From the wandering mind of Tamela Buhrke
But what if you are not a science fiction or fantasy fan? No worries—there's a con for practically everyone. Here's a small list to get you started:
Horror - September is the big month for horror fans. They just missed the 13th Horrorfind Weekend: www.horrorfindweekend.com. Don't worry, in a few weeks you can attend Monster Mania, in Philadelphia the weekend of Sept 16th: www.monstermania.net. Or wait until May, 2012 for Crypticon in Seattle: www.crypticonseattle.com.
Steampunk - Tesla Con is the big immersion con for this genre. It is coming up this November in Madison, Wisconsin: www.teslacon.com. This is a growing trend, so right now there are many local steampunk conventions. That being said, it seems easier to give you a website that lists them all, rather than try to list them here. Try http://containment.greententacles.com/tags/steampunk
Mystery & Thrillers - Things get hot in the big city when Thriller Fest takes over New York each July: www.thrillerfest.com. For those west of the Mississippi, there is also Left Coast Crime, which at a city in the west each year. The next meeting is in Sacramento in March 2012 and the conference will be in Colorado Springs in 2013: www.leftcoastcrime.org. Also, better act quick if you want to attend the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention. They are in St. Louis this year Sept 15th: www.bouchercon.info.
Historical Fiction - The Historical Novel Society alternates their events between North America and the United Kingdom. They had a conference in San Diego this past summer and will be in London at the end of September, 2012: www.historicalnovelsociety.org.
Westerns - The Western Writers of America will hold their annual convention in Albuquerque, New Mexico this June 2012: www.westernwriters.org/2012_convention.htm.
Pulp Fiction - If your interest is pulp magazines and vintage paperbacks, then Pulp Fest is for you! www.pulpfest.com
Science Fiction & Fantasty - These two genres have more cons than any of the others. In addition to the well-known San Diego Comic Con, there is a Comic Con for nearly every major city (we now have 2 for the Denver area). Want more? Check out Wonder Con, Dragon Con, and Necronomicon. The list of sci-fi/fantasy cons is too long to mention here, but check out Convention Fans for news about upcoming cons: http://conventionfansblog.com.
There are so many cons! I know I missed some. If you have a favorite, or if I missed an important one, be sure to tell us about it.
6 comments:
So many choices, so little time, not nearly enough cash... thank goodness for chocolate!
I know! They all sound so tasty! The nice thing about cons is that I run around so much that I actually lose weight... so in that way, cons are better than chocolate.
I went to Bouchercon when it was in Indianapolis in 2009 and had a wonderful time. The big freebie book event at the end of the conference blew my mind. I had to box up my books and ship them back to Colorado because I had too many to tote on the airplane.
Awesome! Thanks for all the tasty links!
Thanks Pat! For those who don't know, Bouchercon is a Mystery convention. I'll add it to my list.
Marlena, you are very welcome!
I forgot to mention some of the smaller mystery fan conventions that are great fun -- my first favorite is Magna cum Murder at the end of October in Muncie, Indiana and I also love Mayhem in the Midlands in Omaha in May. Those are fun because they're smaller, it's easier to meet people, and the published authors are easier to find.
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