ConQuesT 48 is coming sooner than you think--your chance to
register online before the convention
ends April 30, 2017!
What's so great about
ConQuesT? Well, we must be doing something right, to have put on 47 of them previously . . . but let's look at the offerings. We have
four headliner guests (more about them below), lots of
other professional artists, writers, and others, plus
multiple programming track and
special events run by
experienced fans who know how to keep it fun and smooth for everyone.
Our Guests of Honor
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| Robert J. Sawyer and Hominids-inspired friend |
Robert J. Sawyer - Author GoH
Toronto-based
Robert J. Sawyer has won the best-novel
Hugo Award (for
Hominids), and has twelve other Hugo nominations to his credit. He’s also won the best-novel
Nebula Award (for
The Terminal Experiment), the
John W. Campbell Memorial Award (for
Mindscan), plus numerous other awards around the world.
In 2016 he was named to the
Order of Canada, the highest civilian honor bestowed by the Canadian government. His 23 novels include the #1 Locus bestsellers
Calculating God,
Triggers, and the
May KC SF&F Literati selection,
Quantum Night. The
ABC TV series FlashForward was based on
his novel of the same name, and he was one of the scriptwriters for that series.
 |
| Jonathan Maberry in his natural habitat |
Jonathan Maberry - Toastmaster
Jonathan Maberry is a New York Times best-selling novelist, five-time
Bram Stoker Award winner, and comic book writer. He writes the
Joe Ledger thrillers, the
Rot & Ruin series, the
Nightsiders series, the
Dead of Night series, as well as standalone novels in multiple genres. He's also edited many anthologies, including
The X-Files,
Scary Out There,
Out Of Tune, and
V-Wars.
He is the founder of the
Writers Coffeehouse, and the co-founder of The Liars Club. He was a featured expert on the
History Channel documentary,
Zombies: A Living History, and a regular expert on the TV series
True Monsters. He is one third of the very popular and mildly weird
Three Guys With Beards pop-culture podcast. Jonathan lives in Del Mar, California, with his wife, Sara Jo.
Rachael Mayo - Artist GoH
Rachael Mayo is a fantasy and SF artist who prefers traditional art media. She specializes in mixed media (this can include watercolor, colored pencil, paint pens, ink, acrylic, and shiny objects). She likes to create creatures with eye-searingly bright color schemes.
Rachael mostly takes private commissions or works on personal projects. She occasionally creates book covers or interior illustrations, primarily with small press publishers. She also has published
Dragon Adventure, a coloring book of her art, and sells her work to the public at science-fiction/fantasy convention art shows around the country. She earned a bachelor’s degree in illustration from University of Central Missouri in 1999, but by day she works as a systems administrator who enjoys tormenting unsuspecting mainframes. She spends most hours outside of her day job producing art. She lives in Kansas City, Missouri.
 |
| A recent Rachael Mayo, the "Skittles Explosion" version of Turquoise Conjunction Digicolor 2 |
Zac Zacarola - Fan GoH
 |
| Zac Zacarola and a wall of Ziggy's West swords. |
A familiar face in the convention dealer’s room at the
Ziggy’s West table, Zac first took interest in science fiction when he discovered “all those B movies” as a kid. His favorite is still the original
The Day the Earth Stood Still. “Then,
Star Trek came along,” he said. While studying chemistry at
West Virginia University, he associated with
Monongamoot, WVU’s SciFi club, met Jo, who was involved with
MonCon III, and “thanks to her, I’ve attended a number of SciFi conventions which I may not have otherwise attended, including four
WorldCons.”
For more than 35 years, Zac was an analytical chemist in the nuclear power industry. “Talk about SciFi comin' to life!” he says. Since 2008, he’s worked on the environmental side of things, including the
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) and groundwater protection. Zac specialized in corrosion control and metallurgy, which he now applies to the fine merchandise of
Ziggy’s West, a business which has existed since 1987.
Other Highlights
ConQuesT Art Show
One of the largest and best-quality science fiction convention art shows in the region, the ConQuesT Art Show maintains its high quality through its system of jurying artists in, then doing everything possible to make sure those artists sell as well as possible. Show attendees enjoy 2D and 3D artwork by top fantasy and science fiction artists from all over North America.
ConQuesT Dealers' Room
Our
Dealers' Room offers a wide variety of wares, from
Ziggy's swords and other metallic wonders, through
fiber arts and costumes,
jewelry,
2D and 3D artwork, an array of
books,
videos,
comics,
games,
gaming supplies, and related
sundries. And don't forget the
buttons,
bumper stickers, and
T-shirts!
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| A view of the ConQuesT 46 Dealers' Room |
Story-In-A-Bag, Writers' Workshop, and Writing Programming Track
There's plenty of programming for, and involving, writers at all points in their career.
Seasoned pros and famous writers conduct panels on many aspects of speculative literature, the writing craft, and the business of being a writer.
A writers' workshop offers one-on-one critique services to writers seeking to improve their skills, and the ever-popular
Story-In-A-Bag Contest offers a fun creative challenge for story-spinners of all ages and skill levels.
The photo of Robert J. Sawyer with the Neanderthal skull is by Carolyn Clink, and was provided by Sawyer's website. The photo of Jonathan Maberry in his office is from Jessica Lawlor's interview with him. The photo of Rachael Mayo is from the ConQuesT 48 website, and her Turquoise Conjunction Digicolor 2 is from her DeviantART Gallery. The photo of Zac Zacarola, by Chris Moose Mendolia, is also from the ConQuesT 48 website.
The photo of part of the ConQuesT Art Show from the KaCSFFS Blog post “What Makes the ConQuesT Art Show So Great?” by David Sooby. The Dealers' Room photo is from the indispensable Midamerican Fan Photo Archive of Keith Stokes. The photo of the bags from a recent past Story-in-A-Bag Contest is from the ConQuesT 48 website.
