My Balticon Schedule

Balticon is a four-day celebration of Science Fiction and Fantasy! May 24-27, 2024 (Memorial Day Weekend) Renaissance Harborplace Hotel, Baltimore, Maryland When I’m not volunteering or hanging out at the Maryland Writers’ Association table, here is where you can find me: Saturday: 11:30 AM — Location: St. George Author Reading: A.L. Kaplan and Ruthanna Emrys Saturday: 1:00 PM — Location:…

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"Peppercorn Rent" by Roberta Rogow (Teddy Bear Cannibal Massacre)

Honest, I'll go back to Cheever soon enough

This one is a cute one. It is so cute in fact that the author told me that she didn't like the anthology and I can totally see why. Roberta is a filk singer, a Sherlock Holmes fan fiction writer and a children's author. Also a children's librarian.

I can see why she did not appreciate seeing her story after a story about The Big Bad Wolf killing himself in a vomit filled apartment because Little Red Riding Hood is having an orgy with the three little pigs (and before a story about mutant rats). Seriously the more stories I read in this anthology, the more I wonder why I bought so many stories about hopeless losers living in filth? Granted, at this point I wrote my first novel-length manuscript where the main characters are named Dogshit and Trash and Dogshit leaves Trash asleep in a pile of dirty diapers in the alleyway in the opening chapter (I would have to become much much more famous for it to ever see the light of day. The best I can say about it is that I learned a lot. Also "Let's Live Suddenly Without THinking" is a great title. Yeah I did steal it from e.e.cummings)

And the main reason why this one is in this anthology is because I lost the rights to a story about a guy who could paint people's souls to the point that they lose the most vital part of themselves (causing a suicide before he's killed.) My (ex-)friend wrote it and since he presented femail at the time I figured that I needed another woman written story for balance. So I reached out to Roberta as a friend of a friend (aunt of an ex-girlfriend to be exact) and here we are.

This might be the first time I re-read the story since I published this anthology (this is true for a lot of these stories. By the time I finally put out the book I didn't even want to look at it again. Especially when I had to fix the typos twice (like I went through and fixed all the typos I could find. Then found dozens more. It's still full of typos. Pro-tip, running a spell check and grammar check is NOT copyediting).

I appreciate this story a lot more. I didn't know about the convention of peppercorn rent as a British thing and the main character is obviously a werewolf. The main thrust of the story is the fact that the peppercorn rent is that the daughter of the house needs to spend the night with the lord and since Ms. Lupine (get it?) is renting a very cheap upper room, she wants to make certain that it gets paid.

Meanwhile the new lord wants to sell the land in order to put a burger chain store on it. The rest of the story is a comedy of errors as the lord continually tries to run away from the protagonist and they keep ending up stuck in restaurants and punk clubs. And jail.

Also she's a werewolf.

One part that I might have been less enamored with when I published but I rather enjoy now is the "doesn't quite get the current times" part. I think I learned to appreciate this in the works of other authors and artists. The club is too loud and the band fronted by a singer who calls himself Lime Green Jello is a little broad - not as broad as the punk rock episode of Quincy, but definitely silly enough to forgive the fact that one doubts that the author has ever been in a punk club. Also Lime Green Jello is the CEO of the burger franchises? That's a bit of a stretch. LIke CEOs are usually too busy figuring out ways to screw their workers and not pay taxes to have a side gig fronting a punk band, but ok, we'll go with it here.

Overall, this is a silly story with decent characters and enjoyable plot contrivance.

timlieder.com

patreon.com/timlieder

I was a frigate... When wooden ships held iron men, I sailed the oceans 'way back then I carried battle to the seas of the foe. My sixteen-pounders shattered hulls and laid masts low. And when the time came, I went out with the tide... But I have never died....I have never died. I was a carrier... When sudden death rained from the skies, I was the greatest of my size, My planes were lauched to fight a planet’s fiercest war. And when the peace was won, I fought for that once more. Then I was beached, and told to rest my guns again. But I will still remain...I will still remain. I was a shuttle... The very first of all my line. All the acclaim and blame were mine  Although I never flew a mission into Space, I was the prototype that put things into place. The next step opened up the Heavens to our will... And I am living still....I am living still. I was a starship... Across the Galaxy I flew. With Captain Kirk and all the crew; Seeking a place where man had never been before, Making a home upon an unknown, alien shore; Then I was sacrificed and took that final dive. But I will still survive...I will still survive. I am a vision... A wooden ship, and iron frame, A spacecraft and a guiding flame; I’ve lifted mankind from the confines of the land, I’ve given Hope and Courage place to make their stand. And when they call to mind the Faith that never dies.... They’ll call it ENTERPRISE-they'll call it ENTERPRISE.’

“The Ship,” to the tune of “Highwayman” by the Highwaymen

By Roberta Rogow, published in APA-Filk #28, November 1985

Rapid Fire Reading at Balticon 57!

If you’re going to be at Balticon 57 this Memorial Day weekend, please stop by for the Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading on May 27th! It’s happening at 5:30pm in room 7029 and includes Randee Dawn (moderator), Morgan Hazelwood, Roberta Rogow, D. H. Timpko, and myself. It’s my first RFR with Broad Universe so I’d love to have friendly faces there! I’ll be reading an excerpt from Cast a Shadow of…

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Please join us in welcoming author guest Roberta Rogow to #ShoreLeave43!            

Historical Mystery reviews by Roberta Rogow

Historical Mystery reviews by Roberta Rogow

An Artless Demise(A Lady Darby Mystery) by Anna Lee Huber (Berkley, 2019, $16.00) brings Lady Keira Darby back to London, the scene of her first husband’s criminal activities that still haunt her, even after her second marriage to Lord Darby. It’s 1831, and the horrendous deeds of Burke and Hare in Edinburgh have sent the people of London into a panic, suspecting anyone and everyone connected…

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Philcon 2020

**  Programming starting on November 21st at Saturday, 4pm EST:  ** Drift Compatible: The Science of Neural Interface Technology --  What can be done with current technology? Are we going to be piloting mechs with our minds before the decade is out? The Other Sciences (in Fiction) --  For years, Science Fiction was most closely associated with space travel, time travel, and alien life forms- but astronomy, physics, and biology are hardly the only scientific fields that inspire speculation. How have the other sciences, both hard and soft, been utilized or explored in the genre? When to Set Something on Fire --  If your plot feels like it is dragging, maybe it's time to consider a major change in the route you had mapped out for your characters. How can you tell when it would benefit your story to torch the boats and send your characters traveling by foot instead? Creating More Inclusive Games --  What kind of changes can you make to both your game world and your game play that lets potential players know that they are welcome in your group? Let's focus on considerations in game design to promote inclusion and accessibility.   Discord #media-discussion : Doctor Who Discord #Artist Demos channel in the Art Show :  Hats and Spats presents Polymer Clay Sculpting #1 --  Nora Echeverria uses different colors of polymer clay to create a marbled pattern, then uses that to sculpt dragons and tentacles for wearables or curiosities.  Polymer clay cures in a regular oven, no kiln needed. (A second demo will be running on Sunday at 2pm!) Broad Universe Rapid-Fire Readings! --  Members of The Broad Universe take turns reading short selections from their works. This year's presenters include Elizabeth Crowens, Roberta Rogow, Kathryn Sullivan, D.H. Timpko, Sally Wiener Grotta, Anne E.G. Nydam, Randee Dawn, Deirdre Murphy,  L.J. Cohen, and Carol Gyzander. Filk:  Concert by Deirdre Murphy (5pm) Filk:  Concert by Rhiannon's Lark Game: HomeRunnerZ - The Trivia Game that Plays Like Baseball! https://meet.jit.si/HomeRunnerZwithAlex All-new edition of HomeRunnerZ! My online party game that anyone can play!!! It's an easy trivia game that plays like baseball! Two teams compete by sending up their best batters!How many bases can they score? Or will they get caught OUT by the opposition? Very simple rules will be taught at the event. There will be prizes! NOTE: this event requires a minimum of 6 participants, and a maximum of 18GM: Alex Strang * The invite to the Philcon Discord server is https://discord.gg/2XSZQ3e Register for the Zoom items at the bottom of each panel listing at: https://www.konopas.philcon.org   ~ It’s easier to navigate by hitting “Expand All” so all the panel descriptions pop open!

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(Philcon is free this year!)

What’s In Store for NEWhere 2020 (Part 1)

Over the three days of NEWhere (July 3 - 5, 2020), there’ll be some special events -- but we’ll be talking about those later. For now, let’s look at what you can expect to see every day of the convention:

Virtual con suite Morning to early afternoon on all three days of the con, a set of moderated Zoom breakout rooms for hanging out and catching up with your filk friends -- or, if you’re new to the scene, meeting and making new friends!

Virtual filk circles Evening to late night on all three days of the con. Hang out with fellow filkers (and their intermittent housepets), and take turns to sing, sing, sing! (Yes, you can sing along at home too, even if your mike is muted.)

Afternoon Short Sets Twenty-minute concert sets -- sit down and watch, or listen while puttering around the house! We have an amazing lineup of performers scheduled over the three days of the convention, including Marc Glasser, Joe Kesselman, Harold Feld, Roberta Rogow, Bob & Sue Esty, Heather Borean, John McDaid, Ben Newman, Joshua Kronengold & Lisa Padol, and more!

Watch this space for further updates, and/or subscribe to our announcement list.

Keep safe, and keep singing!

Cover Art 02 by Teegar

Picture of Spock in scherenschnitte (silhouette) style used as the cover of Roberta Rogow’s fanzine

Shoreleave con

Got up early and got there same, talked to a few people, found out a about a fan group called the royal manticaran navy, which I might look into, I then wandered around for a bit a quick shopping  expedition in the vendors hall got me a button in return for an origami gremlin 1st panel, representation is key hosted by Jennifer Rosenberg, Derick Attico,  Rigel Ailur, it was really empty, the most there was was 1/2 dozen and I think a few of those were waiting for the next panel to start. It was informative and I got to vent, I mean really is it to much to ask for an observant Jewish character? And i got a few books to look into as well, nifty Next I headed off to the panel heroes the best and worst at 11, the hosts consensus seemed to that heroes cant be to perfect, they have to have some flaws to make them interesting. And I got an author to look up here as well. Back at the vendors hall, I saw someone from balticon selling their wears (embroidered shoes) and then i got down to some more bartering, I got a lace dragon for a preying mantis, another gremlin for what can  be best described as a care chthoolhu, a pinkie pie finger puppet for a dragon Saw all sorts of cos players, pics to follow, and oddly enough a lot of guys in kilts. Headed off and caught the last 1/2 of the science of game of thrones, and as I'd missed so much, all I got is their weather is bs, not to mention, I've never read the books or seen the show. I was then off the a panel about mixing  genres, and I got a bucket full of authors and books to look up, the panel was hosted by Greg Cox, Roberta Rogow and a keith something, I didn't catch his last name, but it should be in the program. It was a very interesting panel, they when into how certain genres are defined by their stories and others by their location, and done right he blending of the 2 can be great, like peanut butter and chocolate was a common analogy. Popped over to Marval chokes on diversity, and as I'm just a light fan I really didn't get too much into it, but the consensus seems too be don't just make a minority into a previously established super, make them their own super. After this I when back to shopping and actually bought something, the silver zombie by carole nelson Douglass, a series that I already have a book in and my local library (and its loan system) has most of, but for some reason, nether had this one. I then when off to trade some more and traded a tarantula fore a Harley quin/Charley brown psychology magnet. I got in late to marvel vs dc which was interesting, by the time I got there they were up to x23, gamora, black panther, batman, black canary,ravager, lady shiva, wolverine(who lost against batman), captain America and a few other. In the last round it was black panther vs gamora with the win by a hair going to gamora, with batman vs x23 fighting for 3rd with batman taking that win. One last shopping trip got me a bear engraved shot glass for a scorpion that took me an hour to fold. After eves dropping on a game of card against humanity, I ran across a friend their only in the last 10 minutes after keeping an eye out for her all day. There was a skit coming up mystery treky theater 3000, not my cup of tea, so I headed home with my loot. All in all I had a fun time, and might go back next year.

new free memberships to Lunacon

Fans of color/non-white fans: the following new memberships are available now, first-come first-serve:

Lunacon, April 7-9, 2017, Tarrytown, NY, USA. Lunacon is the New York area’s longest-running Science Fiction convention, held a short trip north of New York City in Westchester County. Its guests are: Writer Guest of Honor Ben Bova; Artist Guest of Honor Bob Eggleton; Fan Guest of Honor Roberta Rogow; Musical Guests Boogie Knights; Special Guest Artist Marianne Plumridge.

Lunacon has donated two memberships to Con or Bust, to be claimed by March 17, 2017.

To learn how to request assistance, see the Request Assistance page. For the most up-to-date list of cons to which assistance is available, see the Upcoming Cons page.

Thanks, and please spread the word!

new free memberships to Lunacon was originally published on Con or Bust

SHORT TAKES: Bite-sized Readings From Your Favorite Authors – Saturday, May 25, 2:00 PM