the images of his cover artwork, to William F. Wu for the images of his covers, to Mark Esping for the cover image of NEQUA, and for the photo of students at the literary festival, from the Longview Literary Festival page.