Merry Christmas! Here's your reading assignment!

Start now, getting ready for the January SF & F Literati meeting!

Date: January 26, 2015-7:00 p.m.

Title: Count to a Trillion

Author: John C. Wright

Publisher: Tor Books

Available from: Fine booksellers, including Barnes & Noble

Meeting Location: Barnes & Noble #2352, 2^nd Floor
11323 W 95th Street, Overland Park, KS 66214

Overview from Barnes & Noble:

“John C. Wright burst upon the SF scene a decade ago with the Golden Age trilogy, an innovative space opera. He went on to write fantasy novels, including the popular Orphans of Chaos trilogy. And now he returns to space opera in Count to a Trillion.

“After the collapse of the world economy, a young boy grows up in what used to be Texas as a tough duelist for hire, the future equivalent of a hired gun. But even after the collapse, there is space travel, and he leaves Earth to have adventures in the really wide open spaces. But he is quickly catapulted into the more distant future, while humanity, and Artificial Intelligence, grows and changes and becomes a kind of superman.” 

IMAGE CREDIT: the cover image for Count to a Trillion is from the Bewildering Stories review blog. 

An Ornamental Christmas Meeting

KaCSFFS Holiday Party

Where: The Writer's Place, 36th & Pennsylvania, KCMO

When: 7:00 pm, Saturday December 20th. (Note: doors will be open at 6:00 pm for Christmas tree and decoration set-up.)

NOTE: NO BoD Meeting!

This will be the club's Annual Holiday party and meeting, always one of our most popular events. 

Bring Food!

Refreshment table and decorations in 2011.

As usual, KaCSFFS will provide all necessary party supplies: paper plates, cups, napkins, and plastic ware, even some utensils. 

Club members (and friends) are asked to provide all our food, snacks, treats, desserts, and beverages. (Real food is also strongly encouraged) And as usual, the party will be strictly BYOB.

Ornament Exchange 

Bring one--take one!

Quartermaster Ty Gephardt recently uncovered the club's portable Christmas tree and decorations. It has been suggested that this year all KaCSFFS members participate in an ornament exchange. Bring a tree decoration for the club's Christmas tree, and take home a different one at the end of the evening. Let's try this, and see how it works this year.

In the past, Christmas cards and/or small gifts have been exchanged during the party. Our President Ken Keller encourages everyone to continue this long-standing tradition.

IMAGE CREDITS: The photo of the refreshment table is from the December 17, 2011 meeting, taken by an unidentified member. The image of the gold ornaments is from the D Zine website.

KC Horror Book Club December 2014 Meeting

On the Lips of Children

By Mark Matthews

Details:
Date and Time: December 13, 2014 (Saturday) from noon to 1:30.
Location: The Green Room Burgers and Beer
Address: 4010 Pennsylvania Avenue, Suite D, Kansas City, MO.
Event Notes: 

Come and discuss On the Lips of Children and grab some food too.

"Meet Macon. Tattoo artist. Athlete. Family man.

"He's planning to run a marathon, but the event becomes something terrible.

"During a warm-up run, Macon falls prey to a bizarre man and his wife who dwell in an underground drug-smuggling tunnel. They raise their twin children in a way Macon couldn't imagine: skinning unsuspecting victims for food and money.

And Macon, and his family, are next."

-Books of the Dead Press

Check the Facebook Event Page for more information.

Please contact Earline Beebe for more information on the Facebook event page.
Image from: SITE. Published by PUBLISHER.

Laser Rangers 2014 December Meeting

Great Movies You Missed: 2014

Date: December 13, 2014
Time: 4:50pm
Location: David Sooby’s home theater with 51-inch Samsung HDTV, a 5.1 Surround Sound Dolby Digital sound system, a full set of audiophile-grade speakers, and upgraded seating for about 15 people without crowding.
Captain Laser: In the Airlock
Food: Back of the fridge
Costume: At least put something on. The year is almost over, let's party!!

To learn more, please visit our Facebook Event Page.

Short features will be shown before each feature. Don't miss them!

The Lego Movie

(2014, 100 minutes) Directed by: Phil Lord & Christopher Miller

Starring: Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman

An ordinary Lego construction worker, thought to be the prophesied 'Special', is recruited to join a quest to stop an evil tyrant from gluing the Lego universe into eternal stasis.-IMDB

Watch the trailer here!







~~~~~
After the first feature, please join us for a potluck dinner. Bring something to share. It can follow the theme, or be something you prefer.
~~~~~

Feature Presentation!
Space Station 76

(2014, 93 minutes) Directed by: Jack Plotnick

Starring: Patrick Wilson, Liv Tyler, Matt Bomer, Marisa Coughlan, Kylie Rogers, Kali Rocha, Jerry O'Connell, Keir Dullea

A 1970s version of the future, where personalities and asteroids collide.-IMDB

Watch the trailer here!







The home of the Laser Rangers is located about four miles north of the Kansas Speedway, NW of the intersection of I-70 and I-435 on the Kansas side of the Greater Kansas City area.

IMAGE CREDITS: The information for all of these shows come from the invaluable IMDB. The movie posters come from Wikipedia or the movie's respected distributors. 

The movie screen frame image used for the Laser Rangers contact information is courtesy of Psychology Today Online. Many thanks to these websites!

ConQuesT 46 Preview #2

By David Sooby
What Makes the ConQuesT Art Show So Great?
Let's admit it: ConQuesT attendees are totally and completely spoiled in having such a wonderful Art Show every year. Active fans who attend many conventions have been heard to remark that even some recent WorldCons have had art shows not much bigger than ours. We are also spoiled in having such a wide variety of art: Not just paintings and prints, but three dimensional art such as sculptures, jewelry, ceramics, and science fiction and fantasy knives and swords.

This is only one small part of last year's ConQuesT Art Show.

So how does a medium-sized, local/regional convention like ConQuesT create such a wonderful Art Show year after year? We interviewed Mike Neely, the current Art Show department head, to find out.

As with all the high profile attractions at ConQuesT, the Art Show is very much a team effort. Mike was a staff member under the former Art Show department head, Jan Gephardt, for three years, before taking the mantle of department head last year. Mike is continuing the tradition of excellence established by Jan and her predecessors. Mike is ably assisted by a team which includes his wife, Kat Gibb.

This is a wider view of last year's show.

ConQuest has a juried Art Show. An artist who has never displayed at ConQuesT must submit a sample of his art. Mike and his select jury of artists look over the submissions, and decide whether the art is – or is not – of sufficient quality to be shown at ConQuesT. Submissions can be made either by e-mailing Mike digital pictures of the art, or else by pointing to the artist's website.

Of course, being selective about what art to display wouldn't work if there were not a plethora of submissions to choose from! Last year the Art Show displayed 20 different artists' work, including two which were new to ConQuesT. Mike and his team are hardworking advocates for the artists, and last year every artist but one made sales.

One advantage for artists at ConQuesT is that the convention does not take a percentage of sales. There are fees for displaying art; $10 for a 2' x 6' panel, and $5 for half a table. “Print Shop” spaces at reduced rates are also available for bins of prints.

Peri Charlifu ("Dr. Who Udon Bowl" shown)
will show art in 2015.

Last year, Mike brought the Art Show record-keeping and payment system into the 21st Century. (Hooray!) All records are now electronic, and receipts are printed via computer, whereas previously they had been hand-written. Credit card payments can be made via PayPal “triangle.” 

This is a vast improvement over the previous method, which was to send buyers to Registration to make the credit card payment and then bring a receipt back to the Art Show. Another big advantage of all-electronic records is that it greatly speeds up Mike's ability to get payments out to the artists, and unsold art mailed back. All that was accomplished within about two to three weeks after the previous ConQuesT. We're sure our artists were both surprised and pleased to receive such prompt service.

David Lee Pancake was last year's Artist Guest of Honor. He's already promised his work will return in 2015.

It's a bit early for Mike to know just what artists will be displaying at ConQuesT 2015, but he already has commitments from David Lee Pancake and Peri Charlifu. You can see photos of some of their work on this page. We look forward to seeing what will be displayed by both new (to ConQuesT) artists and returning favorites at the Art Show next year!

IMAGE CREDITS: The photo of part of the 2014 ConQuesT Art Show at the top of the Page is from the ConQuesT Art Show page on the ConQuesT website. The 2014 wider room-view is by Keith Stokes, from the Midamerican Fan Photo Archive, Art Show and Dealers' Room page 1. The "Dr Who Udon Bowl" by Peri Charlifu is from Charlifu's Aegean Goods Facebook Page. The image of David Lee Pancake's display from 2014 is by Keith Stokes, from the Midamerican Fan Photo Archive, Art Show and Dealers' Room page 2.

SF & F Literati Meet November 24, 2014

Date: November 24, 2014-7:00 p.m.

Title: BurningParadise

Author: Robert Charles Wilson

Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates 

Available from: Fine booksellers, including Barnes & Noble

Meeting Location: Barnes & Noble #2352, 2^nd Floor
11323 W 95th Street, Overland Park, KS 66214

Overview from Barnes & Noble: 

“From Robert Charles Wilson, the author of the Hugo-winning Spin, comes Burning Paradise, a new tale of humans coming to grips with a universe of implacable strangeness.

“Cassie Klyne, nineteen years old, lives in the United States in the year 2015—but it’s not our United States, and it’s not our 2015.

“Cassie’s world has been at peace since the Great Armistice of 1918. There was no World War II, no Great Depression. Poverty is declining, prosperity is increasing everywhere; social instability is rare. But Cassie knows the world isn’t what it seems. Her parents were part of a group who gradually discovered the awful truth: that for decades—back to the dawn of radio communications—human progress has been interfered with, made more peaceful and benign, by an extraterrestrial entity. That by interfering with our communications, this entity has tweaked history in massive and subtle ways. That humanity is, for purposes unknown, being farmed.

“Cassie’s parents were killed for this knowledge, along with most of the other members of their group. Since then, the survivors have scattered and gone into hiding. Cassie and her younger brother Thomas now live with her aunt Nerissa, who shares these dangerous secrets. Others live nearby. For eight years they have attempted to lead unexceptional lives in order to escape detection. The tactic has worked.

“Until now. Because the killers are back. And they’re not human.” 

Please note, there is no December meeting. This year the 4th Monday is only 3 days from Christmas. 
But it's not too early to start preparing for the January meeting!

Date: January 26, 2015-7:00 p.m.

Title: Count to a Trillion

Author: John C. Wright

Publisher: Tor Books

Available from: Fine booksellers, including Barnes & Noble

Meeting Location: Barnes & Noble #2352, 2^nd Floor
11323 W 95th Street, Overland Park, KS 66214

Overview from Barnes & Noble:

“John C. Wright burst upon the SF scene a decade ago with the Golden Age trilogy, an innovative space opera. He went on to write fantasy novels, including the popular Orphans of Chaos trilogy. And now he returns to space opera in Count to a Trillion.

“After the collapse of the world economy, a young boy grows up in what used to be Texas as a tough duelist for hire, the future equivalent of a hired gun. But even after the collapse, there is space travel, and he leaves Earth to have adventures in the really wide open spaces. But he is quickly catapulted into the more distant future, while humanity, and Artificial Intelligence, grows and changes and becomes a kind of superman.”

IMAGE CREDITS: Many thanks to GoodReads for the cover image for Burning Paradise, and to the "Bewildering Stories" review blog for the cover image for Count to a Trillion.